The MGM logo: a hand-drawn cartoon of Mahler at the podium, glaring at the audience

Main heading: The Music of Gustav Mahler: A Catalogue of Manuscript and Printed Sources [rule] Paul Banks

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Early history
Josef Stritzko (1861–1908)
Eberle and Mahler The first contacts
Eberle and Mahler The publication series
Eberle and Universal Edition

Josef Eberle & Co./Waldheim-Eberle

Symphony No. 1

Symphony No. 2

Early History

For a period of more than ten years Mahler's most important publisher was a company whose name never appeared on his scores in that capacity, but only as their printer, Josef Eberle & Co. By the time Mahler began his association with the company, it had merged with another printing company, that of Rudolf v. Waldheim, to form one of the largest printing and publishing concerns in Vienna and, indeed, one of Austria's largest private companies. The range of its activity as a printer can be gained from the list included in its entry in the report on the Internationale Ausstellung für Buchgewebe und Graphik held in Leipzig in 1914–15 (APOC, 103–4):

Verlagswerke. Modejournale, musikalische Werke. Brief- und Fakturenköpfe in Lithographie, Buchdruck und Stahltiefdruck. Briefverschlußmarken. Diplome, Wandkalender. Drei- und Vierfarbendrucke, Stahltiefdrucke, Gemäldereproduktionen in Chromolithographie. Eisenbahnkarten. Modeblätter. Etiketten. Kataloge, Preislisten, Prospekte, Reklamen. Menükarten, Parten. Musiktitel, Notenraster, Notenstich-Proben und -Platten. Plakate für Salon und Straße. Wertpapiere (Aktien, Schuldverschreibungen, Pfandbriefe, Couponbogen, Anteils-, Interims-, Gründer- und Schatzscheine, Kreditbriefe, Schecks, Wechsel und Lose).

Printers. Fashion magazines, music. Letter heads and invoices by lithography, typesetting and steel engraving. Paper letter seals. Certificates, wall-calendars, three- and four-colour printing, steel engraving, chromolithographic art reproductions. Railway tickets. Fashion magazines. Labels. Catalogues, price lists, prospectuses, advertisements, menus, obituaries. Music title pages, manuscript paper, music proofs and plates. Posters for indoors and the street. Financial documents (shares, bonds, mortgage bonds, books of coupons, share, interim, dividend, floatation and stock certificates, letters of credit, cheques, bills of exchange, lottery tickets.

Rudolf v. Waldheim (12 December 1832–2 January 1890) was born in Vienna and with the wood engraver F.W. Bader established a woodcut printing works in 1855; two years later they began publishing the satirical periodical Figaro (which continued until 1919). Having taken over another publishing and printing firm, Ludwig Förster in 1864–5, the activity of the joint company expanded into new techniques, such as lithography, and new types of output – book, bond and music printing. After Rudolf's death the running of the company was taken over by his son Ludwig (29 January 1861–26 February 1894).

Josef Eberle (24 January 1845–13 January 1921) was born (perhaps significantly) in Falkenau an der Eger (Bohemia; now Sokolow in the Czech Republic). Trained as a lithographer in Germany, he founded his own printing company in Vienna in 1873 which from the outset included music in its output. Eberle was also an innovator, and his technique of Brennätzverfahren improved the robustness of lithographic plates, and permitted larger print runs.

Fig. 1

Obituary for Josef Eberle,

from the Beilage to the Wiener Zeitung, 14 January, 1921, 4

Waldheim and Förster seem not to have been active as music publishers in their own right, but Eberle certainly was. The first reference to the firm in Hofmeister's Monatsbericht – an edition of Czerny's op. 139 (probably not the first Eberle title) – appears in the February 1888 issue, but after a series of entries up to July 1889 there is a hiatus until July 1899, probably reflecting a lack of interest in obtaining listings in the Monatsbericht rather than a lack of publishing activity. The two batches of entries, though, are quite distinct in repertoire, suggesting a shift in publishing (or at least international marketing) strategy. The earlier series is made up of Czerny technical exercises and editions of classic repertoire: Beethoven Piano Sonatas 'nach G. Nottebohm’s Aufzeichnungen revid. v. Eusebius Mandyczewski', Schubert Lieder 'nach den ältesten Ausg. revid. v. Jos. Stritzko [q.v.]' and a complete edition of Josef Lanner edited by Eduard Kremser. The later (and much larger) series consists of entries for relatively small-scale and popular genres and it is this repertoire that constitutes the majority of the copies surviving in A-Wn (over 350) – songs, dance music, marches, works from operettas – alongside the staple teaching material. Large-scale works by Bruckner and Mahler would certainly have looked out of place in such a catalogue, which may have been a factor lying behind Eberle's policy of obtaining the rights in such symphonies and then licensing them to other publishers for distribution.

Josef Stritzko (1861–1908)

A key figure in the development of Eberle's interest in publishing Bruckner and Mahler may well have been Eberle's son-in-law and Schubert editor, Josef Stritzko. An outline of his career as a composer appeared in an entry in an Austrian dictionary in 1902 (KDOK, 587):

Stritzko, Josef., VII Seidengasse 3, geb. Wien, 17 April 1861, erhielt den ersten Clavierunterricht von Elise Schwarzmann, wurde dann von Professor Anton Door ausgebildet; studierte beim Wilhelm Kleinecke Harmonie und Contrapunkt, legte hierüber am Wiener Konservatorium die Prüfung ab und studierte dortselbst bei Prof. Krenn 1880–1882 Composition. S. componierte bis jetzte 64 Lieder, 52 Männerchöre, das Tongemälde für Männerchör, Soli und Orchester <Der Landsknecht>, die Operette <Hochzeit auf Sacramento> (text von B. Buchbinder), das Musik-Lustspiel <Der Hofmeister> (Text von O. Fronz) und ein musikalisches Bilderbuch für Kinder.

