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Boosey & Hawkes

Coordinates:51°30′47″N0°06′58″W/ 51.513°N 0.116°W/51.513; -0.116
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"Boosey" redirects here. For the locality in Australia, seeBoosey, Victoria.

Boosey & Hawkes
Parent companyConcord
PredecessorBoosey & Company
Hawkes & Son
Founded1930;94 years ago(1930)
FounderLeslie Boosey
Ralph Hawkes
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Headquarters locationAldwych,London
Key peopleJanis SusskindOBE
Official websiteboosey

Boosey & Hawkesis a Britishmusic publisher,purported to be the largest specialist classical music publisher in the world. Until 2003, it was also a major manufacturer ofbrass,stringandwoodwindmusical instruments.

Formed in 1930 through the merger of two well-established British music businesses, Boosey & Hawkes controls thecopyrightto much major20th-century music,including works byLeonard Bernstein,Benjamin Britten,Aaron Copland,Sergei Prokofiev,andIgor Stravinsky.It also publishes many prominent contemporary composers, includingJohn Adams,Karl Jenkins,James MacMillan,Mark-Anthony Turnage,andSteve Reich.

With subsidiaries inBerlinandNew York,the company also sellssheet musicvia its online shop.

History

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Pre-merger

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Boosey & Hawkes was founded in 1930 through the merger of two respected music companies, Boosey & Company and Hawkes & Son.[1]

The Boosey family was ofFranco–Flemishorigin.[2]Boosey & Company traces its roots back toJohn Boosey,a bookseller in London in the 1760s–1770s.[3]His son Thomas continued the business at 4Old Bond Street,[4][5]and from 1819 the bookshop was called Boosey & Sons or T. & T. Boosey.

A drawing of aeuphoniummanufactured by Boosey & Co. in 1878

Thomas Boosey's son, also named Thomas (1794/1795–1871), set up a separate musical branch of the company known as T. Boosey & Co. and, in the latter part of the 19th century, Boosey & Company. It initially imported foreign music but soon began publishing in England the works of composers such asJohann Nepomuk Hummel,Saverio Mercadante,Ferdinand RiesandGioachino Rossini,and subsequently important operas byBellini,DonizettiandVerdi.ElgarandVaughan Williamswere among its later signings.[6]It also produced books; among its first publications was an English translation ofJohann Nikolaus Forkel's bookLife of J. S. Bach(1820).[7]The company was seriously affected by theHouse of Lords' decision inBoosey v. Jeffreys(1854) which deprived English publishers of many of their foreign copyrights.[2]

Boosey & Company diversified into manufacturing woodwind instruments in 1851, collaborating in 1856 withflautistR. S. Pratten (1846–1936) to develop new designs forflutes.It bought over the business ofHenry Distinin 1868, allowing it to begin makingbrass instruments.Among its achievements was the widely acclaimed design forcompensating valvesdeveloped by David James Blaikley in 1874.[2]The company also commenced production ofstring instruments.[6]

The company capitalised on the increasing popularity of theballadby focusing its publishing activities on them. To promote sales, John Boosey (c. 1832–1893), son of Thomas Jr., established the London Ballad Concerts in 1867 atSt. James's Halland later atQueen's Hallwhen it opened in 1893.Clara Butt,John Sims ReevesandCharles W. Clarkperformed at these concerts, and their successes includedArthur Sullivan's "The Lost Chord"(1877) andStephen Adams' "The Holy City". The company began emphasisingeducational musicfrom about the end of the 19th century.[2]

In 1874 Boosey & Company moved into offices at 295Regent Street,[4]where the business was to stay for the next 131 years. In 1892, Boosey & Company opened an office in New York which still exists today.[6]The business eventually owned half of Regent Street, and at the time of the merger was managed by Leslie Boosey (1887–1979).[8]

Hawkes & Son (initially Rivière & Hawkes),[2]a rival to Boosey & Company, was founded in 1865 by William Henry Hawkes selling orchestralsheet music.The company also made musical instruments and spare parts such asclarinetreeds,and by 1925 Hawkes had set up an instrument factory inEdgware,North London.[6]The business, which was particularly known forbrassandmilitary bandmusic,[2]was eventually inherited by Ralph Hawkes (1898–1950).

