Boosey & Hawkes: A Musical Publishing Story
Boosey & Hawkes is recognised as one of the world’s leading specialist classical music publishers, with an impressive catalogue covering everything from beginner tutors and educational music to major works performed by professional musicians and orchestras around the world. But its story began long before the name Boosey & Hawkes appeared.
From a London Music Library to a Publishing Giant
The story starts in London in the 1760s, when John Boosey established a music lending library. At a time when buying printed music could be expensive, lending music provided musicians and music lovers with a more affordable way to enjoy new works.
The business gradually developed into music publishing, with the Boosey family building an important catalogue of classical music. The company became associated with works by composers including Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti and Verdi. By the Victorian era, Boosey & Company had become a major name in British music publishing and had also expanded into the manufacture of wind and brass instruments.
Then there was Hawkes & Son.
Founded in 1865 by William Henry Hawkes, the company initially specialised particularly in military and band music, as well as musical instruments, fittings and accessories. Hawkes & Son developed a strong reputation for publishing music for bands and orchestras and became a significant competitor to Boosey & Company.
For several decades, the two companies followed separate paths. Then, in 1930, something rather important happened.
The Birth of Boosey & Hawkes
Rather than continuing to compete with each other, Leslie Boosey and Ralph Hawkes decided to join forces. The two companies merged in 1930, creating Boosey & Hawkes.
The timing proved remarkably successful.
The newly formed company quickly established itself as an international music publisher. Ralph Hawkes had already developed relationships with important European publishers and composers, helping Boosey & Hawkes build a catalogue that would become one of the most important collections of 20th-century classical music.
Among the composers connected with the company were Béla Bartók, Zoltán Kodály and Frederick Delius. In 1935, Boosey & Hawkes signed a young Benjamin Britten, while Aaron Copland joined the American catalogue soon afterwards. Igor Stravinsky followed in 1947.
And the impressive names did not stop there.
The company acquired the Koussevitzky catalogue, bringing major works by composers such as Stravinsky, Prokofieff and Rachmaninoff into its collection. It also developed publishing relationships with Richard Strauss and many other leading composers of the 20th century.
This combination of historical repertoire and new music became one of the defining features of Boosey & Hawkes.
From Beginners to Professional Musicians
One of the great things about the Boosey & Hawkes catalogue is that you don’t need to be a professional musician to enjoy it.
For beginners, there are tutors, method books and carefully graded pieces designed to make learning enjoyable and progressive. The catalogue includes material for young players, adult beginners and students working towards examinations.
As players develop, the range opens up considerably. Grade-based collections provide repertoire for musicians working through the early stages of their playing, while more advanced publications introduce increasingly challenging repertoire and works suitable for performance and examination. The Grade by Grade series, for example, includes repertoire from Grade 1 through Grade 5 for instruments including piano, violin, viola, cello, double bass and flute.
For woodwind and brass players, Boosey & Hawkes has also produced dedicated teaching resources. The Boosey Woodwind & Brass Method was designed for individual and group teaching and takes students from their first steps through to around Grade 3, combining technique with solo and ensemble music.
So whether you are picking up an instrument for the first time or looking for something more challenging, there is plenty to explore.
Something for Almost Every Instrument
The breadth of the catalogue is one of the reasons Boosey & Hawkes remains such a useful name for musicians and teachers.
Its publications cover piano and keyboard, violin, viola, cello and double bass, as well as flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon and other woodwind instruments. There is also a substantial selection for trumpet, trombone, French horn, tuba and other brass instruments, together with percussion, drums, guitar, harp and ensemble combinations.
And it isn’t just solo instrumental music. The catalogue extends into chamber music, orchestral music, concert band, wind ensemble, brass ensemble and educational ensemble repertoire.
For singers, there is an equally broad choice. Publications include music for soprano, mezzo-soprano, alto, tenor, baritone and bass, as well as high, medium and low voice collections, songs with piano accompaniment, vocal studies, choral music, ensemble repertoire, opera and larger vocal works. The Boosey Voice Coach series, for example, uses repertoire to develop vocal technique, interpretation and musicianship, with books covering different languages and styles.
Classical, Contemporary and Educational Music
Another reason the catalogue is so interesting is its mixture of styles and generations.
You can discover music by some of the greatest composers of the 20th century, including Benjamin Britten, Igor Stravinsky, Béla Bartók, Aaron Copland, Sergei Prokofieff, Dmitri Shostakovich, Richard Strauss and Sergei Rachmaninoff.
At the same time, Boosey & Hawkes continues to publish contemporary composers including John Adams, Steve Reich, Karl Jenkins, James MacMillan, Anna Clyne, Unsuk Chin and Mark-Anthony Turnage.
This makes the catalogue particularly useful for musicians who want to move beyond the familiar. You might begin with a simple beginner’s piece, progress through graded repertoire and eventually find yourself exploring music by composers who are still shaping the classical music of today.
A Publishing History You Can Still Play Today
There is something rather satisfying about buying a piece of music from a publisher whose story reaches back to the Georgian era.
Boosey & Hawkes continued its involvement in musical instrument manufacturing alongside publishing for many decades, but in 2003 the instrument division was sold and the company became focused entirely on music publishing. Today, its catalogue continues to serve students, teachers, performers and music lovers around the world.
So the next time you see a Boosey & Hawkes edition in a our shop, it is worth remembering that you are looking at more than just a piece of sheet music. You are holding part of a publishing tradition that has helped musicians discover, learn and perform music for generations.
Whether you are a beginner looking for your first tutor book, a student preparing for an exam, a teacher searching for new repertoire, an advancing player looking for a challenge, a singer developing your repertoire, or a professional musician seeking a definitive edition, there is a good chance you will find something worth playing in the Boosey & Hawkes catalogue.
Explore our range of Boosey & Hawkes sheet music and discover your next piece of music.
