Edward Francis Rimbault

Edward Francis Rimbault was a British organist, musicologist, book collector and author.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article on Edward Francis Rimbault.

From the period sources

Edward Francis Rimbault was a figure of considerable erudition in 19th-century English music, known for his work as a scholar, editor, and historian. He was counted among the “best pupils” of the renowned tenor and singing-teacher Manuel del Popolo Vicente Garcia, according to A Biographical Dictionary of Musicians (1900). Rimbault’s deep knowledge of musical antiquities and English music history was widely recognized, with Biographie universelle des musiciens (1866) describing his expertise as “more extensive and solid than that of other writers of this country.” This led him to open a course of lectures on English music history in 1838, which garnered public attention and inspired the formation of the Musical Antiquarian Society and the Percy Society, with Rimbault serving as an active member and editor of many publications.

His editorial work was extensive and significant for preserving early English music. For the Musical Antiquarian Society, he edited William Byrd’s Mass for Five Voices (1841), which he scored from a rare manuscript, and also revised Thomas Morley’s Ballets to Five Voices (1842), as noted in Dictionary of Music (1908). Rimbault also republished Samuel Arnold’s “Cathedral Music” in 1847, a collection of English masters’ services (A Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, 1900). His historical contributions include a “New History of Organ” as an introduction to Edward John Hopkins’s The Organ, its History and Construction (1855), and he was a co-author of The Rounds, Catches, and Canons of England (1873), according to Cyclopedia of Music and Musicians (1890). His expertise extended to early keyboard instruments, as evidenced by his work The Pianoforte: its origin, progress, and construction (1860), cited in A Description and History of the Pianoforte (1896).