A General History of Music, from the Earliest Times to the Present: Volume 1: Comprising the Lives of Eminent Composers and Musical Writers

The writer, composer and organist Thomas Busby (1754-1838) is best remembered for his highly entertaining Concert Room and Orchestra Anecdotes (1825), which paints a vivid picture of musical life at the time. The son of a coach painter, Busby was originally articled to the composer Jonathan Battishill, but found the experience unrewarding. His compositions (many now lost) include songs, theatre music and oratorios. His literary output included journal articles and monographs, among them A Grammar of Music (also reissued in this series) and A General History of Music. First published in 1819, this two-volume work proved controversial as it was alleged that Busby had plagiarised the great histories of Burney and Hawkins (also available in the Cambridge Library Collection). However, acknowledging his indebtedness to them, Busby provided a popular interpretation of their work for the general reader. Volume 1 covers the period from the ancient Greeks and Romans to the Renaissance and the invention of printing.