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Adolf Bernhard Marx (1795-1866) was an influential music theorist, critic, composer and pedagogue. He believed that music should be part of everyone's general education and lobbied the Prussian government for a comprehensive national music-education scheme. This English translation by George Macirone of Marx's 1839 Allgemeine Musiklehre was published in 1854 as the first work in the series Novello's Library for the Diffusion of Musical Knowledge. The series, described by the publisher as 'a collection of standard treatises on the art of music written by the most esteemed English and foreign masters', was devised in response to a growing demand for training books and manuals to support domestic music-making. It also included Berlioz's famous treatise on instrumentation (also reissued in this series). Marx's work covers the basic elements of music theory, musical instruments, compositional techniques, forms of music, performance advice, and the importance of musical education in general.

American author Alexander Wheelock Thayer (1817-97) sought to write an authoritative biography of the composer Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827). A landmark in its use of source material, it remained unfinished at his death. This three-volume English edition, translated and revised from German versions, was first published in 1921.

This fascinating two-volume selection, published in 1888, demonstrates importance to Wagner of the encouragement of Liszt - an established performer when Wagner was barely known and widely ridiculed, a musical mentor, an enthusiastic critic and eventually a father-in-law.

Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) was one of the most original and colourful composers of his generation. The letters reflect the man - exuberant, imaginative, idealistic, opinionated and witty - and give us a fascinating, first-hand, insight into his life. This two-volume selection includes letters to family, friends and fellow musicians.

Michael Kelly (1762-1826) was an Irish singer and composer who studied music in Italy and performed all over Europe. He later joined London's Theatre Royal as both performer and composer. Volume 1 of his 1826 autobiography is a charming and event-filled account of his early life and musical training.

Adolf Bernhard Marx (1795-1866) was a German composer, music critic and university teacher. His influential publications included this two-volume study, published in 1863, of the radical innovations in operatic composition that Gluck had pioneered a century earlier. Marx's account is chronologically organised, and includes biographical details and music examples.

Pianist and composer Ignaz Moscheles (1794-1870) was a central figure in European musical life. This two-volume biography, compiled by his wife Charlotte from diaries and letters, records his dealings with many great musicians of the time, including Mendelssohn. Reissued here is the 1873 English translation.

Beethoven was a prolific letter writer, with thousands of examples surviving to this day. This illustrated collection of more than 1,200, published in English translation in 1909, includes the 'Heiligenstadt Testament', one of many documents that provide valuable insights into the mind of a musical genius.

Beethoven was a prolific letter writer, with thousands of examples surviving to this day. This two-volume collection, in English translation, appeared in 1866 and includes the 'Heiligenstadt Testament', one of many documents providing us with startling and personal insights into the character and preoccupations of a musical genius.

Charles Burney (1726-1814), the music historian, is best remembered for his General History of Music and the accounts of his musical tours in Europe. This three-volume publication is the novelist Fanny Burney's heavily edited version of her father's memoirs, adding her own stylised accounts of events.

The writer, composer and organist Thomas Busby (1754-1838) published this three-volume work in 1825. Gossipy, informative and highly entertaining, it yields all manner of insights into musical life through history. The anecdotes are presented across the three volumes as a delightful potpourri, interspersed with pen portraits of eminent musicians.

This biography, first published in 1796, recounts the life of Italian poet and librettist Pietro Metastasio (1698-1782). Alternating biographical narrative with translations of the poet's correspondence, it provides a faithful account of Metastasio's complex life and affairs. Volume 1 covers Metastasio's life from his early childhood until 1751.

This is the first of two volumes originally published in 1862 in which the long-time music critic of The Athaneum gives a year-by-year commentary on the European operas, ballets, singers and dancers popular in London from 1830 to 1859. Volume 1 covers the period 1830-1847.

Charles Burney (1726-1814), the music historian, is best remembered for his General History and the accounts of his tours in Europe during which he undertook research for the History. The work is elegantly written, offering a fascinating view of Burney's musical enthusiasms and a reflection of contemporary taste.