Stritzko, Josef, VII Seidengasse 3., b. Vienna, 17 April 1861, received his first piano lessons from Elise Schwarzmann, was later trained by Professor Anton Door; studied harmony and counterpoint with Wilhelm Kleinecke, sat the Conservatoire examination in that subject and studied composition there with Prof. Franz Krenn in 1880–2. To date S. has composed 64 Lieder, 52 male-voice choruses, the tone picture The Mercenary for men's voices, soloists and orchestra, the operetta Marriage in Sacramento (libretto by B. Buchbinder), the musical comedy The Tutor (libretto by O. Fronz) and a musical picture-book for children.

In addition to the teachers listed in the entry Stritzko also studied with Anton Bruckner (FSABC, II, 343), but his own published compositions were in genres not (or rarely) cultivated by Bruckner and Mahler – operetta, popular song and male-voice choruses. However, as a publisher he discretely fostered the work of these two controversial Viennese symphonists. What the short biography omits (it is, after all, a dictionary of artists and writers) is that from about 1890 Stritzko had his own publishing company and music shop, Stritzko & Co. (Vienna I, Hoher Markt 3, and Kärntnerstraße 30), and was also the director of [music?] publishing at his father-in-law's company (the one clue to the latter association in the entry is his address, which is that of J. Eberle & Co.); it was in that role that he supported both his old teacher and a fellow graduate of the Conservatoire. Then, in 1908, Stritzko died suddenly at the age of 47 (see Fig. 2).

Fig. 2

Obituary for Josef Stritzko from the Wiener Abendpost, 9 March 1908, 2–3

[Yesterday afternoon the composer Josef Stritzko died suddenly at his home in Andreasgasse, 7th District. He was in his 47th year. Stritzko composed male-voice choruses, Lieder, the tone picture The Mercenary, the operetta Marriage in Sacramento, the musical comedy The Tutor, a musical picture-book for children and the operetta Tip-Top. He was additionally director of the printing and publishing joint stock company formerly R. von Waldheim and Eberle. He recently resigned from that post.]

The circumstances of Stritzko's departure from the company are tantalizingly mysterious: was it on health grounds, or had he been eased out his post? If the latter, then the possibility of a discretely covered-up suicide cannot be entirely overlooked.

The chief source of information about the negotiations between Bruckner and Eberle is the Göllerich-Auer biography of the composer, and although no sources are cited, the related anecdotes suggest strongly that it was founded at least in part on details provided by Stritzko himself (see GAAB, IV/3, 256–62):

