THE LEADING CLASSICAL MUSIC PUBLISHER IN FRANCE

With more than 30,000 works in its catalogues, Éditions Durand-Salabert-Eschig is the leading classical music publisher in France, representing the works of some of the most recognised French composers of the 19th and 20th centuries, including Claude Debussy, Francis Poulenc, Maurice Ravel, and Camille Saint-Saëns as well as renowned composers from around the world including Joaquín Turina, Heitor Villa-Lobos and many more.

Éditions Durand was founded in 1869 by Auguste Durand. Following the Franco-Prussian war of 1870, and for a period of over eighty years, Durand developed a rich catalogue based on the most recognised French composers of the time: Camille Saint-Saëns, Gabriel Fauré, Vincent D’Indy, Claude Debussy, Paul Dukas, Guy Ropartz, Albert Roussel, Florent Schmitt, Maurice Ravel, Darius Milhaud, Francis Poulenc, Maurice Duruflé, André Jolivet and Olivier Messiaen.

Saint-Saëns entrusted Durand with nearly all his compositions, among them his most successful works, such as Danse macabre, the opera Samson et Dalila, and the Third Symphony with organ. The later works of Paul Dukas were also published by Durand (L’Apprenti Sorcier, the opera Ariane et Barbe-Bleue and the danced poem La Péri).

With the dawn of the 20th century, Durand proved its sensitivity to the rise of musical modernism by publishing the works of Debussy, notably the opera Pelléas et Mélisande with its libretto by Maurice Maeterlinck, La Mer (three symphonic sketches), the two books of Préludes for piano and Jeux, a danced poem for Diaghilev. In 1905, Durand began to publish all of Maurice Ravel’s works, among them Rapsodie espagnole, the ballet Daphnis et Chloé and, after the war, La Valse, the famous Boléro and the two Piano Concertos. Other jewels of French music were published during these years: all Albert Roussel’s works; most of Florent Schmitt’s works; the last songs and intimate chamber works of the ageing Fauré; the three first string quartets and the provocative music for Protée by Milhaud.

In the thirties, a new composer, Olivier Messiaen, appeared on the musical scene. With its publication of the Eight Préludes for piano in 1931, Durand became the composer’s first publisher. Durand is proud to present in its catalogue some of Messiaen’s finest works. In 1987, Durand acquired the catalogues of the publishers Amphion, Max Eschig and, in the early nineties, the serious music catalogue of Rideau Rouge.

Éditions Salabert, founded over a hundred years ago, owes the wealth and variety of its catalogue to the genius of Francis Salabert and his wife Mica, who succeeded him at the head of the company in 1947. Salabert possesses one of the richest collections of light music, its catalogue including operettas, songs, jazz (Duke Ellington), and film music. Celebrated singers associated with the Salabert repertory include Mistinguett, Joséphine Baker, Mayol, Marlene Dietrich, Tino Rossi, Édith Piaf, Yves Montand and Charles Trenet.

However, Salabert made its name when it became the main publisher of the Groupe des Six: Arthur Honegger, Georges Auric, Louis Durey, Germaine Tailleferre, Darius Milhaud, and Francis Poulenc. It then went on to publish works by many other significant French composers such as Erik Satie, Henri Sauguet, Ernest Chausson, Henri Duparc, Vincent d’Indy, Guy Ropartz, Albéric Magnard, Albert Roussel, Frederic Mompou, Joaquín Turina and Isaac Albéniz among others.

More recently Salabert reinforced its activity in favour of symphonic and chamber music, gradually building up one of the finest catalogues of contemporary music in the world. Amongst the composers in this group are Georges Aperghis, Iannis Xenakis, Giacinto Scelsi, André Boucourechliev, Henri Dutilleux, Marius Constant, Peter Eötvös, Pascal Dusapin, Michel Decoust, Betsy Jolas, Ivo Malec, Toru Takemitsu and Eric Tanguy.

The catalogue of Éditions Max Eschig, founded in 1907 in Paris by Max Eschig, is entirely dedicated to music from the 20th century. It includes works by Erik Satie, Charles Koechlin, Charles Tournemire, Maurice Ravel, Darius Milhaud, Arthur Honegger, Francis Poulenc, Henri Sauguet, Eschig also published works of Isaac Albéniz, Joaquín Nin, Joaquín Turina and Ernesto Halffter. Max Eschig is also the main publisher for the composer Heitor Villa-Lobos, for Polish composers such as Karol Szymanowski and Alexandre Tansman, as well as works by the Romanian Marcel Mihalovici, the Czech Bohuslav Martinů, the Russian Alexandre Tcherepnine and the Hungarian Tibor Harsányi.

Today, Éditions Durand-Salabert-Eschig, while proud of its legacy catalogue, pays special attention to the publishing of the works of the well-known living composers. The current roster of active Durand-Salabert-Eschig composers includes Pascal Dusapin, Philippe Manoury, Georges Aperghis, Philippe Hersant, Eric Tanguy, Oscar Bianchi, Yan Maresz, Hèctor Parra, Alberto Posadas, Philippe Schoeller, Bechara El-Khoury, Laurent Petitgirard, Michel Tabachnik, François Meïmoun, Samy Moussa, JeanFrédéric Neuburger, Baptiste Trotignon, Blai Soler and other emerging talents.

The complete catalogue of today’s Durand-Salabert-Eschig is composed of operatic and symphonic works, theatrical pieces, chamber music, instrumental and pedagogical works. In addition, Durand-Salabert-Eschig is a key participant in one of the most prestigious projects of French musicology: the critical edition of works by Claude Debussy, entitled OCCD (Œuvres Complètes de Claude Debussy).