Go on the internet and research the history of music publishing up to 1900. Concentrate particularly on developments in the period covered by this part of the course (around 1740–1800). In what ways did the increasing availability of published music affect the European music scene?
Whilst researching this topic, the impression I get from reading the course notes, as well as other sources, is that music publishing becomes increasingly important as a source of income to the composer as we progress through the 18th and into the 19th century. By the time of Beethoven’s death, it has largely replaced the system of patronage that had been so essential to the composer’s survival. Additionally the rise of the middle-classes, technological advances in printing music, and the massive increase in demand for published music in the 19th century changed to a large extent the way in which music was created and who it was written for.
The system of patronage often restricted composers from publishing their own works. For instance, in Haydn’s original contract with the Esterhazy family he was forbidden from selling or giving away his compositions. It was partly the unauthorised publication of his music in London and Paris and elsewhere that helped to spread his reputation across Europe.
‘A new contract in 1779 allowed Haydn to sell his music to others while continuing to direct opera and musical activities at court. He subsequently wrote most of his instrumental music with the expectation of sales to the public, in manuscript or printed copies. Since copyright at the time did not extend across national boundaries Haydn tried to maximise it’s profits and to prevent pirated editions by selling the same piece simultaneously to publishers in several different countries’.
(p.523. A History of Western Music, Burkholder)
In his later years, as Haydn increasingly composed for publication or for other patrons, he gained a measure of independence from his employer.
Beethoven followed in Haydn’s footsteps: Publishers competed for Beethoven’s music. He drove hard bargains, got them bidding against each other, and he followed Haydn’s lead in publishing works in several countries at once to preserve his rights and maximize his returns.
It seems that the problem of copyright infringement, an eternal headache for the creative artist, was a reality even in the earlier days of music publishing:
‘Extensive music publishing from engraved plates began in London and Amsterdam. Estienne Roger set up his shop in Amsterdam about 1690 and was soon engraving small oblong quarto piracies of Bolognese instrumental music…’
Printing and publishing of music
Stanley Boorman, Eleanor Selfridge-Field and Donald W. Krummel
https://doi.org/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.40101
Oxford Music Online
As a side note, it was ‘Francis Broderip (1776–98), important as the first music publisher to deposit his new publications at Stationers Hall for copyright purposes, and probably the most prolific of all London music publishers in the 1790s’. I point this out because I went through the same process many years ago and it also touches on the subject of copyright law in the UK and the passing into law of the Statute of Anne in 1710 which was effectively the first law to protect the intellectual rights of the author.
In the early 16th century, Petrucci was the first printer to use multiple-impression movable type, and the first publisher of polyphony (Grove Music online). Venice became an important centre for music publishing in the 16th and early 17th centuries.
Subsequent printers copied Petrucci’s techniques, and the different techniques of printing music existed in parallel and persisted almost to the present day. Indeed, different processes were used side by side: At the beginning of the 19th century, for example, Breitkopf and Hartel were printing music from type, from engraved plates and from lithographic stones concurrently. With the techniques that he employed he was able to output a large quantity of music cheaper than other publishers and indeed some publishers had their music printed by Breitkopf.
(A History of Western Music, Burkholder
Printing and publishing of music
Stanley Boorman, Eleanor Selfridge-Field and Donald W. Krummel
Oxford Music online)
Before the technique of printing was established and exploited widely, music was preserved and circulated in manuscript, or survived is a repertory carried in oral tradition among priests and professional lay musicians. During the latter part of the 15th century printing became the accepting means of disseminating literary articles, but almost all music was still circulated in hand written form. Manuscript were prepared for sale in this way at least until the beginning of the 19th century: the names of Foucault in Paris, Traeg in Vienna, Breitkopf in Leipzig and Recordi in Milan recall the continuity and significance of this tradition.
During the 18th and 19th centuries music publishing flourished and many firms sprung up, some of which are still in existence today, namely: Breitkopf & Härtel, (founded in 1719, the oldest music publishing company in the world) but also in England, most notably: Samuel Chappell (1810–), Vincent Novello (1811–), Thomas Boosey (working in music from 1816).
In the 19th century the development and popularity of the piano (as explored in my previous assignment), as well as the growing ranks of the middle-class helped to create a seemingly infinitely expanding demand for music.
‘The first musical fruit of middle-class prosperity appeared in the form of a piano. It was the acquisition of pianos in large numbers which was to vastly extend the market for drawing-room ballads, and to standardize the genre as a song with piano accompaniment (rather than, say, harp). In the early part of the nineteenth century it was taken for granted that a song published with piano accompaniment was intended for home music-making…the tradition of publishing music heard at concerts in versions aimed at amateurs stretched back into the previous century: then the passion for the German flute among gentleman amateurs had lain behind such remarkable publications as Handel’s complete Messiah arranged for flute…’
The Growth of the Market for Domestic Music
Derek B. Scott, Professor of Critical Musicology, University of Leeds
All these amateurs needed music to play, creating a boom in music publishing. Technology again proved crucial: lithography, invented around 1796, let publishers print music cheaply with elaborate illustrations that helped it sell.
‘And here is where the history of music publishing should be considered. When it all began in eighteenth-century Europe, some enterprising music lovers put their tastes and talents to the task of satisfying a mounting musical appetite among a steadily growing army of middle-class ama teurs. Everybody sang or played, and the experience of teaming up with others was enormous fun. Composers were more than happy to oblige by writing music that was within the grasp of these amateurs…’
Sturm, George. “Music Publishing.” Notes, vol. 56, no. 3, 2000, pp. 628–634. JSTOR, JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/899647.
‘The market in sheet music gave the public at large unprecedented influence over what music was produced, because publishers had to supply what their customers wanted’ (Burkholder)
The above quotes neatly sum up the change in the way music was composed and the increasing importance of music publishing to the composer. Prior to, and including the Baroque era composers were generally employed by the nobility to compose music for the court or the church. They had little independence and were considered servants or simple employees. Some exceptions spring to mind of course – notably Handel who had much success in England, but his financial independence came as much from independent means such as opera productions, as well as writing works for nobility rather than simply through music publishing. It seems that the 19th century was important to the composer in the sense that there was a large amateur music-making market, with such diverse segments as choral societies, small amateur bands, brass bands, as well as the great popularity of the piano, all of which created a vibrant market for music publishing.
Sources:
http://www.victorianweb.org/mt/dbscott/2.html
The Growth of the Market for Domestic Music
Derek B. Scott, Professor of Critical Musicology, University of Leeds
Sturm, George. “Music Publishing.” Notes, vol. 56, no. 3, 2000, pp. 628–634. JSTOR, JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/899647.
https://www.breitkopf.com/help
Printing and publishing of music
Stanley Boorman, Eleanor Selfridge-Field and Donald W. Krummel
https://doi.org/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.40101 (Oxford Music Online)
https://www.britannica.com/topic/copyright#ref157947
Burkholder, J. P., Grout, D. J., & Palisca, C. V. (2014). A history of western music (Ninth edition.). New York, N.Y.: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
Though not directly relevant in answering the above question, I found myself perusing YouTube and coming across a number of videos that were highly informative and instructive with regards to the art and science of printing music. I was particularly struck by the time, skill, and patience required to engrave music on soft metal.
Jim Mennell Music 