Scan 117
Groves Dictionary Of Music And Musicians,vol.1 Ed.3, 1904
35 lines. Read by computer on 18 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1ALTÈS
3ALTÈS, (1) ERNEST EUGÈNE (b. Paris, Mar. 28, 1830; d. Saint-Dyé-sur-Loire, July 2, 1899), violinist and conductor of the Opéra and of concerts in Paris. In 1843 he entered Habeneck's violin class. From 1846 onwards he played in the Opéra band, and in 1847 was admitted to the orchestra of the Société des Concerts du Conservatoire. A conductor of the average type, he became deputy conductor to the above-named society (1870), afterwards second conductor, as well as at the Opéra in 1877. There he was raised to the post of musical director (first conductor), 1880-87, and was decorated with the Légion d'Honneur in 1881. He composed chamber music, a symphony, a divertissement on ballet airs by Auber (Centenary 1882), operatic fantasias, etc.
5(2) JOSEPH HENRI (1826-95), elder brother of the above, was a well-known flute-player.
7A. J. and M. L. P.
9ALTFLOTE, BASS FLUTE, see FLUTE (6).
10ALTHORN. The name used somewhat indiscriminately for varieties of FLÜGEL-HORN, TENOR-HORN and SAXHORN.
12ALTMANN, WILHELM, D.Phil. (b. Adelnau, Apr. 4, 1862), became librarian of the Royal Library in Berlin in 1900, and director of the music department in the same library (1914). Altmann has done much work as a critic and editor. He took part in editing the correspondence of both Wagner and Brahms. He has also brought out editions of various classical works (Riemann), and produced valuable catalogues, including a Kummermusik-Literatur-Verzeichnis (1910, 1918) and an Orchester-Literatur-Katalog (1919). He holds a prominent place among modern German research students.
14ALTNIKOL, JOHANN CHRISTOPH (b. Berna, near Seidenberg; d. July 25, 1759), was a pupil of J. S. Bach in Leipzig from 1744.
16A letter from Altnikol, Jan. 1744 (pub. Bach-Jahrbuch, 1912, p. 147), states that he had been for four years 'choralis' in the church of St. Maria Magdalena, at Breslau, was anxious to return to his fatherland, 'und zwar nach Leipzig.' He craves a 'milden Viaticum' to help him. On Jan. 23, 1744, he was awarded four thalers. These facts would place his arrival in Leipzig in 1744, not 1745 as Spitta has it. He was assistant bass singer at St. Thomas's and St. Nicholas's Churches in Leipzig from Michaelmas 1745 to May 19, 1747. (Spitta, Ger. ed. ii. 500, n.) He was recommended by W. F. Bach, but without success, as his successor in the organistship of the Sophien-Kirche, Dresden (Apr. 16, 1746), and is then described as studying the clavier and composition with J. S. Bach (Martin Falck, W. F. Bach, 1919.) On Bach's recommendation, he was appointed organist at Niederwiesa near Greifenberg in 1747, and of S. Wenceslaus, Naumburg, in 1748. With regard to this latter appointment it appears that Bach's recommendation was preferred to that of Count Brühl, whose candidate was Joh. Friedrich Gräbner of Dresden. Altnikol when appointed was described as organist and 'Kollege' at Greifenberg. On his death Gräbner succeeded him in the organistship of S. Wenceslaus (B.-J., 1906, p. 131). He married Bach's daughter, Elisabeth Juliane Friderike, on Jan. 20, 1749. Altnikol was a candidate together with W. F. Bach for the vacant organ in the Johannes-Kirche, Zittau, in 1753. The Berlin Staatsbibl. contains two clavier sonatas in autograph, and a church cantata; the Singakademie of the same city possesses a 5-part motet; and in the Fitzwilliam Museum at Cambridge is a 4-part Ricercare. His compositions further include a Magnificat and Hallelujah, but none of his works was printed, and his completion of J. S. Bach's last MS. is his chief claim to fame.
18M.; addns. C. S. T.
20ALTO (1) (Lat. altus, high), the term used to denote certain voices of men (also called counter-tenor) and women (see CONTRALTO). The male alto has to obtain the requisite compass from about f' to c'' by the use of the FALSETTO (q.v.), his natural voice being either tenor or bass. The voice is used principally in English cathedral choirs. In the performance of certain glees and partsongs for men's voices it takes the highest part.
22(2) The Italian and French term for the TENOR violin, called alto, or alto di viola, as distinguished from basso di viola, because, before the invention, or at least before the general adoption of the violin, it used to take the highest part in compositions for string instruments, corresponding with the soprano part in vocal music. For further particulars see VIOLA.
24P. D.
26ALTO CLARINET, see CLARINET (3).
27ALTO FLUTE, see FLUTE (5).
28ALTPOSAUNE, ALTO TROMBONE, see TROMBONE, subsection Positions and Compass.
30ALTRA VOLTA (Ital.), 'another turn,' a term in use during the early part of the 18th century for ENCORE (q.v.).
32ALVARENGA, FRANCISCO XAVIER DE MATOS PEREIRA (b. Feb. 11, 1844; d. Mar. 8, 1883), a Portuguese composer of comic operas, in the manner of Offenbach. His works, though of no particular merit, enjoyed considerable success at Lisbon and Oporto. J. B. T.
34ALVAREZ, ALBERT RAYMOND (b. Bordeaux, 1861), operatic tenor. Studied in Paris; made his début at Ghent, and sang some years in Belgium and the French provinces before appearing at the Paris Opéra as Faust in 1892. His robust voice and physique and unusual histrionic ability won him success in some sixty romantic parts; among others he created
The computer misreads some letters and numbers. Where a name matters to you, read the scan.