Le Ménestrel
Le Ménestrel (The Minstrel) was an influential French music journal published weekly from 1833 until 1940. It was founded by Joseph-Hippolyte l'Henry and originally published by Poussièlgue. In 1840 it was acquired by the music publishers Heugel and remained with the company until the journal's demise at the beginning of World War II. With the closure of its chief rival, La Revue et gazette musicale de Paris in 1880, Le Ménestrel became France's most prestigious and longest-running music journal.[1]
Publishing history
In 1827 François-Joseph Fétis had founded La Revue Musicale, France's first periodical devoted entirely to classical music. By 1834 it had two serious competitors, Le Ménestrel established in 1833 and Maurice Schlesinger's Gazette Musicale established in 1834. Le Ménestrel was founded by Joseph-Hippolyte l'Henry with the first edition (published by Poussièlgue) appearing on 1 December 1833.[2] In 1835, Schlesinger bought La Revue Musicale from Fétis and merged the publications into La Revue et gazette musicale de Paris. Until the Revue et Gazette ceased publication in 1880, Le Ménestrel was to be its main rival in terms of influence and breadth of coverage.[3]
In July 1835 E. D'Arlhac took over the directorship of Le Ménestrel, but relinquished it the following March to the journalist and critic Jules Lovy, who had been a writer for the journal since its foundation. The partnership of Jacques-Léopold Heugel and Jean-Antoine Meissonnier acquired Le Ménestrel in 1840. Heugel became the Director and Jules Lovy stayed on as Editor-in-chief until his death in 1863. When Jacques-Léopold died in 1883, his son Henri-Georges Heugel took over as Director of the journal. He was in turn succeeded by his son Jacques-Paul who remained the Director for the remainder of its existence. Lovy had been succeeded as Editor-in-chief by Joseph d'Ortigue. However, after d'Ortigue's death in 1866, only the Heugel name appeared on the masthead.[4]
Le Ménestrel was published weekly for a period spanning 107 years, initially coming out on Sunday (later changed to Saturday and then Friday). The Franco-Prussian War caused publication to be suspended from late December 1870 through November 1871, and publication was suspended again for the duration of World War I, with the first post-war issue appearing on 17 October 1919. At the outbreak of World War II in 1939, the journal carried on until the invasion of France. The 24 May 1940 issue carried an announcement that the closure of theatres and concert halls in Europe and France as well as the Paris Conservatory had forced them to suspend publication until the following autumn.[5] In the end, it proved to be the last issue of Le Ménestrel. The Heugel company continued to operate as an independent music publisher until 1980 when it was sold to Éditions Alphonse Leduc.
Notes and references
- ^ Ellis (2007) pp. 2 and 25
- ^ Gautier (1995) p. 156; Le Ménestrel (1 December 1833)
- ^ Ellis (2007) p. 2
- ^ Le Ménestrel (3 February 1933) p. 52; Feurzeig (1994) p. 126; Nichols and Drake (2001).
- ^ Le Ménestrel (24 May 1940). Original text: "Nous souhaitons pouvoir reprendre, à l'automne, l'effort que nous nous sommes imposé pendant la première phase de la guerre, conscients d'avoir ainsi servi modestement, mais de notre mieux, la cause impérissable de la pensée et de l'art français."
Sources
- Ellis, Katharine (2007).Music Criticism in Nineteenth-Century France. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521035899
- Feurzeig, Lisa (1994). "The Business Affairs of Gabriel Fauré" in Hans Lenneberg (ed.) The Dissemination of Music: Studies in the History of Music Publishing. Routledge. ISBN 2884491171
- Gautier, Théophile (1995). Correspondance générale 1865–1867 (edited and annotated by Claudine Lacoste-Veysseyre). Librairie Droz. ISBN 2600000755 Template:Fr
- Le Ménestrel (1 December 1833). Année 1, No. 0 Template:Fr
- Le Ménestrel (3 February 1933). "Cent ans d'histoire de la musique et du théâtre", Année 95, No. 5 Template:Fr
- Le Ménestrel (24 May 1940). Année 102, Nos. 19–21 Template:Fr
- Nichols, Robert S. and Drake, Jeremy (2001). "Heugel" in Stanley Sadie (ed.) The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Volume 11. Grove's Dctionaries. ISBN 0195170679