Dolmetsch, Arnold

Dolmetsch, (Eugène) Arnold

(born Feb. 24, 1858, Le Mans, France—died Feb. 28, 1940, Haslemere, Surrey, Eng.) French-born British music scholar and performer. He moved to England after studying violin with Henri Vieuxtemps (1820–81). There he began collecting, repairing, and learning to play old instruments. He built copies of old lutes, clavichords, harpsichords, and recorders, ultimately involving his wife and children in the performance and promulgation of early music. His Interpretation of Music of the 17th and 18th Centuries (1915) was highly influential, and he is regarded as the father of the 20th-century early music revival.