Dear Classical Listmembers,

Please pardon an uneducated and poorly researched question from a classical
neophyte.

As a Christmas gift I received a book, "Classical Music", subtitled "The
50 Greatest Composers and Their 1000 Greatest Works", by Phil G.  Goulding.
On pp.  324-325 is a description of the requirements Berlioz had of a
concert arranger for a concert proposed to be given in Lyons in 1845.
I won't quote the entire passage, but it seemed to be quite a grand plan
and Berlioz was not sure that his demands were able to be met.  But it
is the following statement, in a letter from Berlioz to the arranger,
that intrigues me:

   "Please find out, my dear Mr.  Hahn, whether this is possible
   and at the same time whether the poor will agree to collect only
   a tenth, as they did at Marseilles and as they invariably do at
   my concerts in Paris."

There is no explanation of this excerpt, so it could be that such a
reference is well-understood in the classical music community; Berlioz
indicates that this custom or arrangement is somehow common.  But I am
baffled by this and would like to know what it means.  The poor collect
a tenth of the proceeds?  If that is the case, it seems an interesting
social arrangement!  (Who decides the status of "poor" and how is this
negotiated, etc?!)

Or could this perhaps is a clumsy translation of the original letter of
Berlioz?  I have no idea if this book is considered a reputable or good
source, but it was given to me by a concert violinist, so I assume it
is worthwhile.  On the other hand, I cannot discern from the surrounding
text if this concert actually took place!  (It seems that it did, however;
at least Berlioz did give some concert in Lyons in 1845.)

Cheers and thanks from a new listmember,

Rick Mabry
Shreveport, LA