This is a translation of the second (1858) edition of Berlioz's treatise by Mary Cowden Clarke, daughter of music publisher Vincent Novello. The work was quick to establish itself as a standard text, and reflects Berlioz's keen understanding of instrumentation and the orchestra as both composer and conductor.

American author Alexander Wheelock Thayer (1817-97) sought to write an authoritative biography of the composer Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827). A landmark in its use of source material, it remained unfinished at his death. This three-volume English edition, translated and revised from German versions, was first published in 1921.

This three-volume book, first published in 1841, originated in a journal written by the music critic Chorley while travelling in Europe. His aim was to 'illustrate the present state of theatrical, orchestral, and chamber music abroad'. Volume 1 describes his visits to Paris and Brunswick, focusing on opera.

American author Alexander Wheelock Thayer (1817-97) sought to write an authoritative biography of the composer Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827). A landmark in its use of source material, it remained unfinished at his death. This three-volume English edition, translated and revised from German versions, was first published in 1921.

George Frideric Handel (1685-1759), a larger-than-life composer who impressed all who met him, is beloved the world over, his genius vividly displayed in his Messiah and Zadok the Priest. This biography by the composer and author William Smith Rockstro (1823-95) was first published in 1883.

Sir John Hawkins (1719-1789), a lawyer and member of the Academy of Ancient Music, published his pioneering five-volume history in 1776 just after the first volume of Burney's. Despite Hawkins' work suffering badly in the resulting competition between the two, it is nonetheless of indispensable value to music scholars.

Best remembered for the foundation of St Michael's College, Tenbury, Ouseley first published this work, the first of three on music theory, in 1868. It offers a structured approach to the subject, including exercises and musical examples, and will be of interest to music students and historians.

Published in 1862, these essays present the theories of the philosopher and historian Joseph Goddard (1833-1910) on the connection between music and the human mind. They show how musical phenomena such as rhythm, tone and phrase are more effective than any other art form in expressing thought and morality.

Best known for his work on psychical research, from a young age Edmund Gurney wanted to be musician. In this 1880 work he applies a scientific method of enquiry to music, and it is regarded as one of the most important treatises on musical aesthetics of the nineteenth century.

The physics of music has fascinated scholars since ancient times, from Pythagoras' concept of celestial harmony to Mersenne, Ohm and Helmholtz. Hewitt's work, first published in 1864, proposes his mathematical approach to determining the nature of musical intervals according to his 'Triune', or three-fold, system of calculation using his Ratiometer.

The 'Swedish Nightingale', as soprano Jenny Lind (1820-87) was known, captivated opera audiences throughout Europe. Henry Scott Holland (1847-1918) and William Smith Rockstro (1823-95) used Lind's letters and diaries for this two-volume memoir, published in 1891. Volume 1 discusses her childhood and rise to fame.

A friend and pupil of Mendelssohn, William Smith Rockstro (1823-95) composed and wrote about music. This elegant work of 1886 gives due weight to the development of music in England, including a chapter on Handel that reflects his enduring influence on national taste.

Henry George Bonavia Hunt (1847-1917) is best remembered as the founder of Trinity College of Music, London. This popular textbook, first published in 1878, reissued here in its 1879 revised third edition, is a systematic study of musical history for easy assimilation by students. Sample examination questions are included.

This collection of Christmas carols was published in 1864 by William Henry Husk (1814-87), an amateur singer. Some eighty songs, in two groups, religious and 'festive', range from 'A babe is born' to several variants of 'The boar's head carol', and Husk provides musical settings for twelve of them.

Adolf Bernhard Marx (1795-1866), influential music theorist, composer and friend of Mendelssohn, believed music should be part of everyone's education. This English translation, of only the first volume of the fourth edition of his influential work on the principles of music theory and composition, was first published in 1852.

Sourindro Mohan Tagore (1840-1914), musicologist, educationist and patron of Indian music, was a member of a highly influential family in nineteenth-century Calcutta renowned for patronage of the arts. His invaluable compilation of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century English writings on Indian music by noted orientalists was first published in 1875.