Joseph Alfred Novello, English music publisher, was the eldest son of Vincent Novello and the creator of Novello and Company Limited as a revolutionary force in music publishing.
Background
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.
Career
Before this business venture, Alfred, as a bass singer, had done some professional singing. Alfred Novello promoted and built the business into a huge commercial success, and is credited as being the first to introduce inexpensive sheet music (reducing the retail price by a factor of four) and to depart from the method of publishing by subscription. In 1836 Novello started the publication of The Musical World, a weekly periodical that was the first devoted to music
Its publication continued until 1891.
Before his retirement, Alfred Novello actively worked against British "taxation of knowledge" and played a significant role in the 1853 repeal of the advertisement duty, the 1855 repeal of the newspaper stamp, repeal of duties on paper and foreign books, and repeal of the security system. After his retirement from the music publishing business, Alfred Novello moved to Genoa and pursued his interests in the Italian Irrigation Company, playing and composing organ music, and the study of hydrodynamics.
He obtained several patents on ship construction and worked with William Froude. He died in Genoa.