Nicholas Mark Temperley (August 7, 1932 – April 8, 2020) was an American

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 mu ...

of English background. He is known for his pioneering work in British music studies.

Education and Career

Born in

Beaconsfield Beaconsfield ( ) is a market town and civil parish within the unitary authority of Buckinghamshire, England, west-northwest of central London and south-southeast of Aylesbury. Three other towns are within : Gerrards Cross, Amersham and High W ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, Temperley attended

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

from 1945 to 1951. After a year at the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music is a music school, conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the Undergraduate education, undergraduate to the Doctorate, doctoral level in a ...

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 ...

, he enrolled at

King's College, Cambridge King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the city ...

in 1952, eventually earning his doctorate there in 1959 with a dissertation entitled "Instrumental Music in England, 1800-1850." Later that year, Temperley began a postdoctoral fellowship at the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

, which lasted until 1961. After holding positions at Cambridge and

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

, he returned to the University of Illinois, spending the remainder of his career there. He became an American citizen in 1972. Temperley published many journal articles in outlets such as

Early Music (journal) ''Early Music'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal specialising in the study of early music. It was established in 1973 and is published quarterly by Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the Uni ...

, the

Journal of the American Musicological Society The ''Journal of the American Musicological Society'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal and an official journal of the American Musicological Society. It is published by University of California Press The University of California Press, othe ...

Music & Letters ''Music & Letters'' is an academic journal published quarterly by Oxford University Press with a focus on musicology. The journal sponsors the Music & Letters Trust, twice-yearly cash awards of variable amounts to support research in the music fie ...

The Musical Times ''The Musical Times'' is an academic journal of classical music edited and produced in the United Kingdom and currently the oldest such journal still being published in the country. It was originally created by Joseph Mainzer in 1842 as ''Mainze ...

19th-Century Music ''19th-Century Music'' is a triennial academic journal that "covers all aspects of Western art music composed in, leading to, or pointing beyond the "long century" extending roughly from the 1780s to the 1930s." The Journal is "interested equally ...

, and the

Journal of the Royal Musical Association ''Journal of the Royal Musical Association'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal covering fields ranging from historical and critical musicology to theory and analysis, ethnomusicology, and popular music studies. The journal is published by Routl ...

. In addition to his work involving British music of diverse genres, he made important contributions for other composers, including

Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions to musical form have led ...

, Berlioz, and Chopin. His reference articles, including dozens authored for

The New Grove 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 and theo ...

, also demonstrate his wide range. In 1980, his two-volume ''The Music of the English Parish Church'' received the

American Musicological Society The American Musicological Society (AMS) is a musicological organization which researches, promotes and produces publications on music. Founded in 1934, the AMS was begun by leading American musicologists of the time, and was crucial in legitim ...

's Otto Kinkeldey Award for the most distinguished book published in the field during the previous year. From 1978 until 1980 he was the editor-in-chief of the ''Journal of the American Musicological Society''. When the North American British Music Studies Association (NABMSA) formed in 2004, Temperley served as its first president. The prize given for “a student paper of particular merit or excellence” at its biennial conference is named after him.

Books (sole authorship)

* ''Jonathan Gray and Church Music in York, 1770–1840''. Borthwick Papers No. 51. St. Anthony's Press, 1977. . * ''The Music of the English Parish Church''. 2 Vols. Cambridge University Press, 1979. . * ''Haydn: The Creation''. Cambridge Music Handbooks. Cambridge University Press, 1991. . * ''Bound for America: Three British Composers''. Music in American Life''.'' University of Illinois Press, 2003. . * ''Studies in English Church Music''. Variorum Collected Studies. Routledge, 2018. .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Temperley, Nicholas 1932 births 2020 deaths American musicologists Alumni of the Royal College of Music People from Beaconsfield University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign faculty Chopin scholars Haydn scholars