Musicologica Austriaca (Dec 2020)
“The Foremost and Unrivalled Music Engraving Business in Austro-Hungary”: Josef Eberle (1845–1921), Printer, Publisher, and Manufacturer of Manuscript Paper
Abstract
By the 1870s music printing and publishing in Austro-Hungary was under considerable competitive pressure from major firms based in Leipzig and elsewhere in Germany. Using more recent printing techniques (most notably printing from engraved plates by transfer lithography) and often a more integrated system of production, firms such as Breitkopf & Härtel and Edition Peters were playing an increasing important role in the European market for classical music. By the late 1880s it had become apparent that this trend was being challenged by an innovative Viennese firm run by a lithographer from the Czech lands, Josef Eberle, who had built up a printing business that included a skilled and well-organised music department that could rival German competitors in the printing of complex scores. Moreover, Eberle sought to challenge German publishers’ dominance in the supply of music by Viennese composers of the Classical period: although this project failed commercially, it highlighted the challenges that the Universal-Edition would face a decade or so later. Despite this setback Eberle continued to publish major works, notably the music of Anton Bruckner, though not under his own imprint. At the same time, he established a brand of manuscript paper that was used by two or more generations of composers. Eberle’s career was notable in its own right, and tracing some of his activities sheds light on many less familiar aspects of the music business in Vienna, 1880–1920.
