''The Musical Times'' is an
academic journal
An academic journal or scholarly journal is a periodical publication in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. Academic journals serve as permanent and transparent forums for the presentation, scrutiny, and ...
of
classical music
Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" al ...
edited and produced in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...
and currently the oldest such journal still being published in the country.
It was originally created by
Joseph Mainzer
Joseph Mainzer (21 October 1801 – 10 November 1851) was a German music teacher, who spent the last period of his life in the United Kingdom, promoting a vision of choral singing for the masses, as part of the singing-class movement.
Life
Bor ...
in 1842 as ''Mainzer's Musical Times and Singing Circular'', but in 1844 he sold it to
Joseph Alfred Novello (who also founded ''
The Musical World'' in 1836), and it was published monthly by the
Novello and Co. (also owned by Alfred Novello at the time).. It first appeared as ''The Musical Times and Singing Class Circular'', a name which was retained until 1903. From the very beginning, every issue - initially just eight pages - contained a simple piece of choral music (alternating secular and sacred), which choral society members subscribed to collectively for the sake of the music.
Its title was shortened to its present name from January 1904. Even during World War II it continued to be published regularly, making it the world's oldest continuously published periodical devoted to western classical music. In 1947 a two volume compilation of material from the first 100 years of the magazine, edited by
Percy Scholes, was published.
The journal originally appeared monthly but is now a quarterly publication. It is available online at
JSTOR
JSTOR (; short for ''Journal Storage'') is a digital library founded in 1995 in New York City. Originally containing digitized back issues of academic journals, it now encompasses books and other primary sources as well as current issues of j ...
and
RILM Abstracts of Music Literature Full Text.
Past editors
*
Joseph Alfred Novello (1844–1863). Founding editor from 1844 to 1853, then again from 1856 until 1863. Son of
Vincent Novello
Vincent Novello (6 September 17819 August 1861), was an English musician and music publisher born in London. He was a chorister and organist, but he is best known for bringing to England many works now considered standards, and with his son he cr ...
.
*
Mary Cowden Clarke (1809–1898).
[ The sister of Alfred Novello, she was editor from 1853 to 1856. Cowden Clarke wrote a long series of articles called 'Music among the Poets'. She induced her friend Leigh Hunt to contribute.
* Henry Charles Lunn (1817-1894).][ Over his 24 year editorship (1863-1887) Lunn developed ''The Musical Times'' into a periodical of considerable importance. He was particularly noted for his coverage of provincial festivals.
* William Alexander Barrett (1834–1891).][ Editor, 1887–1891. Barrett was an organist and composer, and from 1869 until 1891 chief music critic of '' The Morning Post''.
* Edgar Frederick Jacques (1850–1906).][ Editor from 1892 until March 1897. A music critic, and from 1888 proprietor of ''The Musical World'' until its demise in 1891.
* Frederick George Edwards (1853–1909).][Hughes, Meirion. ''The English Musical Renaissance and the Press 1850-1914: Watchmen of Music''] Respected adjudicator and inspector of music for schools. He wrote a series of articles on cathedrals and their musical associations.
* Harvey Grace (1874–1944). Long-serving editor from 1918 until his death in 1944. Brought an interest in contemporary developments in composition to ''The Musical Times''. Pen name 'Feste'.
* William McNaught (1883–1953). Editor from March 1944 until his death in 1953. Son of William Gray McNaught. He continued to develop the contemporary music coverage.
* Martin Cooper. Editor from 1953–1956.
* Harold Rutland (1900-1977). Editor, 1957–1960. Pianist, critic and composer.
* Robin Hull (1907–1960). Editor, 1960. He started as Assistant Editor in October 1958, became Editor in April 1960, died on 6 August 1960, aged 53.
* Andrew Porter (1928–2015). Editor, 1960–1967.
* Stanley Sadie
Stanley John Sadie (; 30 October 1930 – 21 March 2005) was an influential and prolific British musicologist, music critic, and editor. He was editor of the sixth edition of the '' Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' (1980), which was pub ...
(1930–2005). Editor, 1967–1987.
* Alison Latham. Co-editor, 1977–1988.
* Andrew Clements. Editor, 1987–1988.
* Eric Wen. Editor, 1988–1990.
* Basil Ramsey (1929–2018). Editor, 1990-1992.Dickinson, Peter. Basil Ramsey obituary, ''The Guardian'', 24 July, 2018
/ref>
* Antony Bye. Editor from 1992.
References
External links
''The Musical Times''
on Blogger;
''The Musical Times''
from 1845 to 1854 at the ''Emeroteca Digitale Italiana''.
The Musical Times
{{DEFAULTSORT:Musical Times, The
Publications established in 1844
Quarterly journals
Music journals
Music magazines published in the United Kingdom