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 began to play a role in the management of the intellectua ...

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

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, the company is associated with many leading names of the

classical era Classical antiquity, also known as the classical era, classical period, classical age, or simply antiquity, is the period of cultural European history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD comprising the interwoven civilization ...

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, also known as Habsburg Empire, or Habsburg Realm (), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities (composite monarchy) that were ruled by the House of Habsburg. From the 18th century it is ...

. 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 (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...

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

string quartets The term string quartet refers 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 violinists, a ...

(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 classi ...

and, most notably,

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

. 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 a German Music publisher, music publishing house. Founded in 1719 in Leipzig by Bernhard Christoph Breitkopf, it is the world's oldest music publisher. Overview The catalogue contains over 1,000 composers, 8,000 works ...

. 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. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

, 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'' in 1819 and Carlo's nephew Matthias (1793–1835) published the composer's '' Große Fuge'' 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 legal 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, ...

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 the Habsburg monarchy 1770 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire 18th-century 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