Download “Say it ain`t so, Joe”: Haydn, Pleyel and the Two Piano

“Say it ain't so, Joe”: Haydn,
Pleyel and the Two Piano Trios
Roger S. Fisher, Ph.D., J.D.
1
Bach v. Longman (1777)
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Musical scores are “works of literature”
(inscribed with symbols)
Statute of Anne (1709)
Was the music publishing industry ready for
copyright?
2
Haydn and Pleyel
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Witnesses not litigants
Gossip and speculation mostly wrong
Haydn made the “shocking admission” that he
had published a work composed by his student
3
Two Questions
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How could Haydn made that admission and not
have to explain himself?
Why did the publishers continue to publish the
works in England under Haydn’s name?
4
Two Solutions
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Haydn was the owner of his student’s
compositions under the law of apprenticeship
The music publishers settled the cases because
an uncertain legal environment was good for the
trade
5
Franz Joseph
Haydn (17321809)
Portrait by Thomas
Hardy in 1792
Royal College of
Music, London
6
Ignaz Pleyel
(1757-1831)
Portrait by Thomas
Hardy in 1792
Royal College of
Music, London
7
Haydn’s First London Visit
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Haydn composed and performed in London
1791-92
Pleyel in London late 1791 and 1792
Competing series of concerts
He and Pleyel sat for portraits by Thomas Hardy
He and Pleyel testified in the lawsuits
8
Haydn's “London” Letters
“I have a lot to do, especially now…my pupil Pleyel [has
been] brought over to face me as a rival.” (14 Jan. 1792)
“I am making every effort to do my best, because our
rivals…have had my pupil Pleyel…come here to conduct
their concerts. So now a bloody harmonious war will
commence between master and pupil. The newspapers are
full of it, but it seems to me that there will soon be an
armistice, because my reputation is so firmly established
here. Pleyel behaved so modestly towards me upon his
arrival that he won my affection again. We are very often
together, and this does him credit, for he knows how to
appreciate his father. We shall share our laurels equally
and each go home satisfied” (17 Jan. 1792)
9
Haydn's “London” Letters
Pleyel’s presumption is sharply criticized, but I love him just
the same. I always go to his concerts, and am the first to
applaud him”.
10
Haydn's “London” Letters
“There isn’t a day, not a single day, in which I am free from
work…My labours have been augmented by the arrival of
my pupil Pleyel…He arrived here..[and] he promised to
present a new work every evening…and so I announced
publicly that I would likewise produce twelve different new
pieces. In order to keep my word…I must be the victim and
work the whole time. But I really do feel it. My eyes suffer
the most, and I have many sleepless nights, though with
God’s help I shall overcome it.
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12
William Forster & Son
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Published 23 symphonies by Haydn in
1780s
Commissioned a set of piano trios
Piano trio = set of three sonatas for
piano, violin and violoncello
Published Haydn’s three piano trios as
Opus 40
13
“Two Piano Trios for Violin, Cello and Piano. Previously
attributed to Joseph Haydn now known to have been
composed by Ignaz Pleyel. Authoritative Henle Urtext
edition of Trio In C and Trio in F as edited by Wolfgang
Stockmeier.”
14
Haydn’s “Complete Piano Trios”
15
Forster’s Bill of Complaint (Hil. Term
1788)
“Joseph Haydn of Vienna... being the author and
composer of the said musical works...sold... all
his...right, title and interest in them...and caused to
be delivered to your orator a manuscript of the
same...James Longman and Francis Jane
Broderip defendants...have without the consent of
your orator caused... the works...called Opera
Forty...to be engraved... [and have] sold…many
copies…”
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17
L&B’s Answer (9 June 1788)
“…these defendants do not know what authority if any
the said complainant had from the said Joseph Haydn
so to do...the said Sonatas [were already] printed and
exposed to public sale [overseas]... by persons who
had full and sufficient authority so to do so...the said
Joseph Haydn…made it a practice to sell his property or
copyright in his several musical compositions many
times over or grant the liberty of publishing the same to
different persons in this kingdom and abroad so as to
make it difficult to fix the absolute right thereof
exclusively in any particular person....”
18
L&B’s Settlement Offer
"Sirs...we think it necessary to explain
ourselves...it is by no means our wish to do
you or any of the trade any sort of injury,
...our papers...must convince you the copyright
is our just due and if you will give up the sale of
those works, we will enter into any engagement
you think proper not to dispose of any of Haydns
Op. 40 & 42... If this mode is not thought
satisfactory, we have no objection to submit the
matter to arbitration and abide by the result.”
19
Haydn’s Declaration of Title
"I acknowledge to have received of Monsieur Guillaum
Forster, merchant and music publisher, domiciled in the
Strand at London, the sum of seventy pounds…for…
Sonatas…composed by me…And I certify and declare
to the whole world that I sold the said...Sonatas...to
Monsieur Forster...And I further certify and declare that
the said Guilliam Forster is the sole proprietor of the said
works, that I sold them to him as such, and that I cede
and transfer to him all my rights and covenants thereto.
