G. Henle Publishers stands for Urtext sheet music of the highest quality. Musicians around the world, both amateurs and professionals, can fully rely on our sheet music of what is called “classical music”. Our Urtext editions not only provide the undistorted and authoritative musical text but are also aesthetically pleasing, optimised for practical use and extremely durable. And then there is the strong, distinctive blue profile: (almost) all of our Urtext editions are bound in the characteristic blue cardboard.
Ever since Günter Henle founded our publishing house, we have concentrated almost exclusively on the scholarly preparation of Urtext editions of music from the Baroque onwards. This is why, as the world's undisputed market leader, we have the greatest knowledge about Urtext and the most comprehensive Urtext catalogue, comprising over 1,250 titles to date. Our much-respected blog, written by the editorial department, discusses interesting specialist issues concerning Urtext every other week.
G. Henle Publishers offers musicians the following product groups:
- Urtext editions that are paperbound, clothbound or in digital format in our “Henle Library” app
- Study scores: Urtext pocket scores/study scores in a smaller format that are ideal for reading and learning
- bibliophilic facsimile editions of manuscripts by great composers
- highly ambitious scholarly Complete Editions with reference-like quality
- musicological books and periodicals
- a small selection of exquisite gifts that rounds off our programme.
Our publishing house was founded in 1948 and is located in Munich, Germany. A team of 30 highly skilled employees works at the publishing house, including six musicologists with PhDs, and four experienced music retailers.
In 1972 Günter Henle set up the “Günter Henle Foundation”, based in Munich, which assumed ownership of the publishing house. This was to establish a secure foundation for the future work of the company. The current Chairman of the Foundation Board is Felix Henle, grandson of the publishing house's founder.
Our music engraving is said to be the finest and best engraving in the world. This is no surprise: only a few selected music engravers are allowed to work for us. Up to around 1999, the majority of the Urtext editions in our programme was even engraved by hand, using traditional metal plate engraving techniques. This is another reason for the unsurpassable beauty and readability of our sheet music. Our editions are printed and bound exclusively in Bavaria, so every Henle edition can claim to be 100% “Made in Germany”. We have implemented a series of measures to enable us to work in a manner that is as environmentally friendly and carbon neutral as possible. Most of our products bear the “FSC” logo.
We export over 80% of our editions, showing our very strong international focus. Our largest markets are the US (with exclusive distribution through Hal Leonard, Milwaukee), Germany, France, the UK, Japan and Korea. In China we not only distribute the original Urtext but have also granted licences for Chinese editions. You can purchase our products via music retailers, online retailers or directly via our own web shop.
Producing editions of “classical music” in excellent Urtext quality and distributing them around the world with outstanding customer service – this is what we aspire to every day. Should you have any questions, wishes, praise or criticism, please do not hesitate to contact us.