FÉTIS, François J oseph (1784-1871), al though a fertile composer of almost every kind of music, will be chiefly remembered as a theoretical and critical writer. He was born at Mons in Belgium, March 25, 1784, and was trained as a musician by his father, who followed the same calling. In 1800 he went to Paris and completed his studies at the conservatoire under such masters as Boieldieu, Rey, and Pradher. After many vicissitudes he was in 1823 appointed professor at the same celebrated institute, and remained in the French capital for ten years, till in 1833 he obtained the directorship of the music-school of Brussels, which owes much to his indefatigable zeal. He also was the founder, and, till his death, the conductor of the celebrated concerts attached to the conservatoire of Brussels. In this important position he exercised a potent influence on musical education and musical taste in Belgium. He also furnished a large quantity of original compositions, from the opera and the oratorio down to the simple chanson. But all these are doomed to oblivion. Although not without traces of scholarship and technical ability, they show total absence of genius. More important are his writings on music. They are partly historical, such as the Curiosités historiques de la musique, Paris, 1850, and the unfinished Histoire universelle de musique, of which only the first three volumes have appeared (Paris, 1869-1872), partly theoretical. Amongst the latter the Méthode des méthodes depiano (Paris, 1837), written in conjuction with Moscheles, may be named. By far the most important of his works is the celebrated Biographie universelle des Musiciens, commenced as early as 1806, but not published till 1834 (in 8 vols.). Although full of mistakes, and marked by narrowness and ...