- Artaria
Artaria and company was one of the most important music publishing firms of the late eighteenth and nineteenth century. Founded in the
eighteenth century inVienna , the company is associated with many leading names of the classical era.History
Artaria and company was founded by the eponymous Carlo Artaria in
1765 inVienna , then the capital of theAustro-Hungarian Empire . Originally a specialty publisher of maps, the company had expanded its business to include music by the mid 1770s. Its most important early collaboration was with the Austrian composerJoseph Haydn , who published more than 300 works through Artaria, including many of the composer'sstring quartets (such as the Opus 33), which were a popular seller. [Gretchen A. Wheelock, "Engaging Strategies in Haydn's Opus 33 String Quartets", in Eighteenth-Century Studies, Vol. 25, No. 1 (Autumn, 1991), pp. 1-30 ] The value of Haydn's works helped push Artaria to the top of the music publishing world in the late eighteenth century.This important relationship helped Artaria secure the rights to the works of other important classical composers such as
Luigi Boccherini and, most notably,Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart . [(Rupert M. Ridgewell, "Mozart and the Artaria Publishing House: Studies in the Inventory Ledgers, 1784-1793", Ph.D. Royal Holloway, University of London, 1999]During his lifetime, Artaria was Mozart's principal publisher, although after his death this passed to the German house of
Breitkopf & Härtel . Artaria also published several early works ofLudwig van Beethoven , until a bitter dispute in 1801/02 over the publishing rights of Beethoven'sString Quintet Op. 29 which culminated in a court case ended further collaboration. [Donald W. MacArdle, "Beethoven, Artaria, and the C Major Quintet", The Musical Quarterly, Vol. 34, No. 4 (Oct., 1948), pp. 567-574]The dispute with Beethoven highlights the role the company played in helping determine early
copyright 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.
Notable Editions
Ridgewell, Rupert M.Artaria's music shop and Boccherini's music in Viennese musical lifeEarly Music - Volume 33, Number 2, May 2005, pp. 179-189
Notes
ee also
*
History of music publishing :publish-company-stub
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
