author
Henri Lavoix
1846–1897
A French music historian and librarian, he wrote lively surveys of music’s past that helped bring the subject to a broader reading public. His books reflect both deep scholarship and a gift for making musical history feel approachable.
1 Audiobook
Histoire de la musique
by Henri Lavoix
About the author
Born in Paris on April 26, 1846, Henri Lavoix was a French musicographer and librarian remembered for writing about music history in a clear, wide-ranging way. He worked in major Paris libraries, including Sainte-Geneviève and later the Bibliothèque nationale, where his bibliographic and scholarly work went hand in hand with his writing.
Lavoix is best known for books such as Histoire de la musique and La musique française, which helped nineteenth-century readers explore the development of music across periods and traditions. His work combined historical curiosity with a strong interest in musical culture, instruments, and sources, making him a useful guide for general readers as well as students.
He died in Paris on December 27, 1897. Though not as widely known today as some composers he wrote about, he remains part of the world of French musical scholarship, especially for readers interested in how music history was presented and studied in the late nineteenth century.