“Say it ain't so, Joe”: Haydn,

Pleyel and the Two Piano Trios

Roger S. Fisher, Ph.D., J.D.

1

Musical scores are “works of literature”

(inscribed with symbols)

Statute of Anne (1709)

Was the music publishing industry ready for

copyright?

Bach v. Longman (1777)

2

Witnesses not litigants

Gossip and speculation mostly wrong

Haydn made the “shocking admission” that he

had published a work composed by his student

Haydn and Pleyel

3

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?

Two Questions

4

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

Two Solutions

5

Franz Joseph

Haydn (1732-

1809)

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 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

Haydn’s First London Visit

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.

11

12

William Forster & Son

13

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

“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

15

Haydn’s “Complete Piano Trios”

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…”

16

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

No royalty payments

No performance rights

One-off sales to publishers

Music Publishing c. 1780 (1)

21

Manuscripts produced by professional copyists

Manuscripts produced by amateur copyists

Subscription lists (“private” or direct sales by

composers

Music Publishing c. 1780 (2)

22

Haydn was not to “...share his

compositions with anyone, much less

allow them to be copied, but to preserve

them solely for his Lordship....”

Haydn’s Contract with Prince

Esterházy (1714 -1790)

23

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

Music Publishing c. 1780 (3)

24

David Wyn Jones, The Life of Haydn, 2009 (handout)

“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).

“Modern” Versions of the Lawsuit

25

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]

N.-E. Framery, Notice sur Joseph

Haydn (1810)

26

Robbins Landon

Haydn “stole the trios”

A “disagreeable matter”

Caryl Clark

Haydn “pawned” the trios

Richard Wigmore

Haydn “pilfered”

The “stolen trios” were Pleyel’s

David Wyn Jones

Haydn’s “shocking admission”

A matter of “deceit”

Modern Biographers

27

Mace, N.A. “Haydn and the London music

sellers,” Music and Letters 77 Nov (1996)

527-41"

“…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"

“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

Pleyel Society,

1821-1823

Nantucket Island, USA

“To chasten the taste

of auditors with better

kinds of music as a

source of rational

entertainment.”

31

Legal Questions

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

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)

Storace v. Longman (1788)

34

i.e. “The first two trios were actually by Haydn’s

student Pleyel”

Musicological significance

Focus on creative origins

Legal sgnificance

Focus on ownership and rights

What does “by Pleyel” mean?

35

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."

Haydn as a Music Teacher (1)

36

“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”

Haydn as a Music Teacher (2)

37

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)

Apprenticeship

"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.)

R. v. Crediton Inhabitants,1831

No member may have more than one apprentice

musician at a time

The Musicians’ Company (1606)

Indicia of Apprenticeship

Sponsor pays the master

Residence of student with master

Relationship is one of master (scholar/expert)

and student

41

“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”

Haydn on Pleyel

42

Beethoven, “tears streaming down his face, bent and

kissed the hand of his former teacher”

Salieri was the conductor

Pleyel was present

Haydn’s 76th Birthday Gala

43

Intellectual Property and

Apprenticeships

"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]

45

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

51

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

52

Last Court Order (Nov. 19, 1792)

Copyright in Music – Open Questions

53

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?

Conclusion

54

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

END

55