In witness of which I have set my signature to this
document at Esterhaz, this [not filled in] 1786."
20
Music Publishing c. 1780 (1)
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No royalty payments
No performance rights
One-off sales to publishers
21
Music Publishing c. 1780 (2)
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Manuscripts produced by professional copyists
Manuscripts produced by amateur copyists
Subscription lists (“private” or direct sales by
composers
22
Haydn’s Contract with Prince
Esterházy (1714 -1790)
Haydn was not to “...share his
compositions with anyone, much less
allow them to be copied, but to preserve
them solely for his Lordship....”
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Music Publishing c. 1780 (3)
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Engraving on copper plates (up to 300 copies)
Letter press (movable type for musical
compositions invented by Breitel 1755) expensive, suitable for 500-1000 copies or more
24
“Modern” Versions of the Lawsuit
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David Wyn Jones, The Life of Haydn, 2009 (handout)
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“The well-known story which Landon repeates about
Haydn's having published trios by Pleyel [Hob. XV: 3-4]
under his own name might have read somewhat
differently if the author had also reported the little known
end of this spectacle -- in 1799 Pleyel took his revenge
on his former teacher by having his publishing house
print a trio of Haydn [Hob. XV: 5] as a composition of his
own....” (Geiringer, Karl, Joseph Haydn and the
eighteenth century : collected essays of Karl Geiringer
(edited by Robert N. Freeman), 2002 at 237).
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N.-E. Framery, Notice sur Joseph
Haydn (1810)
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Pleyel gave two trios to Haydn as an "act of homage"
[partially true]
Haydn mistakenly sold the works to Forster [untrue] and
Pleyel simultaneously sold the works to L&B [false]
Forster sued L&B [true]
Haydn embarassed by what had happened [false] and
he and Pleyel “told judge the whole truth of the matter”
[partially true]
Haydn gave each publisher a set of trios to make up for
the mistake [partially true]
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Modern Biographers
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Robbins Landon
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Caryl Clark
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Haydn “pawned” the trios
Richard Wigmore
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Haydn “stole the trios”
A “disagreeable matter”
Haydn “pilfered”
The “stolen trios” were Pleyel’s
David Wyn Jones
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Haydn’s “shocking admission”
A matter of “deceit”
27
Mace, N.A. “Haydn and the London music
sellers,” Music and Letters 77 Nov (1996)
527-41"
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“…the music sellers may have deliberately concealed
Pleyel's role to improve sales of the trios” (at 527)
"Forster and the partners must have agreed to remain
silent about Pleyel…otherwise, his authorship would have
been noted. Thus, they both decided to continue to delude
the public to increase their sales" (Mace at 539)
“[L&B] use other grounds for denying Forster's claim,
which suggets that they wanted to maintain the fiction
that Haydn was the author of the entire set” (at 529)
28
Mace, N.A. “Haydn and the London music
sellers,” Music and Letters 77 Nov (1996)
527-41"
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“Thus, [L&B] may not have known of Pleyel's authorship
when they published their own edition of Op 40, but they
clearly knew by 1791…they chose to conceal that fact
until pressed…because they could make more from sales
of Haydn trios than from those of his former pupil” (at 539)
29
London Gazeteer Feb. 5, 1791
“His pupil Pleyel, with perhaps less science, is
a more popular composer -- from his more
frequent introduction of air into his harmonies,
and the general smoothness of his melodies.”
30
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Pleyel Society,
1821-1823
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Nantucket Island, USA
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“To chasten the taste
of auditors with better
kinds of music as a
source of rational
entertainment.”
31
Legal Questions
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Why in 1785 did Forster ask Haydn to
confirm his ownership in the works after the
sale?
Why did Forster register a copyright in the
works after Haydn’s “confession”
Why did the lawsuits settle without before
trial?
Why did Pleyel publish Haydn’s piano trio as
part of his own Opus 24?
32
Haydn’s Testimony
Examination in Chief (April 14, 1791)
"Says that he this Deponent composed the
whole of the said operas except [the first two
trios] which were composed by his then pupil
Pleyel"
Cross-Examination (July 5, 1791)
“This Deponent…says that the first and second
Sonatas...are composed by Pleyel"
33
Storace v. Longman (1788)
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Stephen Storace a song-writer
Longman defended under custom of the trade
All songs performed at musical theatres became
the property of the theatre proprietors and
"under them of the Copyist...who has always
been considered to have an absolute and
exclusive power of disposing of the copy right
thereof it being part of his salary" (affidavit of a
professional copyist, Jan 31, 1788)
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What does “by Pleyel” mean?
