# A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Dictionaries of Music

From volume 1 of the work.
​DICTIONARIES OF MUSIC. The oldest known work of the kind is that of the learned Flemish musician Jean Tinctor, entitled 'Tenninorum musicae Diffinitorium,' 15 sheets, 4to, undated, but in all probability printed with the type of Gérard de Flandre, and published in 1474 [App. p.613 "see Tinctoris, vol iv. p.128 a"]. The original is extremely rare, but Forkel has reprinted it in his 'Allgemeine Litteratur der Musik,' and thus placed it within the reach of students. The 'Glossarium' of Du Cange also includes many musical terms and explanations useful to historians of music. Musical archaeologists will further do well to consult Ménage—whose 'Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue Françoise' appeared in 1650—and the 'Dictionnaire Universel' (Rotterdam, 1690) of Furetière, afterwards remodelled by Basnage (the Hague, 1701). These works are often overlooked, and the credit of having written the two oldest dictionaries of music is generally assigned to Janowka and the Abbé Sébastien de Brossard. The Bohemian organist wrote in Latin, and his 'Clavis ad thesaurum magnae artis musicae' (Prague, 1701) was unknown to Brossard when he published his 'Dictionnaire de Musique' (Ballard, Paris 1703). ​Taking into account the enormous difficulties under which they laboured, both authors are deserving of great praise for works so eminently useful to students of musical terminology. Amongst their imitators may be named Walthern, Grassineau. and J. J. Rousseau. Walthern's work, 'Alte und neue musikalische Bibliothek, oder musikalisches Lexicon,' was originally published at Weimar, but the second edition (Leipsic, 1732) is the important one. In it he so far adopted the plan suggested by Brossard at the end of his dictionary, that his work forms a kind of complement to that. In his 'Musical Dictionary' (London, 1740, 1 vol. 8vo.; 2nd ed. 1769) James Grassineau has made ample use of Brossard's definitions and examples; but his work is much more complete, and his remarks on the music of the ancients and on musical instruments evince much reading, and may still be consulted with advantage. J. J. Rousseau in his 'Dictionnaire de Musique' (Geneva, 1767) also utilised the labours of Brossard, especially with regard to ancient music; but it is to his literary ability rather than to his elevated views on aesthetics that the enormous success of his dictionary is due. Not only was it translated into several languages, but it was imitated by Meude-Monpas (Paris, 1788) and by Reynvaan (Amsterdam, 1795), only half of whose 'Musikaal Kunst Woorden-book' was ever published. Rousseau's influence may be traced also in the 'Dictionnaire de Musique' contained in the 'Encyclopédie Méthodique.' That enormous mass of undigested material forms two huge 4to. volumes, of which the first (1791) was compiled under the superintendence of Framery and Ginguend, with the assistance of the Abbé Feytou and of Surremain de Missery, and is far superior to the second (1818) edited by Momigny, whose theories were not only erroneous but at variance with those of the first volume. In spite however of its contradictions and errors, both scientific and chronological, a judicious historian may still find useful materials in this dictionary.
Whilst Rousseau's writings were exciting endless discussions among French musicians, the labours of Gerber and Forkel in Germany were marking a new era in the literature of music. By his History (Allg. Geschichte der Musik, Leipsic 1788–1801) Forkel did as much for the musicians of Europe as Burney and Hawkins had in all probability done for him. His influence may be recognised in Koch's 'Musikalisches Lexicon' (Frankfort 1802), a work in all respects superior to that of G. F. Wolf (Halle 1787). Koch also published his 'Kurzgefasstes Handwörterbuch der Musik' (Leipsic 1807), a work distinct from his Lexicon, but quite as useful and meritorious. But the happy influence of Forkel is more especially evident in the biographical work of Gerber, 'Neues historisch-biographisches Lexicon der Tonkünstler' (Leipzig, 1812–14, 4 vols.) a work in every way a great improvement on his first edition (Leipzig, 1790–92, 2 vols.), although incomplete without it, owing to his habit of referring back. Gerber was the model for the 'Dictionnaire historique des musiciens' of Choron and Fayolle (Paris, 1810–11), the first book of the kind published in France, and preceded by an excellent Introduction, by Choron, of which Fétis in his turn has made good use.
In Italy the Abbé Gianelli was the author of the first dictionary of music printed in Italian (Venice 1801, 2nd ed. 1820); but his book has been entirely superseded by the 'Dizionario e Bibliografia della Musica' of Dr. Lichtenthal, the first two volumes of which are devoted to music proper, while the last two contain an historical and critical catalogue, which has been largely utilised by Fétis. Lichtenthal doubtless took many of his materials from Forkel and Gerber, but his work shows a marked advance upon those of Koch and Rousseau in the definitions of words, the descriptions of instruments, and the historical articles. It was translated into French by Mondo (Paris 1821, 2 vols. 8vo.). The 'Dictionnaire de Musique moderne' of Castil Blaze (Paris 1821 2nd ed. 1825, 2 vols.), in part copied from that of Rousseau, attained a certain amount of success from the position of its author and its animated style; but it is by no means equal either in extent or accuracy to Lichtenthal's work. Partly founded on a similar model is the 'Dictionnaire de Musique d'après les théoriciens, historiens, et critiques les plus célèbres' (1844; 5th ed. 72) by MM. Marie et Léon Escudier, a compilation, as its title indicates, but containing much useful information in a small space, especially on ancient musical instruments and on contemporaneous matters. Jos. d'Ortigue, on the other hand, opened up a new line in his 'Dictionnaire liturgique, historique, et théorique de Plain-chant et de Musique d'e'glise …' (Paris 1854 and 60), an interesting and valuable work written from the point of view of an orthodox Roman Catholic. It has the merit of quoting distinctly all the sources from which the author derived his information, and of mentioning by name all those who assisted him; and for the special branch of which it treats this dictionary is hitherto without a rival.
