Universal Edition

Free public domain sheet music from IMSLP / Petrucci Music Library

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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 take over 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. 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. 970	Beethoven	Symphony No.2 - piano 4h arr	(1901)
U.E. 1007	Strauss	Cello Sonata in F	(1901)
U.E. 1081	Strauss	Tod und Verklärung, Op.24	1903
U.E. 1268	Reger	Symphonische Phantasie und Fuge für Orgel	1901
U.E. 1368	Strauss, Franz	Nocturno, Op.7	(1904)
U.E. 1369	Strauss, Franz	Horn Concerto, Op.8	(1904)
U.E. 1592	Strauss, Richard	Horn Concerto No.1, Op.11	(1904)
U.E. 1699	Sibelius	Musik zu einer Szene, Op.45 No.2 (piano arr.)	1904
U.E. 1997	Schütt	Paraphrase on J.Strauss' waltz motives from 'Voices of Spring'	(1913)
U.E. 2759	Korngold	Der Schneeman	1910
U.E. 2772	Mahler	Symphony No.8	1911
U.E. 3000	Mahler	Symphony No.8	1911
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. 5540	Zemlinsky	6 Songs after Poems by Maeterlink Op.13	1914
U.E. 5858	Szymanowski	3 Masques, Op.34	1919
U.E. 6017	Marx	Romantic Piano Concerto	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. 6878	Casella	Undici Pezzi Infantili	1921
U.E. 6997	Szymanowski	Metopes, Op. 29	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	Schonberg	Suite, Op. 29	1927
U.E. 8772	Bartók	Piano Sonata, Sz.80	1927
U.E. 8780	Berg	Lyric Suite	1927
U.E. 8854	Huberman	Transcriptions for Violin and Piano	1930
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	Bartok	Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta	1937
U.E. 11247	Bortkiewicz	Lyrica Nova, Op.59	(1940)
U.E. 12198	Webern	Symphonie, Op. 21	1929
U.E. 12416	Webern	Five 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	Konzert, 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.

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 .