Early years The Schott publishing house was founded by Bernhard Schott (1748–1809) in Mainz in 1770, the
Missa solemnis and the last two string quartets.
Wagner years In the first decades, Schott felt committed to the French tradition popular at that time. The catalogue therefore included names such as
Adolphe Adam and
Daniel Auber as well as
Gaetano Donizetti,
Ignaz Pleyel,
Augustine Renaud d`Allen,
Elise Rondonneau,
H. Servier, and
Gioacchino Rossini. With the works of
Franz Liszt and
Peter Cornelius, Schott indicated a stronger interest in the German repertoire. In 1859 Franz Schott (1811–1874), the grandson of Bernhard Schott, succeeded in winning the exclusive collaboration of
Richard Wagner, and Schott published
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, the complete
Ring des Nibelungen and
Parsifal. The connection with Wagner proved extremely expensive for the publishing house: on 21 October 1862, Franz Schott wrote to Wagner: "Anyway, no music publisher can possibly satisfy your needs, this can only be done by an enormously rich banker or a prince who has got millions ..." Wagner did indeed find his generous prince in the person of
Ludwig II, the young
King of Bavaria. Wagner wrote a short piano piece dedicated a member of the Schott family:
Albumblatt für Frau Betty Schott, WWV 108.
Modern classics (right) Since there were no descendants, the Schott family appointed the privy councillor
Ludwig Strecker (1853–1943) as their successor in 1874. His sons,
Ludwig Strecker Jr. (1883–1978) and Willi Strecker (1884–1958), continued to run the publishing house. They were succeeded by Heinz Schneider-Schott (1906–1988). Schott's prestigious 20th century publishing programme, now known as Music of Our Time, was initiated by the publication of works by
Igor Stravinsky, a close friend of Willi and Ludwig Strecker for many years. Schott published major works, from early orchestral works such as ''
Feu d'artifice and Scherzo fantastique and the complete (The Firebird) to the Violin Concerto, Symphony in C and Symphony in Three Movements. Schott also published several major scores of Arnold Schoenberg, including Moses und Aron and Von heute auf morgen''.
Contemporary music Schott established lifelong working relationships with
Paul Hindemith and
Carl Orff, and this commitment between composer and publisher has defined the character of the catalogue, involving some of the important composers of their time.
Hans Werner Henze, for example, joined Schott at the age of twenty, his considerable oeuvre being published exclusively by them for over 55 years.
Michael Tippett's lifelong relationship with Schott began in March 1939 when Willy Strecker visited London for the first (concert) performance in England of Hindemith's
Mathis der Maler. Shortly after war had been declared, he heard through their London office that Schott would like to publish his
Concerto for Double String Orchestra and an early Piano Sonata. "Being a born internationalist I thoroughly enjoyed this outcome and thought it a good omen."
György Ligeti,
Krzysztof Penderecki,
Alexander Goehr,
Aribert Reimann, and
Else Schmitz-Gohr have all been published exclusively by Schott for more than thirty years. This close collaboration continues to support the work of many distinguished composers including
Henri Dutilleux,
Mark-Anthony Turnage,
Peter Eötvös,
Chaya Czernowin,
Joe Duddell,
Moritz Eggert,
Mary Finsterer,
Kenneth Hesketh,
Christian Jost, Tatjana Komarova,
Nicholas Lens,
Olli Mustonen, Benjamin Schweitzer,
Jörg Widmann and
Lei Liang. In 2006, the company changed the name to Schott Music.
Music in film Schott Music also publishes the film music compositions of a number of modern film composers. Some of the more prominent film composers on Schott's roster include
Erich Wolfgang Korngold,
Nino Rota and
Howard Shore. ==Award==