Stanley John Sadie (; 30 October 1930 – 21 March 2005) was a British
musicologist
Musicology is the academic, research-based study of music, as opposed to musical composition or performance. Musicology research combines and intersects with many fields, including psychology, sociology, acoustics, neurology, natural sciences, f ...
, music critic, and editor. He was editor of the sixth edition of the ''
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 th ...
'' (1980), which was published as the first edition of ''
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 t ...
''.
Along with
Thurston Dart,
Nigel Fortune
Nigel Cameron Fortune (5 December 1924 – 10 April 2009) was an English musicologist and political activist. Along with Thurston Dart, Oliver Neighbour and Stanley Sadie he was one of Britain's leading musicologists of the post-World War II ...
and
Oliver Neighbour he was one of Britain's leading musicologists of the post-
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
generation.
Career
Born in
Wembley
Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in the London Borou ...
, Sadie was educated at
St Paul's School, London
St Paul's School is a Selective school, selective Private schools in the United Kingdom, independent day school (with limited boarding school, boarding) for boys aged 13–18, founded in 1509 by John Colet and located on a 43-acre site by Rive ...
, and studied music privately for three years with
Bernard Stevens.
Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians
/ref> At Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge
Gonville and Caius College, commonly known as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348 by Edmund Gonville, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and ...
he read music under Thurston Dart. Sadie earned Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...
and Bachelor of Music
A Bachelor of Music (BMus; sometimes conferred as Bachelor of Musical Arts) is an academic degree awarded by a college, university, or conservatory upon completion of a program of study in music. The degree may be awarded for performance, music ed ...
degrees in 1953, a Master of Arts
A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...
degree in 1957, and a PhD
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...
in 1958. His doctoral dissertation
A thesis (: theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: D ...
was on mid-eighteenth-century British chamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...
. After Cambridge, he taught at Trinity College of Music
Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance is a music, dance, and musical theatre conservatoire based in South East London. It was formed in 2005 as a merger of two older institutions – Trinity College of Music and Laban Dance Centre. Trini ...
, London (1957–1965).
Sadie then turned to music journalism, becoming music critic for ''The Times
''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
'' (1964–1981), and contributing reviews to the ''Financial Times
The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...
'' after 1981, when he had to leave his position and ''The Times'' because of his commitments to the ''Grove'' and other scholarly work. He was editor of ''The Musical Times
''The Musical Times'' was an academic journal of classical music edited and produced in the United Kingdom.
It was originally created by Joseph Mainzer in 1842 as ''Mainzer's Musical Times and Singing Circular'', but in 1844 he sold it to Alfr ...
'' from 1967 until 1987.
From 1970, Sadie was editor of what was planned to be the sixth edition of the ''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 th ...
'' (1980). Sadie oversaw major changes to the dictionary, which grew from nine volumes to twenty, and was published as ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' (''New Grove''), and is now referred to as the first edition under that name. He was also an important force behind the second edition of ''New Grove'' (2001), which grew further to 29 volumes. Sadie also oversaw a major expansion of the ''Grove'' franchise, editing the one-volume ''Grove Concise Dictionary of Music'' (1988), and several spinoff dictionaries, such as the ''New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments'' (three volumes, 1984), the ''New Grove Dictionary of American Music'', (with H. Wiley Hitchcock, four volumes, 1986), and ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera
''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'' is an encyclopedia of opera. It is the largest work on opera in English, and in its printed form, amounts to 5,448 pages in four volumes.
The dictionary was first published in 1992 by Macmillan Reference, L ...
'' (four volumes, 1992). He also edited composer biographies based on the entries in ''Grove''.
Outside his work on the ''Grove'' dictionaries, Sadie edited the '' Man and Music'' volumes accompanying a television series (1989–1993). He was also an accomplished bassoonist.
Sadie died at his home in Cossington, Somerset, on 21 March 2005, of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or—in the United States—Lou Gehrig's disease (LGD), is a rare, Terminal illness, terminal neurodegenerative disease, neurodegenerative disorder that results i ...
(Motor Neurone disease), which had been diagnosed only a few weeks earlier.
Sadie married twice. His first wife, Adèle Sadie ''(née'' Bloom; 1931–1978) – whom he married in 1953 in London, and with whom he had two sons and a daughter – died in 1978. Sadie married Julie Anne Sadie ''(née'' Vertrees; born 1948), also a musicologist, in 1978. They had a son and a daughter.
Honours
In 1982, Sadie was appointed CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
). He received an honorary Doctor of Letters
Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or '), also termed Doctor of Literature in some countries, is a terminal degree in the arts, humanities, and social sciences. In the United States, at universities such as Drew University, the degree ...
from the University of Leicester
The University of Leicester ( ) is a public university, public research university based in Leicester, England. The main campus is south of the city centre, adjacent to Victoria Park, Leicester, Victoria Park. The university's predecessor, Univ ...
in 1982, and was elected honorary fellow
A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...
of the Royal College of Music
The Royal College of Music (RCM) is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including pe ...
in 1994 and Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge
Gonville and Caius College, commonly known as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348 by Edmund Gonville, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and ...
. In 2005, Sadie became a Handel Prize laureate.
Professional affiliations
* 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 legiti ...
, corresponding member, 1996
* Royal Musical Association, president 1989–1984
* The Critics' Circle
* International Musicological Society
The International Musicological Society (IMS) is a membership-based organisation for musicology at the international level, with headquarters in Basel, Switzerland. It seeks the advancement of musicological research through international coopera ...
, president 1992–1997
References
Sources
* ''Stanley Sadie Archive Project,'' Cambridge University Library
Cambridge University Library is the main research library of the University of Cambridge. It is the largest of over 100 libraries Libraries of the University of Cambridge, within the university. The library is a major scholarly resource for me ...
.
External links
The Grove dictionary online
by Alison Latham, ''The Guardian'', 24 March 2005
29 October 1992
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sadie, Stanley
1930 births
2005 deaths
People educated at St Paul's School, London
Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge
Mozart scholars
Historians of musical instruments
Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
Neurological disease deaths in England
Deaths from motor neuron disease
International Musicological Society presidents
The Times people
Opera critics
English biographers
English male non-fiction writers
20th-century English writers
21st-century English writers
Academics of Trinity College of Music
Financial Times people
English music critics
British classical music critics
20th-century British biographers
Handel Prize winners
English musicologists
20th-century British musicologists
The Musical Times editors