In preparing this DICTIONARY OF MUSICAL INFORMATION, my desire has been to make it meet the popular demand for a book of reference concerning musical persons and subjects not mentioned in any other published work, and to furnish it at a price sufficiently small to place it in the hands of all persons in any way interested in musical affairs. To do this, it was necessary to abbreviate every article as much as possible, in order to crowd the largest amount of information into the smallest practicable space. I have done this in the belief that five lines read with interest is better than fifty lines read with indifference, and worth more to the careful reader than five hundred lines to the careless.

The labor of condensing articles, of sifting a great mass of material, and saving the very best of all, is a task requiring much patience and perseverance; and, when faithfully performed, the zealous worker is astonished to find his accumulation of rubbish, on the one side, so very large, and the amount of refined material so very small on the other; but, when he reflects that his stock of pure gold is worth infinitely more than the great mass of rejected matter from which he has selected it, he is the better satisfied, and is richly rewarded for his exertions.

The reader will find that I have compressed each one of the many thousand articles presented in this Dictionary into as few lines as would clearly express the important facts. My object has been not alone to spread the glory and enhance the fame of those who have attained to places of high honor in the world of musical art to-day, but to equally call attention to those who are destined to occupy these places in the future. The already honored do not need notice as do their struggling successors; but I have collected my notices in the interests of all.

I have omitted many names: some, because I have failed to receive solicited information in regard to them; a very considerable number because they are mentioned in the first volume of my "Complete Encyclopædia of Music," or in the Appendix to that work, this year added, to which reference can be made. This Dictionary has been compiled from still later material, and is the only condensed biographical musical work that thas appeared in this country. It contains the names of many thousand persons and things connected with the art of music; and a large proportion of the information has been written expressly for this publication, and is such as has never appeared in any other form. The lives of some of the eminent musicians of our time are made familiar in individual sketches and autobiographies, as well as in encyclopædias and other works; but there is not in existence any other small, cheap, popular modern dictionary of general musical information, nor is there any work that preoccupies this field.

In addition to the information contained in the regular alphabet of pages, and under the many different heads, this Dictionary furnished a Vocabulary of Musical Terms, in which it will be seen that I have made the attempt of giving the pronunciation of words, as well as the definitions; and this novel feature will supply a want often felt, and give the work an extent of usefulness which no previous publication of the kind possesses. I have pronounced a large number of the commonly used terms; and for definitions not given, I refer the reader to my Encyclopædia. Another new feature presented in this work is A List of the Popular Modern Musical Works published in the United States: giving the familiar title of each publication, with the name of the author or compiler, when known, and the year in which many of the older works appeared; omitting minor works, and periodicals. This list will be found particularly valuable for reference in regard to titles of books and the names of authors in America. It is impossible for me to know whether my list is complete, or whether in all cases I have given the full title; but I have given the names of all important works that have come to my notice, including publications from 1640 to 1875, the number being several thousand.

It would be something marvellous in the annals of book-making, if this Dictionary was free from errors. Every possible effort has been made to avoid them; but, in gathering information from so many different sources and contradictory authorities as I have been compelled to examine, it would be a matter of surprise, if all the statements should be perfect. The numerous fountains from which I have drawn my knowledge were not, perhaps, all pure; they could not reasonably be expected to be so; but I have depended upon those which are considered the best, and the least exposed to suspicion. I have spared neither time, labor, nor expense, in trying to obtain simple dates of the times and places of the birth and death of persons deceased, as well as the birthplaces and dates which concern the living who are mentioned in this work; and this has proved a slow and very difficult undertaking. For various reasons, it is next to an impossibility to procure needed information of this character; and, for many of the dates which I have obtained, I found it necessary to wait for months, and, in some instances, years. There are persons who will not disclose their ages while living; and, for dates concerning persons deceased, I have many times applied to persons interested, and to friends and relatives, without success. Many of the omissions of dates which may be wanting have occurred in consequence. I regret this the more, because such records, in brief notices, are next in importance to the names of persons, and to what may be said concerning them. I have, in many instances, recorded the age of the individuals, and thus the time of birth is disclosed.

I take this opportunity to acknowledge my obligations to a large number of musical friends in this country and Europe for valuable information and extended notices of musicians, as well as for the aid they have given me in making this work what its title indicates,--a "Dictionary of Musical Information."

JOHN W. MOORE.

MANCHESTER, N.H., January, 1876.

A. This letter has been used as a tone name since 340 B.C.; it has been known as La, the sixth in the ascending scale of C, since Guido Aretina (1022) invented his mode of notation.