The Publishing Story: reviews of Boosey & Hawkes history
(July 2007)
Helen Wallace's new book, Boosey & Hawkes: the publishing story, has been attracting enthusiastic reviews for its narrative drive and in-depth research.
Published in the UK in May, and released to the North American market in August, the book reveals the inside story of Boosey & Hawkes over 75 years since the 1930 merger of two rival music companies. Rather than waging a price war, Leslie Boosey and Ralph Hawkes joined forces and expanded their business from its London base to build a worldwide operation.
"Rivalry, romance, jealousy, generational change: the Boosey story is a ripping yarn worthy of a novel, if not a grand opera… Wallace's racy digest shows us how backroom businessmen continue to shape musical history."
Financial Times Magazine
"Scandal, feuding and fraud; who said music publishing can't be sexy?... This is far from a quaint tale about the simple type-setting, printing and selling of sheet music, and much more about the role companies such as B&H have played over the decades in spotting future stars, signing them up, nurturing them and weathering occasional rocky relationships with the "celebrity" composers they helped create... The true value of Wallace's book lies in its vivid illustration of what really makes a music publishing house tick... Who would have thought that the inside story had all the trappings of a bestseller?"
The Scotsman
"...a surprisingly gripping narrative. For those who wonder what really goes on in music publishing, it offers a fascinating read."
BBC Music Magazine
"Histories of businesses easily bog down in depicting the very business that made them great, or at least allowed them to survive long enough to warrant a history at all. Helen Wallace’s study of Boosey & Hawkes’s first seventy-five years shows none of these tendencies... Well written and illustrated with an alluring selection of scores, correspondence, portraits and action shots."
Tempo
"A full-length exposé, immaculately researched, that brings the various figures both in front and behind the scenes to life."
Classic FM Magazine
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