Eugène Louis Demets (6 April 1858 – 25 April 1923) was one of the most prestigious music publishers in early 20th-century Paris.

Life

Demets was born in

Passy Passy () is an area of Paris, France, located in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, 16th arrondissement, on the Rive Droite, Right Bank. It is adjacent to Auteuil, Paris, Auteuil to the southwest, and Chaillot to the northeast. It is home to many ...

, west of

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. Originally an orchestral musician, Demets set up his music publishing house in Paris in 1899, first in 20, rue des Marais, and from 1903 in 2, rue de Louvois. He was not able to join SACEM, the French publishers association, before 24 April 1901, because he had apparently several times issued defamatory remarks towards that association. Only after he had formally apologised, he was admitted.Anik Devriès &

François Lesure François Lesure (23 May 1923 – 21 June 2001) was a French musicologist and librarian. He specialized in the life and works of Claude Debussy, but also wrote numerous bibliographies, studies in the sociology of music, and historical French top ...

: ''Dictionnaire des éditeurs de musique français'', vol. 2: ''De 1820 à 1914'' (Geneva: Minkoff, 1988), p. 139–140. In addition to his publishing activities, he also operated an "Agence musicale", an agency organising concerts, mainly for the purpose of bringing his publications to the public. Within a short period of time, Demets was able to enlist a number of well known modern composers for his catalogue, including

Maurice Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism in music, Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composer ...

Erik Satie Eric Alfred Leslie Satie (born 17 May 18661 July 1925), better known as Erik Satie, was a French composer and pianist. The son of a French father and a British mother, he studied at the Conservatoire de Paris, Paris Conservatoire but was an undi ...

, and Joaquin Turina, as well as a number of lesser known, yet original composers such as Paul Bazelaire, Mel Bonis,

Jean Cras Jean Émile Paul Cras (; 22 May 1879 – 14 September 1932) was a 20th-century French composer and career naval officer. His musical compositions were inspired by his native Brittany, his travels to Africa, and most of all, by his sea v ...

Swan Hennessy Edward Swan Hennessy (24 November 1866 – 26 October 1929) was an Irish-American composer and pianist who lived much of his life in Paris. In his pre-War piano music, he excelled as a miniaturist in descriptive, Program music, programmatic music. ...

, Paul Ladmirault, and

Rhené-Baton René-Emmanuel Baton, known as Rhené-Baton (5 September 1879 – 23 September 1940), was a French conductor and composer. Though born in Courseulles-sur-Mer, Normandy, his family originated in Vitré, Ille-et-Vilaine, Vitré in neighbouring Britt ...

. In 1920, he was also the original publisher of the "Album des 6" of the group of composers called

Les Six "Les Six" () is a name given to a group of six composers, five of them French and one Swiss, who lived and worked in Montparnasse. The name has its origins in two 1920 articles by critic Henri Collet in '' Comœdia'' (see Bibliography). Their mu ...

. Alongside Durand, Leduc and Sénart, Demets was regarded as one of the most prestigious French music publishers of his day. After Demets' death in Paris at age 65, his catalogue was taken over and successfully expanded by Max Eschig.

Selected publications

*Maurice Ravel: ''

Pavane pour une infante défunte ''Pavane pour une infante défunte'' (''Pavane for a Dead Princess'') is a work for piano solo, solo piano by Maurice Ravel, written in 1899 while the French composer was studying at the Conservatoire de Paris under Gabriel Fauré. Ravel published ...

'' (1900) *Maurice Ravel: '' Jeux d'eau'' (1902) *Maurice Ravel: ''

Miroirs file:Ravel Pierre Petit.jpg, upRavel in 1907 ''Miroirs'' (, ) is a five-movement suite (music), suite for solo piano written by French composer Maurice Ravel between 1904 and 1905."Miroirs". Maurice Ravel Frontispice. First performed by Ricardo V ...

'' (1906) *Erik Satie: '' Préludes flasques (pour un chien)'' n English: "Flabby Preludes (for a Dog) (1912) *Erik Satie: '' Descriptions automatiques'' (1913) *Erik Satie: '' Nocturnes'' (1920) *Joaquín Turina: ''Sevilla'', Op. 2 (1908) *Joaquín Turina: ''Sonate romantique (Sonata romantica)'', Op. 3 (1909) *Joaquín Turina: ''Coins de Seville (Rincones sevillanos)'', Op. 5 (1911) *Auric/Durey/Honegger/Milhaud/Poulenc/Tailleferre: ''Album des 6'' (1920)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Demets, Eugene 1858 births 1923 deaths 20th-century French businesspeople French music publishers (people)