B. Girard

Contents

History

An Italian firm established by Giuseppe Girard in 1815 and later managed by Bernardo Girard. B. Girard changed the firm's name, firstly to Calcografia de' Reali Teatri, then to Stabilimento Musicale B. Girard & C. Guglielmo Cottrau (1797-1847) served as director from 1828 to 1846, editing the publication Passatempi musicali (1835-47), a collection of 129 Neopolitan songs.

In the first half of the 19th century the firm published many works by Rossini, and competed with Ricordi and Lucca for the publication rights to the operas of Bellini, Pacini, Donizetti, Mercandante and Verdi.

B. Girard died in 1835, but Cottrau maintained the business in partneship with the Girard heirs until his retirement in 1846, after which his son Teodoro Cottrau took over management. T. Cottrau oversaw the firm, changing its name in around 1870 to Successeurs della ditta Girard or Successeurs de Girard & Cie. The firm was managed later by Bernado's son Federico Girard (d. 1877). The firm was sold to Ricordi in 1884.

Imprints, Agencies, Addresses

Imprints

  • B. Girard
  • Calcografia de' Reali Teatri
  • Stabilimento Musicale B. Girard & C.
  • Successeurs della ditta Girard
  • Successeurs de Girard & Cie.

Addresses

  • N. 165 via Toledo (<1817)
  • N. 177 via Toledo (1817-1837)
  • N. 211 via Toledo (1837-1846/7)
  • N. 49 Largo S. Ferdinando (1846/7-?)

Plate Numbers

Girard's plate numbers can be confusing as they are only loosely chronological and many alternate versions of individual arias were published and added to later issues. Opera scores often contain non-consecutive numbers and are rarely inclusive within a range.

Plate #Full PlateComposerWorkIMSLP #Full YearYear

Sources Consulted

  • Krummel, D., & Sadie, S. Music printing and publishing (New Grove handbooks in music). Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1990.
  • Antolini, Bianca Maria, ed. Dizionario degli editori musicali italiani 1750-1930. Pisa: Edizioni ETS, 2000.

Links