Anton Diabelli (1781 - 1858) made his first forays into
the world of music publishing by publishing his own
works on a subscription basis, as he was a composer of
no mean talent. However, he only started a firm on
contacting Peter Cappi (nephew of Johann Cappi, who
worked with Artaria), and thus the name was Cappi &
Diabelli at first. They showed a remarkable propensity
for publishing popular and lasting compilations and
anthologies of contemporary music.The musician as he
was, could recognize g...(+)
Anton Diabelli (1781 - 1858) made his first forays into
the world of music publishing by publishing his own
works on a subscription basis, as he was a composer of
no mean talent. However, he only started a firm on
contacting Peter Cappi (nephew of Johann Cappi, who
worked with Artaria), and thus the name was Cappi &
Diabelli at first. They showed a remarkable propensity
for publishing popular and lasting compilations and
anthologies of contemporary music.The musician as he
was, could recognize good targets for publishing, and
made somewhat of a name as a publisher with Schubert's
works. He not only published first editions of
Schubert's earliest opus numbers, but quite a few later
(such as the earliest extant edition of the Quintet
that we have). Indeed, he managed to publish Opp. 17
and 12-14. Of course, he also published the Diabelli
Variations of Beethoven to complement Vaterländische
Künstlerverein, a compilation of variations by various
well-known composers, of which Beethoven's "one
variation" was supposed to be a part. This anthology is
actually very interesting, historically. Supposedly,
the purpose of the variations were to be a "patriotic
anthology," showing off Viennese talent. However, what
he really accomplished was to show off his own contact
prowess and establish himself as a publisher.
In 1824, Cappi retired, causing the rename of "Anton
Diabelli & Cie./Comp." This period was easily the
firm's most productive. Upon Schubert's early death in
1828, the firm acquired a large chunk of his
manuscripts from his brother, Ferdinand, and thus
continued to champion his music. Diabelli proceeded to
purchase several other publishers, including Leidesdorf
and Artaria, among others. Cappi's replacement, Spina,
took over upon Diabelli's death in 1858. He renamed the
firm "C.A. Spina, Vormals Diabelli." The productivity
of the period is evinced in the 8000-odd plate numbers
between 1825 and 1858. They purchased Pietro Mechetti's
firm in 1855, adding another 6000, and eventually
stopped, at 24,670. In 1872, the firm acquired the
catalogue of one A. Bösendorfer, but was soon
purchased by Friedrich Schreiber. Schreiber then merged
with August Cranz, and in 1879 the company was
officially named part of August Cranz.
Anton Diabelli's "Jugendfreuden" ('The Joys of Youth')
is a collection of Sonatina duets (one piano, four
hands) in which the upper (primo) part is always
contained within 5-finger position so that an
early-years pianist can enjoy playing duets with a
teacher or more advanced pupil.
Source: Wikipedia
(https://imslp.org/wiki/Diabelli).
Although originally written for Piano (4 Hands). I
created this Arrangement of the Allegro moderato from
the Sonata in C Major (Op. 163 No. 1 Mvt. 2) for Flute
& Piano.
