Schott Publishers

Concert of compositions, 1919

In May 1919 Bernhard Sekles invited the owner of the respected publishing company of B. Schott's Sons in Mainz, Privy Councillor Dr. Ludwig Strecker, to a concert at which exclusively  works of Hindemith were being presented. The publisher obtained no exit permit from the French occupied zone, but he had scores by the young composer sent to him and offered Hindemith an «honorary fee of 100 marks» for his 2nd String Quartet in F minor, Op. 10.  
Hindemith confidently replied on 3 July: «With 100 marks you can't even pay for the manuscript paper and the copying of the parts, let alone the trouble and time taken to compose the work. Your proposal signifies a great disregard for the spiritual work about which I shall certainly not go into further details. [...] I spoke with the owner of a [major publishing house] by chance yesterday, and he immediately offered me 500 marks for the Quartet – without having seen the piece, based only on the success of my recent concert. If you should meanwhile be inclined to significantly increase the ‹honorary fee› above this sum, then I would be in agreement with your suggestion. Otherwise I request that you send the score back to me as soon as possible, so that I can send it to the other publisher.»

 

Willy Strecker and Paul Hindemith, 1927

Strecker reacted with a new offer: «Besides the Quartet, my firm will take on the Viola Sonata [Sonata for Viola and Piano, Op. 11 No. 4] and the two Violin Sonatas [Sonata in E-flat for Piano and Violin, Op. 11 No. 1 and Sonata in D for Piano and Violin, Op. 11 No. 2] for a total fee of 1,000 marks. In exchange, you must agree not to offer any other works to any other publishing house under better terms than those to which you have offered them to us.» Hindemith signed the contract on 3 September 1919. A new contract was concluded following new negotiations in late 1922 providing Hindemith with a monthly payment. Hindemith was then able to give up his position as concertmaster of the Frankfurt Opera.

Schott Publishers remained Hindemith's sole publisher. Except for a few early works, Schott accepted on compositions offered to them for publication. A close, soon very friendly relationship developed between Hindemith and the sons of  Privy Councillor Dr. Strecker, Dr. Ludwig Strecker and especially Willy Strecker, during the course of the decade-long association.