Grove, Sir George 1820-1900
English musicologist, biblical scholar and civil engineer

Born in London, he trained as a civil engineer, and erected the first two cast-iron lighthouses in the West Indies, and worked on the Britannia tubular bridge. He was secretary to the Society of Arts (1849-52), and became secretary and director of the Crystal Palace Company in 1852. Editor of Macmillan's Magazine (1868-83), he was a major contributor to Sir William Smith's Dictionary of the Bible. His major work was as editor of the Dictionary of Music and Musicians (4 vols, 1878-89; 6th ed 1980). On a journey with Sir Arthur Sullivan to Vienna in 1867 he participated in the discovery of compositions by Schubert. His Beethoven and his Nine Symphonies (1896; new ed 1956) remained a standard work for years. Knighted in 1883 on the opening of the Royal College of Music, he was its director until 1895.

Bibliography: Percy M Young, George Grove: A Biography, 1820-1900 (1980)