Nach den großen Erfolgen der letzten Jahre war Bruckners Ansehen als Komponist auch in Wien so gefestigt, daß sich eine heimische Firma, die graphische Anstalt Josef Eberle u. Co. (die später auf die Universal-Edition A.G. überging) zur Drucklegung der noch ungedruckten Werke des Meisters bereit erklärte. Die Verhandlungen mit dem Verleger Josef Eberle führte dessen Verlags-Direktor und Schwiegersohn Josef Stritzko, der seinerzeit Bruckners Schüler am Konservatorium gewesen war und sich später als Komponist von Operetten und Chören einen Namen gemacht hat. Zuerst sollten Großindustrielle zur Bereitstellung der Druckkosten gewonnen werden, doch zogen sich alle wieder zurück. So entschloß sich Eberle, die Werke auf eigene Kosten – sie beliefen sich auf 36.000 Gulden – zu drucken. Als Stritzko es dem Meister mitteilte, war dieser selig... Zunächst hatte Bruckner die Absicht, die erste, der Universität gewidmete Symphonie drucken zu lassen. Er holte von der genannten Firma einen Voranschlag (vom 1. Juli) ein, in welchem 100 Partituren mit 693.55 Gulden, das 100fache Stimmen-material mit 717.12 Gulden, zusammen 1410.67 Gulden geboten wurden. Im weiteren Verlauf der Verhandlungen kam es dann am 14. Juli zu folgendem Vertrag:	After the great success of recent years Bruckner's reputation as a composer, even in Vienna, was so secure, that a local company, the printing establishment Josef Eberle & Co. (which later turned into Universal Edition A.G. [not quite correct – see below]) announced its interest in printing the Master's as yet unpublished works. The negotiations with the publisher Josef Eberle was led by the latter's Director of Publication and son-in-law, Josef Stritzko, who had been a student of Bruckner at the Conservatoire and who subsequently made a name for himself as a composer of operettas and choruses. At the outset major industrialists were to be persuaded to cover the printing costs, but they all withdrew. So Eberle resolved to print the works at his own cost – which amounted to 36,000 Gulden. When Stritzko reported this to the Master, he was overjoyed... Initially Bruckner had the intention of having the First Symphony, dedicated to the University, printed. He received an estimate (dated 1 July) from the firm, in which 100 scores were costed at 693.55 Gulden and 100 part sets at 1410.67 Gulden. After further progress in the negotiations the following contract resulted on 14 July:
Verlags-Vertrag welcher am heutigen Tage zwischen Herrn Prof. Dr. Anton Bruckner einerseits und der Firma Jos. Eberle und Compagnie anderseits abgeschlossen worden ist, wie folgt: Herr Professor Dr. Anton Bruckner überläßt der Firma Jos. Eberle u. Cie. das ausschließliche Verlagsrecht seiner ersten, zweiten, fünften und sechsten Symphonie, seiner zweiten und dritten Messe, des 150. Psalmes und einiger Männerchöre und räumt derselben das Vorkaufsrecht auf sämmtliche musikalische und noch zu komponierende Werke ein, wogegen die letztgenannte Firma sich verpflichtet, diese sämtlichen Werke des Herrn Dr. Anton Bruckner im Stiche und Drucke herzustellen, sobald dieselben ihr von letzterem übergeben sein werden.	Publishing Contract which on this day is concluded between on the one side Professor Dr Anton Bruckner and on the other the company Jos. Eberle and Company, as follows: Professor Dr Anton Bruckner transfers to the Company Jos. Eberle and Co. the exclusive publishing rights in his first, second, fifth and sixth symphonies, his second and third masses, Psalm 150 and various male-voice choruses and grants to the same the option to purchase all musical works to be composed in the future, in return for which the above-mentioned firm commits itself to produce all these works by Dr Anton Bruckner by engraving and printing, as soon as they will be supplied by the latter.
Hierbei gelten insbesondere folgende Bestimmungen: Herr Prof. Dr. Anton Bruckner räumt der Firma Jos. Eberle u. Cie. für sich selbst und ihre Erben und sonstigen Rechtsnachfolger unbedingt und vorbehaltlos das ausschließliche und unbeschränkte Verlags- und Betriebsrecht im weitesten Sinne und für die Dauer seines ganzen Bestandes an den vorangeführten und bezeichneten Werken ein, u. zw. sowohl am Originale als an allen beliebigen Bearbeitungen des Herrn Prof. Dr. Anton Bruckner selbst, wodurch auch alle Vorteile, welche etwa in Bezug auf das Urheberrecht an den Werken Prof. Dr. Anton Bruckners durch Veränderungen in bestehenden Staats- und Landesgesetzgebungen und bereits abgeschlossenen internationalen Verträgen, oder auch mit Ländern oder Staaten in Zukunft noch abzuschließenden internationalen Verträgen erwachsen sollten, ohne weiteres und ausdrücklich an die Firma Jos. Eberle und Cie., ihre Erben oder Rechtsnachfolger als mitübertragen gelten sollen.	The following stipulations apply herewith: Professor Dr Anton Bruckner absolutely and unreservedly grants the company Jos. Eberle and Co. itself, its successors and other assignees the exclusive and unrestricted publishing and exploitation right in the widest sense and for the duration of its whole term in the previously listed and designated works, specifically not only in original works but also in all arrangements approved by Professor Dr. Anton Bruckner himself, whereby also all advantages, which in respect of the copyright in the works of Professor Dr. Anton Bruckner may develop from revisions to existing state and provincial legislation and previously concluded international treaties, or also through international treaties concluded in the future by provincial or state authorities, shall be considered as transferred directly and explicitly to the firm Jos. Eberle and Co., its successors and assignees.
Die Firma Jos. Eberle u. Cie. ist dagegen verpflichtet, innerhalb eines Jahres nach Übergabe eines ganzen Werkes den Stich und Druck der Partitur und der Stimmen desselben und ebenso eines zwei- oder vierhändigen Klavierauszuges ein Jahr nach vollständiger Ablieferung herzustellen.	In return, the company Jos. Eberle and Co. is obliged to produce within a year of submission of a complete work the engraving and printing of the score and parts of the same, and similarly a two- or four-handed piano arrangement one year after complete delivery.
Weiters ist es ihre Aufgabe, für die möglichste Verbreitung der Werke zu sorgen und jedes Jahr 4 Wochen nach der Leipziger Ostermesse dem Herrn Prof. Dr. Anton Bruckner eine Abrechnung zuzusenden, zu deren Controlle dem Herrn Prof. Dr. Anton Bruckner die Einsicht der betreffenden Contis offen^- stehen soll.	Further it is its duty to provide for the widest distribution of the works and every year, four weeks after the Leipzig Easter Fair, to remit to Professor Dr Anton Bruckner a settlement of accounts, for the auditing of which the inspection of the relevant ledgers shall remain open to Professor Dr Anton Bruckner.
Sind die Herstellungskosten eines Werkes durch dessen Vertrieb gedeckt, so gebühren Herrn Prof. Dr. Anton Bruckner für seine ganze Lebensdauer und auch seinen Erben durch weitere acht Jahre nach seinem Tode 25% sage zwanzig fünf Perzent des weiteren Brutto-Erlöses von jenem Werke.	Should the production costs of a work be covered by its sale, Professor Dr. Anton Bruckner will be due for the duration of his whole life, and his heirs for a further eight years after his death, 25% (twenty-five percent) of the additional gross proceeds from that work.
Sollten aber für die Kosten der Herstellung eines einzelnen Werkes Subventionen, sei es durch Sr. Majestät den Kaiser oder durch ein Consortium gegeben werden, welche die Höhe von mindestens 50% sage fünfzig Perzent der Herstellung von Partitur und Stimmen in Stich und Druck erreichen, so gebühren dem Herrn Prof. Dr. Anton Bruckner für die oben angeführte Zeitdauer 50% sage fünfzig Perzent des durch den Verkauf erzielten Erlöses des betreffenden Werkes von dem Momente an als die Kosten gedeckt sind, welcher Zeitpunkt für den Fall als die ganzen Kosten durch Subvention gedeckt sind, mit der Fertigstellung des Werkes zusammenfällt. Die Firma Jos. Eberle und Cie. verpflichtet sich, Herrn Prof. Dr. Anton Bruckner vom Jahre 1893 ab während seiner ganzen Lebensdauer in dem für die Abrechnung festgesetzten Zeitpunkte — 4 Wochen nach der Leipziger Ostermesse — jährlich Fl. 300.— zu bezahlen und ist wenn die Abrechnung der in diesem Vertrage festgesetzten, zu Gunsten des Herrn Prof. Dr. Anton Bruckner entfallenden perzentuellen Anteile einen höheren Betrag als Fl. 300.— ergeben, dieser Mehrbetrag gleichzeitig Herrn Prof. Dr. Anton Bruckner zu erfolgen, dagegen derselbe einen eventuellen Minderbetrag zu ersetzen nicht verpflichtet sein soll.	Should, however, a subvention for the production costs of an individual work be provided, be it through His Majesty the Emperor or through a consortium, which amounts to at least 50% (fifty percent) of the production of the engraving and printing of the score and parts, then Professor Dr. Anton Bruckner will be due for the above-mentioned period 50% (fifty percent) of the proceeds from the sale of the relevant work from the moment when the total costs are covered, which, in the situation that the total costs are covered by subvention, will coincide with the completion of the work. The firm Jos. Eberle and Co. agrees from the year 1893 onwards and for his whole life to pay annually Professor Dr Anton Bruckner at the time specified for the settlement of accounts — 4 weeks after the Leipzig Easter Fair — 300 Fl., and if the settlement of the percentage share in favour of Professor Dr Anton Bruckner specified in this contract yields a sum higher than 300 Fl., to issue this surplus to Professor Dr Anton Bruckner at the same time, although on the other hand the latter is not required to reimburse any possible deficit.
Der Firma Jos. Eberle u. Cie. soll nach dem Tode des Herrn Prof. Dr. Anton Bruckner das Recht zustehen, sich von der weiteren Leistung des perzentuellen Anteiles an dem Brutto-Erlös, vom Todestage des Herrn Prof. Anton Bruckner an, wann immer durch die Zahlung einer einmaligen Abfindungssumme von Fl. 5000.— sage fünftausend Gulden für sämmtliche Werke zusammen an die Erben des Herrn Dr. Anton Bruckner zu befreien, wodurch jeder weitere Anspruch für die Erben und jede weitere Verpflichtung der Firma Jos. Eberle u. Cie. erlischt.	After the death of Professor Dr Anton Bruckner the firm Jos. Eberle and Co. has the right to release itself permanently from the further payment of the percentage share of the gross income from the date of death of Professor Dr Anton Bruckner onwards through the payment to the heirs of Dr Anton Bruckner of a single amount in settlement of all claims of 5000 Fl. (five thousand Gulden) for all the works together, whereby any further claims by the estate and any further duties of the company Jos. Eberle and Co. lapse.
Beide Contrahenten verzichten darauf, vorstehenden Vertrag wegen Verletzung über die Hälfte des wahren Wertes anzufechten.	Both parties renounce contesting the preceding contract because of infringement above half of the true value.
Die Kosten der Errichtung dieser Urkunde sammt Stempel tragen beide Vertragsteile je zur Hälfte. Urkund dessen der vertragschließenden Teile eigenhändige Fertigung. Wien, 14. Juli 1892.	The cost of the preparation of this deed, including stamp duty, will be borne equally by the two parties. Deed with handwritten completion by the contracting parties. Vienna, 14 July 1892

The negotiations must have begun at least a couple of months earlier since Max Oberleithner referred to the contract (rather ineptly, one might think) in a letter to Schott, dated, 27 May 1892, that attempted to interest the company in publishing the First Symphony (FSABC, I, 675). The identity of members of the group of major industrialists who were initially envisaged as providing the subsidy is not revealed, but it must be wondered whether this was the consortium of admirers who provided the composer with an annual honorarium from 1890 onwards (see GAAB, IV/3, 55ff.).

The final contract with Eberle makes no reference to the distribution of the works: in fact they were marketed (presumably under licence) by Doblinger in the years between 1892 and 1899. In this context the publication and first complete performance of the Sixth Symphony, in 1899, reflects a nexus of personal, professional and commercial relationships within the relatively circumscribed world of high art in fin-de-siècle Vienna. Published by a Bruckner pupil, Stritzko, it was first heard at a Philharmonic concert on 26 February 1899 conducted by a fellow admirer, Gustav Mahler, whose first three symphonies were in the process of being published by Stritzko; three years later the latter would publish (and Doblinger would distribute) Mahler's Fourth Symphony.

Eberle and Mahler – the first contacts

Initially Mahler's association with Eberle was the result of the efforts on his behalf by one of the friends of his student years, Guido Adler (1855–1941), who had been appointed Professor of Musicology at the German University in Prague in 1885. (For a full discussion of their relationship, see ERGA.) It was almost certainly Adler who came up with the plan to request financial support for the publication of the First and Third symphonies (full scores, parts and piano duet arrangements) and the Second Symphony (parts) from the Gesellschaft zur Förderung deutscher Wissenschaft, Kunst und Literatur in Böhmen). Apart from the publications themselves – some issues of which acknowledge the financial support – relatively few documents have been located that trace this process. Of greatest significance are the two reports that Adler submitted to the Gesellschaft, dated 23 and 24 January 1898 (drafts of which are now in the Papers of Guido Adler, US-ATS). These have not been published in full, but are summarised in ERGA (pp. 88–90) and extracts of the second are transcribed and translated in KBME (p. 216), including the details of the costs involved, and Adler's specific proposals for payment and acknowledgement:

The expense of printing the score, vocal score and parts of the First and Third Symphonies and the orchestral parts of the Second will amount to about 12,000 Fl., according to the calculations of Eberle & Co. in Vienna one of the best-equipped printers, who publish among other things the symphonies of Bruckner. On the recommendation of the under-signed as adviser they have agreed to take on Mahler's works too, on the understanding, and with the wish, that part of the costs can be raised in the form of a subsidy....Therefore: to accomplish on the one hand the great task which it is our duty here to fulfil, and on the other hand to pay due respect to the apportionment of our finances, the proposal should be put that we vote 3,000 Fl. for the publication and propagation of the works of Gustav Mahler, payable in two instalments, the first payment at once, the second instalment in January 1899. We attach one condition to this grant, namely that the following note should appear on the orchestral and vocal scores of the First and Third symphonies and on the cover of the orchestral parts or perhaps on the violin part, of the Second: 'with the support of the Society for the Advancement of German Science, Art and Literature in Bohemia'.

