Hawkes & Son (1865-1930) | University of Illinois Archives

Name: Hawkes & Son (1865-1930)

Historical Note: Hawkes & Son was a music publishing company that was founded in London in 1865 by William Henry Hawkes. The company's original name was Hawkes & Company, and for a short period of time went under the name of Riviere & Hawkes before finalizing the company's name as Hawkes & Son. The company's early publications concentrated on band and orchestral music, but eventually expanded its publication focus to include both brass band and military band music during the 1880s and 90s.. As the company continued to prosper it expanded and diversified its music production to also include the manufacture of musical instruments. Over the next 60 years, the company continued to expand its publishing activities until it merged with its rival London publisher, Boosey & Co. in 1930, to form the new firm of Boosey & Hawkes. After this merger, Boosey & Hawkes rapidly became a leading international music publishing company that secured the publication rights of the world's most recognized composers such as Richard Strauss, Igor Stravinsky, Bela Bartok, Aaron Copland, Gustav Mahler, Sergei Rachmaninoff and Benjamin Britten. During the 1920s the company sought to expand its music publication efforts into the silent movie genre, but with the advent of talking movies during the 1930s this publication initiative was eventually abandoned. Though the firm sold its music instrument division in 2003, Boosey & Hawkes remains one of the world's leading music publishers today.

Sources:

"History of Boosey & Hawkes." Boosey & Hawkes, http://www.boosey.com/aboutus/History. Accessed 2 May 2019.

Blaikley, D.J., William C. Smith, and Peter Ward Jones. "Boosey & Hawkes." Grove Music Online, 2001. https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000003558.

Wallace, Helen. Boosey & Hawkes: The Publishing Story. London: Boosey & Hawkes, Inc., 2007.

Note Author: Cory Davis