The great talents of the monarchy

Gustav Mahler, Alban Berg, Arnold Schönberg, Kurt Weill

As the reputation of the publishing house grew, so did the number of offers from composers. In the end, the choice naturally lay with the publisher, and in retrospect one can only be amazed at the certainty with which the line that had been started was continued. Almost every year, the publishing programme was expanded by an important name, and it became apparent that Universal-Edition was becoming a reservoir for the great talents of the monarchy.

In addition, a whole generation of students - above all those of Arnold Schönberg - were brought in to work at the publishing house. Universal-Edition was, as it were, at the centre, and Hertzka was the spiritual father who not only looked after the course of business but also took a personal interest in the concerns of the composers. Hertzka was "like a family father who has countless children to care for", Zoltán Kodály recalled.

When Karol Szymanowski, who joined the publishing house in 1912, did not hear from him for years during the chaos of war, Hertzka was deeply disturbed. It was not until 1918 that correspondence resumed. ("It has always been a great concern to me how you have fared over the years", Hertzka to Szymanowski, 15. 6. 1918).

It was Hertzka who presided over UE when it moved into the semi-floor of the Vienna Musikverein in 1914. In 1909, the in-house conservatoire had been nationalised and as the "K. K. Academy" became the forerunner of today's University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna.

One was full of hope to enter an economically prosperous time, although it still required great efforts to enforce the newly published works. Needless to say, the outbreak of the First World War interfered with the already difficult business of international promotion. Only two days after the lease was signed, shots were fired in Sarajevo.

After the First World War