GERBER, Ernst Ludwig (1746-1819), author of the well-known dictionary of musicians, was born at Sondershausen 29th September 1746. His father, Henry Nicolas Gerber (1702-1775), a pupil of J. S. Bach, was an organist and composer of some distinction, and under his direction Ernst Ludwig at an early age had made great progress in his musical studies. In 1765 he went to Leipsic with the view of studying law, but the claims of music, which had gained additional strength from his acquaintanceship with J. A. Hiller, soon came to occupy almost his sole attention. On his return to Sondershausen he was appointed music teacher to the children of the prince, and in 1775 he succeeded his father as court organist. Latterly he devoted much of his time to the study of the literature and history of music, and with this view he made himself master of several of the modern languages. His Historischbiographisches Lexikon der Tonkünstler appeared in 1790 and 1792 in two volumes; and the first volume of what was virtually an improved and corrected edition of this work was published in 1810 under the title Neues historischbiographisches Lexikon der Tonkünstler, followed by other three volumes in 1812, 1813, and 1814. Gerber also contributed a number of papers to musical periodicals, and published several minor musical compositions. He died at Sondershausen 30th June 1819.

GERBERON, Gabriel (1628-1711), a Jansenist monk, one of the most diligent students and prolific writers of his century, was born August 12, 1628, at St Calais, in the department of Sarthe. At the age of twenty he took the vows of the Benedictine order at St Melaine, Rennes, and after having taught rhetoric and philosophy in the monasteries of Bourgueil (Touraine) and St Denis, he became sub-prior at Compiegne, whence he was afterwards removed to St Germain-des-Pres. In the year 1669 he fully and finally committed himself in the Jansenist controversy by the publication of his first work, which was an apology for the abbé Rupert of Tuits. In 1672 he was ordered to Argenteuil and in 1675 to Corbie; but having by this time aroused the most bitter hostility of the entire Jesuit order, he found it necessary to save himself by flight into the Low Countries, where he seems to have lived in various towns during the next twenty-eight years, and where he published a great number of works, including the Histoire Générale du Jansénisme (1700), by which he is now best known. Arrested on the 30th of May 1703 at Brussels, at the instance of the archbishop of Malines, he was sent into France aud condemned to imprisonment, from which he was not released till 1710, and even then only after he had consented to abjure the five Jansenist propositions. The first use he made of his freedom was to write a work (which, however, his friends prudently prevented him from publishing) Le vaine triomphe des Jésuites, containing a virtual withdrawal of the compulsory recantation. He died at the abbey of St Denis on the 29th of March 1711. A full list of his works is given in the Biographie Générale.

GERBERT. See Silvester II.

GERBERT, Martin (1720-1793), a Catholic prelate and writer on church music, was a descendant of the Ger-berts of Hornau, and was born at Horb on the Neckar, Wurtemberg, 12th August 1720. He received his education at the Jewish school of Freiburg in the Breisgau, at Klingenau in Switzerland, and at the monastery of St Blaise in the Black Forest. He joined the order of the Benedictines in the monastery of St Blaise in 1736, became priest in 1744, was soon thereafter appointed professor of theology, and was chosen abbot in 1764. From 1759 to 1762 he travelled in Germany, Italy, and France, chiefly with the view of obtaining access to the old collections of musical literature contained in the libraries of the monasteries. In 1774 he published two volumes De cantu et musica sacra ; in 1777, Monumenta veteris liturgioe Alemannicoe; and in 1784, in three volumes, Scriptores ecclesiastici de musica sacra, a collection of the principal writers on church music from the 3d century till the invention of printing. Although this work contains many textual errors, its publication has nevertheless been of very great importance for the history of music, by preserving writings which otherwise might either have perished or remained unknown. He is also the author of Codex epistolaris Rudolphi I., 1772, and Historia Nigrae Silvae, Cologne, 1783-1788. His interest in music led to his acquaintance with the composer Gluck, who became his intimate friend. He died 3d May 1793.