A General History of Music, from the Earliest Times to the Present: Volume 2: Comprising the Lives of Eminent Composers and Musical Writers

by Thomas Busby

Overview

The writer, composer and organist Thomas Busby (1754–1838) is best remembered for his highly entertaining Concert Room and Orchestra Anecdotes (1825), which paints a vivid picture of musical life at the time. The son of a coach painter, Busby was originally articled to the composer Jonathan Battishill, but found the experience unrewarding. His compositions (many now lost) include songs, theatre music and oratorios. His literary output included journal articles and monographs, among them A Grammar of Music (also reissued in this series) and A General History of Music. First published in 1819, this two-volume work proved controversial as it was alleged that Busby had plagiarised the great histories of Burney and Hawkins (also available in the Cambridge Library Collection). However, acknowledging his indebtedness to them, Busby provided a popular interpretation of their work for the general reader. Volume 2 covers the period from the sixteenth century to Busby's own time, with a particular emphasis on England.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781108061759
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	06/27/2013
Series:	Cambridge Library Collection - Music
Edition description:	Reissue
Pages:	532
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.40(d)

Table of Contents

1. State of music in England during the reign of Elizabeth; 2. State of music in England, during the reign of Elizabeth (cont.); 3. Italian music theorists of the sixteenth century; 4. State of the Roman, Venetian, Lombard, Neapolitan, Bologna, and Florentine schools of counterpoint, during the sixteenth century; 5. German theorists of the sixteenth century; 6. Eminent musicians in England, from the reign of Elizabeth to the Protectorate; 7. Progress and specimens of secular music in England, from the reign of Elizabeth to the Protectorate; 8. State of music in England, from the Protectorate to the time of Purcell; 9. Purcell; 10. General state of music, from the time of Purcell, to the middle of the last century; 11. Establishment of the opera and oratorio in Italy; 12. Progress of the lyric drama at Venice, Naples, Rome and in Germany and France, during the last century; 13. General view of the principal Italian and German composers and performers of the last century; 14. Handel; 15. Haydn and Mozart; 16. Establishment of the Italian opera in England, and its progress, previous to the middle of the last century; 17. State of the Italian opera in England, subsequent to the middle of the last century; 18. Arne and Arnold; 19. Boyce and Batishill; 20. General state of music, in England, from the beginning of the last century to the present time.