When the Renaissance Era finally drew to a close, and the innovating of the printing press finally plateaued, the music printing business did anything but fold. In fact, the music publishing business blossomed within the new Baroque Era. Composers were now able to work full-time without the employment of a royal court, and they needed a new way to have their music published and dispersed across the globe. Music publishers and independent publishing firms were created to fill this need. In this paper, I will be discussing Estienne Roger, known as the most famous music publisher, John Walsh, known to have had the largest publishing firm of the seventeenth century, and John Playford, known to have had the earliest publishing monopoly. I will cover the business lives of these three Baroque Era music publishing giants, as well as their struggles with early copyright laws.
One of the most influential music publishers of the seventeenth century was Estienne Roger. Born in 1665, he was alive and publishing music in the heart of the Baroque Era. He began his printing career in The Netherlands after fleeing France to escape the Protestant Reformation. Roger opened his publishing firm in Amsterdam with fellow French Huguenot, Jean-Louis de Lorme, around 1696. Roger began his career printing and publishing books, specifically educational texts and dictionaries. It wasn’t until later that he became a producer of musical books and scores, by which he earned his distinction. There is little information about why Roger’s firm made the transition from educational texts to music, but it likely due to the rising popularity of the industry.
Between the years 1696 and 1722, Roger had published over five hundred musical works written by a vast range of composers. Roger is “said to have been the first publisher with a truly international catalog and also with a truly international market. He sold his music not only in Holland, but also in the Low Countries, France, the German-speaking areas, Scandinavia, and England” (Rasch, 295). In fact, Roger’s reputation was so respected that he caught the attention of Italian composer Antonio Vivaldi. Vivaldi turned to him to publish his L’estro Armonico, a collection of twelve concertos for stringed instruments.
Eleven years after printing Vivaldi’s L’estro Armonico, Estienne Roger passed away and left his printing firm to his second daughter, Jeanne, who died only five months after her father. It was then purchased by the printer Michel-Charles Le Cene, who was the husband of Roger’s eldest daughter, Francoise. The firm remained in business until 1748.
Rudolf Rasch writes that “Roger’s publishing output is well known to us due to the catalogs he either inserted in his music editions or published as separate booklets” (Rasch 296). From these catalogs, it is found that only around twenty percent of Roger’s prints were original, authorized editions of compositions. The vast majority of the nearly eight hundred prints made at his firm were simply reprints of pirated works, or works printed without consent of the composer and original publisher. Due to the lack of international copyright, Roger primarily reprinted works by Italian composers, but also the French, English, and German. Among Roger’s incredibly long list of clients are names like George Frideric Handel, Giuseppe Valentini, Antonio Vivaldi, William Corbett, and Jean-Baptiste Senaille.
Roger’s firm’s renown stemmed from the high quality of his published prints. Italian composers chose to reprint their pirated compositions with Estienne Roger because of the hand-carved copper cutouts he used in the matrices of his printing press. These engraved copper plates produced clear, legible prints, that were much easier for instrumentalists to read when compared to prints from the Italian letterpress. The quality of Roger’s work allowed him to sell his editions, despite the higher price from printing on engraved copper plates. A cheaper alternative to copper plates in the seventeenth century were pewter plates, the trademark of music publisher John Walsh.
John Walsh began his career in music as an instrument maker in England. He was so skilled in his trade that he was appointed “musical instrument maker in ordinary” to the King of England in 1692, meaning that the King of England turned to John Walsh for all his music instrument repairs and orders. Walsh remained in the instrument profession for approximately three years before transitioning to the more lucrative field of music publishing. The earliest of Walsh’s publications that can be recovered was printed in 1695 and was “an advertisement in The London Gazette…This is The Self Instructor for the Violin, or the art of playing that instrument improved and made easie by plain Rules and Directions” (Kidson, 439). Walsh continued to publish sorts of handbooks for various instruments, such as The Compleat Flute Master, The whole art of playing on the Recorder in 1696.
