GOUNOD Charles et CHOUDENS Antoine de (185-1888).

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GOUNOD Charles et CHOUDENS Antoine de (185-1888).
11 L.A.S. "Choudens" to Charles GOUNOD, 1870-1874; 4 L.A.S. or P.A.S. from GOUNOD, 1872-1873; plus 16 letters and miscellaneous documents, 1872-1884; 49 pages, plus about 25 pages in various formats. Interesting file on Gounod's difficult relations with his publisher. [Choudens had bought the rights to Faust in 1859, which made his fortune; at first idyllic, Gounod's relations with his publisher became stormy from 1872 onwards; disputes and lawsuits followed one another]. 1870-1871. Friendly letters from CHOUDENS to Gounod, refugee in England. 23 Nov. 1870: he is in Brussels where he took his family, far from the Parisian privations. He was able to find the orchestral score of the Mass of Saint Cécile and proposed to send it to Gounod at London. Back in Paris in December, he describes the situation on the 88th day of the siege of Paris (14 December 1870) : " The government of national defence is heroic, it makes gigantic efforts to form an army [...] Guiraud is in front of the fort of Montrouge, Gabriel Fauré is in Créteil, St Saëns is waiting for his equipment ". In January, terrible bombardments hit Paris; the fighting in Montretout and Garches has left many people wounded and bread is rationed; the situation is serious. In February, the war seems to be over; in the middle of all these horrors he had a little girl; Barbier was in Creuse, Bizet stayed in Paris, Guiraud did a hard service, Saint-Saëns, suffering, was not mobilized. On February 22, 1871, he asks Gounod to compose the musical complement of the Two Queens that he hopes to be able to assemble when the troops will be reconstituted. On 7 March, he sends to Gounod several scores: " The orchestras of Philémon and the Queen of Saba [...] some additional parts of Quatuor "... On March 22, he relates the riots which mark the beginning of the Commune... 1872-1884. [On 7 May 1872, GOUNOD asked the solicitor Albert Delacourtie to recover his handwritten scores from Choudens, as well as the treaties for the performances of his works abroad. Choudens refuses, alleging that the scores are neither copied nor engraved and that he has treaties only for Roméo and La Colombe]. - London15 May 1872, double carbon of a long letter from Gounod to Choudens (published in the Autobiography), in which he disputes the generosity of the publisher. - 25 January 1873, P.A.S., giving full power to his wife Anna Zimmerman to manage and administer his property and take legal action against Choudens, and to recover all his manuscripts. 24 January 1874, L.A.S. to the Marquis de Caux contesting the sale by Choudens of the performance rights of Mireille in Russia. - 6-7 April 1874: long L.A.S. to his solicitor, recapitulating his grievances against Choudens, in particular the illegality of his treaties with Gye for Roméo and with Ferri for Mireille. 8 April 1884, to Richard, about the situation with Choudens "concerning Sapho". 1872-1874. CHOUDENS: L.A.S., 10 November 1872, he answers very curtly to Gounod's questions about the ownership of Philémon and Baucis. - 1 January 1874. Copy by Choudens of his letter to Anna Gounod accompanying the delivery of the manuscript of Roméo et Juliette, and of Anna's answer thanking him. 1873-1874. Albert DELACOURTIE, solicitor: 25.X.1873, taking stock of his complaints to Choudens on behalf of Gounod. - 24 March 1874, to Anna Gounod, announcing to her the summons of Choudens. - 4 April 1874, to Gounod, about the sale to Ferri of the performance rights of Mireille in Russia. - 14 April 1884, to the solicitor Denormandie about Sapho. - 24 March 1874, notification on stamped paper contesting the authorisation given by Choudens for the performance of Mireille in Russia. - 2 January 1883, copy of a letter from Delacourtie to Choudens, claiming the manuscripts of Sapho, Ulysse, La Nonne sanglante, Philémon et Baucis, La Colombe and Mireille. - Plus 3 L.A.S., from the solicitor Ernest Denormandie, April 1884, for an appointment with Gounod, of which a visiting card a.s. is attached, confirming the appointment. Treaty of 9 July 1879 with Choudens for Le Tribut de Zamora, signed by Gounod and the librettists Ad. d'Ennery and Jules Brésil; 3 L.A.S. from CHOUDENS to Gounod: about the lawsuit for the counterfeiting of Faust in Russia (2 January 1883); about the sharing of performance rights abroad of Faust (23 May 1883); about the transfer of the rights of Roméo to Covent Garden (5-7 April 1884) Attached are 2 L.A.S. from the publisher Jules COLOMBIER to Delacourtie (January 1874), sending him a copy of the treatise for Le Médecin malgré lui.
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