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i.e. “The first two trios were actually by Haydn’s
student Pleyel”
Musicological significance
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Focus on creative origins
Legal sgnificance
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Focus on ownership and rights
35
Haydn as a Music Teacher (1)
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Marianne von Martinez
"I am very sorry that in this short time I have not been
able to give more than 30 lessons to your son, whom
people here have robbed of the hope that he might ever
learn to compose. He is a good boy, I love him, and he
has enough talent to prove to those gentlemen that they
are wrong, and to show the world quite the contrary. His
conduct, as far as I have observed, is exemplary, but I,
too, wish that he would better study, first, thorough bass;
2ndly, the art of singing; and lastly the pianoforte; for I
assure you, dearest Friend, that by application and effort
he can become a distinguished man yet."
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Haydn as a Music Teacher (2)

“I, the undersigned, acknowledge and certify that my
pupil Herr Johan [sic] Spech, under my direction and
supervision, has mastered advanced composition, and
consequently everything which concerns the vocal and
instrumental branches; I further certify that he has made
sufficient progress therein to enable him to preside over
any music school, not only as director but also as a
teacher of pianoforte and organ. I herewith testify to this”
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Apprenticeship
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An apprentice is “person bound to another for the
purpose of learning his trade or calling, the contract
being of the nature that the master teaches and the
other serves the master with the intention of learning.”
(Fox, Industrial and Intellectual Property, 1950)
R. v. Crediton Inhabitants,1831
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"I do not see why a person bound to learn the art of an
attorney should not be considered an apprentice“
(Crompton J.)
"An apprentice is, however, not the less an apprentice
because he is called by some other name. Inasmuch as
the term 'apprentice' is generally applied to persons
bound to learn a trade, I can quite understand that
gentlemen practising a liberal profession might wish for a
somewhat higher appellation" (Cockburn C.J.)
The Musicians’ Company (1606)
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No member may have more than one apprentice
musician at a time
Indicia of Apprenticeship
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Sponsor pays the master
Residence of student with master
Relationship is one of master (scholar/expert)
and student
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Haydn on Pleyel
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“We are very often together, and this does him credit, for
he knows how to appreciate his father.”
“I always go to his concerts and am the first to applaud
him”
42
Haydn’s 76th Birthday Gala
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Beethoven, “tears streaming down his face, bent and
kissed the hand of his former teacher”
Salieri was the conductor
Pleyel was present
43
Intellectual Property and
Apprenticeships
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"The inventor may be aided by persons in a subordinate
position to himself, who are also employed by him in
experimenting or carrying out his ideas, such workers
being viewed as the inventor's tools” (Bewes,
Copyright and Patents, 1891)
“The difficulty resides, where master and servants are
concerned, in defining and ascertaining who is the
author" (Fox, Industrial and Intellectual Property, 1950)
44
Mozart on Pleyel’s Musicianship
“…there are Quartets now published by a
certain Pleyel; he is a pupil of Josef Haydn. If
you don’t known them, try to get them; it is
worthwhile. They are very well written and
pleasant; you will at once recognize the
master in them. Good – and fortunate for
music – if Pleyel will in time be able to
replace Haydn for us….!” [Apr 24, 1784]
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Church and Court Composers
“If a composer left his church, he would usually
leave copies of his compositions behind…the
owner of the works [i.e. the church] remained
entitled to have the works performed at will.
These practices are encountered as well with
court musicians….”
(L. Guillo, “Legal Aspects,” in Music Publishing in
Europe 1600-1900, 2005) at 121).
46
Copyright Act, 1842, c 45
13. And be it enacted, That when any publisher
or other person shall...have employed...any
Persons..and any such work...shall have
been...composed under such employment, on
the terms that the copyright therein shall belong
to such proprietor...the copyright in
every...work...shall be the property of such
proprietor...who shall enjoy the same rights
as if he were the actual author....
47
Copyright Act, 1911 (U.K.)
48
Haydn’s Examination-in-Chief (April
14, 1791)
“Forster did purchase the Copyright of all the
Compositions”
49
Haydn’s Cross-Examination (July 5th
1791)
“...this Defendant saith...that he..did give and
allow but when or to whom in particular he does
not recollect or for what consideration a
licence...to several persons...to print publish
and sell all the said produced pieces of
music....”
50
Pleyel’s Evidence under Oath
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Gave Longman & Broderip a licence for “no
consideration”
The licence was to publish all three works
(including Haydn’s “third” trio)
Pleyel exceed any rights he might have had
as the composer of the first two trios
Nothing in writing
Did not deliver original manuscripts
Not asked about his authorship
51
Last Court Order (Nov. 19, 1792)
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Copyright in Music – Open Questions
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Do foreign non-resident composers enjoy
copyright protection in England?
How does a publisher acquire a valid licence in
a musical composition?
What are the formalities for acquiring a licence?
How does a publisher satisfy himself that the
person selling him a work is the composer or the
owner?
Does a master own the works composed by his
student?
53
Conclusion
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Haydn legally the deemed owner and author
of the two piano trios
Forster proved he purchased the copyright
from the Haydn
 BUT Lord Manfield’s decision in Bach v.
Longman (1777) was an “author’s
rights” decision
Longman &Broderip weak on evidence they
purchased a licence from Pleyel
 BUT the question of international
copyright was still unresolved
54
END
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