Complete Encyclopaedia of Music/A/Academy of ancient music
Academy of ancient music. This institution was established in London, in 1710, by the most eminent masters of the time, with a view to the study and practice of vocal and instrumental music, and continued to flourish for many years. The institution had the advantage of an excellent library, consisting of the most celebrated foreign and domestic compositions, and was aided by the amateurs of the Chapel Royal and the choir of St. Paul's Church, and the boys belonging to each. In 1731, a charge of plagiarism was brought against Bononcini, a member of the Academy, for claiming a madrigal of Lotti as his own, and threatened the existence of the institution. Dr. Greene, leader of the choir at St. Paul's Church, who had introduced the madrigal into the Academy, took part with Bononcini, and both withdrew from the institution. About three years afterwards, Mr. Gates, leader of the choir at the Chapel Royal, retired in disgust; and from this time the Academy became a seminary for the instruction of youth in the science of' music.