Budden, Julian (Midf orth)

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Budden, Julian (Midf orth)

Budden, Julian (Midf orth), English musicologist; b. Holylake, Cheshire, April 9, 1924. He was educated at Queen’s Coll., Oxford (B.A., 1948; M.A., 1951) and the Royal Coll. of Music, London (B.Mus., 1955); from 1951 he worked for the BBC, serving as a producer for music programs (1955–70), chief producer for opera (1970–76), and music organizer for external services (1976–83). His studies of 19th-century Italian opera are important; especially valuable is The Operas of Verdi (3 vols., London, 1973–81; rev. éd., 1992). He also publ. the biography Verdi (London, 1985; rev. ed., 1993). In 1991 he received the Order of the British Empire.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire