Zimmermann (publisher)
Encyclopedia
Musikverlag Zimmermann is a German music publisher
that claims to be the first specialized publisher for instrumental methods
. Until 1933, it was also a manufacturer of brass
, string
, wind
musical instruments as well as mechanical musical instruments.
Formed in 1876 in Saint Petersburg
it also published Russian composers, including works by Nicolai Medtner, Mily Balakirev
, Sergei Lyapunov
, Alexander Taneyev
and Alexander Gretchaninov
. With subsidiaries in Moscow
, Riga
, Leipzig
and London
, the company was one of the largest music dealers in Europe.
origin. Musikverlag Zimmermann traces its roots back to a shop for German musical instruments near the Nevsky Prospekt
established by Julius Heinrich Zimmermann (1851-1923) in 1876. In 1880 he set up a factory for brass
instruments. Soon he began publishing methods for all instruments, the first official publication was a Method for Flute by Ernesto Köhler
in 1885. Julius Heinrich Zimmermann also developed new designs for flutes and was one of the first German saxophone
manufacturers. The company also commenced production of string instruments.
After settlement of a branch in Moscow
in 1882, Zimmermann opened new branches in Leipzig
in 1886, in London
in 1897 and in Riga
in 1905. From 1891 on, the firm produced also mechanical musical instruments. Further, the company was prominent for its balalaika
s, developed by Vasily Vasilievich Andreyev
.
In 1901, Julius Heinrich Zimmermann was bestowed with the Order of Saint Stanislaus
by tsar Nicholas II of Russia
, beginning an association with the Russian tsar, as well as becoming exclusive purveyor of brass instruments to the Russian army. At that time he signed on Riccardo Drigo
and published his most famous ballets. By 1904, Zimmermann acquired the piano factory of Gustav Fiedler in Leipzig. It produced then Jul. Heinr. Zimmermann pianos, harmonium
s and mechanical musical instruments as well as musical box
es and speaking machines.
From 1905 until 1919, Julius Heinrich Zimmermann was deputy of the German Reichstag and opened a distribution of his company in Berlin
. The Russian branches of Zimmermann were nationalised by the Bolsheviks in 1918. August Zimmermann (1877-1952), son of the founder and general manager in the Saint Petersburg branch, left the country. His younger brother Wilhelm Zimmermann (1891-1946) was imprisoned and fled for his life to Germany some years later.
In the years 1923-1933, Zimmermann published jazz music by German composers and the first German book about this genre. Additionally, the company began offering light music
for orchestra. The publishing company was separated from the instruments factories in 1928. August Zimmermann led the instrument sector until the insolvency 1933. Wilhelm Zimmermann became sole owner of the publishing company. Being of part-Jewish ancestry, he was officially prohibited from operating his business from 1933, but still managed his company during the whole Nazi regime.
After his death, his widow Edith Zimmermann (1900-1975) did not receive a license from the Soviet military authority to continue publishing and the firm was formally confiscated by the East German authorities. She reached the west, and established the company in Frankfurt
. She extended the catalogue with new, young composers and educational publications. When she died in 1975, she had rebuilt a world-renowned venture. Her daughter Maja-Maria Reis (1929-2000) became managing director. Due to her foresight, the company joined with Robert Lienau
in 1991. Today the Zimmermann catalogue presents about 3,000 books, including copyrights by Keiko Abe
, Siegfried Behrend
, Cesar Bresgen
, Siegfried Fink
, Kurt Hessenberg
and Paul Juon
.
History of music publishing
- Early publishing:Music publishing did not begin on a large scale until the mid-15th century, with the first printing of music. The earliest existence of printed music dates from about 1465, and then only liturgical chants were printed...
that claims to be the first specialized publisher for instrumental methods
Method (music)
In music, a method is a kind of textbook for a specified musical instrument or a selected problem of playing a certain instrument.A method usually contains fingering charts or tablatures, etc., scales and numerous different exercises, sometimes also simple etudes, in different keys, in ascending...
. Until 1933, it was also a manufacturer of brass
Brass
Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc; the proportions of zinc and copper can be varied to create a range of brasses with varying properties.In comparison, bronze is principally an alloy of copper and tin...
, string
String instrument
A string instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. In the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, used in organology, they are called chordophones...