To put the production costs into some sort of perspective, the total was worth about $5784 (ERGA, 139, n. 37), or more pertinently, it was exactly Mahler's starting annual salary at the Hofoper (HLGII, 53).

Clearly there must have been substantive discussions between Adler and Eberle sometime prior to his drafting of the references, and there would have been ample opportunity for him to raise the matter with the company since it was responsible for the production of the Denkmäler der Tonkunst in Österreich, published by C.A. Artaria under his editorship. Mahler was drawn into this additional nexus of relationships when, on Adler's recommendation, he was appointed to the Board of Directors of the series in 1898, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Brahms. As might have been expected, Mahler was not hugely excited by meetings of the Board, as he made clear in a discussion about the series on 1 January 1900. Mahler was spending the day at an inn at Rodaun, on the road to Mödling, and in the evening Stritzko dropped in for a chat, during which the composer opined that the Denkmäler series 'contained only "mediocrities of the last century" on which he considered it a shame to spend so much money.' (an unpublished section of Natalie Bauer-Lechner's diary, cited in HLG1, 544).

The negotiations in 1897–8 for the grant application and associated publishing plans must also have involved discussions between Adler and Mahler. A brief note from the composer to his friend and lawyer, Emil Freund, probably refers to the preparation of Adler's references (GMB, 257; GMSL, 226): 'Adler has just written to say that if he does not receive my curriculum vitae within the next two days, the [whole undertaking] will have to be put off until the autumn.' This note was undated, but the original edition offers '1897' and GMSL refines this to Spring 1897. The latter seems unlikely: sometime rather later that year or even early January 1898 seems more probable. Nevertheless there must have been some assurances given even before Adler's references were submitted, since Natalie Bauer-Lechner recorded that by New Year's Eve, 1897, Mahler was celebrating the prospect of the publication of the works (NBL2, 109; NBLE, 109–10):

Als beglückende Neuigkeit teilte mir Mahler mit, daß durch Vermittlung Guido Adlers seine beiden noch ungedruckten Symphonien, die Erste und die Dritte, sowie die Klavierauszüge und das Stimmenmaterial aller drei bei Eberle in Wien gedruckt werden. Damit war ihm endlich die Sorge um Aufbewahrung und Erhaltung dieser Werke vom Herzen genommen und überdies die Möglichkeit zu ihrer Verbreitung und Aufführung gegeben, welche bisher – abgesehen von allem andern – schon daran scheiterte, daß Mahler nur zwei Exemplare (Original und Kopie) besaß, die er nicht zugleich aus den Händen zugeben wagte. Nachdem er jahrelang die größten Anstrengungen gemacht, dies zu erreichen, und dabei immer nur bittere Erfahrungen und Enttäuschungen erlebt hatte, ging ihm nun sein Wunsch fast ohne sein Zutun in Erfüllung.

„So ist es ja immer", sagte Mahler; „wer hat, dem wird gegeben, und dem Armen wird das Wenige, was er hat, noch genommen."

Mahler told me the happy news that, thanks to the efforts of Guido Adler, the scores of both his still unpublished symphonies (the First and the Third) as well as the piano reductions and the orchestral parts [to all three], are to be printed by Eberle in Vienna. As a result, he is at last freed from anxiety as to the storing and preservation of these works. Furthermore, there is the prospect of their becoming known and performed, where before – quite apart from anything else militating against their acceptance – Mahler possessed only two copies ([the] original and one copy) which he did not dare let out of his hands simultaneously. Having spent years in the most arduous efforts to bring this about, and having [gained] nothing but bitter experiences and disillusionments, his desire is now being realized almost without his having to raise a finger.

‘It's always like that,' said Mahler. ‘To him that hath, shall be given; and from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.'

The reference to 'Klavierauszüge' seems to relate to the piano duet arrangements of all three symphonies that were indeed issued, but which were not referred to in Adler's reference. The first editions of the arrangements of the first two symphonies carry appropriate acknowledgments, but none appears on that of the Third – perhaps an oversight.

Although we know quite a lot about the terms of the subsidy, Mahler's contract with Eberle has not come to light. It seems clear that Mahler understood that it gave Eberle and Co. some sort of option on subsequent works, and when Peters Editionsverlag expressed some interest in the Fifth Symphony in 1903, Mahler turned to Emil Freund for legal advice (GMB, 258–9; GMSL, 270):

Bitte, gib mir einen Wink, wie ich mich jetzt benehmen soll.
1. Um für mich am vorteilhaftesten zu wirken.
2. Um nicht gegen meine Verpflichtungen gegen Stritzko zu handeln.
N. B. – Ich möchte mindestens 10.000 fl. für mein Werk" bekommen. – Soll ich nicht zuerst an Stritzko mit der Frage herantreten, ob er mir diese Summe zugestehen will – eventuell, indem ich durchblicken lasse, daß ich sonst den Antrag einer anderen Firma akzeptieren möchte?

Please give me a tip how to tackle this.
1. To do as well as possible for myself.
2. To avoid acting contrary to my obligations towards Stritzko.
N.B. I should like at least 10,000 florins for my work. – Would it not be best for me to approach Stritzko first, asking whether he will pay me that amount – perhaps letting him understand that otherwise I should like to accept some other publisher's offer?

Whatever the contractual details, the situation resolved amicably, as Mahler was able to report to Bruno Walter (GMB, 276–7; GMSL, 270–1):

Es trifft sich aufs beste, daß ich eben mich mit meinem bisherigen Verleger gütlich auseinandergesetzt habe, so daß ich von nun an über meine Werke frei verfügen kann! Ich bin daher gerne bereit, mit Peters zu negoziieren, wenn er sehr anständige Bedingungen zu bieten hat.

Luckily I have just reached an amicable settlement with my previous publisher so that from now on I can now dispose my works freely! I shall therefore be happy to negotiate with P[eters] if he can offer really decent terms.

