author
Ebenezer Prout
1835–1909
A leading Victorian music theorist and teacher, he helped shape how generations of British musicians learned harmony, counterpoint, and fugue. He was also a composer, editor, and lecturer whose textbooks stayed influential long after his lifetime.
1 Audiobook
Mozart
by Ebenezer Prout
About the author
Born in Oundle, Northamptonshire, on March 1, 1835, he became one of the best-known English writers on music theory of the late 19th century. Although he studied at the University of London and graduated in 1854, much of his musical training was self-directed, apart from piano lessons with Charles Salaman.
His career ranged widely across teaching, performance, criticism, and publishing. He served as an organist, taught at major institutions including the Royal Academy of Music, and wrote a series of clear, systematic textbooks on harmony, counterpoint, fugue, and instrumentation that were widely used by students and teachers.
He also composed orchestral, choral, chamber, and organ music, but his strongest legacy is as an educator. Remembered for making difficult musical ideas understandable, he played an important part in shaping British musical training before his death on December 5, 1909.