Fétis

Fétis, FRANÇOIS JOSEPH, Belgian musician, also critic and historian of music, was born at Mons on 25th March 1784. His first appointment was that of organist and professor of music at Douai (1813). He then held successively the post of professor of counterpoint and fugue at the Paris Conservatory (1821), and that of director of the Brussels Conservatory (1833), combining with this last the office of musical director to the king of the Belgians. He died at Brussels, 25th March 1871. He wrote a considerable quantity of music, including operas and sacred music; but he is principally noticed for his works on the theory of music—Traité de l'Accompagnement de la Partition (1829), Treatise on the Theory and Practice of Harmony (1844), and Treatise on Counterpoint and Fugue (1824). But even more valuable than these are his Universal Biography of Musicians (1835-44; 2d ed. 1860-65), and General History of Music (1869-76). These books, although not free from careless errors, especially in chronology, and although marred by the writer's bias and partiality, are nevertheless of great value to the historian of music.