A Publisher creates a furore – 25 years of Furore Verlag
The Furore Verlag was founded by Renate Matthei in 1986 to publish music and books by and about women composers from all periods, and remains the only publishing house of its kind in the world. On 21 September 2011, the music publisher will celebrate its 25th anniversary in Kassel with the concerto “L’amour et le printemps” with songs for soprano and harp. As part of the celebration the soprano Ute Schulze and harpist Isabel Moretón Achsel will play music by women composers from the Classical Period. The programme is to include works by Maria Malibran, Zoé de La Rüe and Harriet Abrams which appear in Furore Verlag’s two new harp editions “L’amour et le printemps” and “Rosa & Henry”.
The publishing house created quite a furore in the music world when it was first established, due to the common misconception at the time that women could not compose. However, Furore’s work over the past 25 years has convincingly refuted this claim. From the outset, works have been accepted from women authors and publishers from all over the world and Furore Verlag has made a name for itself internationally at trade fairs and conferences. Over 1,200 works by more than 150 women composers from Europe, America, Asia and Australia have been published to date. The music originates from a period ranging from the 16th century to the present day.
The most famous woman composer in the Furore Verlag is Fanny Hensel, sister of Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy. Furore was the first to publish over 160 works by the most eminent female composer of the German Romantic Period, ranging from large choral and orchestral works to piano and chamber music and lieder. Pre-eminent amongst these is the great and frequently adapted piano cycle “Das Jahr” [The Year]. Furore published this as a modern music edition and as a four-colour reproduction, which was awarded the “Best Edition” German music edition prize by the German Music Publishers’ Association in 2002.
Furore Verlag has also received the “Best Edition” German music edition prize on three other occasions for selected music publications: in 2010, for the publication of “Ausgewählte Lieder” [Selected Lieder] by Josephine Lang in the category “academic music publications”; in 2006, for the publication of “25 plus piano solo” in the category “Editions of 20th century works ” and in 1996 for the publication of “Ton-Zeichen” [Tone Signs] by the Darmstadt composer Barbara Heller in the same category.
Furore’s published works are played all over the world. In November 2010, the American Symphony Orchestra gave a successful performance of Fanny Hensel’s “Oratorio” on scenes from the bible for choir, orchestra and soloists at the Carnegie Hall in New York. And on 17 September 2011, the Oratorio will be performed by the Hong Kong Oratorio Society with a choir of over 100.
Further information on the Furore Verlag and its anniversary, new anniversary publications and the concert series entitled “25 concerts / 25 composers” can be found at www.furore-verlag.de