Ernst Roth (1 June 1896 – 17 July 1971) was a music publisher for

Universal Edition Universal Edition (UE) is a classical music publishing firm. Founded in 1901 in Vienna, they originally intended to provide the core classical works and educational works to the Austrian market (which had until then been dominated by Leipzig-base ...

in Vienna and

Boosey & Hawkes Boosey & Hawkes is a British music publisher purported to be the largest specialist classical music publisher in the world. Until 2003, it was also a major manufacturer of brass, string and woodwind musical instruments. Formed in 1930 throu ...

in London, and became the company's director in 1968. He also wrote about music and translated.

Career

Roth was born in Prague, then part of the

Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

, into a Jewish family from

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...

. He received his first piano instructions at age five. His first language was Czech but his education, from kindergarten to university, was in German. Starting in 1915 he studied law, philosophy and music theory at the Karls-Universität Prag (the German branch of the Charles University in Prague). He was promoted in law in 1921 and continued studies of musicology in Vienna with Guido Adler. After military service in World War I, he was, from the early 1920s, publisher of the ''Wiener Philharmonischer Verlag''. The publishing house was acquired by

(UE) in 1925, and Roth worked for UE from 1927, focusing on new editions of the piano works by

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...

, Schubert, Schumann and Brahms. He also wrote more than one hundred articles and three novels. The 1938 annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany gave rise to institutionalized, violent

anti-Semitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

, and so he emigrated in 1938 to London, where he worked for

. His work was interrupted in 1940 when he was interned in Huyton, Merseyside. Due to intervention by composer

Ralph Vaughan Williams Ralph Vaughan Williams, (; 12 October 1872– 26 August 1958) was an English composer. His works include operas, ballets, chamber music, secular and religious vocal pieces and orchestral compositions including nine symphonies, written over ...

, he was released after four months. For Boosey and Hawkes, he made piano reductions of works by composers such as Bach, Beethoven and

. He translated operas and choral works to German, including compositions by Henry Barraud, Benjamin Britten,

Alberto Ginastera Alberto Evaristo Ginastera (; April 11, 1916June 25, 1983) was an Argentinian composer of classical music. He is considered to be one of the most important 20th-century classical composers of the Americas. Biography Ginastera was born in Buen ...

, Zoltán Kodály,

Bohuslav Martinů Bohuslav Jan Martinů (; December 8, 1890 – August 28, 1959) was a Czech composer of modern classical music. He wrote 6 symphonies, 15 operas, 14 ballet scores and a large body of orchestral, chamber, vocal and instrumental works. He bec ...

Igor Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of the ...

Alexander Tcherepnin Alexander Nikolayevich Tcherepnin (russian: Алекса́ндр Никола́евич Черепни́н, link=no; 21 January 1899 – 29 September 1977) was a Russian-born composer and pianist. His father, Nikolai Tcherepnin (pupil of Nikol ...

and William Walton. Besides Kodály and Stravinsky, Roth especially promoted the composers

Béla Bartók Béla Viktor János Bartók (; ; 25 March 1881 – 26 September 1945) was a Hungarian composer, pianist, and ethnomusicologist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century; he and Franz Liszt are regarded as H ...

and

Richard Strauss Richard Georg Strauss (; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer, conductor, pianist, and violinist. Considered a leading composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras, he has been described as a successor of Richard Wag ...

. In January 1943 he acquired the rights to the works by Strauss, which were held by

Adolph Fürstner Adolph Fürstner (1833–1908) was a German publisher. He worked as a clerk for Bote & Bock before he founded his own publishing company, 'Fürstner', in Berlin in 1868. He bought the publishers Gustav Mayer of Leipzig and Meser of Dresden in 1872 ...

in Berlin, and in 1946 he organised a Richard Strauss-Festival against opposition because of the composer's political position. From 1949 to 1964, Roth was general manager of Boosey & Hawkes and held leading positions until his death. Roth was instrumental in publishing '' Four Last Songs'' by Strauss in 1950 after the composer's death, in the order that most performances now follow. From 1959 Roth was vice president of the music section of the International Publishers Association. He died in 1971 in Twickenham and was buried in Twickenham Cemetery, London. The inscription reads: "Great music and great musicians have lost his dedicated service".

Selected works

* ''Die Grenzen der Künste'', Stuttgart: Engelhorn, 1925. * ''Eine Wallfahrt zu Mozart – Die Reisetagebücher von Vincent und Mary Novello aus dem Jahre 1829'', translation by Roth, Bonn: Boosey & Hawkes, 1959. * ''European Music. A Short History'', London: Boosey & Hawkes, 1961. * ''Vom Vergänglichen in der Musik'', Zürich: Atlantis, 1949. * ''Musik als Kunst und Ware'', Zürich: Atlantis, 1966.

References

External links

* * * List of émigré composers in Britain {{DEFAULTSORT:Roth, Ernst Music publishers (people) 1896 births 1971 deaths Writers from Prague People from Twickenham Austro-Hungarian military personnel of World War I Czechoslovak emigrants to the United Kingdom World War II civilian prisoners held by the United Kingdom