 Navigation  Scores  Recordings
Breitkopf und Härtel
Bernhard Christoph
Breitkopf, founder
Gottfried Christoph Härtel
(1763‑1827) owner from
1795
Hermann Härtel (1803‑
1875)
Oskar Hase (1846‑1921)
BACH, J. S. ‑ Johann Sebastian Bachs Werke. Herausgegeben von der Bach‑Gesellschaft (Entirely on IMSLP)
Multiple Editors
Issued 1850‑1899, 1926. 46 volumes plus supplement (1926).
Wikipedia article
Complete listing
BEETHOVEN ‑ Ludwig van Beethovens Werke: vollständige kritisch durchgesehene überall berechtige Ausgabe (Entirely
on IMSLP)
 Participate  Other
History Historical Publication Info
This firm is the oldest continuously operating music publisher in the Overview
world, with a nearly 400‑year history. Music Publishers and Plate Number Styles
The firm was founded in 1719 in Leipzig by Bernhard Christoph Publishers’ Catalogues
Breitkopf (1695‑1777), most likely on 24 January1. However, the firm Publisher Pages Manual of Style
did not publish music until later. In 1725, Breitkopf brought out a Editions Manual of Style
Hebrew Bible as their first major publication. The first musical score Series
was Schemellis Gesangbuch (1736). Bernhard's son, Johann Gottlob Editions
Immanuel (1719‑1794), "one of the most versatile figures in the
history of German publishing and printing"1 brought the firm to Orchestrators, Arrangers and Editors
greater prominence. He improved typeseting of music so that music Writers, Lyricists and Translators
could be printed in larger and more capable editions. Works
published included those by Telemann, Leopold Mozart, Haydn, C.P.E. Contributor Portal
Bach, and Carl Stamitz. By the latter half of the 1700s, all major
composers at least tried to have Breitkopf publish works.
The "Härtel" was added to the name when Gottfried Christoph Härtel (1763‑1827) took over the company in 1795,
as Johann Gottlob's sons thought that they could not handle the firm. Härtel became the sole heir of Breitkopf. It
was Härtel who first considered publishing complete works editions, publishing "Oevres completes" of Mozart,
Haydn, Clementi, etc. Important publications followed: Messiah in 1803, Bach's Ein Feste Burg ist Unser Gott, BWV
80 in 1827, and numerous others, among which 25 Beethoven first editions. The esteemed Allegemeine
musikalische Zeitung was, in fact, founded by Härtel. In 1807 Härtel began to manufacture pianos, an endeavor
which lasted until 1870. The Breitkopf pianos were highly esteemed in the 19th century by pianists like Franz Liszt
and Clara Schumann.
Härtel's sons Raymund and Hermann (1803‑75) took over by 1835, and proved more than equal to their father in
farsightedness and business acumen. Hermann was friends with Mendelssohn and Schumann (both in Leipzig) and
published the first edition of Schubert's C Major Symphony, D. 944 at Schumann's behest. Breitkopf und Härtel were
the first to publish the operas of Meyerbeer, Cherubini, Donizetti, Bellini, Mehul, Marschner, and Auber. However,
their most famous (and some would say greatest) achievement was in publishing the Gesamtausgaben (Complete
Works Editions), starting in 1850 with Bach, and continuing to this day. The Härtel Brothers also published several
important musicological texts at the same time. Hermann created an Italian‑style villa, the Römisches Haus in
Leipzig, which was an important center for the arts from 1834.
Another important phase began in the 1870s. Oskar von Hase (1846‑1921) and Wilhelm Volkmann, nephews of the
Härtels took over the company. It was Hase who initiated the "libraries" (Orchester‑bibliothek, Kammermusik‑
Bibliothek, Volksausgabe, etc.). At the same time, the firm published Denkmäler deutscher Tonkunst (1892‑1938),
a "nationalistic," Teutonic "monument." C.G. Röder's new printing technology allowed sheet music to be cheaper,
reaching a mass market, so there was intense competition among publishers of cheap editions (Volksausgabe).
Succeeding Oskar von Hase, his son, the eighth of his nine children,Hellmuth von Hase (1891‑1979) took over. He
directed the firm from 1919, and was active in professional organisations between the wars. Following the
partitioning of Germany in 1945, Hellmuth relocated his operations to Wiesbaden (near Frankfurt) in the
Bundesrepublik Deutschland. In 1952 the Deutsche Demokratische Republik nationalized the remaining assets in
Leipzig, and publishing continued there under the name VEB Breitkopf und Härtel. In 1991 the separate companies
negotiated a reunification.
The catalogue currently contains over 1000 composers, 8000 works and 15,000 music editions or books on music.
The company has consistently supported contemporary composers and has had close editorial collaboration with
Beethoven, Haydn, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Sibelius, Busoni, D'Albert, Liszt, Wagner and Brahms. Currently in
preparation are new gesamtausgaben of Boehm, Gesualdo, Lassus, Mendelssohn, Scheidt, Sibelius and others.
Editions
Complete Works Editions (Gesamtausgaben)