Ludwig van Beethoven
„Wahre Kunst bleibt unvergänglich"
"True Art is Forever" - Beethoven to Luigi Cherubini around March 12, 1823
The Leipzig publishing house Breitkopf & Härtel is considered one of Beethoven’s most important original publishers. The business relationship reached a peak between 1808 and 1812. Especially during this period, when Austria was marked by war and economic decline, a reliable publisher abroad proved to be a great advantage for Beethoven: while inflation and rising living costs burdened everyday life and payments from his patrons at times became highly unstable, Breitkopf & Härtel was still able to pay fees and thus remained an important support for Beethoven.
Contract (declaration of ownership and receipt) between Breitkopf & Härtel and Ludwig van Beethoven, dated July 25, 1810
Urtext of the New Complete Beethoven Edition
Building on this close relationship, Breitkopf & Härtel already published a complete edition of Beethoven’s works in the 19th century. After the Second World War and the changing demands of musical practice, calls arose for a new scholarly complete edition, which since the 1960s has been issued under the direction of the Beethoven-Haus in Bonn. Due to the aftermath of the Second World War and the associated reorganization of the publishing landscape, the volumes are published by G. Henle Verlag in Munich.
The Complete Edition Becomes Performable
Tradition not only obliges — it sometimes also opens entirely new, previously unexplored paths. The friendly ties between Henle Verlag and Breitkopf & Härtel as a leading orchestral publisher quickly led to the agreement to leave Beethoven’s orchestral and choral-symphonic works where they belong: with Beethoven’s original publisher. Thus all orchestral works (symphonies, concertos, incidental music, etc.) based on the Urtext of the New Complete Beethoven Edition have been or will be published by Breitkopf & Härtel.
While the complete edition reconstructs and documents the musical text from all available sources, the practical editions of Breitkopf & Härtel “translate” these findings into performable sheet music. In this way, the Urtext of the New Complete Beethoven Edition is for the first time consistently entering everyday orchestral practice — clear, reliable, and meeting the highest scholarly standards.
For the Grand Ensemble
Beethoven’s Orchestral Works
The Symphonies
Complete Scores in a Slipcase
The authoritative edition is based on the new Complete Beethoven Edition. The study of all accessible sources, new findings, and source evaluations result in a critically established, authentic musical text that sets new standards for musical practice.
The conductor’s scores of Symphonies Nos. 1–9 adopt the Urtext from the respective volume of the New Complete Beethoven Edition, published by G. Henle Verlag. The most important information on origin, sources, and variant readings is listed in the commentary of the conductor’s score of each symphony.
The Symphonies in the Slipcase
Contents
Symphony No. 1 in C major, Op. 21
Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 36
Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major, Op. 55
Symphony No. 4 in B-flat major, Op. 60
Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67
Symphony No. 6 in F major, Op. 68
Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92
Symphony No. 8 in F major, Op. 93
Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125
Music in Dialogue
Beethoven’s Chamber Music Works
Sound of Voices
Beethoven’s Vocal Works
Ludwig van Beethoven Complete Catalog
The complete catalog lists all editions of Ludwig van Beethoven available from us and provides a clear overview of all publications along with ordering information.