The 'Biographie universelle des Musiciens,' by the late F. J. Fétis, is hitherto equally unrivalled. The first edition (Paris and Brussels, 1835–44), in 8 vols. 8vo., double columns, contains a long and admirable introduction, not republished in the second edition. That edition (Paris, 1860–65), also in 8 vols. 8vo., though a great advance on the former one, is still very imperfect. It swarms with inaccurate dates; its blunders, especially in regard to English musicians, are often ludicrous; it contains many biographies evidently written to order; and its author, while severely criticising his victims, has an ugly knack of borrowing from them at the same time: but his labour and spirit were prodigious, he is always readable and often impartial, and while he developes a shrewd and even philosophic critical faculty, he has the art of expressing his judgment with great clearness. The misfortune of biographical dictionaries is that they are never ​complete, and a supplement to Fétis is on the point of publication [App. p.613 "the supplement was published in 1878 by M. Arthur Pougin, in 2 vols"].
Whilst the French authors were writing their dictionaries, either on Rousseau's plan or were following the lead of Choron, Fétis, and d'Ortigue, by enlarging their sphere beyond that of musical terminology, the tendency in Germany was to include in dictionaries not only all that concerns the technical part of music, but the biography of musicians, and the philosophy, literature, and bibliography of the art. Gustav Schilling therefore justly entitles his dictionary 'Encyclopädie der gesammten musikalischen Wissenschaften, oder universal Lexicon der Tonkunst' (Stuttgart 1835–38, 7 vols. 8vo.). In this work biography holds an important place, but the other departments are treated with equal skill and research, so that the whole forms a precious depository of information, and is a notable advance on all previous works of the kind in other countries. Gassner, in his 'Universal Lexicon der Tonkunst' (Stuttgart 1849, 1 vol.), and Bernsdorf, in his 'Neues universal Lexicon der Tonkunst,' in continuation of Schladebach (Dresden and Offenbach 1856–61, 3 vols.), have obviously made considerable use of Schilling, and both works have a well-merited reputation. Koch's 'Lexicon' has been re-edited by Dommer (Heidelberg 1865), and Oscar Paul has published a useful 'Handlexicon der Tonkunst' (Leipsic 1873), in which condensation is carried to its utmost limit. But of all the German works which have followed Schilling the most important and deserving of mention is the Musikalisches Conversations- Lexicon, edited by Mendel, and since his unfortunate death by Reissmann (Berlin, 1870 etc.), of which 7 vols. have already appeared, carrying the work down to 'Paisiello.' [App. p.613 "has been completed in 11 vols., together with a supplementary volume edited by Dr. August Reissman, in 1883."] There is a want of proportion in some of the articles, a cumbrousness of style and an occasional appearance of bias, but the staff of writers is unequalled for eminence and number, and there is much in their essays which has never been collected before and which is highly valuable. In dictionaries however one work can never supersede another, and perfect information is only to be got by consulting all.
Space compels us to confine ourselves to a mere mention of such works as the Swedish dictionary of Envalson (Stockholm 1802); the illustrated dictionary of Soullier (Paris 1855); and the Spanish dictionaries of Melcior (Lerida 1859) and Parada (Madrid 1868) [App. p.613 "Mention should also be made of Dr. Hugo Riemann's handy 'Musik-Lexicon' published in Leipzig in 1882 (second edition, 1887)"]. Besides musical lexicons properly so called there are a certain number of Encyclopedias and Dictionaries of the Fine Arts, which contain important articles on music and musical terms. Amongst these may be cited the 'Encyclopédie' of Diderot and D'Alembert (Paris 1751–80, 35 vols.); the 'Allgemeine Theorie der schönen Künste' (Leipsic 1773), by Sulzer, of which Millin has made great use in his 'Dictionnaire des Beaux Arts' (Paris 1806); the 'Allgemeine Encyclopadie der Wissenschaften und Kunste' (Leipsic 1818–47), by Ersch and Gruber, an enormous collection, containing many remarkable articles on music; and the 'Dictionnaire de l'Académie des Beaux Arts,' begun in 1858, of which the 3rd vol. (1869–75) concludes with the words 'Chœur,' 'Choral,' and 'Chorégique.' It contains new and striking articles by Halévy, Henri Réber, and other eminent musicians.
In England, among cyclopædias, the earliest place is held by that of Rees (1819), the musical articles in which were written by the eminent Dr. Burney. In the new issue of the Encyclopædia Britannica (begun 1875) the musical articles—restricted in number—are written by Dr. Franz Hueffer [App. p.613 "more recently by Mr. W. S. Rockstro"]. Chambers's Cyclopædia (1741–53 or 1778–91) on a smaller, and Brande's Dictionary (1842; 3rd ed. 1853) on a still smaller scale, contain good articles on musical topics, the former including the leading biographies. The Dictionaries are few and unimportant:—Grassineau (1740), Busby (1786), Jousse (1829), Wilson, or Hamilton's and Hiles's Dictionaries of Musical Terms—each a small 8vo. volume—are specimens of the manner in which this department has been too long filled in England. A great advance has been recently made in the 'Dictionary of Musical Terms' edited by Dr. Stainer and Mr. W. A. Barrett (1 vol. 8vo., Novello 1876), though even that leaves something to be desired. As regards biography, the 'Dictionary of Musicians' (2 vols. 8vo., 1822 and 27), though good in intention, is imperfectly carried out.
[ G. C. ]