Ricordi
Contents |
History
Founded in 1808 by violinist Giovanni Ricordi (1785-1853). In 1825, Ricordi purchased the complete musical archives of the La Scala opera house and in 1839 he acquired copyright interest in Giuseppe Verdi's music that marked the beginnings of a long working relationship. During the 1840s, the firm grew to become the largest music publisher in southern Europe. In 1842 the company commenced publishing the musical journal the Gazzetta Musicale di Milano. The firm acquired F. Lucca at Verdi's behest in 1888. Until 1919, when outside management was appointed, four successive generations of Ricordis were at the helm of the company. The most notable personality was Giulio Ricordi (1840-1912) who was closely involved in nurturing the operatic career of composer Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924). Giulio Ricordi's interests also extended to composing, art, design and painting. Under him, the company issued the series of opera advertising posters that became extremely popular throughout Europe in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and remain so to this day.
Despite severe damage from aerial bombardment in World War II, the Ricordi archives and collections survived largely intact thanks to the management's foresight in having them safely stored away from Milan. Following reconstruction after the war, Ricordi was converted to a limited corporation by the family in 1952 and in 1956 it became a publicly traded company. In 1994, Ricordi was acquired by the German conglomerate BMG's Music Publishing division. In 2007 BMG then sold its entire music publishing business (including, in additon to Ricordi, Durand-Salabert-Eschig and Editio Musica Budapest) to the record label Universal Music Publishing Group (no relation to Universal Edition Vienna).
Composers published by Ricordi during their lifetimes
Editions
- Antonio Vivaldi: Le Opere di Antonio Vivaldi (1947-1963)
- Instituto Italiano Antonio Vivaldi. Direzione Artistica di Gian francesco Malipiero
- 32 Volumes in 400 books
Dating Ricordi publications
Imprints
- Giovanni (or Gio., or G.) Ricordi (1808-1853)
- Tito di Gio. (sometimes simply Tito) Ricordi (1853-1859)
- Tito di Gio. Ricordi, or R. Stabilimento Ricordi (1860-1888)
- R. Stabilimento Tito di Gio. Ricordi e Francesca Lucca di Ricordi & C. (1888-1897)
- G. Ricordi & C. (1898-present)
Known addresses, overseas offices and agencies, dates
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Italy
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England
France
Germany
Argentina
USA
Brazil
Switzerland
Canada
Australia
Mexico
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Edition numbers
- Beethoven: Piano Sonatas. Edited by Alfredo Casella, 1920.
- Haydn: Piano sonatas. Edited by Guiseppe Buonamici, before 1914.
Plate numbers
Note: Ricordi plate numbers were assigned in a regular ascending order for the most part. The list below gives ranges of numbers and corresponding year dates. Ricordi issued a plate number when a work was assigned to an engraver, so any given plate number could have taken more than a year to actually appear in print. The large jump in plate numbers in 1890 was due to the acquisition of the the complete catalogue of the Milian publisher F. Lucca the previous year. The letters that often appear before and after the number itself were a designation of which house engraver a given title was assigned to.
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1 (1808) |
17958-19371 (1846) |
47817-48477 (1882) |
Regular Issues
| Plate | Composer | Work | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10983 | Herz | Variations Brilliantes on Bellini's 'La Sonnambula', Op.105 | 1839 |
| 23614 | Giorgetti | String Quartet No.2, Op.30 (score) | 1852 |
| 36966-67 | Beethoven | Piano Sonatas. (ed. Luca Fumagalli) | 1868 |
| 98049 | Monti | Petite Methode for Mandolin, Op.245 | 1895 |
| 111942 | McEwen | String Quartet No.4 | 1908 |
| 112480 | La Tombelle | La fausse enchanteresse | 1908 |
| 112713 | Pick-Mangiagalli | Sirventese (vn part, piano, ed. by Ševčík) | 1908 |
| 116742 | Casella | Pupazzetti | 1916 |
| 116839 | Casella | Barcarola | 1918 |
| 117017 | Casella | Toccata | 1918 |
| 117034 | Zanella | Scherzo-studio, Op.59 | 1917 |
| 117488-89 | Zanella | 2 Poemetti, Op.65 | 1919 |
| 117948 | Anzoletti | Concerto, Op.30 (vn, pno reduction) | 1920 |
| 118477 | Castelnuovo-Tedesco | Cantico, Op.19 | 1921 |
| 118258 | Setaccioli | Clarinet Sonata, Op.31 | 1921 |
| 118705 | Mariotti | A Ferrara (score) | 1922 |
| 120172 | Pick-Mangiagalli | Lunaire No.2 - Danse d'Olaf | 1916 |
| 121612 | Puccini | Sister Angelica (English version) | 1930 |
| 122970 | Casella | Introduzione, aria e toccata per orchestra, Op.55 (score) | 1934 |
| 123095 | Labroca | Stabat mater : per soprano, coro a quattro voci miste e orchestra (klav.aus. by comp.) | 1934 |
| 129643 | Villa-Lobos | Bachianas Brasileiras No.2, W247, 250-252, 254, 568, 569 | 1949 |
| Plate | Composer | Work | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| E.R. 828 | Bach - Tagliapietra | Prelude and Fugue for Organ BWV 542 - pf transcr | 1927 |
| E.R. 975 | Anzoletti | 12 Studies Op.125 | 1929 |
| E.R. 1817 | Bach - Tagliapietra | Prelude and Fugue for Organ BWV 543 - pf transcr | 1936 |
| E.R. 2413 | Rossini | La Danza | 1982(?) |
| Plate | Composer | Work | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| N.Y. 1555 | Villa-Lobos | Bachianas Brasileiras No.4, W264, 424 (arr. for orchestra) | 1953 |
| N.Y. 1945 | Villa-Lobos | Bachianas Brasileiras No.3, W388 | 1953 |
