(Eugène) Arnold Dolmetsch (24 February 1858 - 28 February 1940), was a French-born musician and instrument maker who spent much of his working life in England and established an instrument-making workshop in Haslemere, Surrey. He was a leading figure in the twentieth century revival of interest in early music. February 24 is the 55th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1858 is a common year starting on Friday. ... February 28 is the 59th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... A musician is a person who plays or composes music. ... Wikimedia Commons has media related to: England Inter. ... Haslemere is a town in southern England, with a population of nearly 14,000. ... Early music is European classical music before the classical music era and after Ancient music. ...

Dolmetsch's early life

The Dolmetsch family was originally of Bohemian origin, but (Eugène) Arnold Dolmetsch, the son of Rudolph Arnold Dolmetsch and his wife Marie Zélie (née Guillouard) was born at Le Mans, France, where the family had established a piano-making business. It was in the family's workshops that Dolmetsch acquired the skills of instrument-making that would later be put to use in his early music workshops. Le Mans is a city in France, located at the Sarthe River. ...

He studied music at The Brussels Conservatoire and learnt the violin with Henri Vieuxtemps. In 1883 he travelled to London to attend the Royal College of Music, where he studied under Henry Holmes and Frederick Bridge, being awarded a Bachelor of Music degree in 1889. Henri François Joseph Vieuxtemps (February 17, 1820 – June 6, 1881) was a Belgian composer and violinist active in France. ... 1883 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... The Royal College of Music from Prince Consort Road, London The front facade of the RCM The Royal College of Music is a prestigious music school located in Kensington, London. ... 1889 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ...

The Early Music Revival

Dolmetsch was employed for a short time as a music teacher at Dulwich College, but his interest in early instruments was awakened by seeing the collections of historic instruments in the British Museum, and, after constructing his first reproduction of a lute in 1893, he began building clavichords and harpsichords for Chickering of Boston (1905–1911), then for Gaveau of Paris (1911–1914). Dulwich College gates Dulwich College is an independent, fee-paying school, called a public school in the UK, in Dulwich, south-east London, England. ... The main entrance to the British Museum The British Museum in London is the United Kingdoms - and one of the worlds - largest and most important museums of human history and culture. ... The lute is a plucked string instrument with a fretted neck and a deep round back. ... Image:Clavichord. ... Harpsichord in Flemish style; for more info, click the image. ...

He went on to establish an instrument-making workshop in Haslemere, Surrey and proceeded to build copies of almost every kind of instrument dating from the fifteenth to eighteenth centuries, including viols, lutes, recorders and a range of keyboard instruments. His 1915 book The Interpretation of the Music of the XVIIth and XVIIIth Centuries was a milestone in the development of authentic performances of early music. Haslemere is a town in southern England, with a population of nearly 14,000. ... Surrey is a county in southern England, part of the South East England region and one of the Home Counties. ... Various sizes of viol, from Michael Praetorius Syntagma musicum (1618) The viol or viola da gamba is a family of musical instruments and is related to and descending from the vihuela, rebec. ... The lute is a plucked string instrument with a fretted neck and a deep round back. ... Various recorders The recorder is a flute-like woodwind musical instrument. ... A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument played with a musical keyboard. ... 1915 (MCMXV) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ...

In 1925 he founded an annual chamber music festival, the International Dolmetsch Early Music Festival, which is held every July at Haslemere, in the Haslemere Hall. 1925 (MCMXXV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Dolmetsch was active in the cultural life of London, and his friends and admirers included William Morris, Selwyn Image, Roger Fry, Gabriele d'Annunzio, George Bernard Shaw, Ezra Pound , George Moore whose novel Evelyn Innes, celebrates Dolmetsch's life and work, and W. B. Yeats. This page is about William Morris, the writer, designer and socialist. ... Selwyn Image (1849 – 1930) was a British clergyman, designer and poet. ... Roger Eliot Fry (14 December 1866 - 9 September 1934) was an English artist and critic, and a member of the Bloomsbury group. ... Gabriele DAnnunzio (12 March 1863 – 1 March 1938) was an Italian poet, writer, dramatist, daredevil and war hero, who went on to have a controversial role in politics as a precursor of the fascist movement. ... George Bernard Shaw (July 26, 1856 – November 2, 1950) was an Irish playwright and winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1925. ... Ezra Pound in 1913. ... There are several notable people named George Moore: G. E. Moore (George Edward Moore), (1873-1958), British Philosopher and early colleague of Bertrand Russell George Moore, champion Australian jockey George A. Moore, (George Augustus Moore) (1852-1933), Irish novelist George F. Moore, American military officer (1887-1949) George Fletcher Moore... A 1907 engraving of Yeats. ...

