HALF A MILLION FROM ONE SONG.

Northland Age, Volume VIII, Issue 25, 9 February 1912, Page 7

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 Arditi’s “ Kiss Waltz.” “ QUEEN OF THE EARTH." The highest price ever paid for a song is the £2,240 which was paid a few years ago at an auction sale for 1 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 compositions. Curiously enough, ‘“For All Eternity ” waa refused by several publishers before a well-known firm agreed to undertake the publishing of it ; and the venture turned out to be a very lucky speculation, lhe 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 cop} 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 j piece, " Fairy Barque ” consisting of six pages, realized £l,Blo—over £3OO 1 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 for nearly £2,000 in 1883 the whole of Verdi’s opera, “II Trovatore,” only reached the sura of £503. Operas seem to have been more appreciated thirty years ago, judging from the fact that in 1871 Wallace’s “ Maritana ” realized the sum £2,232, and this amount was eclipsed when shortly £2,500 was paid for “ Lurline,” written by the same composer. In 1883 Balfe’s opera, ” Rose of Castille,” fetched £958 and Weber’s “ Oberon ” £428. PROFITS OF WAGNER’S OPERAS. Talking of operas, it is interesting to note that Wagner’s heirs a re said to make £28,000 annually from royalties from the great composer's works. Richard Strauss is estimated to have earned £2f5,000 in twelve months, while the late Sir Arthur Sullivan made £38,000 a year during the great run of the Gilbert-Sullivau operas at the Savoy. Humper-

dinck’s royalties from “ Hansel and Gretel ” amounted to £IO,OOO in one year, and both Mascagni and lieon cavallo are believed to have received in fees £20,000 apiece for “ Cavalierly Rusticana ” and “ Pagliacci.’’— "Tit-Bite.”