Choudens

typical cover 1880s

Faust cover 1860

History

Founded in 1845 by Antoine Choudens (1825-1888), Antonio Pacini's son-in-law. His sons Antony and Paul joined him in 1876, and Paul was the sole manager from 1902. He was followed by Gaston Chevrier and André Leroy, then André Chevrier de Choudens from 1946.

His first item was an anthology I canti d'Italia, but the firm is noted for publication of later works of Berlioz as well as Bizet's Carmen. Along with Berlioz and Bizet, the following composers were in the Choudens catalogue: Gounod, Saint-Saëns, Reyer, Offenbach, Godard, Bruneau, Lalo, Coquard, Audran, etc.

The story of the premiere of Gounod's opera Faust mentions Choudens (Annuaire des Artistes, 1902):

En 1859, Gounod donna au Théâtre-Lyrique : Faust qui fut si froidement accueilli, que le maître ne trouva pas d'éditeur. Le jeune Choudens, petit éditeur alors, mais enthousiaste de l'œuvre, rassembla toutes ses cartouches comme il disait, et alla chez Gounod qui lui livra sa partition. Un mois après, à la 32e représentation, Faust était déclaré un chef-d'œuvre par toute la presse qui s'était ravisée et le public affluait au Théâtre-Lyrique pour applaudir l'œuvre et l'idéale Marguerite qu'était Mme Miolan-Carvalho.

In 1859 Gounod offered the Théâtre-Lyrique the premiere of Faust, which was so poorly received that he could not find a publisher for it. Choudens, a small publisher then, was nevertheless enthusiastic about the work and collected his available engravings and went to Gounod, who gave him his score. A month later, at the 32nd performance, Faust was declared a masterpiece by all the press (who had changed their opinion of the work) so the public flocked to the Théâtre-Lyrique to see the new opera and Mrs. Miolan-Carvalho - the ideal Marguerite.

The firm has gone through a few minor name changes over the years. In 2006 Choudens was bought by Music Sales Limited's French office.

Imprints, Agencies, Addresses

• Antoine Choudens, A. Choudens (1845-1874)
• Choudens Père et Fils (1875-1888)
• Choudens Fils (1888-1932)30 boulevard des Capucines à Paris 9e
• Editions Choudens (1933-present)38 rue Jean Mermoz à Paris 8e.

Plate Numbers

Plate style: A.C. #### (early plates, C. ###)

Note: Publication dates in italics are estimated. A plate number in italics indicate it was used on at least two distinct publications.

Authority control

• VIAF