Introduction
Born: June 13, 1816, Soho, London, England.
Died: September 26, 1876, London, England.
Buried: Highgate Cemetery, London, England.
Born: June 13, 1816, Soho, London, England.
Died: September 26, 1876, London, England.
Buried: Highgate Cemetery, London, England.
Edward was the son of Stephen Francis Rimbault, organist at St. Giles-in-the-Fields, London.
After learning the elements of music from his father, he became a pupil of Samuel Wesley, and at age 16 was appointed organist to the Swiss Church in Soho.
In 1838 he lectured in London on the history of music, a rare subject then, and two years later he, with Edward Taylor, Gresham professor of music, and William Chappell, helped found the Musical Antiquarian Society, of which he became secretary, and for which he edited a number of works.
At the same time he assisted in the foundation of the Percy Society, of which likewise he was secretary. In 1841 he became editor of the Motet Society’s publications. A year later he was elected F.S.A. and a member of the Academy of Music, Stockholm.
Rimbault was awarded a PhD by Göttingen University, and was offered, but declined, the chair of music at Harvard University in America.
In 1842 he edited for the Percy Society Five Poetical Tracts of the Sixteenth Century. In 1844 he joined the committee of the Handel Society, for which he edited the Messiah, Saul, and Samson.
In 1848, Oxford University gave him a degree by in recognition of his services in the arrangement of the music in the music school; in the same year he lectured at the Royal Institution. Subsequently he occupied himself with duties as organist of various churches, including St. Peter’s, Vere Street, and St. John’s Wood, and in editing musical journals and arranging music.