Scan 6
Baker's biographical dictionary of musicians, 1919
8 lines. Read by computer on 7 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1PREFACE
3In the preparation of the present edition it was the editor's constant care to maintain the high standard of impartiality, completeness and accuracy that characterized the two earlier editions, and have established Dr. Baker's Dictionary as an authoritative work of reference. The long period (13 years) that has elapsed between this and the last edition accounts for the considerable increase in the size of the book. Besides necessary additions to the older articles room had to be found for some 2000 new biographies. In order to keep the contents within the limits of a single volume a number of the less important earlier musicians have been eliminated. The general reader is not likely to notice their omission; the musicologist will naturally turn to Eitner's Quellenlexikon.
5Regarding the alphabetical arrangement, the following method has been adopted: ae, oe, ue are treated as distinct letters; no distinction is drawn between original vowels (a, o, u) and modified vowels (ä, ö, ü). Thus Schaefer comes before Schäfer. However, in such cases as Forster and Förster, when both forms are represented by several individuals, the names have been divided into two groups, the one with the original vowel preceding. In the case of two or more Christian names the order is determined by the name generally known. Thus Wagner, (Wilhelm) Richard before Wagner, Siegfried.
7The system of transliteration of Russian names adopted for this Dictionary requires some explanation. (1) X is rendered by ch because the velar aspirate which it represents is familiar from the Scotch (loch) and numerous German words (Bach, Bruch, Koch). Furthermore, it was preferred to kh, because in all languages the symbol k uniformly represents the one familiar sound, which is also retained in the combination kh in words of foreign origin (khaki, khan, khedive); whereas no such uniformity can be claimed for ch, even in English (child, chemist, choir, machine, yacht). (2) Ы is transliterated as tch. In the first place, the initial sound is actually t (followed by sh). Then, a practical consideration added great weight: Such forms as Tchaikovsky, Tcherepnin, etc., which have gained general currency in English-speaking countries (in recent years also adopted in several French publications), differ but slightly from Tschaikowsky, Tscherepnin, etc., the form used in all other European countries. The alphabetical arrangement under T, then, is universal. (3) Ы, which represents a sound quite peculiar to Russian (halfway between ē and ü), is transliterated as ý. The usual transliterations as i or y are both inaccurate. (4) For Ж zh suggested itself as the natural transliteration, being the voiced sibilant corresponding to its voiceless mate sh (the identical relation as between z and s). (5) The 'soft' vowels Ы, Й, Я are transliterated as ye, yu, ya when initial, and in the feminine adjective ending (aya); as ie, iu, ia when medial. (6) Ь, technically silent, is by many omitted in transliteration. But it invariably 'softens' the preceding sound, and is actually heard as a very faint fricative. Therefore it is consistently represented by j (zhiznj, vidietj).—Two or three concessions have been made to custom. The famous publisher Yurgenson appears as Jurgenson, because in this form the name is familiar from the title-pages of his publications. Kýí seemed a little too startling (as yet); therefore the French form Cui was retained. In this con-
The computer misreads some letters and numbers. Where a name matters to you, read the scan.