Breitkopf & Härtel.
Founded 1719 in Leipzig by Bernhard Christoph Breitkopf. The oldest music publisher in the world. The first publishers of Bach, Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven complete-works editions in the 19th-century Gesammelte Ausgabe form. Two and a half centuries of unbroken catalogue.
Since 1719.
Bernhard Christoph Breitkopf opened the printing press in Leipzig in 1719. His grandson Gottfried Christoph (1719–1794) made it the dominant music publisher of the 18th century — by 1781 the catalogue covered J.S. Bach, C.P.E. Bach, Telemann, Haydn, Mozart.
Härtel joined in 1795. The 19th-century Bach-Gesamtausgabe, the Mozarts Werke, the Beethoven Gesammtausgabe, the Schubert Gesammtausgabe — these foundational complete editions came out of Breitkopf. The house catalogue runs from the late 17th century to the present.
The oldest music publisher.Breitkopf & Härtel · since 1719
Complete, concert,
parts, study.
19th-century complete-works editions (historical reference); 20th-century urtext editions in the modern series; orchestral concert; chamber and instrumental; choral and vocal.
US distribution through Hal Leonard.
