Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1874-11-04
MONEY In MUSIC.
what Has Been Paid for Great Conn
positions.
London Correspondence Of the New York
Times.


Times.
The profession of composer of opera
bouffe is evidently very lucrative one
Just now. III. Lecoq received Il 800
from a London firm for the right of
publishing and performing In England,
the music of "Girohe. Glrofa." For
the performing right alone of the opera
he is now composing to Victorien Sar-
dou's libretto biased on that authors
comedy of lie Pre- st. Gervais, " he
is to receive $1,000; so that, if other
European countries pay in anything
like the same proportion as England,
the foreign rights alone of each of III.
Lecoq's works must bring him in seve-
raj thousand pounds. The great pOpu-
larity of Leco4 in London is owing, IN
SOME measure, to an accident. HIS
Paris publishers omitted to enter at
Stationers' Hall the first of his operas
which attained any great popularity.
This, of course, was LA File de
Madame Angot;" and owing to the
failure of NM Brandus to secure the
English performing right, every mana
ger in London was at liberty to play 1t
for nothing. By this unexpected ad-
vantage no less than FIVE managers
profted, and the representation of the
work in all parts of London had the
natural effect of making it more widely
known. Thus LecOq's apparent loss
was, in the end, his gain. The sale of
the music of La File de Madame
Angot" was so large that our music
publishers formed the highest opinion
Of Lecoq's value as composer of pOpu-
lar tunes; and when, some months ago,
"Girofe- Girofia" was brought out at
Brussels, ourprIncipal music publishing
firms sent over agents to treat with the
composer for the cession of his English
rights. Messrs. Enoch & Co., in secur-
ing these for the sum of 81 500, were
thought to have paid rather a long
price. But they at once sold to the
managers of the Philharmonic Theater,
at Islington, for e800, the right of
playing the opera one hundred times,
with a charge of IS per night for all
additional representations; and, consid-
ering the success "GirUfie- Girofa" has
obtained in its English dress, it is not
at all improbable that it will be per-
formed not 100 but 200 nights. Thus
the purchasers of NJ. Lecoq's English
rights in connection with "Girofe- Giro
fla will get back al the money they have
invested from one London theater, and
will still have the right of performance
in the country to sell, without counting
the profits to be derived from publish
ing the music. If, then, the business
of composing opera bouffes is partic-
ularly good one, that of specializing In
the foreign rights of opera bouffe COM
posers is not to be despised.
ESerious music, on the other hand, is
a drug in the market. Since a combi-
nation of London. music publishers
paid "a, 900 TO Meyerbeer's widow for
all English rights in common with
"L'Africaine, and found to their dis
may that acknowledgements
work contained no drawing-roomp pieces,
no themes for polkas, waltzes or quad
rifles, it has been very difficult for
composers of grand operas to dispose
of their music in England. Verdi,
Gounod, Ambrose Thomas ask i'm
mense prices, on the ground that they
are much greater men than Ofenbach
and Lecoq, who, as ! have already said,