Webern Orchestral Pieces Op. 6, original edition

[wmichael taylor]

Webern published the original version of his Op. 6 Pieces himself in 1913 (according to Moldenhauer [706-7], not 1910), revising the work in 1928, althought UE did not issue it (the revision) until 1956. The original version appeared in 1961 (all dates from Moldenhauer). The Wiener Stadt- und Landesbibliothek brought out a facsimile of the (1913?) edition in 1983, to mark to 100th anniversary of the composer's birth. The Russian edition in IMSLP looks more like 1928 than 1913, given the (mainly) double winds & quadruple brass (the original called for six-fold brass). What is the copyright status of the 1913 publication? If it is out of copyright does anyone have it? Does the Viennese publication have any bearing on this question?

[Carolus]

That's interesting info. Much depends upon what constitutes "publication" exactly. Since Webern is already free in Canada and other 50 p.m.a. countries and protected until 2016 in the EU and other 70 p.m.a. territories, the thing we're talking about here is its status in the USA. Under US law, if Webern had copies printed under his own name and offered them for distribution (not even necessarily for sale) in 1913, the original version of the work is considered published in 1913 and therefore public domain in the USA. Moreover (and this is why publishers catalogues and even the back covers of music can be very important), the offering of a work for distribution or sale has been held by courts to constitute "publication", even if the actual first sale or instance of distribution took place years later. So, if Universal Edition (or any publisher) lists a work as being available in a catalog, advertisement, or a listing on the back cover of a score which can be certified as having been printed in 1913, the first publication actually took place in 1913 even if UE only got around to actually printing the score in 1923. To be valid, the notice would have to list 1913 as the date, not 1923. It is also possible that the date of the contract between the composer and publisher, made for the purpose of offering the work for public distribution or sale, constitutes the date of first publication.

If you can provide a scan of the 1913 score, it will be tagged as being free in the USA. UE's 1961 claim is bogus if Webern issued the work in 1913. However, in light of the little incident with everyone's favorite Viennese music publisher in 2007, we really have to have compelling proof of this 1913 publication all in place for the world to see.

[violinac]

wmichael taylor's points are all correct. Plenty of libraries have the 1913 print, although I'm not able to get my hands on it at the moment.

The Russian edition in IMSLP is certainly the 1928 revision, and at the very least it needs to be identified correctly in IMSLP--it's not now. It's important to note that the 1928 version is a substantial revision--Webern rewrote the work for a smaller orchestra, so much is changed orchestrationally. And it's a work whose orchestration is of the essence. One can at least make the case, therefore, that copyright for this version of the piece should be calculated from a creation date of 1928.