Universal Edition

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Historical Publication Info

Overview
Music Publishers and Plate Number Styles

Publishers’ Catalogues

Publisher Pages Manual of Style

Editions Manual of Style

Orchestrators, Arrangers and Editors
Writers, Lyricists and Translators

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History

The company was founded on June 1, 1901 in Vienna by a group of Austrian music retailers who sought independence of domination from the large German firms in Leipzig. The initial offerings were geared towards the Austrian domestic market for standard classical repertoire and educational music. By the end of its first year, the U.E. catalog contained some 400 titles, dominated by works of Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Haydn, Mozart, Schubert, and Schumann. In 1903, the Vienna publisher Ludwig Doblinger assigned its publication rights for Bruckner's works to U.E. in exchange for shares in the new company. The next year saw the addition of titles by Max Reger, Richard Strauss, and Franz von Suppe with the acquistion of the publisher Joseph Aibl. Rapid growth continued with the purchase of publishers August Cranz (1909), Otto Maas' Söhne (1918), Gutmann (1920), Hofmeister (1921), Wiener Philharmonischer Verlag and Blaha (both 1924).

Commencing with the directorship of Emil Hertzka and general editorship Josef von Wöss in 1907, the firm entered the field of publishing new works. Some of the first contemporary composers of the period who joined the U.E. catalog were Delius and Bartok (1908), Mahler, Schoenberg and Schreker (1909), Casella, Webern and Zemlinsky (1910), Szymanowski (1912), Wellesz (1915), Janacek (1917), Kodaly (1920), Kaminsky and Krenek (1921), Milhaud (1922), Berg (1923), Weill (1924), Hauer (1925), Martin and Martinu (1926). While the initial issues of new works consisted of joint publications with other publishers like Roszavolgyi (Bartok), Harmonie Verlag (Delius) and Ricordi (Casella), the very first work issued solely by U.E. was Josef von Wöss' vocal score for Mahler's Symphony No. 8 - published just in time for the work's premiere in September 1910. Universal's distribution in other countries was expanded greatly when Alfred A. Kalmus (elder brother of Edwin F. Kalmus), joined the company in 1909. Distribution and joint-publication contracts were negotiated with Fürstner, Bote & Bock, Breitkopf & Härtel, F.E.C. Leuckart, Ricordi, and other important publishers.

After a long disruption initiated by the Nazi takeover of Austria (1938), which saw the dismissal of director Hugo Winter (who became director after Hertzka's death in 1932) and Alfred Kalmus, the firm gradually regained its prominence in the promotion of contemporary music with the restoration of the original shareholders (1952), which continues to the present day. Composers with works added to the U.E. catalog in the post-war period include Bennett, Berio, Birtwistle, Boulez, Dallapiccola, Einem, Feldman, Halffter, Ligeti, Pärt, Stockhausen, and Takemitsu, among others. Since 1914, the company headquarters has been in the Musikvereinsgebäude (also home of the Gessellschaft für Musikfreunde and the Vienna Philharmonic); with branch offices in London, New York, Mainz, Melbourne, Milan, Tokyo, and Zurich.

In October 2007, Universal's attorney sent a Cease and Desist letter to IMSLP, in an attempt to force IMSLP to apply Austrian copyright laws to users worldwide. IMSLP subsequently shut down (from Oct. 2007 through June 2008) undergoing a reorganization in the process. On July 1, 2008, IMSLP-Petrucci Music Library re-opened to the general public.

Plate Numbers

UE's plate numbers coincide with the Edition number as a general rule.