Post-merger

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Leslie Boosey and Ralph Hawkes met in the 1920s when they were on the Board of thePerforming Right Society,saw an opportunity to combine their businesses, and formed Boosey & Hawkes in October 1930.[8]Hawkes & Son moved from its office in Denman Street to join the Boosey staff at 295 Regent Street.[4]

The 1938Anschluss—theannexationofAustriaintoGreater Germanyby theNazi regime—led to the Nazification ofViennesepublishing houseUniversal Edition.Boosey & Hawkes seized the opportunity to sign up composersBéla BartókandZoltán Kodály,and also rescued Universal'sJewishstaff, who later played an important role in developing the company. One such employee in particular,Ernst Roth,facilitated the signing ofRichard StraussandIgor Stravinsky,and was instrumental in the production of Strauss'sVier letzte Lieder(Four Last Songs) (1948; premièred 1950) and Stravinsky'sThe Rake's Progress(premièred 1951).[8]Another significant figure from Vienna who occupied an editorial role was composerArnold Schoenberg's pupilErwin Stein,and after the war the composerLeopold Spinner,a pupil ofAnton Webern,was also on the editorial staff. Stein was instrumental in founding the modern-music journalTempoin 1939,[2]which began as Boosey & Hawkes' own newsletter but later became a more independent publication.

By the timeWorld War IIbroke out in 1939, Boosey & Hawkes had also signedBenjamin BrittenandAaron Copland.It was Ralph Hawkes who championed Britten when he was still relatively unknown, often against the rest of the board of directors, until the première on 7 June 1945 ofPeter Grimes,which was a critical and popular success.Sheet musicsales soared during the War, enabling Boosey & Hawkes to buyEditions Russeswhich held the rights to the most valuable works ofProkofiev,Rachmaninoffand Stravinsky. The company also purchased the lease of theRoyal Opera Housein London in 1944,[9]rescuing it from becoming a permanent dance hall and providing a venue for world-class ballet and opera in the capital.[8]

By 1950, Boosey & Hawkes was a leading international music company with an extensive catalogue of serious composers and offices inBonn,Johannesburg,New York, Paris, Toronto and Sydney. However, from the late 1940s, strains had begun to appear in the relationship between Leslie Boosey and Ralph Hawkes, and this led to factions supporting each man forming in the company. It was discovered that Hawkes had borrowed capital of £100,000 during the war without the permission of the exchange control authorities, and Boosey was forced to clear up the situation at great personal cost. Hawkes secretly wanted to buy out the music publishing side of the business and manage it from New York, leaving Boosey in London with the musical instrument business which Hawkes found dull. However, he died suddenly on 8 September 1950, and representation of his faction was taken over by his flamboyant but unreliable brother Geoffrey who spent much of the company's money on ventures such as the manufacture ofmouth organsand ovens, which failed. Geoffrey Hawkes also sold shares in the company to fund his philandering, to the point that the company was forced to go public to raise cash. Leslie Boosey allowed Geoffrey his turn as chairman, but within two years the profitable company was on the brink of insolvency and Geoffrey Hawkes died of leukaemia in 1961.[8]

Distinctive brown cover of a Hawkes Pocket Score: Shostakovich'sViolin Concerto No. 1

During these difficult years, Boosey was supported by his trusted managing director, Ernst Roth. However, Roth later regarded the Boosey family as ineffectual and parochial. In the early 1960s, Roth forced Boosey's sons Anthony and Simon out of the company, and prevented his youngest son, Nigel, from even joining, allegedly at the behest of Benjamin Britten. Roth and Boosey also had differences over Britten's influence over the company. Roth regarded Britten as a gifted local musician, rather than a true genius like Roth's friends Strauss and Stravinsky. Boosey realised how valuable Britten was to the company, and agreed to Britten's request to divide the company into instruments and publishing. However, Britten humiliated Boosey by preventing him from chairing the music publishing board Boosey had established at Britten's request. In 1963, Britten also managed to get Boosey & Hawkes to employDonald Mitchellto find new, young composers for the company. Angered by the sway Britten had over Boosey, Roth fired Mitchell within a year. Mitchell later set upFaber Musicfor book publisherFaber and Faberwith the assistance of Britten and the blessing ofT. S. Eliot.[8]

Boosey retired from the company in 1964, and died without an obituary in 1979. Although he had been awarded with theLégion d'honneurby France, his achievements were mostly unrecognised in the UK. However, a large number of composers and their estates continue to benefit from his pioneering work in rights and royalty collection.[8]In addition, every two years theRoyal Philharmonic Societyand thePerforming Right Societyhonour individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to the furtherance of contemporary music in Britain with the Leslie Boosey Award. The award is given to those who work "backstage", such as administrators, broadcasters, educationalists, programmers, publishers and representatives from the recording industry.[10]

Some time during the late 1960s or early 1970s Boosey & Hawkes bought out The Salvation Army Brass Instrument Factory in North London. They continued for some years to manufacture instruments with The Salvation Army name and crest on them such as The Bandmaster cornets.[11]

