Donald Jay Grout (September 28, 1902 – March 9, 1987) 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 ...

. He is best known as the author of ''A Short History of Opera,'' first published in 1947. The fourth edition was published by Columbia University Press in 2003.

Early life and education

Grout was born in Rock Rapids, Iowa. He attended

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...

and graduated with a degree in

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

in 1923. He took his Ph.D. at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

in 1939. He taught at Harvard from 1936 to 1942, at the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2 ...

from 1942 to 1945 and at

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

until 1970.Jones, Gaynor G., and Claude V. Palisca
"Grout, Donald J(ay)"
Grove Music Online, Oxford University Press, retrieved 23 March 2018

Career

Early in his career, Grout's main body of research was in

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

. After 1960 he became more interested in philosophies of music history, due in large part to his publication of a general music history textbook, '' A History of Western Music''. A ninth edition of the book was published in 2014; after Grout's death, the new editions were revised by Claude Palisca and J. Peter Burkholder. Grout also performed as a pianist and organist until the early 1950s. He served as editor of '' JAMS'' from 1948 to 1951, and was president of 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 ...

(1952–1954, 1960–1962) and the International Musicological Society (1961–1964). A reassessment of Grout's historiography was published in 2011 in the inaugural volume of ''Journal of Music History Pedagogy''.Kristy Johns Swift.
"Grappling with Donald J. Grout's Essays on Music Historiography"
''Journal of Music History Pedagogy''], 1 (2011)

Bibliography

*''The Origins of the "opéra comique"'' (diss., Harvard U., 1939) *''A Short History of Opera'' (New York, 1947, revised 3rd edition 1988 by H.W. Williams; 4th edition by Hermine Weigel Williams, published by Columbia University Press, 2003 ) *''A History of Western Music'' (New York, 1960, 7th ed, 2005 with J. Peter Burkholder) *''Mozart in the History of Opera'' (Washington DC, 1972) *''Principles and Practice in the Writing of Music History'' (Brussels: Paleis der Academiën, 1972) *''Alessandro Scarlatti: An Introduction to his Operas'' (Berkeley, 1979)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grout, Donald Jay 1902 births 1987 deaths Cornell University faculty International Musicological Society presidents Syracuse University alumni Harvard University alumni 20th-century American musicologists