Artist friends

Artist friends of Dr. Günter Henle (1899–1979)

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Ever since its foundation, G. Henle Publishers has received lavish praise, recognition and most importantly valuable suggestions from musicians around the world. Among them are some very famous artists and teachers.

Günter Henle was friends with many of the great artists of the time. His autobiography contains wonderful descriptions of his encounters with distinguished musicians such as Artur Rubinstein, Edwin Fischer, Rudolf Serkin and David Oistrach, to name but a few. He also talks about the foundation of his publishing house during a difficult time that lasted up into the 1970s. All those who are interested in history can download all of the biographical documents by Günter Henle free of charge.

Today we continue to maintain close contact with a great many musicians, and, following in Günter Henle’s footsteps, we try to incorporate their advice and make the most of their expertise in our Urtext editions.

Famous artists today

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Claudio Arrau – Piano

„Today the distinguished Urtext editions by Henle Publishers are world famous. No musician worth their salt, can do without them. We stand in your debt for enriching us through your editions, for the scholarly work, the dedicated research, the love and the personal dedication with which you have undertaken this task.“

Wilhelm Backhaus – Piano

“… The edition represents itself very nicely … the music printing is a joy and relaxing on the eyes.”

Adolf Busch – Violin

“It was a great pleasure to see this excellent edition [Mozart Piano Sonatas] - to my mind the best to have yet appeared. I am delighted to have a copy in my possession …”

Pablo Casals – Violoncello

“... May I take this opportunity to thank you and congratulate you for your important contribution to music through your music publications, done with such devotion and competence ...”

Edwin Fischer – Piano

“… With these publications you are accomplishing a pressing task in an exemplary manner. It is not often that idealism, practical requirements and a sense of business are combined with musicality and extensive elaborations up to and including fingerings as you do so. The result is a text that is true, free of additions of a personal nature, clear print and also at an affordable price for the simple music lover …”

Wilhelm Furtwängler – Conductor

“... It is extremely meritorious and necessary to finally publish the text in a reliable manner, as intended and desired by its creator, and I hope that the largest possible collection of beautiful literature for the piano were published in this manner …”

Walter Gieseking

Clara Haskil – Piano

“... je suis heureuse de les (les oeuvres) posséder dans leur forme originale, magnifiquement éditées et présentées …”

Vladimir Horowitz – Piano

Eugen Jochum – Conductor

“… The editions are excellent, the print exemplary …”

Wilhelm Kempff – Piano

“… Your superb editions of our classics... You can be proud of and we artists should be thankful for these editions of the classics that are exemplary in every possible way.”

Erich Kleiber – Conductor

“… The editions are really quite excellent both as far as content and also appearance are concerned. The rendition of the musical text that is indebted to the original and has been purified of all of the additions by later hands is much to your credit, and the clear and distinct engraving makes it a joy to use this music. I am convinced that the musical world will enthusiastically take to these editions, and hopefully more will soon follow …”

Yehudi Menuhin – Violin

“The flawless Henle Urtext editions have, since time immemorial, shown the greatest respect for a composer’s hand and time and again have brought me a step nearer to the true intentions of their creators. At the same time, thanks to the never tiring efforts of the editors at the publishing house, for half a century they have remained faithful to the personal idea of their founder, the publisher Dr. Günter Henle.”

David Oistrach – Violin

Igor Oistrach – Violin

“No doubt, that greatest achievement in the recreations of Urtexts by great composers belongs to Dr. Günter Henle and his wonderful Edition. I was happy to know well Dr. Henle and even make music together at his home. He often visited my recitals in Duisburg and Essen, which I have played with my wife and partner - pianist Natalia Zertsalova and always presented to us scores of classical chamber music repertoire in Henle Edition, which we use up to now. Beside of importance of unique scientific precisenes of Henle Edition scores have one unique practical advantage: distribution of music on pages made so careful that it allows pianist to perform at the concerts without page-turner. I send my warmest congratulations to the 50th anniversary of G. Henle Verlag and wishes to continue wonderful traditions.”

Arthur Rubinstein – Piano

“… it is a great contribution to music to have an authentic “urtext” and not the individualistic approaches to the master’s work by so many pianists … your beautiful edition of the great composers. They are really a joy to work with, so beautifully printed, and so true to the text …”

Wolfgang Schneiderhan – Violin

“It is not only out of a sense of need but also with great pleasure, that I write these lines to you to tell you how very grateful I am, and I believe I may speak for all artists who are looking for the true text, for the loving and responsible work of your Urtext editions that have been no end of help to me. Your editions are the basis for my work, they have become indispensable for me and I greatly appreciate them; they offer the same help to my students ….”

Rudolf Serkin – Piano

“… cannot be grateful enough for the artistic deed of making the works of the great composers available again in a pure form … What Henle Publishers has achieved with these editions is quite excellent and exemplary …”

Isaac Stern – Violin

“… What a joy it is to work with your editions. They are the most logical, musically speaking, and the planning and printing are of the utmost clarity and thus, a great help ... what an aid it is to be able to have complete confidence in the printed score in front of you ...”

András Adorján – Flute

“It’s not just on account of their wonderful blue cover that Henle editions have been a MUST for me for a long time! As knowledge of the Urtext is the key to a fitting interpretation, these always perfectly researched and easy-to-read Henle Urtext editions have become indispensable for my work. I can warmly recommend them to all musicians and music lovers!”