Boosey & Hawkes' musical instruments division was gradually scaled down from the mid-1970s as it became less viable to have such an extensive range of products. Various lines were outsourced and sold off. By the time of the closure of the Edgware factory in 2001, brass instruments were the only thriving part of the instrument range. Production was moved toWatford,Hertfordshire, and the instruments rebrandedBesson.[12]

It took nearly 20 years for Boosey & Hawkes to regain the leading position in the international music scene that it has today.[8]It claims to be the largest specialist classical music publisher in the world.[13]

In 1996 the company acquired Bote & Bock; in 2001, it acquired Anton J. Benjamin, including theN. Simrockcatalog.[14]

The company today

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In 2001, Boosey & Hawkes was put up for sale after accounting irregularities were discovered in its Chicago instrument-distribution business, leading to £13m worth of sales being written off, a plummeting share price, and the company's near-bankruptcy.[15]It was eventually bought byventure capitalistsHgCapital in 2003 for £40 million.[16]

On 11 February 2003, Boosey & Hawkes sold its musical instrument division, which includedclarinetmakerBuffet Cramponand guitar manufacturerHöfner,toThe Music Group,a company formed by rescue buyout specialists Rutland Fund Management, for £33.2 million.[17]An archive of musical instruments manufactured or collected by the company throughout its history was passed to theHorniman MuseuminForest Hill,South London.[12]

In September 2005 the company was again offered for sale by HgCapital which announced that it was seeking between £60 and £80 million.[18]One of the interested buyers wasElevation Partners,aprivate equityfirm which countsU2lead singerBonoas a partner and managing director.[19]Despite offers of about £115 million from a number of parties, the sale was later cancelled in November 2005.[20]In April 2008, Boosey & Hawkes was bought by the Dutch ownedImagemwhich was subsequently itself acquired by the American basedConcord.[21]Concord later purchased Hans Sikorski in 2019, adding the German classical publisher to sit alongside Boosey & Hawkes.[22]

Today, partly due to the foresight or business acumen of Ralph Hawkes, the company controls thecopyrightsin major 20th-century music.[13]It also publishes many prominent contemporary composers and the company's New York branch has developed its own catalogue emphasising the works of American composers.[2]

295 Regent Street, which was the home of Boosey & Company since 1874 and of Boosey & Hawkes' publishing business and music shop from 1930, was finally given up by the company in 2005 which then relocated to Aldwych House.[4]Boosey & Hawkes Music Shop claims to have the UK's largest selection of printed music from all publishers, and operates a worldwidemail orderservice.[23]

The company had a major division, BooseyMedia, that commissioned and produced music for radio, television and advertisingjingles,and the administration ofcopyrightsowned by media companies. This was split into commercial synchronisation and production music departments,[24]both under the Imagem name. The production library was sold in 2016.

In North America, Boosey & Hawkes' print sales catalogue is distributed by theHal Leonard Corporation.

Boosey & Hawkes launched its Online Scores service in 2011, allowing customers to view full scores of works in its catalogue.[25]In January 2017, British Library acquired the archive of Boosey & Hawkes.[26]

Parodies

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The company was lampooned byThe Goon Showas "Goosy and Borks" in their episode, "LurgyStrikes Britain ", as well as by musicalparodistPeter Schickelewho named one of the friends of fictional composerP.D.Q. BachJonathan "Boozey" Hawkes, and claimed him as a vital link in the chain whereby manuscripts of PDQ Bach's works had survived.[27]Somewhat more recondite was the punning reference delivered in one ofGerard Hoffnung's parody concerts: "If Boosey's will Hawk it,Schott's willTippett"(from Punkt Contrapunkt at Hoffnung Interplanetary Music Festival with John Amis, Royal Festival Hall, 21 and 22 November 1958)[28][vague]

