Théodore Nisard

Abbé Théodore Nisard (actually Theodule Eleazar Xavier Normand ; * 1812 in Quaregnon near Mons ; † 1888 ) was a French clergyman , organist and musicologist .

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Nisard received his first musical instruction in his hometown, then studied in Cambrai and then entered the seminary of Tournai , where he was ordained a religious priest in 1835 . In 1839 he was appointed director of the English grammar school and in 1842 he was appointed titular organist of the Church of St. Germain-des-Prés in Paris , but he only held this position for a short time because he decided to devote himself more to musicological research .

Most of his music-historical works deal with the development of music, especially in the Middle Ages and particularly with reference to questions about Gregorian chant . He has also written notable articles in Joseph d'Ortigue's musical dictionary, including A. on Gregorian chant and its rhythm, and vehemently opposed the new edition of Medicaea by the Regensburg publishing house Pustet . He also joined the Choral Association of the Trier Cathedral Music Director Michael Hermesdorff , who had set himself the task of restoring the original melody of the Gregorian chant by comparing medieval codices and thus doing the most important preparatory work for the restitution of the choir in German-speaking countries.

In addition to these treatises, he wrote monographs on Odo von Cluny , Palestrina , Lully , Rameau , Abbé Vogler and others.

Works

• Du catholicisme et du libéralisme, Enghien 1841
• Du rythme dans le plain-chant, 1856
• Notice sur l'antiphonaire bilingue de Montpellier, Paris, 1864
• L'archéologie musicale et le vrai chant grégorien, Lethielleux, 1890