Plate	Composer	Work	Year
U.E. 228	Boieldieu	La Dame Blanche
U.E. 627	Schumann	Allegro, Op.8	(1901)
U.E. 682	Erb	Violin Sonata No.1, Op.21	1901
U.E. 760	Hummel	Etudes, Op.125	(1901)
U.E. 814	Ascher	La Moscovite - Dance nationale	1901
U.E. 815	Mayer	Valse-Etude, Op.83	(1901)
U.E. 940	Grädener	String Quartet No.2, Op.39	1905
U.E. 970	Beethoven	Symphony No.2 – piano 4h arr	(1901)
U.E. 1007	Strauss	Cello Sonata, Op.6	(1901)
U.E. 1081	Strauss	Tod und Verklärung, Op.24
U.E. 1268	Reger	Symphonische Phantasie und Fuge für Orgel
U.E. 1287	Reger	Ausgewählte orgel choralvorspiele	(1901)
U.E. 1368	Strauss	Nocturno, Op.7	(1904)
U.E. 1369	Strauss	Horn Concerto, Op.8 (horn,pf arr)	(1904)
U.E. 1592	Strauss	Horn Concerto No.1, Op.11	(1904)
U.E. 1699	Sibelius	Musik zu einer Szene, Op.45 No.2 (piano arr.)	(1904)
U.E. 1996	Schütt	Paraphrase on J.Strauss' waltz motives from 'Voices of Spring', I	(1910)
U.E. 1997	Schütt	Paraphrase on J.Strauss' waltz motives from 'Voices of Spring', II	(1910)
U.E. 2598	Walter	Violin Sonata in A major	1910
U.E. 2759	Korngold	Der Schneemann	1910
U.E. 2772	Mahler	Symphony No.8	1911
U.E. 2806	Graener	Quartett über ein Schwedisches Volkslied, Op.33	1910
U.E. 2992	Schoenberg	3 Pieces, Op.11 (no.2 elaborated by Busoni)	1911
U.E. 3000	Mahler	Symphony No.8	1911
U.E. 3075	Beethoven	Piano Sonata No.30, Op.109	1913
U.E. 3283	Stöhr	String Quartet No.1 in D minor, Op.22 (parts)	1913
U.E. 3852	Szymanowski	9 Preludes, Op.1	1906
U.E. 3855	Szymanowski	4 Etudes, Op.4	(1906)
U.E. 3864	Szymanowski	Piano Sonata No.2, Op.21‎	1912
U.E. 3974	Beethoven	Piano Sonata No.28, Op.101	1921
U.E. 3977	Beethoven	Piano Sonata No.31, Op.110	1914
U.E. 3999	Novák	Serenade in D major, Op.36 (score)	1913
U.E. 4038	Beethoven	Piano Sonata No.29, Op.106
U.E. 5540	Zemlinsky	6 Songs after Poems by Maeterlinck, Op.13	1914
	Beethoven	Piano Sonata No.32, Op.111	1916
U.E. 5662	Zemlinsky	Eine florentinische Tragödie, Op.16 (vocal score)	1916
U.E. 5858	Szymanowski	3 Masques, Op.34	1919
U.E. 5894	Peters	String Quartet in A major (score)	1918
U.E. 6017	Marx	Romantisches Klavierkonzert (2pf. arr.)	1920
U.E. 6082–83	Weingartner	String Quartet No.4, Op.62 (score, pts)	1918
U.E. 6018	Marx	Romantisches Klavierkonzert (score)	(1921?)
U.E. 6209	Schoenberg	Herzgewächse, Op.20	1920
U.E. 6231	Heller	Ballade, Op.34	(1915)
U.E. 6234	Heller	Ballade, Op.34	(1915)
U.E. 6236	Heller	La Chasse, Op.29	(1915)
U.E. 6371	Bartók	String Quartet No. 2, Op.17, Sz.67	1920
U.E. 6626	Szymanowski	Nocturne and Tarantella, Op.28	1921
U.E. 6878	Casella	Undici Pezzi Infantili	1921
U.E. 6964	Wellesz	Eklogen, Op.11	1921
U.E. 6997	Szymanowski	Metopes, Op.29	1922
U.E. 7000	Beethoven	Piano Sonata No.14, Op.27 No.2 (Schenker ed.)	1921
U.E. 7103	Janáček	Káťa Kabanová	1922
U.E. 7723	Sauer	Concert Polka	1924
U.E. 7932	Schulhoff	Partita für Klavier	1925
U.E. 8393	Berg	Kammerkonzert	1925
U.E. 8685	Schoenberg	Suite, Op.29	1927
U.E. 8772	Bartók	Piano Sonata, Sz.80	1927
U.E. 8780	Berg	Lyrische Suite	1927
U.E. 8854	Huberman	Transcriptions for Violin and Piano	1930
U.E. 8943	Kodaly	Intermezzo from "Hary Janos"	1927
U.E. 8958	Schulhoff	Toccata on 'Kitten on the Keys'	1927
U.E. 9046	Blumenfeld	2 Pieces, Op.53	(1926)
U.E. 9697	Satie	5 grimaces pour Le songe d'une nuit d'été	1929
U.E. 10888	Bartók	Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta	1937
U.E. 11247	Bortkiewicz	Lyrica Nova, Op.59	(1940)
U.E. 12198	Webern	Symphony, Op.21	1929
U.E. 12416	Webern	5 Pieces for Orchestra, Op.10	1923
U.E. 12417	Webern	Variations, Op.30	1956
U.E. 12421	Webern	Cantata No.1, Op.29	1957
U.E. 12461	Webern	Cantata No.2, Op.31	1956
U.E. 12487	Webern	Concerto, Op.24	1948
U.E. 12450	Boulez	Le marteau sans maître	1954
U.E. 17827	Friedman	Paraphrase on J.Strauss' waltz motives from 'Voices of Spring'	1925*
M.R. 27	Reger	3 Sechsstimmige Chöre, Op.39

• The 1925 date is most likely a case of copyfraud.

Catalogs

• Combined Catalog of Universal Edition and Jos. Aibl for 1905

Typical typefaces employed (1901-ca.1950)

Many, perhaps a majority, of Universal's output in for the first five decades or so was engraved by the firm Waldheim-Eberle in Vienna. Eberle's work has a very distinct style, easily recognized with experience, that is exemplified by scores of the "Philharmonia" series of study scores first published by the Wiener Philharmonischer Verlag.

The copyright warning was typically situated on the upper left corner under the title:

Aufführungsrecht Vorbehalten .

Droits d'exécution réservés .

Title

Szymanowski: Piano Sonata No.2, Op.21, plate U.E.3864 (1912)

Beethoven: Piano Sonatas, ed. H. Schenker (1918-1921)

Composer

Szymanowski: Piano Sonata No.2, Op.21, plate U.E.3864 (1912)

Tempo indication

Szymanowski: Piano Sonata No.2, Op.21, plate U.E.3864 (1912)

Beethoven: Piano Sonatas, ed. H. Schenker (1918-1921)

Plate number

Szymanowski: Piano Sonata No.2, Op.21, plate U.E.3864 (1912)

Rehearsal or bar number indication

Beethoven: Piano Sonatas, ed. H. Schenker (1918-1921)