Further insight can be gleaned from a letter written by Mahler to an unidentified publisher (almost certainly the Berlin firm of Lauterbach and Kuhn) which apparently dates from the summer of 1908, and in which he offers them the Seventh and Eighth Symphonies (AMGM, 412; AMGME3, 307–8)

Herr Fried hat mich gelegentlich seiner Anwesenheit in Toblach auf Ihren Verlag aufmerksam gemacht und ich bin gerne bereit, mit Ihnen in Verbindung zu treten. – Falls Sie nicht ein Prinzip daraus machen, ein Werk vom Autor vollständig zu erwerben, (in welchem Falle ich Sie bitten müßte mir Ihre Vorschläge zu machen) so würde ich Ihnen einen Modus vorschlagen, wie ich ihn mit dem Verlag meiner ersten vier Symphonien und Liedwerke getroffen habe. Sie drucken also die VIII. Symphonie und über-nehmen den vollständigen Verlag, und beteiligen mich an den Einnahmen dermaßen, daß ich die Hälfte derselben erhalte. Zugleich gewähren Sie mir bei Übergabe des Werkes einen angemessenen Vorschuß. Die Rechnungs-legung geschieht am Ende eines Geschäftsjahres.

Herr Fried, who is here at Toblach, has mentioned your publishing house to me and I should be very glad to enter into relations with you. Assuming that it is not your principle to acquire an author's work outright (in which case I must ask you to state your terms), I would suggest an arrangement I adopted with the publisher of my first four symphonies and my songs. According to this, you would print the Eighth Symphony and undertake its entire publication, and pay me half the receipts. At the same time you would undertake to pay me a suitable advance on receipt of the manuscript. An account to be presented at the end of the business year.

Of course Mahler is being disingenuous. Some of the early Eberle publications had been supported by financial subsidy, and Alma Mahler remembered another element in the arrangement with Eberle (AMGM, 412; AMGME3, 176):

Als ich im Sommer [1910] nach Toblach gekommen war, berichtete mir Mahler, dass Direktor Hertzka von der Universal Edition da gewesen sei; er habe die ersten Symphonien Mahlers aus dem Verlag Waldheim & Eberle übernommen und diese vier Symphonien, die mit der Gestehungssumme von 50.000 Kronen (10.000 Dollar) gebucht waren, seien nun fast aktiv gewesen, es fehlte nur noch die Summe von 2500 Kronen.

When I returned to Toblach that summer [1910] Mahler told me that Hertzka of Universal Edition had been to see him. He had taken over Mahler's first four symphonies from Waldheim & Eberle. The terms of publication were that the symphonies were to earn 50,000 crowns (10,000 dollars) before yielding Mahler any royalty. They were now within 2,500 crowns of doing so, and Mahler was therefore just about to profit from them.

If Alma's memory was correct, Eberle had sought to recoup costs for the four Symphonies (but it may have also include the songs and Das klagende Lied as well, as these were also Eberle publications taken over by Universal Edition in 1910), the equivalent of 25,000 Fl., compared with the 12,000 Fl. Adler had quoted for the production costs of the First and Third Symphonies and the parts for the Second. This provision is broadly similar to one in Bruckner's contract with Eberle, though the subsidy that was forthcoming for Mahler was well below the 50% of production costs mentioned there, so if Mahler really was credited with 50% of the receipts, he had negotiated a rather better deal. As in Bruckner's contract there was almost certainly a provision for a regular statement of accounts to be submitted to the composer, though curiously both he and the company seem to have forgotten about this at different times (see below).

Eberle and Mahler – the publication series

It would appear that the details of the contract were not yet quite finalised when, in mid-January 1898, Mahler wrote to his Hamburg friend and patron Hermann Behn: it was Behn, and the Hamburg businessman Wilhelm Berkhan who had paid for the publication of the full score of the Second Symphony in 1897, so reporting the news about the grant from Prague that would subsidize the publication of the parts of the work was of considerable import. Mahler commented (HLGI, 466; the otherwise unpublished letter is at F-Pbgm):

The firm of Eberle only engraves; they are printers in the style of Röder, with plenty of capital (a corporation) and were created to promote Austrian works; they also secure the most suitable publisher: my work will probably go to Doblinger. Advertising and distribution will be on a large scale.

Apparently Stritzko's first thought was to licence the works to Doblinger, but for some reason that firm's involvement in the publication of Mahler was postponed until the Fourth Symphony (1902), after – and it is not clear whether this is significant – the publication of the last major work in their Bruckner portfolio (the Sixth Symphony: see above). Perhaps in 1897 the firm concluded that for the moment it had enough large-scale symphonic works in its publishing schedule. On the other hand, another Viennese publisher of some importance, Josef Weinberger, had accepted Mahler's Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen for publication (the cycle finally appeared in December 1897), so two or three symphonies by the same composer would not look out of place in the firm's catalogue. The availability of the scores, performing material and arrangements of the first two symphonies was announced by Weinberger in a publicity flyer of November 1898 and Eberle's Mahler series began to take shape. This eventually included all of the works by the composer published between 1899 and 1903, all bearing plate numbers in a single sequence.

