Artaria & Co. () was one of the most important

music publishing A music publisher is a type of publisher that specializes in distributing music. Music publishers originally published sheet music. When copyright became legally protected, music publishers started to play a role in the management of the intellect ...

firms of the late 18th and 19th century. Founded in the 18th century in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, the company is associated with many leading names of the

classical era Classical antiquity (also the classical era, classical period or classical age) is the period of cultural history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD centred on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ...

History

Artaria & Co. was founded as a publishing house for art and maps by Carlo Artaria (1747–1808) in 1770 in Vienna, then the capital of the

Habsburg monarchy The Habsburg monarchy (german: Habsburgermonarchie, ), also known as the Danubian monarchy (german: Donaumonarchie, ), or Habsburg Empire (german: Habsburgerreich, ), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities ...

. The company expanded its business to include music in 1778. Its most important early collaboration was with the Austrian composer

Joseph Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions to musical form have le ...

, who published more than 300 works through Artaria, including many of the composer's

string quartets The term string quartet can refer to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two violinist ...

(such as the Opus 33), which were a popular seller. The value of Haydn's works helped push Artaria to the top of the music publishing world in the late 18th century. This important relationship helped Artaria secure the rights to the works of other important classical composers such as

Luigi Boccherini Ridolfo Luigi Boccherini (, also , ; 19 February 1743 – 28 May 1805) was an Italian composer and cellist of the Classical era whose music retained a courtly and ''galante'' style even while he matured somewhat apart from the major Europea ...

and, most notably,

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

. During his lifetime, Artaria was Mozart's principal publisher, although after his death this passed to the German house of

Breitkopf & Härtel Breitkopf & Härtel is the world's oldest music publishing house. The firm was founded in 1719 in Leipzig by Bernhard Christoph Breitkopf. The catalogue currently contains over 1,000 composers, 8,000 works and 15,000 music editions or books on ...

. Starting in 1793, Artaria published several early works of

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...

, until a bitter dispute over the publishing rights of Beethoven's String Quintet Op. 29 which culminated in a court case from 1803 until 1805. Yet, Artaria also published Beethoven's ''

Hammerklavier Sonata Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 29 in B major, Op. 106 (known as the ''Große Sonate für das Hammerklavier'', or more simply as the ''Hammerklavier'') is a piano sonata that is widely viewed as one of the most important works of the ...

'' in 1819 and Carlo's nephew Matthias (1793–1835) published the composer's ''

Große Fuge The ''Grosse Fuge'' (German spelling: ''Große'' ''Fuge'', also known in English as the ''Great Fugue'' or ''Grand Fugue''), Op. 133, is a single-movement composition for string quartet by Ludwig van Beethoven. An immense double fugue, it was ...

'' in 1827. The dispute with Beethoven highlights the role the company played in helping determine early

copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educatio ...

laws. Voluminous correspondence is extant between Artaria and its clients regarding ownership and royalty of editions as well as piracy concerns. Artaria continued to be a leading publisher through the 19th century, until it finally ceased its music publication business in the twentieth century. Its cartographic publishing was acquired by in 1920 and the Artaria publishing house was dissolved in 1932. The art dealership closed in 2012.

Notes

Notable editions

* Ridgewell, Rupert M.: "Artaria's music shop and Boccherini's music in Viennese musical life"; ''Early Music'' – Volume 33, Number 2, May 2005, pp. 179–189

External links

* Companies established in 1770 Sheet music publishing companies 18th century in Vienna 1770 establishments in Austria 1932 disestablishments in Austria Music organisations based in Austria Publishing companies established in the 1770s {{Austria-hist-stub

History

See also

Notes

Notable editions

External links