Coussemaker, (Charles-) Edmond (-Henri) de

Coussemaker, (Charles-) Edmond (-Henri) de , French music scholar; b. Bailleul, Nord, April 19, 1805; d. Bourbourg, Jan. 10, 1876. He studied music as a child. His main profession was the law; while studying law at the Univ. of Paris, he took private lessons with Pellegrini in singing and Anton Reicha in harmony. He continued his studies with Lefebvre in Douai, after becoming a practicing lawyer. At this time (1831–35) he found leisure to compose music of the most varied description, all of which, with the exception of a few romances and two sets of songs, is unpubl., and apparently lost. His interest in history and archaeology led him to the study of the authentic documents of music; he was also influenced by the scholarly articles in La Gazette et Revue Musicale (then ed. by Fetis). During successive terms as judge in Hazebrouck, Dunkirk, and Lille, he continued to accumulate knowledge of musical documentation; he assembled a vast library; 1,075 items in his library are listed in the Catalogue des livres, manuscrits et instruments de musique du feu M. Charles Coussemaker (Brussels, 1877; issued for an auction).

Writings

Memoire sur Hucbald (1841); Notice sur les collections musicales de la bibliotheque de Cambrai… (1843); Histoire de I’harmonie au moyen-dge (1852); Trois chants historiques (1854); Chants populaires des Flamands de France (1856); Drames liturgicjues du moyen-dge (1860); Les Harmonistes des XIIe et XIII siecles (1865); Scriptorum de musica medii aevi nova series (4 vols., 1864–76; new ed., Graz, 1908); L’Art harmonique aux XIF et XIIF siedes(l865); OEuvres completes d’Adam de la Halle (1872); etc.

Bibliography

A. Desplanque, Etude sur les travaux d’historie et d’archeologie de M. E. d.C. (Paris, 1870).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire