Boosey & Hawkes

Boosey & Hawkes publisher David Drew dies, aged 78

(July 2009)

Boosey & Hawkes is sad to announce the death of David Drew on Saturday 25 July, aged 78.

David Drew is remembered as a major figure in the publishing history of Boosey & Hawkes, whose work in signing and developing composers had a profound effect on shaping the current catalogue. He was appointed editor of Tempo magazine in 1971, then Director of Publications in 1975, becoming Director of New Music until he left the company in 1992. As well as his activities as a publisher and as an advocate for contemporary music, David Drew was a leading expert on the music of Kurt Weill and did much to introduce the composer's wider oeuvre to promoters and the public. Faber & Faber published Drew's Kurt Weill: A Handbook in 1987.

With a brief to regenerate the contemporary music catalogue at Boosey & Hawkes, David Drew's new composer signings included HK Gruber, Kurt Schwertsik, York Höller, Tona Scherchen, Robin Holloway, Jonathan Lloyd, David Horne and James MacMillan. Senior figures who moved to Boosey & Hawkes thanks to rediscovery by David Drew included HM Górecki and Berthold Goldschmidt and his acquisitions prompted reappraisals of the music of Roberto Gerhard and Igor Markevitch. During his watch Boosey & Hawkes in New York signed Leonard Bernstein, Steve Reich, Elliott Carter and John Adams.

David Drew also worked closely with composers already in the Boosey & Hawkes catalogue including Gottfried von Einem, Iannis Xenakis and Peter Maxwell Davies and his duties included liaison with the Estates of Bartók, Blacher, Prokofieff, and Stravinsky.

Outside Boosey & Hawkes David Drew was a music critic for The New Statesman (1959-67), Artistic Director of the Gulbenkian Foundation's 20th century recording series (1961-75), Trustee of the Britten Pears Foundation and Board member of the Britten Estate (1989-99), member of the Editorial Board of the Kurt Weill Edition (1992-2009), Artistic Director of Largo Records (Cologne) (1993-98) and Dramaturg of Broomhill Opera at Wilton's Theatre (1999-2001).

In his many roles David Drew was much loved and respected within the music publishing community, working on projects particularly with Schott in London and Mainz, Universal Edition in Vienna and London and European American Music Corporation.

Boosey & Hawkes extends condolences to David Drew's wife Judy, and children Lucy, Tom and Flora.

Links to obituaries below:

The Guardian (2 Aug):
http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2009/aug/02/obituary-david-drew

The Times (5 Aug)
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article6739167.ece

New York Times (17 Aug)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/17/arts/17drew.html

Daily Telegraph (30 Aug)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/music-obituaries/6115092/David-Drew.html

The Independent (5 Oct)
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/david-drew-musicologist-and-authority-on-kurt-weill-who-transformed-the-fortunes-of-boosey--hawkes-1797783.html

The Scotsman (25 Aug)
http://news.scotsman.com/obituaries/David-Drew.5583424.jp

The Herald (12 Aug)
http://www.heraldscotland.com/david-drew-1.916526

Liverpool Daily Post (4 Aug)
http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/views/obituaries/2009/08/04/daviddrew-92534-24306391/

Further information about David Drew can be found at his website:
http://www.singscript.plus.com/daviddrewmusic/index.htm

Photo: David Drew (right) with Aaron Copland at Tanglewood in1980 (Credit: David Huntley)

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