Nicholas Mark Temperley (August 7, 1932 – April 8, 2020) was an American

musicologist Musicology is the academic, research-based study of music, as opposed to musical composition or performance. Musicology research combines and intersects with many fields, including psychology, sociology, acoustics, neurology, natural sciences, f ...

of English background. He is known for his pioneering work in British music studies.

Education and career

Born in

Beaconsfield Beaconsfield ( ) is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England, northwest of central London and southeast of Aylesbury. Three other towns are within : Gerrards Cross, Amersham and High Wycombe. The ...

, United Kingdom, Temperley attended

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

from 1945 to 1951. After a year at the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music (RCM) is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including pe ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, he enrolled at

King's College, Cambridge King's College, formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, is a List of colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college lies beside the River Cam and faces ...

in 1952, eventually earning his doctorate there in 1959 with a dissertation entitled "Instrumental Music in England, 1800–1850." Later that year, Temperley began a postdoctoral fellowship at the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...

, which lasted until 1961. After holding positions at Cambridge and

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

, he returned to the University of Illinois, spending the remainder of his career there. He became an American citizen in 1972. Temperley published many journal articles in outlets such as ''

Early Music Early music generally comprises Medieval music (500–1400) and Renaissance music (1400–1600), but can also include Baroque music (1600–1750) or Ancient music (before 500 AD). Originating in Europe, early music is a broad Dates of classical ...

'', the ''

Journal of the American Musicological Society The ''Journal of the American Musicological Society'' is a triannual peer-reviewed academic journal and an official journal of the American Musicological Society. It is published by University of California Press and covers all aspects of musicol ...

'', ''

Music & Letters ''Music & Letters'' is an academic journal published quarterly by Oxford University Press with a focus on musicology. The journal sponsors the Music & Letters Trust, which makes twice-yearly cash awards of variable amounts to support research in t ...

'', ''

The Musical Times ''The Musical Times'' was an academic journal of classical music edited and produced in the United Kingdom. It was originally created by Joseph Mainzer in 1842 as ''Mainzer's Musical Times and Singing Circular'', but in 1844 he sold it to Alfr ...

'', ''

19th-Century Music ''19th-Century Music'' is a triennial academic journal that "covers all aspects of Western art music composed in, leading to, or pointing beyond the "long century" extending roughly from the 1780s to the 1930s." It is published by the University of ...

'', and the ''

Journal of the Royal Musical Association ''Journal of the Royal Musical Association'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal covering fields ranging from historical and critical musicology to theory and analysis, ethnomusicology, and popular music studies. The journal is published by Cambrid ...

''. In addition to his work involving British music of diverse genres, he made important contributions for other composers, including

Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( ; ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...

Berlioz Louis-Hector Berlioz (11 December 1803 – 8 March 1869) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer and conductor. His output includes orchestral works such as the ''Symphonie fantastique'' and ''Harold en Italie, Harold in Italy'' ...

, and Chopin. His reference articles, including dozens authored for ''

The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language '' Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and t ...

'', also demonstrate his wide range. In 1980, his two-volume ''The Music of the English Parish Church'' received the

American Musicological Society The American Musicological Society (AMS) is a musicological organization which researches, promotes and produces publications on music. Founded in 1934, the AMS was begun by leading American musicologists of the time, and was crucial in legiti ...

's Otto Kinkeldey Award for the most distinguished book published in the field during the previous year. From 1978 until 1980 he was the editor-in-chief of the ''Journal of the American Musicological Society''. When the North American British Music Studies Association (NABMSA) formed in 2004, Temperley served as its first president. The prize given for “a student paper of particular merit or excellence” at its biennial conference is named after him.

Books (sole authorship)

* ''Jonathan Gray and Church Music in York, 1770–1840''. Borthwick Papers No. 51. St. Anthony's Press, 1977. . * ''The Music of the English Parish Church''. 2 Vols. Cambridge University Press, 1979. . * ''Haydn: The Creation''. Cambridge Music Handbooks. Cambridge University Press, 1991. . * ''Bound for America: Three British Composers''. Music in American Life''.'' University of Illinois Press, 2003. . * ''Studies in English Church Music''. Variorum Collected Studies. Routledge, 2018. .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Temperley, Nicholas 1932 births 2020 deaths American musicologists Alumni of the Royal College of Music People from Beaconsfield University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign faculty Chopin scholars Haydn scholars Bruckner scholars