François-Joseph Fétis (March 25, 1784 — March 26, 1871), Belgian musicologist, composer, critic and teacher. He was one of the most influential music critics of the 19th century, and his enormous compilation of biographical data in the Biographie universelle des musiciens remains an important source of information today. March 25 is the 84th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (85th in leap years). ... 1784 was a leap year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... March 26 is the 85th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (86th in leap years). ... 1871 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... A musicologist is someone who studies musicology. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ...

He was born in Mons, Hainaut, 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. The central square and town hall of Mons This article is about the city in Belgium. ... Hainaut (Dutch: Henegouwen) is the westernmost province of Wallonia. ...

In 1800 he went to Paris and completed his studies at the Conservatory under such masters as Boïeldieu, Rey and Pradher. --66. ... The Eiffel Tower has become a symbol of Paris throughout the world. ...

In 1806 he undertook the revision of the Roman liturgical chants in the hope of discovering and establishing their original form. In this year he also began his Biographie universelle des musiciens, the most important of his works, which did not appear until 1834. 1806 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... 1834 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ...

In 1821 he was appointed professor at the Paris Conservatory. In 1827 he founded the Revue musicale, the first serious paper in France devoted exclusively to musical matters. Fétis remained in the French capital till in 1833, at the request of Leopold I, he became director of the conservatory of Brussels and the king’s chapelmaster. 1821 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... 1827 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... 1833 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Leopold I, first King of the Belgians, (December 16, 1790 - December 10, 1865), was born in Ehrenburg Castle in the Bavarian town of Coburg, and named Georges Chrétien Frédéric. ... Emblem of the Brussels-Capital Region Flag of The City of Brussels Brussels (Dutch: Brussel, French: Bruxelles, German: Brüssel) is the capital of Belgium and is considered by many to be the de facto capital of the European Union, as two of its three main institutions have their headquarters...

He also was the founder, and, till his death, the conductor of the celebrated concerts attached to the conservatory of Brussels, and he inaugurated a free series of lectures on musical history and philosophy. He produced a large quantity of original compositions, from the opera and the oratorio down to the simple chanson. This article is about opera as an art form. ... An oratorio is a large musical composition for orchestra, vocal soloists and chorus. ... Chanson is a French word for song, and in English-language contexts is often applied to any song with French words, particularly a cabaret song. ...

More important perhaps than his compositions are his writings on music. They are partly historical, such as the Curiosités historiques de la musique (Paris, 1850), and the Histoire universelle de musique (Paris, 1869—1876); partly theoretical, such as the Méthode des méthodes de piano (Paris, 1837), written in conjunction with Moscheles. Some of his criticisms of contemporary composers have become quite famous. He said of Berlioz, "...what Monsieur Berlioz composes is not part of that art which we distinguish as music, and I am completely certain that he lacks the most basic capability in this art." In the Revue musicale issue of February 1, 1835 he wrote of the Symphonie Fantastique, "[Berlioz] had no taste for melody, and but the feeblest notion of rhythm; his harmonies, formed by heaping up piles of tones in the most monstrous way, still managed to be flat and utterly boring." Ignaz Moscheles (1794 - 1870) was a Bohemian composer and piano virtuoso. ... Portrait of Berlioz by Signol, 1832 Louis Hector Berlioz (December 11, 1803 – March 8, 1869) was a French Romantic composer best known for the Symphonie Fantastique, first performed in 1830, and for his Requiem of 1837, with its tremendous resources that include four antiphonal brass choirs. ... 1835 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... Symphonie Fantastique (Fantastic Symphony) is a symphony written by Hector Berlioz in 1830. ...

While Fétis' critical opinions of contemporary music may seem reactionary, his musicological work was ground-breaking, and unusual for the 19th century in attempting to avoid an ethnocentric and present-centered viewpoint. Unlike many others at the time, he did not see music history as a continuum of increasing excellence, moving towards a goal, but rather as something which was continually changing, neither becoming better nor worse, but continually adapting to new conditions. He believed that all cultures and times created art and music which were appropriate to their times and conditions; and he began a close study of Renaissance music as well as European folk music and music of non-European cultures. Thus Fétis built the foundation for what would later be termed comparative ethnomusicology. Renaissance music is classical music written during the Renaissance period, approximately 1400 to 1600 CE. Defining the end of the period is easier than defining the beginning, since there were no revolutionary shifts in musical thinking at the beginning of the 15th century corresponding to the sudden development of the...

Fétis died in Brussels. His valuable library was purchased by the Belgian government and presented to the Brussels conservatory. His historical works, despite many inaccuracies, remain of great value for historians. Emblem of the Brussels-Capital Region Flag of The City of Brussels Brussels (Dutch: Brussel, French: Bruxelles, German: Brüssel) is the capital of Belgium and is considered by many to be the de facto capital of the European Union, as two of its three main institutions have their headquarters...

This entry is based on the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica article. (Redirected from 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica) The Eleventh Edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica (1911) in many ways represents the sum of knowledge at the beginning of the 20th century. ...