Gardiner, William

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Gardiner, William

Gardiner, William, English writer on music; b. Leicester, March 15, 1770; d. there, Nov. 16, 1853. His father, a hosiery manufacturer, was an amateur musician from whom he acquired the rudiments of music. During his travels on the Continent on his father’s business he gathered materials for a collection, Sacred Melodies (1812–38), adapted to English words from works by Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven. His book The Music of Nature (London, 1832) enjoyed a certain vogue. He also publ. memoirs, Music and Friends, or Pleasant Recollections of a Dilettante (3 vols.; I-II, London, 1838; III, 1853) and Sights in Italy, with some Account of the Present State of Music and the Sister Arts in that Country (London, 1847).

Bibliography

J. Wilshire, W. G. of Leicester, 1770–1853 (London, 1970).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire

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