Books › A biographical dictionary of musicians, 1905 › scan 27
Scan 27
A biographical dictionary of musicians, 1905
16 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 15. See the scan on archive.org.
1donna, Le tre cinture, Die Siegesfahne, Der Kanonenschuss, etc.) [RIEMANN].
3Ama'ti, a renowned family of violin-makers at Cremona, Italy. (1) Andrea, b. 1520 (?), d. 1577 (?), was the first violin-maker of the family; his violins were usually of small pattern, but show a marked advance over the Brescia instr.s.—His 2 sons (2), Antonio, b. 1550, d. 1635, and (3) Geronimo, d. 1638, worked for a time together, producing violins of nearly the same style as their father.—(4) Niccolò, b. Sept. 3, 1596; d. Aug. 12, 1684, the most celebrated of the Amatis, improved the model in several respects, and, though generally working with a small pattern, built some so-called "grand Amatis"—large violins of more powerful tone, and in great request. The tone of his instr.s is clearer, purer, and more sonorous than in those of his predecessors. His label is "Nicolaus Amati Cremonens. Hieronimi filius Antonii nepos. Fecit anno 16—." In his workshop were trained both Andrea Guarneri and Antonio Stradivari.—(5) Niccolò's son Geronimo, the last of the family, was far inferior to his father as a workman.
5Ama'ti, Vincenzo (called Amatus), Dr. of theol., and m. di capp. at Palermo cathedral abt. 1665; b. Cimmina, Sicily, Jan. 6, 1629; d. Palermo, July 29, 1670. Publ. sacred comp.s, and the opera L'Isauro (Aquila, 1664).
7Ama'ti, Antonio and Angelo, organ-builders at Pavia abt. 1830.
9Am'bros, August Wilhelm, distinguished musical historiograph and critic; b. Mauth, n. Prague, Nov. 17, 1816; d. Vienna, June 28, 1876; divided his student-years at Prague Univ. between law and music; was app. Public Prosecutor at Prague in 1850, but continued his musical work and study, and in 1856 attracted general notice by his essay on "Die Grenzen der Musik und Poesie" (2nd ed. Leipzig, 1885; Engl. transl. N. Y., 1893), a study in mus. aesthetics put forth in reply to Hanslick's "Vom Musikalisch-Schönen," and a treatise of high and lasting value as a corrective to Hanslick's extreme views. This was followed by "Culturhistorische Bilder aus dem Musikleben der Gegenwart" (1860; 2d ed. Leipzig, 1865), a collection of admirable essays; he was then (1860) engaged by Leuckart of Breslau (now in Leipzig) to write a History of Music, his principal work, and a life-task destined to render him famous. In 1869 he was app. prof. of music, Prague Univ., and prof. of mus. history at Prague Cons.; 1872, app. to a position in the Ministry of Justice, Vienna, and also prof. in the Cons. at Vienna. In gathering the materials necessary for the history, he spent years of labor in the libraries of Munich, Vienna, and several Italian cities, having leave of absence for this purpose, and likewise a grant of money from the Vienna Academy. Vol. iii, down to Palestrina, appeared 1868; A. died before completing the fourth, which was edited from his notes and materials by C. F. Becker and G. Nottebohm; a fifth vol. was published (1882) by O. Kade from further collected materials, and W. Langhans has written a sequel, in a more popular style, bringing the work up to date (2 vol.s, 1882-6). A list of names and general index were also published by W. Bäumker in 1882. A 2nd ed. (Leuckart, Leipzig, 1880) of the original 4 vol.s has been printed; contents: Vol. i, The Beginnings of Music, Mus. of the Antique World, of the Greeks, etc.; Vol. ii, from the Christian era down to the First Flemish School; Vol. iii, from the Netherlanders to Palestrina; Vol. iv, Palestrina, his contemporaries and immediate successors. Vol. i has been rewritten, not wholly to its advantage, by B. Sokolovsky. Vol.s ii and iii are of peculiar value. Two series of entertaining essays, "Bunte Blätter" (1872-74), are interesting to either amateurs or professionals. Ambros was also an excellent practical musician, being a fine pianist, and the composer of an opera, Bretislav a Jitka, overtures to Othello and the Magico prodigioso, several piano-pcs., numerous songs, and 2 masses, a Stabat Mater, etc.
11Ambrose (Ambrosius), b. Trier (Trèves), A.D. 333; d. Milan, Apr. 4, 397; elected Bishop of Milan in 374; canonized after death. Celebrated for his regulation (384) and development of singing in the Western Churches, by the introduction and cultivation of ritual (antiphonal and congregational) song, as practised at the time in the Eastern Church, and by the consequent adoption of the 4 authentic church-modes; his indisputable authorship of many sacred songs has earned him the title of "Father of Christian Hymnology." It does not appear that St. Ambrose was acquainted with the use of the letters A-G as signs of notation; his reputed authorship of the "Ambr. Chant," Te Deum laudamus, is mythical.
13Am'(m)erbach, Elias Nikolaus, contrapunctist and organist; b. abt. 1540; d. Leipzig, Jan. 27, 1597. In 1560 was organist of the Thomaskirche, Leipzig; publ. (Leipzig, 1571) an "Orgel- oder Instrument-Tabulatur," a work important as bearing historical witness to the progress in the practice of tuning, the fingering of keyboard-instr.s, and the execution of graces, etc. (described by Becker, "Die Hausmusik in Deutschland," Leipzig, 1840); and "Ein neu künstlich Tabulaturbuch" (1573; 2nd ed., 1583). Also printed many comp.s for organ and clavichord.
15Amiot, Father, b. Toulon, 1718, Jesuit missionary to China; transl. Li Koang Ti's work on Chinese music: "Commentaire sur le livre classique touchant la musique des anciens"; also wrote "Mémoire sur la musique des Chinois, tant anciens que modernes" (Vol. vi of "Mémoires concernant l'histoire, les sciences, les arts, etc., des Chinois"; Paris, 1780, 15 vol.s, edited by Abbé Rouffier). Died Pekin, 1794.
The computer misreads some letters and numbers. Where a name matters to you, read the scan.