2 - Arrangers and Authority

Summary

The proliferation of unauthorised arrangements was of concern to composers and publishers alike c.1800. The chapter considers this phenomenon, which was central to the creation and reception of arrangements. Publishing practices in Vienna are compared to other centers, taking account of the lines of national and international dissemination that Beethoven’s publishers employed. The absence of copyright law at this time is considered: only after Beethoven’s life time does one find the transference of ownership from publisher to composer, which severely reduced the liberties arrangers could take with their source materials, as well as the ability to disseminate any kind of copies legally. A case study is made of Karl (Carl, Charles) Zulehner (ca. 1770–1841), composer, publisher, copyist, and arranger. He was notorious for publishing several masses wrongly attributed to Mozart and for unauthorized publications of Beethoven’s music. These underhand dealings need not blind us to his talents as an arranger. Besides his string quartet arrangement of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1, Op. 21 (Simrock, 1828), which serves as a case study in this chapter.