Leif Ove Andsnes – Piano

“I am proud to be identified with the Henle Verlag!”

Armida Quartett – String Quartet

“We are very happy about this unique cooperation with G. Henle Verlag – there is hardly anything more fascinating than studying Mozart autographs together with editor Dr. Wolf-Dieter Seiffert!”

Kit Armstrong – Piano

Vladimir Ashkenazy – Piano

“The G. Henle edition is one of my very favourites and I am very happy to congratulate you on your exceptional achievements in bringing to us, musicians, the true, unadulterated text of the great music of the world. This is what we all need and appreciate, and I think that your publishing house has no rival!”

Paul Badura-Skoda – Piano

“Almost 50 years ago in a music shop I came across an unfamiliar new Urtext edition of Mozart’s piano sonatas in a modest grey colour. I bought it and was soon so delighted with it that I wrote a letter to the founder of the publishing house, Dr. Dr. Günter Henle. A friendship developed from this first contact, based on our shared love of music and the pursuit of the musical text intended by the composer. Hundreds of letters, some of which were humorous, were exchanged and we had friendly meetings face-to-face. The most important Urtext publishing house, not just as far as we pianists are concerned, grew from modest beginnings. We no longer want or are able to do without these editions. The grey, meanwhile matt shiny cover has become a signature feature. Concerning its appearance, not only does the (still hand-engraved) musical text with its clear, attractive layout captivate one but also the binding, which always makes page turning an easy matter. (How often have I been annoyed with certain other editions where the pages of music turn back on their own – awful for sightreaders!) The publishing house deserves particular praise for being interested in improvements and for correcting the few mistakes that can even occur in a good Urtext edition when reprinting. Whenever a rare autograph finally reappears on the scene, such as the Mozart Fantasy and Sonata in c minor, it is even re-engraved. Wishes? To begin with I hope that the publishing house can spread further and grow even more. Hopefully it will also include Mozart’s piano concertos in its publishing programme. My particular wishes are as follows:

1. More explanations. Only a few users of the Mozart editions know, for example, that the dynamic signs and notes in small print are from the first editions that Mozart himself supervised and are almost certainly compulsory. The brackets in Haydn’s Variations in f minor also need explaining.

2. Larger fingerings, larger measure numbers so that the scaled-down practical editions are also easy to read.

3. That in Beethoven’s Sonata op. 110 in measure 110 of the first movement the thirds C³-E flat³ are moved from the footnote to the main text; the same applies to the first movement of the Hammerklavier Sonata op. 106, so that the A that is generally acknowledged today (instead of A sharp) is also moved to the main text. (My work on this laying out the line of argument appeared in the commemorative volume for Dr. Henle).

4. That Chopin’s meticulous entries in the copies for his pupils O'Meara/Dubois and Jane Stirling are finally taken into account in the Nocturnes and the Sonata in B minor. As astonishing as this may sound: these definitive versions have never been reproduced in their entirety and are only known to those pianists who visit the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris. These wishes are certainly not easily fulfilled. Only Henle Publishers - who are bold enough to get to the bottom of problems - is in a position to accomplish this as a sign of their love of the music.
With this in mind, I remain

Paul Badura-Skoda”

Daniel Barenboim – Piano

Beaux Arts Trio – Piano Trio

Lazar Berman – Piano

“For me, G. Henle Publishers is a lighthouse in the ocean of music through the ages. In the firmament of the world’s musical editions G. Henle Publishers is truly one of the brightest stars. Not only performing musicians but also music teachers and scholars find most valuable and necessary information at G. Henle Publishers. May the famous tradition of G. Henle Publishers be preserved in the future and remain so indispensable to us musicians as it is today. BRAVO, G. HENLE PUBLISHERS!”

Andreas Boyde – Piano

Alfred Brendel – Piano

“Life would be unimaginable for the performer without Henle's editions. The publishers deserves our thanks for bringing us so much closer to the authentic text and for not shying from continually improving what it has done to reflect the latest scholarly findings.”

Renaud Capuçon – Violin

Sarah Chang – Violin

“Henle Verlag provides me with the best, most accurate editions of the music I play and love. I trust that their editions are as close as it is possible to get to the composer's original work and they are expertly and pristinely produced to the highest possible standard, making them a joy to read and play from.”

Sa Chen – Piano

Philippe Entremont – Piano

James Galway – Flute

“I have to tell you how much I enjoy your excellent editions.”

Andrei Gavrilov – Piano

“... I have to tell you that no other edition can compare as far as print quality and the ease of reading for the artist is concerned. Each time I begin work on a new composition, I enquire as to whether it is available from G. Henle Publishers. I have learnt over 60% of my repertoire using editions by G. Henle Publishers. My whole life I have never found a single scribal error, sadly so often present in other editions. On the occasion of its birthday, I wish G. Henle Publishers to keep all of its qualities.”

David Geringas – Violoncello

Peter Lukas Graf – Flute

“Even if - strictly speaking - only a facsimile of the autograph can be considered to be "Urtext", HENLE has given us the best possible, very responsibly undertaken approximation of the original. HENLE editions are not only a feast for the eyes, but are also trustworthy.”

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