7 Carroll, Michael W., “The Struggle for Music Copyright,” Florida Law Review, vol.6 Kretschmer Martin & Kawohl Friedemann, “The History and Philosophy of Copyright”, Frith Simon & Mar (.).5 Tschmuck Peter, “Eighteenth-century Vienna,” Towse Ruth (ed.), Copyright in the Cultural Industries (.).Grétry’s letter reveals a composer grappling with complex issues that traversed legal, economic, and political realms. The new music market that emerged from the revolutionary rubble forced French musicians to settle questions about copyright and intellectual property that had long been debated in eighteenth-century Europe. 4 Not only does the letter shed light on the composer’s support of revolutionary agendas, but it also provides insight into the tangible ramifications that musicians felt as a result of the socio-economic changes caused by the political upheaval. 3 This newly discovered letter to Sieyes, written by Grétry during the difficult year of 1790, does not appear in the authoritative collection of the composer’s correspondences and has never been discussed by scholars. During 1790 alone, one of his operas had been deemed too sympathetic to the monarchy and his two daughters, Lucile and Antoinette, both died tragically young.
But as the French Revolution heated, both Grétry’s personal and professional stars began to dim. Grétry served as her personal music director and Marie Antoinette was even godmother to one of his daughters. 2 His opéra comiques not only dazzled the Parisian public, but also gained attention from the queen. 1 Though Grétry is forgotten in many contemporary narratives of music history, he boasted a celebrity status in late eighteenth-century Paris.
His efforts were realized when the first intellectual property laws relating to music became codified in 17. In the 1790 letter, although Grétry praises Sieyes’ policy proposals, he also raises personal and professional injustices surrounding intellectual property rights to music. Sieyes, author of the seminal revolutionary text “What is the Third Estate?”, pioneered liberty of the press and authors’ rights legislation as a member of the French National Assembly and National Convention. A newly discovered letter that he wrote during this period to the famed Abbé Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyes offers a window into the effects that revolutionary legislation had on musicians. As the revolutionary tides swept toward republican musical aesthetics, the illustrious Grétry receded from the public eye and briefly struggled to remain afloat. Before the French Revolution began in 1789, André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry composed opéra comique that achieved great success both in Paris and abroad.