Hans Heinsheimer
Encyclopedia
Hans Heinsheimer was an Austrian-American music publisher, author, and journalist.
, eventually becoming head of the opera department. There he supported composers Alban Berg
and Leoš Janáček
and wrote many articles for the music periodical Anbruch ("Dawn") about issues in the music industry and the sociology of music. He was the force behind Universal's hugely popular successes in the 1920s: Jaromír Weinberger
's opera Schwanda the Bagpiper and Ernst Krenek
's Jonny spielt auf
. He also dabbled as a stage director, including productions of Kurt Weill
's Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny
.
He was on a business trip to New York City during the Austrian Anschluss
in 1938 and did not return to Austria. He found employment with the major music publisher Boosey & Hawkes
and was instrumental Boosey's publication of the works of Béla Bartók
, who emigrated in 1940. Heinsheimer supported the indigent composer whose leukemia contributed to increasingly poor health through a conspiracy to channel funds disguised as record royalties. At Boosey, he promoted the performance of Aaron Copland
's El Salón México, and his efforts were important for establishing the popularity of the
He was dismissed from Boosey in 1947 because of the head of the firm, Ralph Hawkes disliked his first book, Menagerie in F Sharp. Heinsheimer went to work for the largest American music publisher at the time, Schirmer, becoming its vice-president in 1972. He managed the publications of composers including Leonard Bernstein
, Gian Carlo Menotti
, and Samuel Barber
, and also brought out Albert Schweitzer
's edition of Bach's organ works. He was described in his New York Times obituary as "One of the most influential classical-music publishers of the 20th century."
. Also, in his retirement, he made many special contributions to the arts section (Feuilleton
) of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
(FAZ).
Life and Works
After obtaining a law degree and working as an unpaid intern, Heinsheimer was hired at age 23 by the grand rights (staged works) division of Viennese music publisher Universal EditionUniversal Edition
Universal Edition is a classical music publishing firm. Founded in 1901 in Vienna, and originally intended to provide the core classical works and educational works to the Austrian market...
, eventually becoming head of the opera department. There he supported composers Alban Berg
Alban Berg
Alban Maria Johannes Berg was an Austrian composer. He was a member of the Second Viennese School with Arnold Schoenberg and Anton Webern, and produced compositions that combined Mahlerian Romanticism with a personal adaptation of Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique.-Early life:Berg was born in...
and Leoš Janáček
Leoš Janácek
Leoš Janáček was a Czech composer, musical theorist, folklorist, publicist and teacher. He was inspired by Moravian and all Slavic folk music to create an original, modern musical style. Until 1895 he devoted himself mainly to folkloristic research and his early musical output was influenced by...
and wrote many articles for the music periodical Anbruch ("Dawn") about issues in the music industry and the sociology of music. He was the force behind Universal's hugely popular successes in the 1920s: Jaromír Weinberger
Jaromír Weinberger
- Biography :Weinberger was born in Prague, from a family of Jewish origin. He heard Czech folksongs from time spent at his grandparents' farm as a youth. He started to play the piano at age 5, and was composing and conducting by age 10. He began musical studies with Jaroslav Křička. Later teachers...
's opera Schwanda the Bagpiper and Ernst Krenek
Ernst Krenek
Ernst Krenek was an Austrian of Czech origin and, from 1945, American composer. He explored atonality and other modern styles and wrote a number of books, including Music Here and Now , a study of Johannes Ockeghem , and Horizons Circled: Reflections on my Music...
's Jonny spielt auf
Jonny spielt auf
Jonny spielt auf is an opera with words and music by Ernst Krenek about a jazz violinist. The work typified the cultural freedom of the 'golden era' of the Weimar Republic.-Performance history:...
. He also dabbled as a stage director, including productions of Kurt Weill
Kurt Weill
Kurt Julian Weill was a German-Jewish composer, active from the 1920s, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fruitful collaborations with Bertolt Brecht...
's Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny
Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny
Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny is a political-satirical opera composed by Kurt Weill to a German libretto by Bertolt Brecht. It was first performed in Leipzig on 9 March 1930.-Composition history:...
.
He was on a business trip to New York City during the Austrian Anschluss
Anschluss
The Anschluss , also known as the ', was the occupation and annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany in 1938....
in 1938 and did not return to Austria. He found employment with the major music publisher Boosey & Hawkes
Boosey & Hawkes
Boosey & Hawkes is a British music publisher purported to be the largest specialist classical music publisher in the world. Until 2003, it was also a major manufacturer of brass, string and wind musical instruments....
and was instrumental Boosey's publication of the works of Béla Bartók
Béla Bartók
Béla Viktor János Bartók was a Hungarian composer and pianist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century and is regarded, along with Liszt, as Hungary's greatest composer...
, who emigrated in 1940. Heinsheimer supported the indigent composer whose leukemia contributed to increasingly poor health through a conspiracy to channel funds disguised as record royalties. At Boosey, he promoted the performance of Aaron Copland
Aaron Copland
Aaron Copland was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later in his career a conductor of his own and other American music. He was instrumental in forging a distinctly American style of composition, and is often referred to as "the Dean of American Composers"...
's El Salón México, and his efforts were important for establishing the popularity of the
He was dismissed from Boosey in 1947 because of the head of the firm, Ralph Hawkes disliked his first book, Menagerie in F Sharp. Heinsheimer went to work for the largest American music publisher at the time, Schirmer, becoming its vice-president in 1972. He managed the publications of composers including Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...
, Gian Carlo Menotti
Gian Carlo Menotti
Gian Carlo Menotti was an Italian-American composer and librettist. Although he often referred to himself as an American composer, he kept his Italian citizenship. He wrote the classic Christmas opera, Amahl and the Night Visitors, among about two dozen other operas intended to appeal to popular...
, and Samuel Barber
Samuel Barber
Samuel Osborne Barber II was an American composer of orchestral, opera, choral, and piano music. His Adagio for Strings is his most popular composition and widely considered a masterpiece of modern classical music...
, and also brought out Albert Schweitzer
Albert Schweitzer
Albert Schweitzer OM was a German theologian, organist, philosopher, physician, and medical missionary. He was born in Kaysersberg in the province of Alsace-Lorraine, at that time part of the German Empire...
's edition of Bach's organ works. He was described in his New York Times obituary as "One of the most influential classical-music publishers of the 20th century."
Works
He wrote Best Regards to Aida (1968), a biography of music publishers. This and his other memoirs are important biographical sources of information about 20th century composers. After his retirement in 1977, he contributed many articles to the supplement to first edition of the large German music encyclopedia, Musik in Geschichte und GegenwartMusik in Geschichte und Gegenwart
Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart is the largest and most comprehensive German music encyclopedia, and among Western music reference sources, only the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians is comparable to it in size and scope...
. Also, in his retirement, he made many special contributions to the arts section (Feuilleton
Feuilleton
Feuilleton was originally a kind of supplement attached to the political portion of French newspapers, consisting chiefly of non-political news and gossip, literature and art criticism, a chronicle of the latest fashions, and epigrams, charades and other literary trifles...
) of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , short F.A.Z., also known as the FAZ, is a national German newspaper, founded in 1949. It is published daily in Frankfurt am Main. The Sunday edition is the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung .F.A.Z...
(FAZ).
Books
- Menagerie in F-Sharp (New York, 1947)
- Fanfare for Two Pigeons (New York, 1952)
- Best Regards to Aida (New York, 1968)