It was also in the year 1696 that Walsh began branching out in to publishing books containing real music. Kidson writes that “before the end of the seventeenth century, Walsh had got into his stride and was publishing more important music than cheap and inadequate tutors for the Violin and Flute” (Kidson, 439). He published A Collection of New Songs by Signior Nicola Matieis. It is unclear whether or not it is part of Walsh’s title, but Frank Kidson, author of The Musical Quarterly, writes the following beneath Walsh’s title: “to which is added some new ayres… fairly engraven on copper plates” (Kidson, 439). The primary difference between the work of Walsh and his competitors, and a large reason for his firm’s success, is that Walsh’s printing press used engraved pewter plates. The use of pewter plates instead of copper allowed for cheaper prints, which in turn made it less expensive for composers to print their compositions and reprints with his firm. Despite this, it is found that Walsh’s earliest publications are printed on “fairly engraved copper plates.” Kidson writes, “the explanation of this is that a readier method of music engraving was introduced early in the 18th century by which the notes were punched by steel dies on soft pewter plates, a method employed today, with the advantage of a lithographic transfer… the punched music plate was introduced from Holland by Walsh and Hare about 1710…it very soon became the only way of providing engraved music but soon a cheaper and more easily worked metal was introduced and pewter took the place of copper” (Kidson, 441). It is likely that the copper plates used on Walsh’s publication A Collections of New Songs by Signior Nocila Matieis were from his colleague John Hare’s publishing shop, since the work was printed in the time prior to Walsh printing independently.
Walsh was a part of many collaborations in the dawn of his career. Possibly the most famous of these collaborations was with music publisher John Hare. Many of Walsh’s publications between 1696 and 1733 “were published in conjunction with John Hare ‘at the Golden Viol in St. Paul’s Church Yard and at his shop in Freeman’s Yard in Cornhill near the Royal Exchange’” (Kidson, 439). Both “the Golden Viol in St. Paul’s Church Yard” and “Freeman’s Yard” were John Hare’s shops where he and his family resided for short periods of time. Walsh remained affiliated with John Hare, and later his son Joseph Hare, until their unfortunate deaths in 1725 and 1733. Despite their extensive collaborations, the Hare name has been phased out of the majority of Walsh’s early publications due to reprinting and republishing.
Beginning in 1711, German-British composer George Frideric Handel enlisted John Walsh as his London music publisher. It is said that “Handel came to England on a visit in 1710 and while here he was prevailed upon to write an opera. The result was Rinaldo, produced February 24, 1711” (Kidson, 442). This was Walsh’s first work to publish for Handel, and would be the last for around fifteen years. In their time apart, Walsh continued to profit off Handel by producing many seemingly unauthorized editions of his compositions that were published in other countries. I will touch on this uncertainty later in this essay. Finally, upon Handel’s return to London in 1722, Floridant an Opera as it was performed at the King’s Theatre for the Royal Accademy compos’d by Mr. Handel publish’d by the Author was given to Walsh and his then partners John and Joseph Walsh to be printed at “The Golden Viol in St. Paul’s Church Yard.”
Walsh attempted to buy the later-famous Messiah from Handel for many years prior to its completion. Handel simply could not part with the manuscript until it was complete, and because of this, Walsh would never see its debut. It would be published in 1741, five years after Walsh’s death, by his son, also named John, whom he left his publishing firm to. The “younger Walsh” (Kidson, 447), would go on to keep the family firm in business until his death in January of 1766. In Handel’s 1739 copyright patent, he named John Walsh II has his sole publisher. Beyond that year, none of Handel’s works were published by any other publishing firm.
