The Lute Society of America honors the memory of Dr. Arthur J. Ness, American musicologist, music historian, professor, and musician. Arthur passed away on October 11, 2026.
Arthur is widely known for The Lute Music of Francesco Canova da Milano published by Harvard University Press in 1970.
To read more of his work, see:
And to read LSA Journal contributions from Arthur Ness, see:
- JLSA 4 (1971): Review of The Lute Music of Francesco Canova da Milano (1497-1543), edited by Arthur J. Ness p56 – Peter Danner
- JLSA 20 (1987) & 21 (1988): Review of Tablature de luth Italienne dit Siena Manuscrit (ca. 1560-1570), introduction, concordances & index by Arthur J. Ness p165 – Dinko Fabris, and Review of The Königsberg Manuscript, introduction, inventory & index by Arthur J. Ness and John M. Ward p170 – Julia Craig-McFeeley
- JLSA 22 (1989): Communication in response to the Review of The Königsberg Manuscript in Volume XX-XXI p67 – Arthur J. Ness and John M. Ward
- JLSA 40 (2007): Review of The Thysius Lute Book: Facsimile edition (Dutch Lute Society and Royal Society for Music History of the Netherlands) p78 – Arthur J. Ness, and Briefly Noted: A Physician’s Lute Book p81 – Arthur J. Ness
- JLSA 41 (2008): In celebration of Arthur J. Ness’ 75th Birthday, Part I
- JLSA 42 (2009) & 43 (2010): In celebration of Arthur J. Ness’ 75th Birthday, Part II
- JLSA 44 (2011): In celebration of Arthur J. Ness’ 75th Birthday, Part III
- JLSA 46 (2013): Briefly Noted – Wandering Tablatures I — Ward: Cittern Manuscripts – Arthur Ness
- JLSA 52 (2019): Douglas A Smith – Writings — compiled by Kate Benessa and Arthur J. Ness
From Michael Fink, the Editor’s Introduction to Journal of the Lute Society of America, No. 41:
Volume 41 of the Journal of the Lute Society of America begins a series of issues in celebration of Arthur J. Ness’s 75th anniversary. These will embody what is frequently called a Festschrift, a collection of essays dedicated to a prominent scholar and authored by professional colleagues, former students and others who have had some connection with the honoree. Usually Festschrifien are printed under one cover, but sometimes they appear in scholarly journals. Thus, we celebrate Professor Ness’s birthday here in several issues of our Journal due to the number-of contributions from here and abroad in these issues.
Certainly Arthur needs no introduction to the lute community, so I’ll add just a few words. The day of his birth, January 27, was also Mozart’s. This may or may not be significant, but we should note that his master’s thesis dealt with the basset clarinet and Mozart’s Concerto in A, K. 622, and is often still cited in scholarly writings and histories of the instrument. The year of his birth, 1936, was exactly 400 years after the year of Francesco da Milano’s earliest dated publications in 1536. That was a significant year for the lute, when composers led by Francesco and Marco dall’Aquila exposed a new lutenistic (and idiomatically instrumental) idiom.
From his days as a doctoral student and fledgling professor of musicology, he emerged upon the international lute scene in 1970—a time when there barely was a lute scene in America—with his edition, The Lute Music of Francesco Canova da Milano (1497-1541), published by Harvard University Press. An outgrowth of a Harvard seminar led by his mentor John M. Ward, his edition grew to be a unique and significant contribution to musical scholarship, early music, and lute performance. The success of the book has become legendary, selling 2,100 copies and going through an extended period of print-on-demand publication, to become the best seller in the Harvard music series. A reprint edition, with a supplement of new materials and a French tablature edition, will be announced imminently.
Other Cinquecento lute music has not escaped Arthur’s notice. Over the years he has retained a spirited interest in the subjects in his NYU doctoral dissertation, “The Herwarth Lute Manuscripts in the Bavarian State Library, Munich,” which included a complete edition of the lute works of Marco dall’Aquila (now on the Internet at http://mysite.verizon .net/vzepq31c/marcodallaquila), the discovery of autograph manuscripts by the Italianate Bavarian master lutenist Melchior Newsidler, and pieces possibly copied from a lost Casteliono anthology from around 1540.
Arthur is undoubtedly one of the most knowledgeable lute scholars, as demonstrated in his many dictionary articles. For The New Grove Dictionary (1980, rev. 2001) he authored 14 biographical articles on Italian lutenists of the 16th century (Capirola, D. Bianchini, Testagrossa, da Crema, et al.), as well as the substantial article “Sources of Lute Music” (37 columns), which covers lute manuscripts and prints from around 1490 up to 1800. For the revised edition of the “Sources” article, he was assisted by his spouse of 27 years, Charlotte Kolczynski, a music reference librarian
in the venerable Music Research Department of the Boston Public Library. Less well known perhaps are his articles on musical forms in The New Harvard Dictionary of Music, ed. Don Rändel (1986): Canzona, Capriccio, Fantasia, Inganno, Prelude, Ricercar, Tiento, Toccata, Tuck, Tusch, Tocatin, etc.
He has been the editor of two major facsimile publications: Tablature de luth italienne: dit Siena Manuscript (ca. 1560-1570): facsimilé du Ms. 28 B 39 (ancienne Bibliothèque Scheurleer), La Haye, Gemeentemuseum (Geneva: Minkoff, 1988); and The Königsberg Manuscript: A Facsimile of Manuscript 285-MF-LXXIX . . . Central Library of the Lithuanian Academy of Science, Vilnius (with John Μ. Ward) (Columbus, Oh.: Editions Orphée, 1989).
In addition, Arthur has served on the Editorial Board of this Journal, and he has been extremely generous with advice, guidance, and mentoring to other scholars and editors. Just one example was his guidance in the preparation of Oscar Chilesotti’s Da un Codice Lauten-buch in Lute Tablature, ed.
Dick Hoban (Fort Worth: Lyre Music Publication, 1994). It is with deepest admiration and fondest collegiality that we dedicate this series in the JLSA to Arthur J. Ness, his life and most fruitful career.
Over the years he has retained a spirited interest in the subjects in his NYU doctoral dissertation, “The Herwarth Lute Manuscripts in the Bavarian State Library, Munich,” which included a complete edition of the lute works of Marco dall’Aquila (http://mysite.verizon .net/vzepq31c/marcodallaquila), Arthur was undoubtedly one of the most knowledgeable lute scholars, as demonstrated in his many dictionary articles. For The New Grove Dictionary (1980, rev. 2001) he authored 14 biographical articles on Italian lutenists of the 16th century (Capirola, D. Bianchini, Testagrossa, da Crema, et al.), as well as the substantial article “Sources of Lute Music” (37 columns), which covers lute manuscripts and prints from around 1490 up to 1800.
Michael Fink
Editor’s Introduction
Journal of the Lute Society of America, No. 41