FETIS, FRANCOIS JOSEPH (17841871)

This article appears in Volume V10, Page 295 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: FAT-FLA

FETIS, FRANCOIS JOSEPH (17841871) , Belgian composer and writer on music, was born at Mons in Belgium on the 25th of

March

1784, and was trained as a musician by his father, who followed the same calling. His talent for composition manifested
itself at the age of seven, and at nine years old he was an organist at Sainte-Waudru. In 'Soo he went to Paris and completed his studies at the conservatoire under such masters as Boieldieu, Rey and Pradher. In 1806 he undertook the revision of the Roman liturgical chants in the

hope

HOPE, ANTHONY
HOPE, THOMAS (c. 1770-1831)

of discovering and establishing their

original

ORIGINAL

form. In this year he married the grand-daughter of the Chevalier de Keralio, and also began his Biographie universelle des musiciens, the most important of his works, which did not appear until 1834. In '821 he was appointed professor at the conservatoire. In 1827 he founded the Revue musicale, the first serious

paper

PAPER
PAPER (Fr. papier, from Lat. papyrus)

in France devoted exclusively to musical matters. Fetis remained in the French

capital

CAPITAL (i.e. capital stock or fund)
CAPITAL (Lat. caput, head)

till in 1833, at the request of

Leopold

LEOPOLD (M.H. Ger. Liupolt; O.H. Ger. Liupald, from hut, Mod. Ger. Leute, " people," and paid, " bold," i.e. " bold for the people ")

I., he became director of the conservatoire of Brussels and the king's chapel-master. He also was the founder, and, till his death, the conductor of the celebrated concerts attached to the conservatoire of Brussels, and he inaugurated a free

series

SERIES (a Latin word from serere, to join)

of lectures on musical history and philosophy. He produced a large quantity of

original

ORIGINAL

compositions, from the opera and the oratorio down to the simple chanson.. But all these are doomed to oblivion. Although not without traces of scholarship and technical ability, they show

total

TOTAL

absence of genius. More important are his writings on music. They are partly historical, such as the Curiosites historiques de la musique (Paris, 1850), and the Histoire universelle de musique (Paris, 18691876); partly theoretical, such as the Methode des methodes de piano (Paris, 1837), written in conjunction with Moscheles. Fetis died at Brussels on the 26th of

March

1871. His valuable library was

purchased

PURCHASED

by the Belgian government and presented to the Brussels Conservatoire. His

work

WORK

as a musical historian was prodigious in quantity, and, in spite of many inaccuracies and some prejudice revealed in it, there can be no question as to its value for the student.

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