IMSLP Forums

Hi Carolus!

An anonymous fan of yours (haha ) asked me to ask you this:

Hi, regarding Ravel's orchestration to Pictures at an Exhibition (IMSLP # 01260), web page:
http://www.imslp.org/wiki/Pictures_at_a ... trovich%29
It is stated that the full score was published by Edition Russe de Musique. However, I have the Ravel orchestrated score (which is the same as the score in IMSLP) which is published by Boosey and Hawkes. Could you ask Carolus if this is PD as well?

I'm thinking that B&H reprinted Edition Russe? In which case it'd certainly be public domain as well.

The first printing by was Edition Russe de Musique in 1929. B&H later reprinted it that same year, so both should be PD.

Daphnis is correct. Sergei Koussevitzky sold Edition Russe to Boosey and Hawkes in the late 1940s. It's PD in Canada because the orchestrator (Ravel) died in 1937. Still protected in the USA.

On a related subject (Daphnis), I note that Ernesto Halffter's arrangement of the Falla: Seven Spanish Folksongs has been posted recently. Halffter (b.1905) died only in the 1970s or 80s, so this arrangement would be copyright in Canada. Since it was published in 1951, I expect it's copyright in the USA as well.

You're doing a great job of posting interesting stuff, Daphnis! I don't mean to discourage you - just check the names and dates of arrangers before you post, that's all. We're merely trying to avoid the copyright police breaking down IMSLP's door.

Ah, damn. Sorry about that...that was the score I forgot to check for the arranger's dates. Thanks for the reminder.

Ok... for some reason I titled this thread "Ravel Bolero" instead of the correct "Ravel's orchestration of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition". Anyway... here's a response from the anonymous guy

Also, I might want to rephrase the original question: The B & H score is not the same as the score in IMSLP (Edition Russe de Musique), that's not what I meant, what I mean to say is the Boosey score is a full orchestral score in the same way as the Edition Russe full score ... the engraving style is totally different, and the Boosey score has a parallel piano score of the original at the bottom of the full score. So I think there is no way the Boosey score is a reprint of Edition Russe.

(My response):

I still think it is public domain in Canada since it was published more than 50 years ago, and Ravel died more than 50 years ago...

Yours,
The proxy guy

OK, I'll try and clear up the confusion here.

1. The score posted at IMSLP is a Muzika (Soviet) score of the Ravel orchestration, which was issued around 1965-1970. It's a different engraving altogether (146 pages) than the score issued by Boosey.

2. Edition Russe de Musique, which despite the name was actually located in Paris and Berlin after the revolution, first published Ravel's orchestration in 1929 which was taken over by Boosey & Hawkes when Sergei Koussevitzky (the owner of Edition Russe) sold the company in the late 1940s. This is the very same score (128 pages) printed by B & H to this day - though I think they've inserted some corrections over the years. Boosey & Hawkes wasn't founded until 1931 (a merger of Boosey & Co. with Hawkes and Son), though the "Hawkes Pocket Scores" may have been around before that date.

The USSR did not observe any other country's copyrights, so they published whatever pieces they liked.