Robert Donington (4 May 1907 – 20 January 1990) was an English

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 ...

and instrumentalist. He was influential in the

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 ...

movement and in Wagner studies.

Life and career

Robert Donington was born on 4 May 1907 in

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

, Englands, UK. was educated at St Paul's School, London, and studied at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

. His expert knowledge of early instruments and the interpretation of pre-classical music owed much to a period of study with Arnold Dolmetsch at

Haslemere The town of Haslemere () and the villages of Shottermill and Grayswood are in south-west Surrey, England, around south-west of London. Together with the settlements of Hindhead and Beacon Hill (Hindhead, Surrey), Beacon Hill, they comprise ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

. He was appointed OBE in the 1979 Birthday Honours. He died in Firle,

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

on 20 January 1990 at the age of 82.

Selected publications

Books

* ''The Instruments of Music'' (1949). * ''Tempo and Rhythm in Bach's Organ Music'' (1960). * ''The Interpretation of Early Music'' (1963). * ''Wagner's Ring and its Symbols'' (1963). * ''String playing in baroque music'', with recorded illustrations by

Yehudi Menuhin Yehudi Menuhin, Baron Menuhin (22 April 191612 March 1999), was an American-born British violinist and conductor who spent most of his performing career in Britain. He is widely considered one of the greatest violinists of the 20th century. ...

, George Malcolm, (1977). * ''A performer's guide to baroque music'' (1973). * ''The Rise of Opera'' (1981). * ''Baroque Music: Style and Performance, a Handbook'' (1982). * ''Opera and its symbols : the unity of words, music, and staging'' (1990).

Articles

* The Psychology of ''Tristan'', ''Times Literary Supplement'', 18 June 1971, pp 699–700

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Donington, Robert 1907 births 1990 deaths English musicologists Officers of the Order of the British Empire 20th-century British musicologists Musicians from Leeds People from Firle Wagner scholars