Chappell & Co.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Chappell & Co. was an English company that published music and manufactured pianos.
It was founded in 1810 by Samuel Chappell. His two partners, Francis Tatton Latour and Johann Baptist Cramer, were professors of music, and Cramer was a fashionable composer, teacher and pianist in the London of his day. Chappell died in 1834, and his son Thomas Patey Chappell took over. He centred the publishing company around musical theatre, a specialty that is still central to the success of Chappell in modern times. The early premises extended into large showrooms on several floors, and Chappell became a familiar landmark on Bond Street. Originally concentrating on music publishing and concert promotion, the firm started manufacturing pianos in the 1840s. Thomas Patey Chappell died in 1902.[1]. His brother William Chappell was originally a member of the firm, but later left to join Cramer & Co. He founded the Percy Society and the Musical Antiquarian Society.
During the 20th century, Chappell became one of the leading music publishers and piano manufacturers in Britain. In 1964 a major fire virtually destroyed the building, which was subsequently rebuilt. By the late 1970s, Chappell had expanded into a major music publishing corporation with world-wide interests. In 1980, the firm wished to divest themselves of their retail activities and concentrate solely on music publishing. Its premises on London's Bond Street were bought by Kemble Pianos, who were allowed to open a music store under the name of Chappell of Bond Street. The entire Chappell & Co. business was bought in 1987 by Warner Bros., which merged its music publishing firms to form Warner/Chappell Music.
[edit] Notes
- ^ "William Chappell", Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th edition
[edit] References
- Husk, William Henry; Cranmer, Margaret; Jones, Peter Ward; and Snell, Kenneth R. "Chappell". Grove Music Online (subscription required). ed. L. Macy. Retrieved on March 7, 2007.
