Francis Salabert (born François-Joseph-Charles Salabert, 27 July 1884 – 28 December 1946) was an innovative and influential French

music publisher A music publisher is a type of publisher that specializes in distributing music. Music publishers originally published sheet music. When copyright became legally protected, music publishers began to play a role in the management of the intellectu ...

, who was the head of Éditions Salabert in the first half of the twentieth century.

Biography

He was born François-Joseph-Charles Salabert in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. His father, Edouard Salabert (1838-1903), started the publishing business Éditions Salabert in the rue de la Victoire in 1878, initially to publish

martial music Martial music or military music is a specific genre of music intended for use in military settings performed by professional soldiers called field musicians. Much of the military music has been composed to announce military events as with bu ...

, and acquired the rights to the

marches In medieval Europe, a march or mark was, in broad terms, any kind of borderland, as opposed to a state's "heartland". More specifically, a march was a border between realms or a neutral buffer zone under joint control of two states in which diffe ...

John Philip Sousa John Philip Sousa ( , ; November 6, 1854 – March 6, 1932) was an American composer and conductor of the late Romantic music, Romantic era known primarily for American military March (music), marches. He is known as "The March King" or th ...

. However, Edouard became incapacitated through illness, and in 1901 Francis took over running the company at the age of 16. In 1908 he moved the business to rue Chauchat, and began expanding it to include the repertoires of composers and writers of light music, including Henri Christiné,

Reynaldo Hahn Reynaldo Hahn de Echenagucia (9 August 1874 – 28 January 1947) was a Venezuelan-born French composer, conductor, music critic, and singer. He is best known for his songs – ''mélodies'' – of which he wrote more than 100. Hahn was born ...

Aristide Bruant Aristide Bruant (; 6 May 1851 – 11 February 1925) was a French cabaret singer, comedian, and nightclub owner. He is best known as the man in the red scarf and black cape featured on certain famous posters by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. He ...

Maurice Yvain Maurice Yvain (12 February 1891 – 27 July 1965) was a French composer noted for his operettas of the 1920s and 1930s. Some of which were written for Mistinguett, at one time the best-paid female entertainer in the world. In the 1930s and 1940s, ...

, Vincent Scotto,

Georges Van Parys Georges Van Parys (7 June 1902 in Paris – 28 January 1971 in Paris) was a French composer of film music and operettas. Among his musical influences were the group Les Six, Maurice Ravel, and Claude Debussy. Later in his career he served as vic ...

, and, later,

Charles Trenet Louis Charles Augustin Georges Trenet (; 18 May 1913 – 19 February 2001) was a renowned French singer-songwriter who composed both the music and the lyrics for nearly 1,000 songs over a career that lasted more than 60 years. These songs inclu ...

. For Christiné's successful

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs and including dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, and length of the work. Apart from its shorter length, the oper ...

'' Phi-Phi'' in 1919, Salabert devised a system for displaying the song's words above the theatre stage, so that the audience could sing along. He also started the practice of signing songwriters to exclusive contracts. He ensured that he retained the copyrights of French songs performed abroad, and routinely added his name as "arranger" to recordings of the songs. Salabert published the music of

Erik Satie Eric Alfred Leslie Satie (born 17 May 18661 July 1925), better known as Erik Satie, was a French composer and pianist. The son of a French father and a British mother, he studied at the Conservatoire de Paris, Paris Conservatoire but was an undi ...

. He also acquired the rights to

film music A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to ...

, and the music performed by singers such as Trenet,

Mistinguett Jeanne Florentine Bourgeois (5 April 1873 – 5 January 1956), known professionally as Mistinguett (), was a French actress and singer. She was at one time the highest-paid female entertainer in the world. Early life The daughter of Antoine Bo ...

Josephine Baker Freda Josephine Baker (; June 3, 1906 – April 12, 1975), naturalized as Joséphine Baker, was an American and French dancer, singer, and actress. Her career was centered primarily in Europe, mostly in France. She was the first Black woman to s ...

Edith Piaf Edith is a feminine given name derived from the Old English word , meaning ''wealth'' or ''prosperity'', in combination with the Old English , meaning '' strife'', and is in common usage in this form in English, German, many Scandinavian lang ...

, and

Yves Montand Ivo Livi (; 13 October 1921 – 9 November 1991), better known as Yves Montand (), was an Italian-born French actor and singer. He is said to be one of France's greatest 20th-century artists. Early life Montand was born Ivo Livi in Stignano, a ...

. For a time after

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he was also responsible for directing the

Moulin Rouge Moulin Rouge (, ; ) is a cabaret in Paris, on Boulevard de Clichy, at Place Blanche, the intersection of, and terminus of Rue Blanche. In 1889, the Moulin Rouge was co-founded by Charles Zidler and Joseph Oller, who also owned the Olympia (Par ...

nightclub A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a Bar (establishment), bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighti ...

. During Salabert's lifetime, Éditions Salabert also acquired the rights to publish such important works as

Arthur Honegger Arthur Honegger (; 10 March 1892 – 27 November 1955) was a Swiss-French composer who was born in France and lived a large part of his life in Paris. Honegger was a member of Les Six. For Halbreich, '' Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher'' is "more even ...

's ''

Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher Jeanne may refer to: Places * Jeanne (crater), on Venus People * Jeanne (given name) * Joan of Arc (Jeanne d'Arc, c.1412–1431), French folk heroine and saint * Jeanne Devos (religious sister) * Jeanne Devos (photographer) * Joan of Flander ...

'' (first privately printed, then published by them in reduction in 1939) and the same composer's

first First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

and

second The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of U ...

symphonies (published by them in 1930 and 1942), for example. Salabert died in December 1946, aged 62, in a

plane crash An aviation accident is an event during aircraft operation that results serious injury, death, or significant destruction. An aviation incident is any operating event that compromises safety but does not escalate into an aviation accident. Pre ...

on the approach to

Shannon Airport Shannon Airport () is an international airport located in County Clare in Ireland. It is adjacent to the Shannon Estuary and lies halfway between Ennis and Limerick. With almost 2 million passengers in 2023, the airport is the third busiest ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. His widow Mica continued to run the business.

Notes

References

External links

Fondation Francis et Mica SalabertSalabert Publisher description page at IMSLP.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Salabert, Francis 1884 births 1946 deaths French music publishers (people) Moulin Rouge Sheet music publishing companies