Buzz
A recent feature on my local public radio station, KUSC, highlighted the ten composers who earned the most over the course of their careers. After adjusting for inflation, here are the ten composers who made the most money:
1. George Gershwin 2. Johann Strauss II 3. Giuseppe Verdi 4. Gioachino Rossini 5. George Frideric Handel 6. Joseph Haydn 7. Sergei Rachmaninoff 8. Giacomo Puccini 9. Niccola Paganini 10. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
I was a bit surprised that Philip Glass didn't make the list, especially considering the countless films that have featured his music. Additionally, I think he holds the record for the largest commission ever given by the Metropolitan Opera for his Christopher Columbus opera, which amounted to $325,000.
It's curious that George Gershwin is often regarded as a "classical composer," while someone like John Williams isn't (otherwise, he'd definitely be on this list). Both Gershwin and Williams were/are composers, conductors, and pianists. They both wrote numerous concertos and symphonies. They both created musicals (have you heard of Williams' Thomas and the King?) and, of course, they both wrote for the movies. For some reason, though, and this has always puzzled me, Williams has never been fully embraced by the classical world. He's always been seen as a "pops" composer, never taken seriously as a classical figure.
I'm not suggesting that Williams is more talented than Gershwin, but if we consider film as our generation's opera, could it be that Williams is our era's Verdi? Yes, Spielberg is the true star, just like Verdi was the star, not someone like librettist Francesco Maria Piave, but I think you get where I'm coming from. Many of the composers on this list earned their wealth from opera, which, in its prime, was as big a cultural force as movies are today. And, of course, royalty payments accumulate when your production is running in multiple cities every night.