Fig. 4

Title	Format	Pl. no.	Date	Publisher	French/Vienna Office Address
Symphony No.1	PF₁	1	1899	Weinberger	Boulevard Haussmann
Symphony No.2	PF₂	1	1899	Weinberger	Boulevard Haussmann
Symphony No.2	PV₂	4	1899	Weinberger	Boulevard Haussmann
Symphony No.2	PO₂	4	1903?	Weinberger	N/A
Symphony No.2	PCh₂	4	1903?	Weinberger	N/A
Symphony No.2	PTp4₁	5	1899	Weinberger	Boulevard Haussmann
Symphony No.1	PO₁	7	1899	Weinberger	N/A
Symphony No.1	PTp4₁	8	1899	Weinberger	Boulevard Haussmann
Symphony No.3	PF₁	9	1902	Weinberger	rue d'Anjon/Kohlmarkt
Symphony No.3	PO₁	10	1902	Weinberger	N/A
Symphony No.3	PTp4₁	11	1902	Weinberger	rue d'Anjon/Maximilienstrasse
DKW 1–12 (3 vols)	PV	12a–c	1900	Weinberger	rue d'Anjon/Kohlmarkt
DKW No. 1	PF/PO	13/13a	1900?	Weinberger	rue d'Anjon/Kohlmarkt
DKW No. 2	PF/PO	14/14a	1900?	Weinberger	rue d'Anjon/Kohlmarkt
DKW No. 3	PF/PO	15/15a	1900?	Weinberger	rue d'Anjon/Kohlmarkt
DKW No. 4	PF/PO	16/16a	1900?	Weinberger	rue d'Anjon/Kohlmarkt
DKW No. 5	PF/PO	17/17a	1900?	Weinberger	rue d'Anjon/Kohlmarkt
DKW No. 6	PF/PO	18/18a	1900?	Weinberger	rue d'Anjon/Kohlmarkt
DKW No. 7	PF/PO	19/19a	1900?	Weinberger	rue d'Anjon/Kohlmarkt
DKW No. 8	PF/PO	20/20a	1900?	Weinberger	rue d'Anjon/Kohlmarkt
DKW No. 9	PF/PO	21/21a	1900?	Weinberger	rue d'Anjon/Kohlmarkt
DKW No. 10	PF/PO	22/22a	1900?	Weinberger	rue d'Anjon/Kohlmarkt
DKW No 12	PF/PO	24/24a	1900?	Weinberger	rue d'Anjon/Kohlmarkt
Das klagende Lied	PV₁	25	1902	Weinberger	Boulevard Haussmann
Das klagende Lied	PF₁	26	1902?	Weinberger	Boulevard Haussmann
Das klagende Lied	PO	?	?	Weinberger	N/A
Das klagende Lied	Pch	?	?	Weinberger	N/A
Symphony No. 3	PV₁	27	1902	Weinberger	d'Anjon/Kohlmarkt
Symphony No. 3	PCh₁(parts)	30	1902?	Weinberger	N/A
Symphony No. 4	PF₁	31	1902	Doblinger
Symphony No. 4	PT4p1	33	1902	Doblinger
Symphony No. 4	PV₁	34	1902	Doblinger
Symphony No. 3	PCh₁ (particell)	35	1902?	Weinberger	N/A

Table 1
Address information for Weinberger's Vienna and Paris offices given on title pages and wrappers cannot be used as a guide to publication dates. There seems good evidence that the Vienna office moved from Kohlmarkt 8 to Maximillianstrasse 11 between 20 September 1899 and 27 January 1900 at the latest (see HYJW, p. 11, and facing page), but the older address appears on several publications that appeared in 1902–3. Although HYJW reports that when it opened in 1896 the Paris office was at rue d'Anjou, the evidence of the Mahler publications suggests it was actually at 40 Boulevard Hausmann until early in the 20th century.

There are some anomalies early in the sequence of numbers, at least in part the result of the fact that it was incorporating the three printed formats of the Second that had been published by Friedrich Hofmeister on commission in 1895–7 (Table 2).

Symphony No.2	PF₁	1	1897
Symphony No.2	PT2p4₁	3	1895
Symphony No.2	PV₁	4	1895

Table 2

Hofmeister seems not to have issued any material for the work with a plate number ‘2’, though this may have been notionally assigned to the parts. It would appear that Eberle decided to simply retain the original plate numbers for new printings of the other Hofmeister items, though a Titelauflage or new edition of the arrangement for two pianos was never issued – presumably because sales were not large enough.

Otherwise, Eberle assigned plate numbers for the publications associated with each symphony in a relatively systematic way, score, parts and arrangements in that order: the arrangement Hofmeister had probably planned for the Second Symphony. It is therefore particularly curious that Eberle did not use the vacant ‘2’ for the orchestral and choral parts, but instead used the ‘4’ already assigned to the vocal score of Urlicht (though there is a logic in this: all three publications could be conceived as ‘performance material’ for the Symphony). Eberle also commissioned and published an arrangement of the Second Symphony for piano duet and, logically, assigned it the next number in the sequence, '5'.

The parts and duet arrangement of the First Symphony carry the numbers '7' and '8' respectively, but inexplicably the number ‘1’ was used on the plates for the full score – so there were now two Mahler publications with this number in the Weinberger catalogue. The error was eventually corrected in 1906 when Universal Edition was licensed to issue study scores of the first four symphonies: all were photolithographically reduced from revised states of the full score plates. Symphonies 2, 3 and 4 retained the plate numbers of the full scores; for the study score of the First Symphony the 'correct' plate number ‘6’ was adopted. It may be that a simple error also accounts for the final anomaly. It would seem that the plate number for the parts for the Fourth Symphony should have been '32', but they were actually assigned a number in the Doblinger sequence (D. 2720).

All this publishing activity left relatively few traces in Mahler's surviving correspondence, but at an early stage he replied to J.V. von Wöss in connection with the Second Symphony (PF₂) (unpublished letter; see GMS2Fac, p. 93):

Esteemed Herr Woess,

You are right: Page 49 of the score, the last bar, horns 1 through 6 must be D and not D-flat. Further, on page 51, horns 1 through 6, must be written as E-flat ohne Dämpfer, and stay that way until the end! Further, on page 107, bars 3 and 4, the 2nd, 4th and 6th horns must be marked open, same on page 109 for the 1st and 3rd horn. Similarly on pages 125–127, the last 3 bars are open....

