Chappell & Co. was an English company that published music and manufactured pianos. Founded by pianist Samuel Chappell, the company was one of the leading music publishers and piano manufacturers in Britain until 1980 when Chappell sold its retail activities to concentrate solely on music publishing. After some previous acquisitions by other companies, the ''Chappell'' brand name is currently owned by Warner Chappell Music (part of Warner Music Group, which acquired it for $200 million in 1987.Warner Reportedly Will Acquire Chappell : $200-Million Deal Would Merge 2 of 3 Biggest U.S. Music Publishers
by KATHRYN HARRIS on ''Los Angeles Times'', 12 May 1987

History

Schirmer cover page of Bériot's Airs Variés

It was founded in 1811 by Samuel Chappell (c.1782–1834) in partnership with music professors Francis Tatton Latour and

Johann Baptist Cramer Johann (sometimes John) Baptist Cramer (24 February 1771 – 16 April 1858) was an English pianist, composer and music publisher of German origin. He was the son of Wilhelm Cramer, a famous London violinist and conductor, one of a numerous family ...

. Cramer was also a well-known London composer, teacher and pianist. The firm's premises included large showrooms for pianos and other musical instruments (for sale or hire) and sheet music on several floors and became a prominent landmark on

Bond Street Bond Street in the West End of London links Piccadilly in the south to Oxford Street in the north. Since the 18th century the street has housed many prestigious and upmarket fashion retailers. The southern section is Old Bond Street and the l ...

. Chappell was active in forming the Philharmonic Society. The firm's reputation grew fast, and in 1819, Ludwig van Beethoven wrote to a colleague regarding a piece that he wished to publish, "Potter says that Chappell in Bond Street is now one of the best publishers." Chappell died in 1834, and his oldest son William Chappell (1809–1888) took over, managing the firm on behalf of his widowed mother, Emily Chappell ''née'' Patey. Around 1843, William left to join Cramer & Co. and later to found the

Percy Society The Percy Society was a British text publication society. It was founded in 1840 and collapsed in 1852. The Society was a scholarly collective, aimed at publishing limited-edition books of rare poems and songs. The president was Lady Braybrooke, a ...

and the Musical Antiquarian Society. His younger brother Thomas Patey Chappell (1819–1902) then took charge. Originally concentrating on music publishing and concert promotion, the firm started manufacturing pianos in the 1840s. Thomas extended the publishing business of Chappell & Co. and focused the publishing company on

musical theatre Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movemen ...

, a specialty that is still important to the success of Chappell today. The firm promoted concerts, operas and other events that might create a market for music sales. Thomas conceived of and sponsored the Monday and Saturday Popular Concerts at

St James Hall St. James's Hall was a concert hall in London that opened on 25 March 1858, designed by architect and artist Owen Jones, who had decorated the interior of the Crystal Palace. It was situated between the Quadrant in Regent Street and Piccadilly, ...

(1859), which was partly owned by the family. The concerts were successfully managed by a younger brother, Samuel Arthur Chappell until they came to an end in 1901. One of Tom Chappell's successes was the publication of the

Gilbert and Sullivan Gilbert and Sullivan was a Victorian era, Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the dramatist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and the composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900), who jointly created fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which ...

operas and other music of

Arthur Sullivan Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan (13 May 1842 – 22 November 1900) was an English composer. He is best known for 14 comic opera, operatic Gilbert and Sullivan, collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including ''H.M.S. Pinaf ...

, as well as, earlier, Gounod's ''Faust'', Balfe's '' The Bohemian Girl''. He was also one of the original directors of the Royal College of Music and one of the original governors of the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...

. Thomas died in 1902. Thomas was of the founding members of the Music Publishers Association and became the Association's first Chairman and held the office between 1881 and 1900. William Boosey wrote: During the 20th century, Chappell became one of the leading music publishers and piano manufacturers in Britain. The firm was bought by brothers Louis Dreyfus and

Max Dreyfus Max Dreyfus (April 1, 1874 – May 12, 1964) was a German-born American music publisher, arranger and songwriter. Between the 1910s and 1950s he encouraged and published the work of many of the writers of the so-called Great American Songbook ...

in 1926. On May 15th 1964, three days after the death of Max Dreyfus in the United States, the London building was destroyed by fire but was subsequently rebuilt. However, Louis Dreyfus, who was in London at the time, was devastated by the loss of the company and its archives. By the late 1970s, the firm had become a worldwide music publishing leader famous for publishing musical theatre works, including Rodgers and Hammerstein. In 1980, Chappell sold its retail activities to concentrate solely on music publishing. Its premises on London's Bond Street were bought by Kemble Pianos, a large distributor of Yamaha pianos, who operated the music store under the name of Chappell of Bond Street. The Chappell & Co. publishing business was later acquired by

PolyGram PolyGram N.V. was a multinational entertainment company and major music record label formerly based in the Netherlands. It was founded in 1962 as the Grammophon-Philips Group by Dutch corporation Philips and German corporation Siemens, to be a ...

. In 1975, Chappell acquired the American music publisher Hill & Range. In 1984, PolyGram sold off Chappell to a group of investors (which included Freddy Bienstock). The investors sold the company in 1987 to Warner Communications for $200 million, which merged its music publishing firms to form Warner Chappell Music. It is currently owned by Warner Music Group after Time Warner spun off its music business in 2004. Production music library of Chappell (Chappell Recording Music Library) went separately to Zomba Group of Companies, which was later acquired by

Bertelsmann Music Group Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG) was a division of a German media company Bertelsmann before its completion of sale of the majority of its assets to Sony Corporation of America on 1 October 2008. Although it was established in 1987, the music com ...

and made a part of BMG-Zomba Production Music. It is currently owned by Universal Music Group after Bertelsmann sold its music publishing business in 2007.

Bibliography

* Boosey, William
''Fifty years of music''
London: Ernest Benn Limited (1931) * Husk, William Henry; Cranmer, Margaret; Jones, Peter Ward; and Snell, Kenneth R. "Chappell"
''Grove Music Online''
(subscription required). ed. L. Macy. Retrieved on 7 March 2007.

References

External links

Chappel of Bond Street
store that commercialises Chappel pianos {{DEFAULTSORT:Chappell and Co Sheet music publishing companies Piano manufacturing companies of the United Kingdom Musical instrument manufacturing companies based in London Publishing companies based in London 1811 establishments in England 1987 disestablishments British companies established in 1811 Music companies of the United Kingdom