Johannis “John” Playford was one of the first highly influential music publishers in the Baroque Era. As far as his character, he is described as “far removed from the usual ignorant parish clerk of the period. He came of a good Norfolk family and held the responsible position of clerk to The Temple Church” (Kidson, 517). We have little knowledge of Playford’s early life, but it is known that he made his music industry debut in the year 1650. His first publication was a book entitled The English Dancing Master, a compilation of more than one hundred Old English country dance songs, as well as step-by-step instructions for dancing to each of them. Throughout he and his son’s careers, the work would be expanded and reproduced eighteen times. In doing the research for this project, dutiful Playford would put himself out of his comfort zone to observe the lower-class pub-goers in their “natural habitat.” The drunken pub-goers would sing their local folk songs to Playford and teach him the dances, and Playford would document them in his book. His work in the fifteenth century are remarkably similar to the research methods of Cecil Sharp (English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians) and Percy Grainger (“Lincolnshire Posy”) during the folk-song revival of the twentieth century. According to Frank Kidson, “so far as I know but two copies of the work exist; one among the ‘King’s pamphlets’ in the British Museum, and the other, picked up by a rare chance, is in the library of the late Sir John Stainer” (Kidson, 518). All other copies of the work have been lost over time.
After seeing the success of his first publication, Playford produced The Musicall Banquet, which was a daring book for the time it was produced. It is described as a book of three parts. The first contained playing instructions and lessons for the Lira Viol, which was a bowed string instrument of the Renaissance period. The second, a collection of music for the treble and bass viols that were written by various composers. The third was a book of “Rules and Directions for such as learne to sing or to play the Viol” (Kidson, 520). The Musicall Banquet was not very successful, but it was adapted into a guidebook entitled Musick’s Recreation on the Lyra Viol, which became widely successful and many editions were created.
On the coattails of The Musicall Banquet, what could be considered Playford’s most famous publication, The Introduction to the Skill of Musick entered the scene. While it was a relatively small handbook, nineteen different editions of the book are documented between the years of 1654 and 1730. Kidson states that “it was the most popular book on the science of music for nearly a century” (Kidson, 521). According to Kidson, “only two copies [of the first edition] are known to exist, one in America and one in England” (Kidson, 521). Playford’s only publication that became more successful was published in 1677 and was entitled Whole Book of Psalms, arranged in three parts. Its final, twentieth edition was released in 1757, an astonishing seventy-one years after his death.
Possibly Playford’s most famous client would be English composer Henry Purcell. Their first collaboration is documented to have taken place in 1667, when Purcell was only nine years old. Playford’s edition of The Musical Companion contained Purcell’s three-part “Sweet Tyraness I now Resign.” It wasn’t until 1683, when young Purcell turned twenty-four, that another of his compositions can be found in Playford’s documents.
Playford’s printing shop was based out of London, England in the early seventeenth century, long before John Walsh or Estienne Roger entered the publishing business. Kidson writes, “most of [his] imprints give the address of his shop, which was…also his house, as ‘Near the Church door’ or ‘in the Inner Temple.’ [It is suggested] this meant that the premises were ‘at the foot of the steps [of the temple], either to the right hand or to the left.” (Kidson, 518). It is interesting to note that one photo of Playford’s original shop exists. It is located in a book entitled History of London. The print shows a “square two storied building wedged against the church door in the Cloister Court” (Kidson, 518).
Later in his career, he joined The Stationer’s Company, a guild of music printing companies in England, which monopolized the publishing business in England for nearly forty years. Playford’s printing firm was most famous for publishing some of the earliest music theory texts, instrument methods books, and other music-related publications. Early in his career, John Playford studied as a printing apprentice under John Benson, who published the majority of Shakespeare’s sonnets and poems in the early seventeenth century. In the year 1683, Playford passed on his company to his son Henry, and the son of fellow publisher John Carr. After Playford’s death in 1686, young Henry Playford and his father’s surviving friends continued to publish new editions of his father’s works and some new. Henry’s works published independent of his father are listed in Kidson’s book The Musical Quarterly, “The Theater of Musick, four books,The Banquet of Musick, six books, Delicia Musica, four books, Thesaurus Musicus, five books, Harmonia Sacra, two books (with later editions), The New Treasure of Musick, and Orpheus Britanicus, two volumes” (Kidson, 530). Henry Playford is said to have passed away either the same year as his father or the year after. After his death. Playford’s company’s monopoly fell to a newer generation of publishing firms, such as John Walsh’s.
