Vincent Novello

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Vincent Novello in the 1830s, by Edward Petre Novello

Vincent Novello (6 September 1781 – 9 August 1861), was an English musician and music publisher born in London.[1] He was a chorister and organist, but he is best known for bringing to England many works now considered standards, and with his son he created a major music publishing house.

Life

Vincent was the son of Giuseppe Novello, an Italian confectioner who moved to London in 1771.[2] As a boy Vincent was a chorister at the Sardinian Embassy Chapel in Duke Street,[3][4] Lincoln's Inn Fields, where he learnt the organ from Samuel Webbe; and from 1796 to 1822 he became in succession organist of the Sardinian, Spanish (in Manchester Square) and Portuguese (in South Street, Grosvenor Square) chapels, and from 1840 to 1843 of St Mary Moorfields. He taught music privately throughout his career. One of his most notable pupils was musicologist and music critic Edward Holmes. He was an original member of the Philharmonic Society, of the Classical Harmonists and of the Choral Harmonists, officiating frequently as conductor. In 1849 he went to live at Nice, where he died.[5]

Legacy

Many of his compositions were sacred music, much of which was very popular. His great contribution, however, together with

Joseph Alfred Novello (1810–1896), who had started as a bass singer, took over as head of the business in 1829 until 1833 at the early age of nineteen.[7][5]

It was Alfred who really created the business, and he is credited with introducing cheap music and of departing from the method of publishing by subscription. From 1841 Henry Littleton assisted him, becoming a partner in 1861, when the firm became Novello & Co., and, on J.A. Novello's retirement in 1866, sole proprietor. Having incorporated the firm of Ewer & Co. in 1867, the title was changed to Novello, Ewer & Co., and still later back to Novello & Co., and, on Henry Littleton's death in 1888, his two sons carried on the business.[5]

Family

The Novello Family, c. 1830 by Edward Petre Novello

Novello and his wife, Mary Sabilla (née Hehl), had eleven children. Five of his daughters survived to adulthood, four of them gifted singers. Among the children were:

References

  1. ^ Lee, Sidney, ed. (1895). "Novello, Vincent" . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 41. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
  2. ^ a b Novello Cowden Clarke Collection, Leeds University
  3. ^ Wheatley, Henry Benjamin; Cunningham, Peter (1891). Duke Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields – London, Past and Present. Vol. 1. London, UK: John Murray. p. 533. Duke Street was renamed Sardinia Street in 1878.
  4. ^ Sardinia Street (Demolished). BRITISH HISTORY ONLINE; The old Sardinia Street (formerly Duke Street) was abolished in 1906 in connection with the Kingsway thoroughfare project; accessed 10 August 2015.
  5. ^ a b c d  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Novello, Vincent". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 19 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 838.
  6. ^ a b "Mary Cowden Clarke; Her Death, and Her Recollections of Lamb, Hunt, and Keats – The Novellos". New York Times. 22 January 1898.
  7. ^ "Vincent Novello Biography: Life, Career, Success, Wealth & Net Worth - Celebritygraphy.com". 1 May 2023. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
  8. ^ "Obituary Notice: Mr. Thomas James Serle". The Musical Times. 30: 219. 1889.
  9. ^ ''The Novello Family by Edward Petre Novello, National Portrait Gallery
  10. ^ Emma Novello, Art.uk

Sources

External links
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