Carl Engel (musicologist)

Carl Engel (6 July 1818 – 17 November 1882) was a German writer of music, and a collector of musical instruments.

Biography

He was born in Thiedenwiese, near Hanover, and studied the pianoforte under Hummel. He emigrated to Manchester around 1844-45, and in 1850 settled in London, where he attained success as a teacher of music and writer on musical subjects. He owned a large collection of rare musical instruments, many of which were given after his death to the South Kensington Museum, with which he had been connected for many years.

One of his nephews (a son of his sister Elisabeth) was Carl Peters (1856-1918). Peters came to London in 1881 and lived in his uncles' house. Engel offered Peters to get the British nationality (which then included numerous advantages), but Peters refused that for nationalistic reasons. Engel surprisingly committed suicide and bequeathed Peters his fortune.

Works

His books treat of the music of different nations at different periods. Among them may be mentioned:

• The Music of the Most Ancient Nations, particularly of the Assyrians, Egyptians and Hebrews (Murray, 1864) 1909 exact facsimile reprint of the 1864 edition.
• An Introduction to the Study of National Music (Longmans, 1866)
• Researches into the Early History of the Violin Family (1883)

An extensive account of the musical instruments of the world was still unpublished in 1888.

References

• Hipkins, A. J. (1900). "Engel, Carl" . In Grove, George (ed.). A Dictionary of Music and Musicians. London: Macmillan and Company.

Attribution

• This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Gilman, D. C.; Peck, H. T.; Colby, F. M., eds. (1905). "Engel, Carl" . New International Encyclopedia (1st ed.). New York: Dodd, Mead.