He was responsible for rediscovering the school of English composers for viol consort (including John Jenkins and William Lawes), leading to Sir Henry Hadow's tribute that Dolmetsch had "opened the door to a forgotten treasure-house of beauty". He was also largely responsible for the revival of the recorder, both as a serious concert instrument, and as an instrument which made early music accessible to amateur performers. He went on to promote the recorder as an instrument for teaching music in schools. A consort is somebodys spouse, usually a royalty. ... John Jenkins (1592-1678), English composer, was born in Maidstone, Kent, and died at Kimberley, Norfolk. ... William Lawes (1602–1645) was an English composer and musician. ... Various recorders The recorder is a flute-like woodwind musical instrument. ...

In 1937 he received a British Civil list pension and in 1938 he was created a chevalier of the Légion d'honneur by the French government. A civil list is a list of individuals to whom money is paid by the government. ... 1938 (MCMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... Knights badge of the Legion of Honour The Légion dhonneur (Legion of Honor (AmE) or Legion of Honour (ComE)) is an Order of Chivalry first established by Napoléon Bonaparte, First Consul of the French Republic, on May 19, 1802. ...

The Dolmetsch family

Arnold Dolmetsch was married three times. On 28 May 1878 he married Marie Morel of Namur, France (a widow, ten years his senior) but was divorced in 1898. His second wife, to whom he was married on 11 September 1899, in Zürich, was Elodie Désirée, the divorced wife of his brother. This marriage ended in divorce in 1903. Thirdly, he was married on 23 September 1903 to Mabel Johnston, one of his pupils. May 28 is the 148th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (149th in leap years). ... 1878 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Namur is the name of a city in Belgium, capital of Wallonia, as well as a province and a diocese named after it. ... September 11 is the 254th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (255th in leap years). ... 1899 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... Location within Switzerland â–¶(?) (German pronunciation IPA: ; in English often Zurich, without the umlaut) is the largest city in Switzerland (population: 366,145 in 2004; population of urban area: 1,091,732) and capital of the canton of Zürich. ... 1903 (MCMIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... September 23 is the 266th day of the year (267th in leap years). ... 1903 (MCMIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ...

Dolmetsch encouraged the members of his family to learn the skills of instrument-making and musicianship and the family frequently appeared together in concerts, playing instruments constructed in the Dolmetsch workshops. Following the death of Arnold Dolmetsch at Haslemere in 1942, his family continued to promote the building and playing of early instruments. This article is about the year. ...

• Mabel Dolmetsch, his wife, was a noted player of the bass viol.
• Rudolph Dolmetsch, his son, was a gifted keyboard player, who lost his life during World War II.
• Nathalie Dolmetsch, his daughter, was a viol player and leading member of the Viola da Gamba Society.
• Carl Frederick Dolmetsch, his son, was a noted recorder player and took over the running of his father's instrument-making business.
• Cecile Dolmetsch, his daughter, was a viol player.

World War II was a truly global conflict with many facets: immense human suffering, fierce indoctrination, and the use of new, extremely devastating weapons such as the atom bomb. ...

References

• H. C. G. Matthews and Brian Harrison (editors): The Oxford Dictionary of national Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004. ISBN 0198613660
• Percy Scholes: "The Oxford Companion to Music", 10th Edition, Oxford University Press, 1970

Percy Alfred Scholes (1877–1958) was a musician, journalist and prolific writer, whose best-known achievement was the compilation of the Oxford Companion to Music. ...

External link

• The Dolmetsch Story at dolmetsch online Captured March 2, 2005.

• The Dolmetsch Historical Dance Society Founded 1970 in memory of Mabel Dolmetsch