Ricordi, Niemeyer, and the Business of the First Music Publishing Houses in Valparaíso (Chile) and Lima (Peru) in the Mid-19th Century

Abstract

Printed music scores are one of the most essential sources for studying nineteenth-century music in Latin America. However, very little research has been done and published on the specific subject of the production of those scores. This subject is more generally studied as part of broader issues: composers, cities, performers. In this paper, I look at music production through two study cases in Chile and Peru in the mid-nineteenth century: the Ricordi house in Lima and Niemeyer in Valparaiso. By looking at how they worked and details from the scores they produced, it is possible to find several commonalities and tendencies in the production and circulation of music in this period. Among other aspects, the paper discusses the links both houses had with their European partners, the networks with local printers and musicians, and the transformations of the editorial market between the late 1840s and the early 1870s.