...The strengthening of the trumpets on page 203 remains to the end. On this occasion I note that in the score the B-flat trumpet in the 7th bar has a B-natural instead of a B-flat...

This letter is dated '1897' but it's not clear what the status of this date is. Von Wöss was a proof-reader in the music department of Eberle & Co from 1889 until 1908 (when he joined Universal Edition) and might well have been involved in both the preparation of the second edition of the full score and the first edition of the parts, but not until somewhat later than 1897 – i.e. after the award of the subsidy had set the project in motion in 1898. Since none of the errors that Mahler discusses are corrected in PF₂, and from the comments themselves, it seems most likely that the letter concerns the editing of the parts, several of the readings listed by Mahler were indeed incorporated into PO₁ and/or PO₂.

Apart from von Wöss, for whom Mahler had considerable professional respect, his only other significant personal contact at Eberle was with Stritzko himself, and in his first letter to his sister Justine after his marriage – while on his honeymoon/concert tour in St Petersburg in March 1902 – Mahler requested that she send both of them copies of the announcement of his marriage to Alma Schindler (GMLJ, 503; GMLJE, 369). And Stritzko was a close enough acquaintance to meet Mahler for a New Year's Day chat in 1900 (see above).

In 1903 Mahler realised that one of the provisions of the contract with Eberle was not being honoured, as he explained in letter to Alma of 2 September (GMBaA, 164–5; GMBaAE, 131):

Beiliegend wieder die Abrechnung von Schott über meine Lieder. Eine ganz gleiche werde ich von nun an auch von Stritzko verlangen.

I enclose the royalty statement for my Lieder from Schott. From now on I shall request exactly the same of Stritzko.

Seven years later, after Stritzko's death, the problem persisted and Mahler wrote to his lawyer, Emil Freund, on 3 February 1910 with a request that he deal with the matter (GMB, 451; GMSL, 351):

Bitte ... poche einmal energisch bei der Zeitungsgesellschaft an, die seit Jahren nicht mehr die kontraktliche Verpflichtung erfüllt, mir eine Abrechnung zu schicken.

Please give the newspaper company a sharp prod, since it has for years been neglecting its contractual obligation to send me a statement....

In fact the issue was about to be made redundant by the transfer of all of Eberle's rights in Mahler's works to Universal Edition.

Eberle and Universal Edition

Eberle had been one of the Viennese publishers involved in the creation of UE in 1901, and was the main printer used by the new company; then in 1906 the company licensed Universal Edition to distribute study scores of the first four Mahler symphonies (a format Weinberger and Doblinger had not employed for these works) and the piano duet arrangements (which those firms had printed under their own imprints – see the Weinberger and Universal Edition pages for further details of these transactions). At this stage the works were still part of the Eberle portfolio, and when reprinted by UE in the period 1906–10 the various publications mostly retained their original plate numbers (see above).

This first phase was apparently to be followed in 1908 by a second phase of licence transfers relating to Mahler's music. The UE Verlagsbuch reveals that a block of four UE Edition numbers were assigned in that year:

Ed. No.	Work	Format	Date of order	Date of receipt	No. of copies
1690	Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen	Voice & Piano	1908.10.30	1908.11.27	200
1691	Des Knaben Wunderhorn, vol. 1	Voice & Piano	1910.03.14	1910.03.18	100
1692	Des Knaben Wunderhorn, vol. 2	Voice & Piano	1910.03.14	1910.03.18	100
1694	Das klagende Lied	Vocal score	1910.02.08	1910.02.30	30

Table 3

The immediately adjacent items in the Edition number sequence on either side of this block are in a fairly consistent chronological order (the next two items were first ordered in September 1908), so it appears that after the edition numbers were assigned to the Mahler publications there were delays or postponements in the ordering of all four. Of these the first, and least delayed, was the song cycle owned by Weinberger; the other three items were works published by Eberle but licensed to Weinberger, and the first UE printings were not ordered for two years. Why the delay? At present no obvious explanation presents itself, but it might be wondered whether the it was in any way connected – as either as cause or result – with Josef Stritzko's departure from J. Eberle & Co. (and subsequent death) early in 1908. It might also be tempting to link their eventual publication in 1910 with the wholesale acquisition of Eberle's Mahler rights by UE in that year, but Mahler did not agree to the transfer until August 1910 and it is striking that all the other works transferred to UE made their first appearance in the Verlagsbuch in November 1910. There is one other piece of evidence for planning at about this time for a new Mahler issue, though not one reflected in the UE Verlagsbuch. A set of proofs of the Second Symphony (APPr) were run off, probably in May 1908, and revised by Mahler. Again nothing immediately resulted from this activity and it was not until 1913 that a second edition of the full score was published.

Clearly the 1908 Verlagsbuch entries and the Second Symphony proofs are mere traces of more complex commercial strategies and decisions which will only be elucidated if further documents come to light. Equally obscure are the motivations behind Eberle's decision in 1910 to transfer the rights the company held in Bruckner and Mahler to Universal Edition at a moment when – it turns out – the Mahler publications were about to come into profit. However, their acquisition by UE was entirely in line with the catalogue development policy of the managing director of that company, Emil Hertzka, so perhaps he made Eberle a financial offer the latter simply felt unable to refuse. Whatever the reasons, Eberle ceased to have any further role in the publication of Mahler's music, except that they remained Universal Edition's printer until 1960 (when UE acquired a different printing company), and their engraving of many of Mahler's scores and parts remains the graphic basis for the majority of subsequent impressions of the works.

After 1938 the firm was aryanised, but survived the war and continued in existence until 9 June 1974; the history of its post-war ownership is usefully outlined by Ursula Schwarz in her thesis Das Wiener Verlagswesen der Nachkriegszeit (Vienna, 2003). Unfortunately no surviving archive relating to the company has been located.