Have any of the composers of the past gain fortune with thier works?

[classicarts]

I was just wondering if any of the past composers gain any fortune for their works.  I would certainly think if anyone of these talented composers were alive today, they would considerably gain instant wealth and status among the entertainment industry. 

[tompilk]

Yes... it's not fair really is it? Like van Gough who only sold one painting in his life, but is remembered by most of us for painting beautiful and priceless paintings...

[prometheus]

Artists, by nature, are never rich. If they are they must have sacrificed art or integrity. Like Liszt said in the quote I use. If someone made a fortune out of art they must have made artistic sacrifices, otherwise they wouldn't have been able to make the money.

So if an artist is rich nonetheless this is because he or she is also a good businessperson and because the person was willing to sacrifice for money.

[ahinton]

Artists, by nature, are never rich. If they are they must have sacrificed art or integrity. Like Liszt said in the quote I use. If someone made a fortune out of art they must have made artistic sacrifices, otherwise they wouldn't have been able to make the money.

So if an artist is rich nonetheless this is because he or she is also a good businessperson and because the person was willing to sacrifice for money.

I would not seek for the sake of it to argue with you and I'd be the last person on earth to argue with Liszt, but I don't entirely agree. Let us expand the argument to encompass performers as well as composers. It is indeed true that what you suggest here is the case more often than not, but it does not follow from this fact that a performer or composer has to sacrifice something of his/her artistic merit in order to receive decent payment for his/her work. The immense fees that some performers receive do not, of course, serve as any kind of value judgement indicator of their worth as artists; neither, however, are they necessarily indicative of their being inferior artists. In other words, a truly great artist does not by definition deteriorate as such just becase someone decides to pay him/her large financial rewards for his/her artistic work.

In the case of the composer, it is only slightly different, in that his/her Estate can continue to benefit from payments in respect of his/her work for (usually) 70 years after his/her death, though these amounts will be dependent on many factors, not least of which is inevitably the number of major performances, broadcasts and recordings the music continues to receive during that time. During the composer's lifetime, his/her income from composition will also be derived from commissions; the amounts of these will similarly be dependent largely upon the extent to which his/her work is in demand at any given time. This, too, is not necessarily representative of any kind of value judgement of that music per se. So - if a composer gets paid plenty of money, it may not in all cases be as a direct consequence of his/her having sacrificed anything of artistic value.

Of course the originator of this thread was writing about composers of the past, whereas what I write here is largely geared to the present-day situation; with this discrepancy in mind, it is worth bearing in mind that Liszt's remark was of necessity based upon his experiences up to the time when he made it and, whilst I am not clear as to its precise date, Liszt himself has, of course, been dead for almost 120 years.

Best,

Alistair

[classicarts]

Very informative, ahinton.  I think your simply mentioning royalties for their works.  I'm not so sure if they had any back in those days. 

[alessandro]

What I get out of a brief biography of Bach is that he got along fine.  Of course it all depends on what you consider "fortune".  I think music and life where let's say 400 years ago more intertwined with each other.  Bach had the oportunity to work for wealthy people.  He was well aware of the fact that he had that high-consideration of European establishment.  But he never lost the physical attachment to his music; the drive.  He once asked one of his 'employers' for a month off to see a fellow musician (Mendelsohn?) in north-Germany. He walked all the way to there, 350 kilometers.  Finally he came back 4 months later and was still allowed to work for the same employer.  He worked very, very hard and - maybe this sounds a little mellow - always took care of his wife and kids. 
Money and art can go together.  It think it's silly to stick with the bohemien, romantic idea of the artist as a loser.  There living painters that sell their works for millions of dollars, there are photographers that sell their pictures for millions of dollars.  I agree that money makes the world go around, that there's a lot of bad taste, the richer get richer and the poor etc... But art is still the only thing that makes our lives worth living and it's possible to dedicate a whole life to for example music.

[musik_man]

Prometheus, Beethoven was extremely famous, and did quite well.  Same with Stravinsky.  Did they sacrifice integrity?

[phil13]

Rachmaninoff was skyrocketed into fame with his Prelude, Op.3 No.2 in C# minor. Same goes with Berlioz and the Symphonie Fantastique.

Phil

[thalbergmad]

Christian Sinding made a lot of money from his composition "The Rustle of Spring".

[abell88]

Clementi did quite well for himself...of course, he was a publisher as well as a composer.

[g_s_223]

Sure, but mainly from a cut of the box-office performance take, rather than from selling sheet music. One thinks of:
* Handel - did well from his operas and oratorios
* Haydn - made a lot of money when he came to London for Salomon's concert seasons
* Liszt - did well from his concert tours promoting his own music
* Brahms - ended up a wealthy man
* Wagner - was friends with the King of Bavaria and did well
* Richard Strauss - made a fortune from his early sensational operas, e.g. Salome
* I've heard some of today's successful minimalists are doing OK

Plenty of other composers died penniless, but that's not always the case.

[sevencircles]

Movie theme composer John Williams is propably pretty wealthy.