Abraham, Gerald Ernest Heal (1904–1988), musicologist, was born on 9 March 1904 in Newport, Isle of Wight, the only child of Ernest Abraham, manufacturer, and his wife, Dorothy Mary Heal, a jeweller's daughter. In spite of his strong musical interests, he planned a naval career, attending a naval crammer in ...
Article
Abraham, Gerald Ernest Heal (1904–1988), musicologist
Robert Layton
revised
Article
Allen, Henry Robinson (c. 1809–1876), singer, teacher, and composer
Andrew Lamb
Allen, Henry Robinson (c. 1809–1876), singer, teacher, and composer, was born in Cork around 1809, the son of William Allen, gentleman. In Cork he studied music with a Mr Shaw, organist of St Peter’s Church, where he attracted attention as a boy soprano. At fourteen he was apprenticed to ...
Article
Allen, Sir Hugh Percy (1869–1946), musicologist and conductor
W. K. Stanton
revised
Allen, Sir Hugh Percy (1869–1946), musicologist and conductor, was born at Reading on 23 December 1869, the youngest of the seven children of John Herbert Allen (1834–1905), who was in business with Huntley and Palmers of Reading. His mother, Rebecca, née...
Article
Amis, John Preston (1922–2013), music critic and broadcaster
Raymond Holden
Amis, John Preston (1922–2013), music critic and broadcaster, was born on 17 June 1922 in a nursing home at 80 Thurlow Park Road, Dulwich, London, the younger child of James Preston Amis (1886–1980) and his wife, Florence Mary, née Weight (1890–1963). At the time of his birth registration the family lived at ...
Article
Anderson, Thomas James [Tom] (1910–1991), fiddler and collector of traditional music
Brian Smith
Anderson, Thomas James [Tom] (1910–1991), fiddler and collector of traditional music, was born on 29 August 1910 in the isolated district of Eshaness in Shetland, the eldest of six children of James Anderson, fisherman–crofter, and his wife, Harriet Margaret, née Johnson. His grandfather and uncle taught him to play the fiddle when he was eight. He came under the influence of ...
Article
Anonymous IV (fl. 1250–1280), music theorist
Nicky Losseff
Anonymous
Article
Aprahamian, (Apraham) Felix Bartev (1914–2005), music critic and concert organizer
Alex May
Aprahamian, (Apraham) Felix Bartev (1914–2005), music critic and concert organizer, was born on 5 June 1914 at 16 Inderwick Road, Hornsey, London, the son of Avedis Aprahamian, formerly Hovhanessian (b. 1871), carpet dealer, and his wife, Araxie, née Garabedian. His parents were both Armenian immigrants from ...
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Aprahamian, (Abraham) Felix Barter (1914–2005)
Maker: Pete Wicker
In
(Abraham) Felix Barter Aprahamian (1914–2005) by Pete Wicker © Pete Wicker; collection National Portrait Gallery, London
Article
Arnold, Denis Midgley (1926–1986), musicologist
Nigel Fortune
revised
Arnold, Denis Midgley (1926–1986), musicologist, was born on 15 December 1926 in Sheffield, the only son and younger child of Charles Arnold, company director, and his wife, Bertha Ball. He was educated at High Storrs grammar school in Sheffield, and at Sheffield University...
Article
Ashley, John James (1771–1815), organist and singing teacher
W. B. Squire
revised by David J. Golby
Ashley, John James (1771–1815), organist and singing teacher, was born on 6 March 1771 in London, probably at 4 Pimlico Terrace, Chelsea, the second son of John Ashley (c. 1734–1805), a bassoonist and conductor, and his wife, Mary, née Jane (d. 1809)...
Article
Austin, John (b. 1752, d. before 1838), music stenographer and inventor of a power-loom
Page Life
Austin, John (b. 1752, d. before 1838), music stenographer and inventor of a power-loom, was born at Craigton, near Glasgow, on 17 April 1752, the son of the gardener to John Baird, esquire. Nothing is known of Austin's early life or education. On 30 May 1777 he married ...
Article
Avison, Charles (bap. 1709, d. 1770), composer and writer on music
Bennett Mitchell Zon
Avison, Charles (bap. 1709, d. 1770), composer and writer on music, was baptized on 16 February 1709 at St John's, Newcastle upon Tyne, the sixth of nine children of Richard Avison (d. 1721) and his wife, Ann. His parents seem to have had associations with ...
Article
Bacon, Richard Mackenzie (1776–1844), newspaper editor and music critic
John Warrack
Bacon, Richard Mackenzie (1776–1844), newspaper editor and music critic, was born in Norwich on 1 May 1776, the only son of Richard Bacon (1745–1812), proprietor from 1794 of the Norwich Mercury, one of the leading provincial organs of liberal opinion. He was educated at the ...
Article
Bagenal, (Philip) Hope Edward (1888–1979), architectural theorist and acoustician
David Trevor-Jones
Bagenal, (Philip) Hope Edward (1888–1979), architectural theorist and acoustician, was born on 11 February 1888 at 9 Mount Street, Dublin, the second of five children of Philip Henry Bagenal (1850–1927), civil servant and journalist, and his wife, Harriot Jocelyn Hore (1851/2–1942). He was always known by his second name, ...
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Bailey, Derek (1930–2005)
Maker: Mephisto
In
Derek Bailey (1930–2005) by Mephisto, 2001 © Mephisto / Rex Features
Article
Bailey, Derek (1930–2005), guitarist and musical theorist
Peter Stubley
Bailey, Derek (1930–2005), guitarist and musical theorist, was born on 29 January 1930 in Nether Edge Hospital, Sheffield, the only child of George Edward Bailey (d. 1965), barber, and his wife, Lily, née Wing (d. 1996). His maternal grandfather, Percy Wing...
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Baldwin, John (d. 1615), music copyist and composer
David Mateer
Baldwin, John (d. 1615), music copyist and composer, is of unknown origins and parentage. According to Ernest Brennecke, Baldwin was admitted a lay clerk of St George's Chapel, Windsor, in 1575; he cites no documentary evidence in support of this claim and none exists today, though subsequent repair work on the ...
Article
Barcroft, George (d. 1610), Church of England clergyman and musician
Roger Bowers
Barcroft, George (d. 1610), Church of England clergyman and musician, is of unknown parentage. From 1565 to 1571 he was a chorister of Winchester Cathedral. He entered Trinity College, Cambridge, as a sizar on 12 December 1574, and graduated BA in 1578; during 1575–7 he was also a singing-man of the chapel choir. In 1578–9, despite his youth, he was admitted organist and master of the choristers of ...
Article
Barton, William (1597/8–1678), translator and hymnologist
A. B. Grosart
revised by D. K. Money
Barton, William (1597/8–1678), translator and hymnologist, matriculated as a sizar at Trinity College, Cambridge, in Lent 1619; he graduated BA in 1622 and proceeded MA in 1625. He was ordained priest on 21 September 1623. He is probably to be identified with the ...
Article
Bassano, Alvise (d. 1554), musician and instrument maker
David Lasocki
Bassano, Alvise (d. 1554), musician and instrument maker, was presumably born in Bassano, near Venice, in the late fifteenth century, the second son of Maestro Jeronimo (d. 1539?), known as Piva (‘bagpipe’). By 1515 he was playing in Venice, and he served in ...
