JACOBS, ARTHUR

JACOBS, ARTHUR (David; 1922–1996), British music critic, author, translator, editor, and lexicographer. Born in Manchester, Jacobs received his education there and at Oxford. He   was music critic of the London Daily Express (1947–52) and of the Jewish Chronicle (from 1963), as well as associate editor of the London monthly Opera (1961–71). He was appointed professor at the Royal Academy of Music, London, in 1964 and from 1979 to 1984 he was head of the music department at Huddersfield Polytechnic; he also taught in British Columbia (1968), Philadelphia (1970, 1971), Canada, and Australia. His many publications include Gilbert and Sullivan (1951), A New Dictionary of Music (1958, 1972 also Spanish and Swedish editions), Choral Music (editor, 1963), The Pan Book of Opera/The Opera Guide (with Stanley Sadie, 1964, 1969), The Penguin Dictionary of Musical Performers (1990), and A Short History of Western Music (1972). He translated more than 20 opera librettos from several languages, including works by Haendel, Rossini, Berlioz, Tchaikovsky, Strauss, and Berg (the complete Lulu), and wrote the original libretto for Nicholas Maw's One-Man Show (1964). Jacobs also contributed to many musical journals. -ADD. BIBLIOGRAPHY: Grove online; N. Slonimsky, Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians. (Max Loppert / Israela Stein (2nd ed.)