, wind
Wind
Wind is the flow of gases on a large scale. On Earth, wind consists of the bulk movement of air. In outer space, solar wind is the movement of gases or charged particles from the sun through space, while planetary wind is the outgassing of light chemical elements from a planet's atmosphere into space...
musical instruments as well as mechanical musical instruments.
Formed in 1876 in Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
it also published Russian composers, including works by Nicolai Medtner, Mily Balakirev
Mily Balakirev
Mily Alexeyevich Balakirev ,Russia was still using old style dates in the 19th century, and information sources used in the article sometimes report dates as old style rather than new style. Dates in the article are taken verbatim from the source and therefore are in the same style as the source...
, Sergei Lyapunov
Sergei Lyapunov
Sergei Mikhailovich Lyapunov was a Russian composer and pianist.-Life:Lyapunov was born in Yaroslavl in 1859. After the death of his father, Mikhail Lyapunov, when he was about eight, Sergei, his mother, and his two brothers went to live in the larger town of Nizhny Novgorod...
, Alexander Taneyev
Alexander Taneyev
Alexander Sergeyevich Taneyev was a Russian composer of the late Romantic era, specifically of the nationalist school. Among his best works were three string quartets, believed to have been composed between 1898–1900....
and Alexander Gretchaninov
Alexander Gretchaninov
Alexander Tikhonovich Gretchaninov was a Russian Romantic composer.-His life:Gretchaninov started his musical studies rather late because his father, a businessman, had expected the boy to take over the family firm...
. With subsidiaries in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, Riga
Riga
Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...
, Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
and London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, the company was one of the largest music dealers in Europe.
History
The Zimmermann family was of GermanGermans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
origin. Musikverlag Zimmermann traces its roots back to a shop for German musical instruments near the Nevsky Prospekt
Nevsky Prospekt
Nevsky Avenue |Prospekt]]) is the main street in the city of St. Petersburg, Russia. Planned by Peter the Great as beginning of the road to Novgorod and Moscow, the avenue runs from the Admiralty to the Moscow Railway Station and, after making a turn at Vosstaniya Square, to the Alexander...
established by Julius Heinrich Zimmermann (1851-1923) in 1876. In 1880 he set up a factory for brass
Brass
Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc; the proportions of zinc and copper can be varied to create a range of brasses with varying properties.In comparison, bronze is principally an alloy of copper and tin...
instruments. Soon he began publishing methods for all instruments, the first official publication was a Method for Flute by Ernesto Köhler
Ernesto Köhler
Ernesto Köhler was a flautist and composer. He was taught the flute by his father, Venceslau Joseph Köhler, who was the first flute of the Duke of Modena's orchestra....
in 1885. Julius Heinrich Zimmermann also developed new designs for flutes and was one of the first German saxophone
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
manufacturers. The company also commenced production of string instruments.
After settlement of a branch in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
in 1882, Zimmermann opened new branches in Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
in 1886, in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in 1897 and in Riga
Riga
Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...
in 1905. From 1891 on, the firm produced also mechanical musical instruments. Further, the company was prominent for its balalaika
Balalaika
The balalaika is a stringed musical instrument popular in Russia, with a characteristic triangular body and three strings.The balalaika family of instruments includes instruments of various sizes, from the highest-pitched to the lowest, the prima balalaika, secunda balalaika, alto balalaika, bass...
s, developed by Vasily Vasilievich Andreyev
Vasily Vasilievich Andreyev
Vasily Vasilievich Andreyev was a Russian musician responsible for the modern development of the balalaika and several other traditional Russian folk music instruments, and is considered the father of the academic folk instrument movement in Eastern Europe. His accomplishments included:*...
.
In 1901, Julius Heinrich Zimmermann was bestowed with the Order of Saint Stanislaus
Order of Saint Stanislaus
The Order of Saint Stanislaus , also spelled Stanislas, was an Order in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and The Kingdom of Poland between 1765 and 1831 and of Russian Empire from 1831 to 1917.-History of the Order of Saint Stanislaus:Stanisław August Poniatowski, King of Poland, established the...
by tsar Nicholas II of Russia
Nicholas II of Russia
Nicholas II was the last Emperor of Russia, Grand Prince of Finland, and titular King of Poland. His official short title was Nicholas II, Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias and he is known as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer by the Russian Orthodox Church.Nicholas II ruled from 1894 until...
