epoch of the Netherlanders, the 16th century, the evolution of the opera, advances in theory, the development of instruments, etc. It was too early for students to frame accurate notions of the drifts of the 19th century. These were still mostly under the review of criticism rather than of history. But the historians followed hard upon the critics.
François Joseph Fétis (d. 1871) was the most important of the scholars in
the early part of the century, and the first of the illustrious Belgian line of
investigators. Born at Mons in 1784, he showed precocious talent in playing
and composing, and had excellent instruction at Paris and Vienna. Before
he was 20 he had published ambitious compositions, and had begun to study
early mediæval theory and notation. From 1806 he took up the systematic
criticism of Gregorian music with a view to its thorough reform. From 1811
he was deeply engaged upon the modern system of harmony as distinct from
that of Rameau and his followers. From 1813 he was organist and teacher at
Douai, but in 1818 went to Paris, working partly as a composer (7 operas,
1820-32), and from 1821 being on the Conservatoire staff. His manual of
counterpoint (1824), his notable magazine, La revue musicale (1827-35), a
significant essay on the Netherlanders (1828), and his courses of historical
lectures (1832), made him a leader. From 1833 for nearly 40 years he was
director of the reorganized Brussels conservatory, court-choirmaster and concert-conductor.
His greatest literary work was the Biographie universelle
(1835-44), later revised (1860-5) with the help of Aristide Farrenc (d. 1865)
and again augmented (1878-80) by Arthur Pougin—the first of the great
biographical dictionaries. He began a comprehensive Histoire (5 vols., to
the 15th century, 1869-76), wrote monographs on Paganini (1851), on
Stradivari (1856) and on the instruments in the Expositions of 1855 and 1867,
and prepared an extensive list of text-books for singers, pianists, choirmasters,
conductors and composers. From time to time he continued to compose for
the church and the orchestra. His accuracy has proved defective and his
judgment was not always unbiased, but the general value of his works and
the vigorous stimulus they gave are beyond question.
Among those who specialized upon Greek music were from 1818 Friedrich von Drieberg (d. 1856), Prussian court-chamberlain, whose conclusions have won small acceptance; in 1840-7 Friedrich Bellermann (d. 1874), from 1847 director of one of the Berlin gymnasia; in 1846 Karl Fortlage of Jena (d. 1881); from 1854 Rudolf Westphal (d. 1892), an authority on rhythmics and metrics, who taught at Tubingen, Breslau, Jena, etc.; and from 1866 Oscar Paul of Leipsic (d. 1898).
Gregorian music attracted extensive study, leading to a full reconstruction of the practical system on a historical basis. Among the many writers may be named from 1829 Théodore Joseph de Vroye (d. 1873) of the Liège Cathedral; from 1836 the Paris choirmaster Adrien Lenoir de Lafage (d. 1862), who also began a general history (1844), wrote many biographical sketches, and started a Plain-Song periodical (1859); from 1840 'Théodore Nisard' [T. E. X. Normand], another industrious Parisian student; from
