Galpin, Francis W(illiam)
Galpin, Francis W(illiam)
Galpin, Francis W(illiam), English writer on music; b. Dorchester, Dorset, Dec. 25, 1858; d. Richmond, Surrey, Dec. 30, 1945. He graduated with classical honors from Trinity Coll., Cambridge (B.A., 1882; M.A., 1885), and received his music education from Garrett and Sterndale Bennett. He held various posts as vicar and canon (1891–1921). He wrote many articles on early instruments for Music & Letters and Monthly Musical Record (1930–33). A Galpin Soc. was formed in London in 1946 with the object of bringing together all those interested in the history of European instruments and to commemorate the pioneer work of Galpin; it publishes the Galpin Society Journal (1948 et seq.). In addition to his numerous monographs, Galpin was the editor of the revised and augmented ed. of Stainer’s Music of the Bible (1913).
Writings
Descriptive Catalogue of the European Instruments in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, N.Y. (1902); The Musical Instruments of the American Indians of the North West Coast (1903); Notes on the Roman Hydraulus (1904); The Evolution of the Sackbut (1907); Old English Instruments of Music (1910; 4th ed., rev., 1965, by T. Dart); A Textbook of European Musical Instruments (1937); The Music of the Sumerians, Babylonians and Assyrians (1937); The Music of Electricity (1938).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire