Kidson, Frank
Kidson, Frank
Kidson, Frank, English music scholar; b. Leeds, Nov. 15, 1855; d. there, Nov. 7, 1926. Originally a landscape painter, he became interested in historical studies and collected English, Scottish, and Irish folk songs and dance melodies. He subsequently became one of the founders of the Folk-Song Soc. (1898), and also studied the history of British music publishing. His most significant editions include Old English Country Dances Gathered from Scarce Printed Collections and from Manuscripts (London, 1890), Songs of Britain (London and N.Y., 1913), A Garland of English Folk-songs (London, 1926), and English Peasant Songs with Their Traditional Airs (London, 1929). His writings include English Folksong and Dance (Cambridge, 1915) and The Beggar’s Opera: Its Predecessors and Successors (Cambridge, 1922).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire