3 - Selling Arrangements, Constructing the Canon

Summary

The boom in arrangements in the early nineteenth century was partly a function of the enthusiasm of the publishers themselves, who recognised their sales potential, especially that of small-scale arrangements of large-scale works by increasingly well-known composers. But while publishers capitalised on the popularity of arrangements, they also helped fuel that popularity by making otherwise relatively inaccessible works readily available in comparably cheap editions, in this way helping with canon formation. This chapter studies four important publishers of early nineteenth-century arrangements, from Bonn (Simrock), Leipzig (Breitkopf and Härtel), and London (Lavenu and Monzani and Hill), considering the types of arrangements that they made or commissioned, how the arrangements of Beethoven’s symphonies they published fit into the market, and how they functioned in canon formation. Studying these publishers’ catalogues reveals the popularity of arrangements for varied chamber ensembles, alongside the highly popular piano transcriptions. Indeed, arrangements for chamber ensembles make up a substantial portion of published chamber music at this point.