Alfred Novello

Joseph Alfred Novello (12 August 1810 – 17 July 1896) was an English music publisher. He was the eldest son of Vincent Novello, and the creator of Novello and Company Ltd as a revolutionary force in music publishing. Life J. Alfred Novello was born in London, the eldest son of the famous organist and composer Vincent Novello, who was the father of eleven children; two died in infancy, two survived infancy but died in childhood, and a son died in early manhood. One son and five daughters survived to carry on the family musical tradition. In 1811 Vincent Novello founded the music publishing firm Novello & Co which carries his name, as he issued sheet music on a subscription basis from his own house and continued to do so until his son J. Alfred Novello took over the business in 1829 at the early age of nineteen. Before this business venture, Alfred, as a bass singer, had done some professional singing. In 1836 Novello began publishing The Musical World, a periodical that was the first weekly devoted to music; its publication continued until 1891. In 1842 Novello acquired Mainzer’s Musical Times and Singing Circular. This formed the basis of The Musical Times and Singing Class Circula