English musical critic, one of an old Lancashire family, began in a merchant’s office, but soon took to musical journalism. He began to write for the Athenæum in 1830, and remained its musical critic for more than a generation; and he also became musical critic for The Times. In these positions he had much influence; he had strong views, and was a persistent opponent of innovation. In addition to musical criticism, he wrote voluminously on literature and art, besides novels, dramas and verse, and various librettos; and he published several books, including Modern German Music (1854), Handel Studies (1859), and Thirty Years’ Musical Recollections (1862). He died in London on the 16th of February 1872.
See his Autobiography, Memoir and Letters, edited by H. G. Hewlett (1873). See also “The Brave Old Oak.”
