Grout, Donald J(ay)

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Grout, Donald J(ay)

Grout, Donald J(ay), eminent American musicologist; b. Rock Rapids, Iowa, Sept. 28, 1902; d. Skaneateles, N.Y., March 9, 1987. He studied philosophy at Syracuse Univ. (A.B., 1923) and musicology at Harvard Univ. (A.M., 1932; Ph.D., 1939); he also received piano instruction in Boston, and took a course in French music in Strasbourg and in the history of opera in Vienna. After serving as a visiting lecturer at Mills Coll. in Oakland, Calif. (1935-36), he was on the faculties of Harvard Univ. (1936-42) and the Univ. of Tex. at Austin (1942-45); subsequently was a prof. of musicology at Cornell Univ. (1945-70). He held a Guggenheim Foundation grant in 1951. He served as president of the American Musicological Soc. (1952-54; 1960-62), and in 1966 became curator of the Accademia Monteverdiana in N.Y.

Writings

A Short History of Opera (2 vols., N.Y., 1948; 3rd ed., 1988); A History of Western Music (N.Y., 1960; 4th ed., 1988); Mozart in the History of Opera (Washington, D.C., 1972); Alessandro Scarlatti: An Introduction to His Operas (Berkeley, 1979).

Bibliography

W. Austin, ed., New Looks at Italian Opera: Essays in Honor of D.J. G. (Ithaca, N.Y, 1968).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire