A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Bennett, Joseph

by George Grove

BENNETT, Joseph, critic and littérateur; born at Berkeley, Gloucestershire, in Nov. 1831. Author of the librettos of the 'Good Shepherd' ( J. F. Barnett), the 'Rose of Sharon' and 'Story of Sayid' (Mackenzie), the 'Golden Legend' (Sullivan), 'Ruth' (Cowen), and 'The Garden of Olivet' (Bottesini). Mr. Bennett furnishes the analyses for the programme-books of the Philharmonic Society and the Monday and Saturday Popular Concerts. His account of the origin of the latter was published^[1] a propos of the thousandth concert, April 4, 1887. Mr. Bennett has published 'Letters from Bayreuth' (1877), originally contributed to the 'Daily Telegraph'; his articles on 'The Great Composers, sketched by themselves' began in the 'Musical Times,' Sept. 1877, and are still in progress there, while some of them are republished as 'Primers of Musical Biography' (Novello). Mr. Bennett edited 'Concordia' during its too-short existence,^[2] and among his valuable contributions is a 'Comparison of the original and revised Scores of Elijah,' which, after the death of 'Concordia,' was completed in the 'Musical Times.' It is however as the musical reporter of the 'Daily Telegraph' that Mr. Bennett exercises the greatest influence.

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1. 'A Story of Ten Hundred Concerts. Feb 14, 1859–April 4, 1887.'
2. Novello, May 1, 1875, to April 22, 1876.