See also

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References

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  1. ^"An Historical Note".Boosey & Hawkes. Archived fromthe originalon 30 November 2005.Retrieved24 May2007.
  2. ^abcdefghD[avid] J[ames] Blaikley; William C. Smith; Peter Ward Jones. "Boosey & Hawkes". In L. Macy (ed.).Grove Music Online.Archived fromthe originalon 16 May 2008.Retrieved14 June2007.
  3. ^Simon Burrows (2000).French Exile Journalism and European Politics, 1792–1814.Woodbridge, Suffolk: Boydell & Brewer Ltd.ISBN978-0-86193-249-8.
  4. ^abcd"Staff Contacts: London – Rest of the World".Boosey & Hawkes.Retrieved10 October2007.
  5. ^The shop moved to 28 Holles Street in 1816:"Staff Contacts: London – Rest of the World".Boosey & Hawkes.Retrieved10 October2007.
  6. ^abcdSuzy Jagger (20 March 2003)."Instrumental role in music-making".The Times.London. Archived fromthe originalon 12 June 2011.
  7. ^Johann Nicolaus Forkel;Banker Stephenson (transl.) (1820).Life of J. S. Bach; with a Critical View of His Compositions... Translated from the German. [by Stephenson.]London: T. Boosey & Co.This was a translation from the German ofJohann Nicolaus Forkel (1802).Ueber J. S. Bachs Leben, Kunst und Kunstwerke: Für patriotische Verehrer echter musikalischer Kunst... Mit Bachs Bildniss und Kupfartafeln.Leipzig: Hoffmeister und Kühnel.OCLC243456252.
  8. ^abcdefghHelen Wallace (26 April 2007)."Musical marriage that soared – and soured".The Daily Telegraph(Review).London. Archived fromthe originalon 4 June 2011.
  9. ^Haltrecht, Montague (1975).The Quiet Showman: Sir David Webster and the Royal Opera House.London: Collins. p.51.ISBN0-00-211163-2.
  10. ^"Leslie Boosey Award".Royal Philharmonic Society.Retrieved25 May2007.
  11. ^Army Instrument Making – A Short History by William H. Scarlett, 25 June 2011, at sahpa.blogspot.co.ukAccessed 4 March 2017
  12. ^abWyse, Pascal (26 January 2007)."Test Your Strength".The Guardian.
  13. ^abMinch, John."Welcome to our World of Music".Boosey & Hawkes. Archived fromthe originalon 13 May 2007.Retrieved24 May2007.
  14. ^"Boosey & Hawkes: The home of contemporary music".
  15. ^Osborne, Alistair (21 March 2001)."Bad Vibes from Chicago Shake Boosey & Hawkes".The Daily Telegraph.[permanent dead link]Osborne, Alistair (21 March 2001)."Chicago Blues for Boosey".The Daily Telegraph.[permanent dead link]
  16. ^"Boosey & Hawkes Stays Independent".Boosey & Hawkes. 21 November 2003. Archived fromthe originalon 28 November 2005.Retrieved29 May2007.Higgins, Charlotte (25 November 2003)."Buyout Saves Music Publisher Boosey's Independence".The Guardian.
  17. ^Fagan, Mary (24 August 2002)."Boosey Nears Sale of Instruments Division".The Daily Telegraph.[permanent dead link]Osborne, Alistair (11 February 2003)."Boosey Plucks £33.2m for Instruments".The Daily Telegraph.[permanent dead link]Wray, Richard (12 February 2003)."Boosey & Hawkes Sells Instruments Arm for £33.2m".The Guardian.
  18. ^Wachman, Richard (18 September 2005)."Boosey & Hawkes Up for Sale as Owner Seeks Quick £80m".The Observer.
  19. ^Hopkins, Nic (19 October 2005)."Rock Meets Rachmaninov as Bono Firm Eyes Boosey & Hawkes".The Times.London.
  20. ^Dennis, Guy (19 November 2005)."Boosey & Hawkes Rebuffs Bono as Sale is Cancelled".The Daily Telegraph.[dead link]
  21. ^Sisario, Ben (2 June 2017)."Concord Bicycle Music Adds to Its Catalog, Acquiring Imagem Music Group".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.Retrieved18 February2020.
  22. ^"Concord acquires historic classical music publisher Sikorski".Music Business Worldwide.13 June 2019.Retrieved18 February2020.
  23. ^"A Wealth of Music".Boosey & Hawkes. Archived fromthe originalon 23 December 2006.Retrieved24 May2007.
  24. ^"Introducing Imagem Production Music, featuring the voice of Matt Berry".Imagem Production Music. Archived fromthe originalon 13 July 2011.
  25. ^"Boosey & Hawkes puts scores online".The Strad. Archived fromthe originalon 13 September 2012.Retrieved27 December2011.
  26. ^"British Library acquires Boosey & Hawkes archive - Rhinegold".Rhinegold.Retrieved8 November2017.
  27. ^Programme notes for the Cantata: "Blaues Gras" (Bluegrass Cantata), S. 6 String For Tenor, Bass, Bluegrass Band, and Orchestra- P.D.Q. Bach. Edited by Prof. Peter Schickele. At presserAccessed 4 March 2017
  28. ^Hoffnung's Music Festivals,CD reissue, liner notes, EMI Records No. CMS 7633022, 1989

Further reading

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Articles

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Books

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