Boosey & Hawkes: The Publishing Story

Publisher: Boosey & Hawkes
Price: £12.99/$24.95

A name known around the world, Boosey & Hawkes (B&H) has been at the centre of the music industry for the past 77 years. Helen Wallace's comprehensive history of the music publisher shows how B&H's early successes and top signings gave way to boardroom battles and skulduggery, before going on to chart the company's renaissance from the 1980s onwards.

Wallace draws on memos, telegrams and letters to lift the lid on the company, name checking half the 20th century's leading composers in the process. Among the highlights are how B&H acquired the rights to Strauss' operas without him even attending negotiations, and Ralph Hawkes' pursuit of both Bartók and Kodály after he learnt that they were 'effectively marooned in Budapest' during 1938.

The narrative tone of the book is at its strongest when dealing with power struggles within the company and with the composers themselves. In the 1950s, B&H's managing director, the formidable Ernst Roth, 'embarked on a war against the Boosey family', successfully blocking Boosey's sons from senior posts. Benjamin Britten's egotistical demands included one 'for a new director, chosen by himself, to be appointed to the publishing board'. Sure enough, Britten got his wish - and even managed to block Boosey himself from chairing it.

Though sketchy on details about the actual works, this book is an engrossing story that lifts the lid on a company, and an industry, that doesn't often reveal its secrets. Christian Lloyd

• Print
• Email to friend
• Discuss