Éditions Alphonse Leduc

The Éditions Alphonse Leduc company is a prominent French music publishing house specializing in classical music. It was created in Paris in 1841. Since January 2014, Leduc is part of the British Music Sales Group.

Éditions Alphonse Leduc is a family business that has been passed down from father to son over five generations. The family is originally from Arnay-le-Duc, in the Burgundy region of France.

The family musical origins began in Arnay-le-Duc in Burgundy and its first musician, Antoine Girard. Girard was a violinist who left his father's weaving shop to turn his attention to art. His son Charles Girard, who was born in Arnay-le-Duc in 1754, moved to Nantes and was the first full-time musician. The Girards were a large family and its Nantes branch added Leduc to its name, taken from its place of origin Arnay-le-Duc. From then on all of the Girards of this branch were known as Girard-Leduc, and often, for the sake of simplification in business, just Leduc.

Alphonse Leduc, teacher, composer, student and flute, guitar and bassoon pupil of Anton Reicha in Paris, was born in Nantes in 1804 and died in Paris in 1868. He transferred his publishing house from Nantes to Paris in 1841. His son, Alphonse-Charles Leduc (Paris 1844-1892), created the important instrumental teaching collections which became the company's speciality and have been constantly expanded ever since. Alphonse-Charles's son, Alphonse Émile Leduc (1878–1951), continued the teaching collections, developed the company's school edtitions and published several important symphonic composers. His sons, Claude-Alphonse (1910–1995) and Gilbert Leduc (1911–1985), who entered the business in 1928, managed and further expanded Éditions A. Leduc from 1951 to 1985.

Éditions Alphonse Leduc have absorbed a number of publishing companies during their existence, in recent years B.G., Bornemann, C.Y., Gras, Hamelle, Heugel, Hortensia, King, Notissimo and Ouvrières . They are exclusive agents in France for: Anton J. Benjamin (hire), Carl Fischer Music (hire), Dilia (hire), Joaquín Rodrigo (sales), E.P.T.C. (Editions & Productions Théatrales Chappell) (hire), F.M.T. (hire), Hug, Foetisch, Pelikan (sales), Lido Mélodies (sales), Marine Handler (hire), M.E.L. (Musique en ligne) (hire), Mercury (hire), Misterioso (sales), Moeck (hire), Pan Educational Music (sales), P.W.M. (hire), Schott Musik International (hire), Schirmer, A.M.P. (sales), Sikorski (sales), Sonzogno (hire), Southern Music Co. (sales and hire), Suvini-Zerboni (Sugar Music) (hire), Theodore Presser (sales and hire), Touch of Brass (sales), U.M.P. (sales and hire), Virgo (sales), Warner Chappell Music France (hire), Zen-On (sales and hire).

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