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Boosey & Hawkes

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Corporate Information

Overview of the business

Boosey & Hawkes is an international music publisher representing some of the world's best-known composers, whose music attracts extensive royalties and sales.

We serve many different customers, licensing and hiring music for performance, recording and broadcast, developing music for media companies and publishing teaching materials for schools and universities.

An Unrivalled Catalogue

The Boosey & Hawkes catalogue of 20th and 21st century music is unrivalled, including as it does the works of such composers as Bartók, Bernstein, Britten, Copland, Prokofieff, Rachmaninoff, Strauss and Stravinsky.

The finest living composers are also well represented, among them John Adams, Louis Andriessen, Sir Harrison Birtwistle, Elliott Carter, H M Górecki, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies and Steve Reich. The acquisition of works by these major figures, as well as those from such younger composers as Brett Dean, Detlev Glanert, Magnus Lindberg, James MacMillan, Olga Neuwirth and Mark-Anthony Turnage guarantees long-term royalty income.

The catalogue is rich in works for all combinations of musicians, varying in style from Victorian ballads to Karl Jenkins's million-selling Adiemus, and from Duke Ellington to Chick Corea.

Use the catalogue search to explore the full range of music published by Boosey & Hawkes.

Music for All

Boosey & Hawkes is well-known for its extensive catalogue of printed music. Our publications are used the world over for performance, for education and for leisure.

The list includes music for virtually every combination of instruments and voices: for soloists, ensembles, choirs, bands and orchestras.

In the field of music education, we are firmly committed to helping to develop future generations of musicians by providing them with access to printed music of the highest quality. Our catalogue builds on a tradition that included Bartók's unique Mikrokosmos. We publish a wealth of leading tutor books, including the Learn As You Play series and the Boosey Woodwind & Brass Method, and an extensive range of creative teaching materials for schools and colleges, covering such activities as composition, jazz, choral and aural training. Leading educationalists and composers published by Boosey & Hawkes include Christopher Norton (Microjazz), Sheila Nelson (Essential String Method), Doreen Rao (Choral Music Experience) and Edward Huws Jones (Fiddler series).

Our shop offers the full range of printed classical music from all international publishers, a selection of CD recordings and gifts, as well as ringtones for the mobile phone and audio downloads. The online shop is complemented by a worldwide mail order service.

A Growing Business

Boosey & Hawkes is a growing company, ideally placed for expansion in the major markets, particularly Europe and North America.

After the merger of Boosey & Company with Hawkes & Son in 1930, the new company recognised the decline of printed music sales due to the advent of radio and the gramophone and laid increasing emphasis on the acquisition of serious music copyrights. This formed the basis for the long-term success of today's company.

Pursuing a policy of acquisition as part of catalogue development, Boosey & Hawkes has acquired a number of distinguished catalogues. In 1947 Serge Koussevitzky agreed to the purchase of his Édition Russe, a musical treasure-trove including major works by Stravinsky, Prokofieff and Rachmaninoff. In recent decades Boosey & Hawkes has acquired Bote & Bock, Anton J. Benjamin, Tempo (Prague) and Jaune Citron.