, beginning an association with the Russian tsar, as well as becoming exclusive purveyor of brass instruments to the Russian army. At that time he signed on Riccardo Drigo
Riccardo Drigo
Riccardo Eugenio Drigo , a.k.a. Richard Drigo was an Italian composer of ballet music and Italian Opera, a theatrical conductor, and a pianist....
and published his most famous ballets. By 1904, Zimmermann acquired the piano factory of Gustav Fiedler in Leipzig. It produced then Jul. Heinr. Zimmermann pianos, harmonium
Harmonium
A harmonium is a free-standing keyboard instrument similar to a reed organ. Sound is produced by air being blown through sets of free reeds, resulting in a sound similar to that of an accordion...
s and mechanical musical instruments as well as musical box
Musical box
A music box is a 19th century automatic musical instrument that produces sounds by the use of a set of pins placed on a revolving cylinder or disc so as to pluck the tuned teeth of a steel comb. They were developed from musical snuff boxes of the 18th century and called carillons à musique...
es and speaking machines.
From 1905 until 1919, Julius Heinrich Zimmermann was deputy of the German Reichstag and opened a distribution of his company in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
. The Russian branches of Zimmermann were nationalised by the Bolsheviks in 1918. August Zimmermann (1877-1952), son of the founder and general manager in the Saint Petersburg branch, left the country. His younger brother Wilhelm Zimmermann (1891-1946) was imprisoned and fled for his life to Germany some years later.
In the years 1923-1933, Zimmermann published jazz music by German composers and the first German book about this genre. Additionally, the company began offering light music
Light music
Light music is a generic term applied to a mainly British musical style of "light" orchestral music, which originated in the 19th century and had its heyday during the early to mid part of the 20th century, although arguably it lasts to the present day....
for orchestra. The publishing company was separated from the instruments factories in 1928. August Zimmermann led the instrument sector until the insolvency 1933. Wilhelm Zimmermann became sole owner of the publishing company. Being of part-Jewish ancestry, he was officially prohibited from operating his business from 1933, but still managed his company during the whole Nazi regime.
After his death, his widow Edith Zimmermann (1900-1975) did not receive a license from the Soviet military authority to continue publishing and the firm was formally confiscated by the East German authorities. She reached the west, and established the company in Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
. She extended the catalogue with new, young composers and educational publications. When she died in 1975, she had rebuilt a world-renowned venture. Her daughter Maja-Maria Reis (1929-2000) became managing director. Due to her foresight, the company joined with Robert Lienau
Robert Lienau
Robert Lienau was a German music sheet publisher, who in 1864 acquired the publishing firm founded by Adolf Martin Schlesinger in Berlin in 1810, and gave the company his own name. He moved the main offices of the firm to Frankfurt am Main....
in 1991. Today the Zimmermann catalogue presents about 3,000 books, including copyrights by Keiko Abe
Keiko Abe
is a Japanese composer and marimba player. She has been a primary figure in the development of the marimba, in terms of expanding both technique and repertoire, and through her collaboration with the Yamaha musical instrument company, developed the modern five-octave concert marimba.- Biography...
, Siegfried Behrend
Siegfried Behrend
Siegfried Behrend was a German classical guitarist and composer.-Biography:...
, Cesar Bresgen
Cesar Bresgen
Cesar Bresgen was an Austrian composer.-Biography:He was born in Florence to Maria and August Bresgen, both artists. He spent his childhood in Zell am See, Munich, Prague, and Salzburg....
, Siegfried Fink
Siegfried Fink
Siegfried Fink was a German percussionist, composer and professor...
, Kurt Hessenberg
Kurt Hessenberg
Kurt Hessenberg was a German composer and professor at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Frankfurt am Main.- Life :...
and Paul Juon
Paul Juon
Paul Juon was a Germanised Russian composerHe was born in Moscow, where his father was an insurance official. His mother was German, and he went to a German school in Moscow. He entered the Moscow Conservatory in 1889, where he studied violin with Jan Hřímalý and composition with Anton Arensky...
.
External links
- Zimmermann website (in German)