The physics, or natural philosophy, of music has fascinated scholars and scientists since ancient times: from Pythagoras' concept of celestial harmony, to the work of Galileo, Mersenne, Euler and Ohm, culminating in the nineteenth century with Helmholtz's definitive work On the Sensations of Tone. William Pole (1814 1900) was a civil engineer and musicologist. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1861 and was a founder member of the Royal Musical Association. First published in 1879, this work brings together his series of lectures on the theory of music, from the nature of sound...

The music scholar, composer and editor Ebenezer Prout (1835 1909) is best known for his edition of Handel's Messiah and as the man who put words to the fugue subjects in Bach's Well-tempered Klavier. He taught at the Royal Academy of Music (numbering Henry Wood amongst his pupils) and the reputation he established through his works on music theory gained him the post of Professor of Music at Trinity College, Dublin. This is the sixteenth (1903) edition, of his 1889 treatise on harmony which ran through over twenty editions, such was its popularity. This edition marks a significant change in...

Hannah Smith (1849 1939) was a composer for children and an educator. In 1903 she published the popular Founders of Music, a series of biographical sketches of composers written for children. Written in 1898, when Wagner had been dead for only fifteen years, this is a concise history of music and instruments, aimed at the enthusiast. Covering broad subjects rather than concentrating on a few composers, Smith discusses not just the development of musical styles but also how musical notation developed, how the ear functions and how musical instruments produce the sounds they do. The tastes of...

Published in 1872, this two-volume autobiography by the British playwright J. R. Planche (1796 1880) tells the story of his long and varied life in the theatre. Planche wrote, adapted or collaborated on 176 plays over the course of his career, covering a wide range of theatrical genres including comedy, opera, extravaganza and pantomime. He also became an acknowledged expert on stage costume, and argued the importance of historically accurate costumes in productions of Shakespeare's plays. Engagingly written, these volumes contain fascinating anecdotes on the famous theatrical and musical...

Published in 1872, this two-volume autobiography by the British playwright J. R. Planche (1796 1880) tells the story of his long and varied life in the theatre. Planche wrote, adapted or collaborated on 176 plays over the course of his career, covering a wide range of theatrical genres including comedy, opera, extravaganza and pantomime. He also became an acknowledged expert on stage costume, and argued the importance of historically accurate costumes in productions of Shakespeare's plays. Engagingly written, these volumes contain fascinating anecdotes on the famous theatrical and musical...

Published in 1884, this remained the most detailed account of Chinese music in a Western language until the mid-twentieth century.

Published in 1848, this short work by Joseph Mainzer (1801 51) argues for the considerable value of music as part of general education. A German priest, teacher and composer, Mainzer had an important influence on the development of amateur music and the choral movement in the first half of the nineteenth century. Attracting large numbers of adult labourers, he gave free singing classes, using his own highly influential teaching system. Music, Mainzer argues here, not only brings direct moral and social benefits, but also takes the place of potentially harmful habits and leisure activities,...

Sebastian Hensel (1830 98), nephew of the composer, virtuoso pianist and conductor Felix Mendelssohn (1809 47), originally intended this work to be 'not only of the family but for the family', drawing on their letters and diaries. Persuaded by friends to publish his narrative in 1879, Hensel in particular provides a first-hand insight into the lives of his uncle, lionized by the music-loving public of his day, and Felix's beloved sister Fanny (1805 47), herself a talented composer and pianist. Translated from the German revised second edition by Felix's close friend, diplomat Carl Klingemann...

Sebastian Hensel (1830 98), nephew of the composer, virtuoso pianist and conductor Felix Mendelssohn (1809 47), originally intended this work to be 'not only of the family but for the family', drawing on their letters and diaries. Persuaded by friends to publish his narrative in 1879, Hensel in particular provides a first-hand insight into the lives of his uncle, lionized by the music-loving public of his day, and Felix's beloved sister Fanny (1805 47), herself a talented composer and pianist. Translated from the German revised second edition by Felix's close friend, diplomat Carl Klingemann...

Born in Germany, where he studied music and philology, Francis Hueffer (1845 89) moved to London in 1869 to pursue a career as a critic and writer on music. He edited a series of biographies of notable musicians, served as music critic for The Times, contributed articles to Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, and was an early advocate and interpreter to the British of Wagner. In 1872 he married Catherine, the younger daughter of the painter Ford Madox Brown. Their son was the writer Ford Maddox Ford. Provencal studies were an abiding interest of Hueffer's and he intended this work,...