Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner Why are Henle editions so expensive?

I was at the music store today and noticed that Henle editions are often nearly double the price of the same pieces in (for example) Edition Peters. Why is this? I can see that the paper is of slightly heavier stock in the Henle and would cost a little more to print, but I don't think that would warrant nearly double the price. I'm sure the music is all the same between the editions, but why are Henle so much more expensive? Is it because they have "Urtext" written on the front?

I have this same question with the Paderewsky Chopin editions. Barenreiter editions are similarly expensive. No idea why, other than "That's what the market will bear."

BTW, I was in Perth for a few months last year for business. I continually asked myself "How can they get away with charging $18 for a six pack of beer from a grocery store?" Still bought it, so I guess the price was right!

high quality binding could be a reason

'URTEXT' in the case of Henle and a few other great publishing houses means that they've researched to no end the final result. It's one thing to copy a score from IMSLP and print it and another to get ahold the manuscripts, study, spend a year in research to find out a few small things and info about the... nocturnes of Chopin!

I'm not fully in agreement with such high prices for dead composers with no copyright (because in those terms contemporary composers who are still alive should have pretty expensive scores), but on the other hand Henle is doing some great scholary work and they deserve (I think) the given price.

Having had a cheaply bound copy of Beethoven Sonatas have pages falling out before the first movement was learned, I have come to appreciate the extremely well bound Henle editions. The pages don't fall out, even with lots of hasty page turning.

They're GERMAN, that's why!

The question is not why Henle is so expensive, but why other editions are so cheap. It seems like many publishers cut a lot of corners: quality of engraving, paper choice, binding, scholarship, commentary, etc...

They take the time to hire people who go into this kind of detail:

http://www.henle.de/blog/en/2012/03/19/curiosity-pays-off-the-genesis-of-maurice-ravel’s-piano-sonatine/

Henle's Ravel Sonatine is $14.95. Peters is $13.50. Alfred and Schirmer are $6.95 and $7.95, but I doubt they took the time to do the kind of research Henle did.

And sometimes, the research doesn't affect the end result. Sometimes you do a ton of research and end up with the exact same score as everyone else. The score itself is the same, but it cost you more because you took the time to really check.

This brings up the question of what you're really paying for. If you think of the money you spend as being simply for the physical score you receive, then Henle is far more expensive than the others. If you think of the money you spend as supporting the company's aesthetic and scholastic mission, then it's a bargain.

Put another way, some people are incredibly selfish: "What do I get for my money???" And others are not: "What can I support with what I have?"

Every day, I hope that more people decide to be that second kind of person. Let's face it, at $14.95, the Ravel Sonatine costs about as much as a pizza. Oddly enough, I know poor college students who seem to be able to find $20 for pizza and cheap beer and yet complain about purchasing a quality score. Priorities...

URTEXT as I understand it is the original publication as Beethoven (or the composer) issued it and usually without any markings/changes by anyone else. The URTEXT of the Beethoven I have has no fingering or added dynamics, phrasing, etc. I can compare that to the Schott, Ricordi, d'Albert, etc. and see what they alter in their editing.

The Durand and Salabert editions are expensive and usually on cheap paper that tends to be fragile.

It drives me absolutely crazy when I see students using photocopies or library books for scores. I keep trying to convince them to invest -- and it really is an investment -- in quality scores that will last them a lifetime.

Last year I took a keyboard lit class taught by my studio teacher. She used scores that she had from her college days. In them were all these wonderful notations from great pedagogues of the past like Ilona Kabos and Sidney Foster. Those scores have lasted many years, and to me, are priceless.

Well, something I see a lot of people do is make photocopies even though they bought the score, presumably to carry around less weight and keep the scores in better condition. I prefer to read straight off a quality print score.

I'm guilty of cheaping out sometimes, and you could say I got what I paid for. I got a full set of Liszt Etudes, (Transcendental marked "Etudes 1", Paganini/Concert marked "Etudes 2") in China from Shanghai Music something publishing, which had licensed Budapest's print. The paper quality and print were excellent, but the problem was that while book 2 was sewn, book 1 was glued :mad (and coincidentally, cheaper :O). Each Transcendental Etude I've bothered trying to read more than 2 times has started to fall out, and I've had to tape at least 15 pages together.

The cost of buying a Budapest Liszt Etudes here makes me cringe though

I see your point, but sometimes I think it might be a little ridiculous! (maybe where I live anyway)
To put my case in point, I was looking at the Liszt Consolations:
They had it in two editions:
Peters which was $19 and included the Liebestraume and apparently URTEXT, has a few pages of notes and suggestions
Henle which was $40 for just the Consolations with similar notes and suggestions

You can probably guess which one I bought. The Peters seems equally well researched, and it hasn't fallen apart yet. I could probably find the extra $20 for the Henle, but when you're getting more music for half the price, why would you?

Not only are they pricy, the one I have are not holding up very well.

Is that so? My teacher's Budapest books are holding up okay.

I ordered a Hal Leonard - Budapest Liszt Sonata, I still have not quite figured out what Hal Leonard has to do with it since Budapest definitely prints their own stuff too, but it was like 15.95 compared to 19.95 for the Henle, so I dunno what's going on. Hopefully the quality is not compromised in some way. Your comment worries me.

I just took a look at mine. I've got three volumes. Two are falling apart, one isn't. Aside from whatever differences there might be in usage, the one that is holding up pretty well was published a few years later than the others, so it may be that their more recent products are better quality than in the past.

I see a few others have mentioned the Budapest editions, but, if you think Henle is bad...I own several of them (and many hard-bound Henle editions) and as someone else said...I cringe when I think how much they cost me.

I like the Henle editions and I have piles of them. They're expensive in a sense but really, if you ask me, sheet music is a bargain. If the Beethoven Sonatas sets you back - whatever it is... probably more than 100 bucks one way of looking at it is how long you'll have those volumes. I love filling them up with my notes. I've read all and learned most of the Mozart Sonatas from my Henles and they're still holding up quite well. I intend to be buried with them. ALL of them.

You can't take them with you, you know...

You are right, that IS a little ridiculous where you live!! What's going on there, anyway? I got curious and looked at the Henle Liszt Consolations on Amazon, and they were around $19 US. Which would be even less in Australian dollars. Are the import duties and tariffs enough to account for the difference?

And, just so you know, the Henle is actually two different versions, not just one.

Does it not occur to you that we might have an awful lot of music to get through? I invest in scores as often as I can, but if I had bought a good edition of every piece I've played since I've been here I wouldn't be able to afford food let alone my tuition fees.

I think that the quality of Henle editions is worth the money, although personally I prefer Barenreiter.

Someone showed me a video that might help explain why the scores are expensive:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5uPPJj_M_o

This took the sting off the price of Henle for me.