Excerpt from A Dictionary of Music and Musicians (A. D. 1450-1880), Vol. 1 of 3: By Eminent Writers, English and Foreign Commemorations, Ha 'chord, many others. The engraved illustrations have been specially prepared for the work, and will speak for themselves. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

This is a reissue of the first edition of George Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, which has since evolved to become the largest and most authoritative work of its kind in English. The project grew in the making: the title page of Volume 1 (1879) refers to 'two volumes', but by the time Volume 4 appeared in 1889 there was also a 300-page appendix and a separate index volume. The dictionary was an international undertaking, with contributors from Paris, Leipzig, Berlin, Vienna and Boston alongside those based in Britain. It was 'intended to supply a great and long acknowledged want' arising from the increased interest in all aspects of music, which was 'rapidly becoming an essential branch of education', and to cater for the professional while being accessible to the amateur. It is a fascinating document of musical tastes and values in the late Victorian period.