He graduated in law from the University of Vienna (1878), obtained a doctorate in music history (1880), and a postdoctoral degree (1882). He headed the Chair of Music Theory and History at his alma mater’s Faculty of Philosophy in 1898–1927. In 1898 he established history’s first Institute of Musicology (in Vienna), which soon became a model for other European academic centres.
He combined both in his research. Major achievements of Adler’s school included studies on the style of individual periods and composers. Adler saw musicology and musical life as inextricably linked with each other. He was a friend of Gustav Mahler.
Ninety-two persons graduated in musicology from the University of Vienna between 1898/99 amd 1922/23. Koffler obtained his diploma in 1923. Earlier Polish graduates included Konrad Zawiłowski (1902) and Zdzisław Jachimecki (1906), among others. In accordance with the then requirements, Koffler’s studies ended with a doctorate, obtained on the basis of a dissertation on Orchestral Colours in Symphonic Works by Felix Mendelssohn, supervised by Adler (the first thesis in the history of Vienna’s musicology dedicated exclusively to that composer).