Schott.
Founded in 1770 by Bernhard Schott (1748–1809). The oldest continuously operating music publisher in the world. Mozart's first publisher. Beethoven's. Wagner's. Hindemith's. Penderecki's. Still in the original Weihergarten building, in the heart of Mainz.
Court music
engraver to Mainz.
In 1780 — only ten years after he founded the firm — Bernhard Schott was awarded the privilegium exclusivum together with the title of court music engraver to the Elector of Mainz. Within the boundaries of the electorate no other publisher could re-engrave or sell the works he produced.
Schott was among the first publishers to adopt lithography. From the engraving plates of Mainz, his editions reached Antwerp by 1823, Brussels by 1839 (as Schott frères from 1879), and on to Leipzig, London, Paris and Vienna. The firm has never moved from its original headquarters, the Weihergarten building.
Mozart's first publisher. Beethoven's. Wagner's.Schott · Mainz, since 1770
Beethoven's opus 123
and opus 125.
Schott published Beethoven's Missa solemnis (op. 123) and the Ninth Symphony (op. 125) direct from the composer. The house then carried Wagner's Ring cycle, every Hindemith opus, the entire Henze roster, Tippett's late works, and Penderecki's St Luke Passion.
The editorial standard is the German one — heavy on apparatus, scholarly preface, generous engraving, and the kind of urtext discipline that British and American publishers later adopted. The white-with-blue-keyline cover is one of the most recognisable house styles in music.