According to Mario Biagioli, author of From Print to Patents: Living on Instruments in Early Modern Europe, “there was…no intellectual property rights doctrine in seventeenth-century Europe, only so-called priveleges” (Biagioli, 140). The earliest mention of a printing privilege was during the reign of King Henry VIII of England. He offered licenses, or privileges, to his majesty’s official printers to both protect them and produce royalties, a new source of revenue for the realm. Biagioli writes, “privileges drew no legal distinction between what we now call “copyright” and “patent.” They covered the production and use of machines as well as the book trade” (Biagioli, 140). King Henry VIII also required that copies of anything printed in England be sent directly to him at the palace to be documented and signed off on. This action was intended to prevent plagiarism and theft.
Privileges provided by the English government created a monopoly for the publishing firm they were given to. While they did not necessarily prevent other music printers from producing unauthorized copies, it did make it nearly impossible for smaller firms to get off the ground. The same is true nearly two-hundred years after the reign of King Henry VIII. Even after the development of the term “patent,” it was extremely common for music publishers in the seventeenth and early eighteenth century to reproduce another firm’s edition of a composer’s work and claim it as their own. Copyrights, still otherwise known as patents and privileges, remained extremely limited prior to the mid-eighteenth century. Frank Kidson mentions in his book, The Musical Quarterly, “Handel took out a copyright patent June 14, 1720 which covered all his compositions during fourteen years” (Kidson, 444). As mentioned earlier in this essay, John Walsh did not officially print with George Frideric Handel for approximately fifteen years. However, Walsh “issued certain pirated editions of such compositions as Handel allowed others to publish” (Kidson, 444). Walsh’s intentions are unknown to us today. It is highly possible that Handel authorized more than one publishing firm to produce his compositions across different countries. It overwhelmingly common for composers to publish their music with more than one publishing firm for two reasons. First, composers could earn more profit from multiple royalties. Secondly, composers would gain global exposure if their music was being produced in more than one country. Because there is very little documentation remaining from formal printing arrangements, it is difficult for historians to discern whether Walsh, like other music publishers, actually pirated a composer’s music or was hired by them.
We know even less about copyrights from Estienne Roger’s realm, the Netherlands. Biagioli writes, “The Netherlands provide only partial exception to patterns of minimal or honorific patenting encountered in the rest of Europe before 1700. Dutch patents were relatively inexpensive and several of them were issued” (Biagioli, 144-145). The amounts of patents produced each decade in The Netherlands can be counted on one hand. The lack of patents and copyright law allowed publisher Estienne Roger to build his career on the unauthorized reprinting of compositions. As mentioned earlier in the essay, the majority of Roger’s published works were not from The Netherlands, but rather from other countries, such as Italy and France. Much like John Walsh, Roger was a well-known music pirate. Whether or not he actually stole this music or if there is simply no documentation of correspondence between Roger and said composers is unknown. However, the publication of these works across Europe allowed to the music to become for accessible to an audience that ordinarily would never hear it. While it would be considered copyright infringement today, it is possible that the music industry would not be as developed as it is if it weren’t for these pirated editions.
Despite the lack of copyright laws and thorough documentation, music publishing thrived in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Without the lack of regulation of seventeenth century copyright laws allowing for the reprinting of foreign compositions in another country, many musical ideas would not have been as widespread as they are today. Also, the publishing firms discussed in this essay would not have made enough money to become the powerhouses they were. Estienne Roger, John Walsh, and John Playford created publishing firms that impacted the world of music for centuries after their deaths by navigating the brand new world they created.