HALF A MILLION FROM ONE SONG.

Cromwell Argus, Volume XLIII, Issue 2286, 26 February 1912, Page 2

HALF A MILLION FROM ONE SONG.

£.S.D. OF THE MUSIC MARKET. It has been stated by Mr. Henry T. Finck. the well-known American critic, that in his opinion the most profitable song ever written was “ Listen to the Mocking Bird,” by which publishers in all parts of the world have realized £500,000 and which was bought In the first .place from the composer for £7. And, according to the same authority, £16,000 was netted from Arditl’s ” Kiss Waltz.” “ QUEEN OF THE BARTH.” The highest price ever paid for a song is the £2,240 which was paid a few years ago at an auction sale for the copyright of Mascheroni’s “For All Eternity.” This song had then nearly its full term of copyright to run, and its shares with ” Queen of the Earth ” the honour of being the most popular of modern compoei- | tions. Curiously enough, ” For All I Eternity ” was refused by several publishers before a well-known firm agreed to undertake the publishing of | it ; and the venture turned out to be 1 a very lucky speculation. The copyright of a song lasts forty-two years, and, of course, the nearer it approaches the end of its copyright period the less it is worth in the auction-room. About the same time 1 that the copj right of “ For All Eternity ” was sold, however, some remarkable prices were also fetched by other compositions. ” Farmer’s Violin Tutor,” for instance, was sold for £1,752, and the simple, though very pretty piano piece, “ Fairy Barque ” consisting of six pages, realized £l,Blo—over £3OO | a page. As a curious instance of i the musical peculiarities of the public It is interesting to note that while this little piano piece was sold lor nearly £2,000 in 1883 the whole of | Verdi’s opera, ”11 Trovatore,” only i reached the sum of £503. Operas J seem to have been more appreciated thirty years ago, judging from the fact that In 1871 Wallace’s “Marltana ” realized the sum of £2,232, i and this amount was eclipsed when shortly afterwards £2,500 was paid for “ Lurline,” written by the same composer. In 1883 Balfe’s opera, | ” Rose of Pastille,” fetched £958 and Weber’s ” Oberon ” £428. I PROFITS OF WAGNER'S OPERAS. i i Talking of operas, it is interesting to note that Wagner’s heirs a re said to make £28,000 annually from royalties from th® great composer’s works. Richard Strauss is estimated to have earned £25,000 in twelve mouths, while the late Sir Arthur Sullivan made £38,000 a year during the great run of the Gilbert-Sullivan operas at the Savoy. Humperdinck’s royalties from ” Hansel and Gretel ” amounted to £IO,OOO in one year, and both Mascagni and Leoncavallo are believed to have received in fees £20,000 apiece for ” Oavalltria Rusticana ” and “ Pagliacci.”— ” Tit-Bits.”