Gustave Reese

Gustave Reese (November 29, 1899 – September 7, 1977) was an American musicologist and teacher. He was born in New York, where he mainly lived and taught, and died in Berkeley, California.

Reese is mainly famous for his groundbreaking work on medieval and Renaissance music, particularly with his two publications Music in the Middle Ages (1940) and Music in the Renaissance (1954); these two books remain the standard reference works for these two eras, with complete and precise bibliographical material, allowing for almost every piece of music mentioned to be traced back to a primary source.

He was a founder-member of the American Musicological Society (AMS) from 1934, and president of the organization from 1950 to 1952.