Denis Stevens
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Denis William Stevens CBE (2 March 1922 – 1 April 2004) was a British
musicologist Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some m ...
specialising in
early music Early music generally comprises Medieval music (500–1400) and Renaissance music (1400–1600), but can also include Baroque music (1600–1750). Originating in Europe, early music is a broad musical era for the beginning of Western classi ...
, conductor, professor of
music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspe ...
and radio producer.


Early years

He was born in
High Wycombe High Wycombe, often referred to as Wycombe ( ), is a market town in Buckinghamshire, England. Lying in the valley of the River Wye surrounded by the Chiltern Hills, it is west-northwest of Charing Cross in London, south-southeast of Ayl ...
,
Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...
and attended the Royal Grammar School there. From that school, he won a scholarship to read modern languages at
Jesus College, Oxford Jesus College (in full: Jesus College in the University of Oxford of Queen Elizabeth's Foundation) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship St ...
in 1940. During World War II, he served as a
cryptanalyst Cryptanalysis (from the Greek ''kryptós'', "hidden", and ''analýein'', "to analyze") refers to the process of analyzing information systems in order to understand hidden aspects of the systems. Cryptanalysis is used to breach cryptographic sec ...
in
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
and
Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
. After the war, he returned to Oxford to complete his degree. From 1949 to 1954, he was a producer at the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
Third Programme The BBC Third Programme was a national radio station produced and broadcast from 1946 until 1967, when it was replaced by Radio 3. It first went on the air on 29 September 1946 and quickly became one of the leading cultural and intellectual f ...
. In 1951, together with John McCarthy, Stevens founded the
Ambrosian Singers The Ambrosian Singers are an English choral group based in London. History They were founded after World War II in England. One of their co-founders was Denis Stevens (1922–2004), a British musicologist and viola player who joined the BBC Mu ...
.


Career

Among his many other works, Stevens completed the task of producing the Supplementary Volume to the 5th edition of ''
Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language ''Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the History of music, ...
'', which Eric Blom had not been able to complete by the time of Blom's death in 1959. The Supplementary Volume was published in 1961. He also contributed to ''
The Stereo Record Guide ''The Stereo Record Guide'' is a series of nine classical discographies published by the Long Playing Record Library in Blackpool from 1960 to 1974. When volume 1 was published in late 1960, the majority of classical records issued were monaural. ...
'' through 1968. From 1964 to 1976, he was professor of musicology at
Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
,
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
and during this period often wrote collaboratively with others such as music critic Alec Robertson. In 1995, he was appointed as visiting professor at
Goldsmiths College Goldsmiths, University of London, officially the Goldsmiths' College, is a constituent research university of the University of London in England. It was originally founded in 1891 as The Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute by the Wor ...
,
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, the institution which now houses his extensive
Monteverdi Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi (baptized 15 May 1567 – 29 November 1643) was an Italian composer, choirmaster and string player. A composer of both secular and sacred music, and a pioneer in the development of opera, he is considered ...
library. Best known for his work on early
baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...
Italian composers, especially
Claudio Monteverdi Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi (baptized 15 May 1567 – 29 November 1643) was an Italian composer, choirmaster and string player. A composer of both secular and sacred music, and a pioneer in the development of opera, he is considered ...
, and for his pioneering concerts and recordings with the Accademia Monteverdiana (which he founded), Stevens was appointed a
Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
(CBE) in 1984.


Bibliography

*Stevens, Denis. (1949). ''In nomine - Altenglische Kammermusik, für vier und fünf Stimmen''. Bärenreiter. *Stevens, Denis. (1951). ''The Mulliner Book - Eleven pieces for keyboard instruments''. Stainer & Bell. *Stevens, Denis. (1952). ''The Mulliner Book - A Commentary''. Stainer & Bell. *Stevens, Denis. (1957). ''Thomas Tomkins, 1572–1656''. Macmillan. *Stevens, Denis. (1961). ''Tudor Church Music, 1572–1656''. Faber & Faber. *Tallis, Thomas; Stevens, Denis. (1961). ''Five hymns - A Cappella, Volume 1''. Associated Music Publishers. *Tallis, Thomas; Stevens, Denis. (1961). ''Five hymns - Deus Tuorum Millitum (SAATB)''. Associated Music Publishers. *Tallis, Thomas; Stevens, Denis. (1961). ''Five hymns - Jam Christus astra ascenderat (SATTB)''. Associated Music Publishers. *Grove, George; Blom, Eric; Stevens, Denis. (1961). ''Dictionary of Music and musicians: Supplementary Volume''. St Martin's Press. *Robertson, Alec; Stevens, Denis. (1962). ''A History of Music''. Cassell. *Stevens, Denis. (1965). ''Altenglische Orgelmusik - Manualiter''. Bärenreiter. *Caldwell, John; Stevens, Denis. (1966). ''Early Tudor Organ Music, Volume 6''. Stainer and Bell. *Stevens, Denis. (1967). ''English Madrigals - For Four Voices''. Penguin Books. *Robertson, Alec; Stevens, Denis. (1969). ''Pelican History of Music, Harmondsworth, Volumes 1–3''. Penguin Books. *Stevens, Denis. (1970). ''English Madrigals - For Five Voices''. Penguin Books. *Stevens, Denis (ed.); et al. (1970). ''Music in Honour of St. Thomas of Canterbury (1118–1170), for Soloists, Choir, Organ Or Other Instruments''. Kent: Novello. *Yonge, Nicolas; Stevens, Denis. (1972). ''Musica Transalpina''. Gregg International. *Robertson, Alec; Stevens, Denis. (1973). ''The Pelican History of Music - Renaissance and Baroque''. Penguin Books. *Robertson, Alec; Stevens, Denis. (1977). ''Historia General de la Música. 1 - Antiguas Formas de Polifonía''. *Conforti, Giovanni Luca; Stevens, Denis. (1981). ''Musicology: A Practical Guide''. Pro/Am Music Resources. *Monteverdi, Claudio; Stevens, Denis. (1983). ''L' Orfeo: Favola in Música - Venice 1615''. Gregg International. *Marcello, Benedetto; Stevens, Denis; et el. (1985). ''Salmo decimoquinto: from Estro poetico-armonico, Vol. III - for alto voice, cello and basso continuo, Issue 15''. Grancino Editions. *Stevens, Denis. (1989). ''The Joy of Ornamentation - Rome 1593''. Schirmer Books. *Robertson, Alec; Stevens, Denis. (1990). ''Geschichte der Musik, Volume 1''. Pawlak. *Robertson, Alec; Stevens, Denis. (1993). ''Historia General de la Música - Volume 2''. Istmo. *Stevens, Denis. (1997). ''Early Music''. Kahn & Averill. *Stevens, Denis. (2001). ''Monteverdi in Venice''. Fairleigh Dickinson University Press. *Arnold, Franck Thomas; Stevens, Denis. (2003). ''The Art of Accompaniment from a Thorough-bass: As Practised in the XVIIth & XVIIIth Centuries, Volume 1''. Courier Corporation.


References


External links


Obituary in The Guardian, 14 April 2004
at {{DEFAULTSORT:Stevens, Denis 1922 births 2004 deaths Alumni of Jesus College, Oxford People educated at the Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe Commanders of the Order of the British Empire 20th-century British musicologists British expatriates in Myanmar British people in colonial India Monteverdi scholars Classical musicians associated with the BBC