Mourning Peter Hanser-Strecker

Peter Hanser-Strecker, the long-serving publisher and Chief Executive Officer of Schott Music, passed away on 22 January 2026 at the age of 83, surrounded by his family in Wiesbaden. With his death, the musical world loses a visionary who, for more than half a century, shaped the fortunes of one of the world’s most important music publishing houses and played a decisive role in shaping the cultural legacy of contemporary music.

Peter Hanser-Strecker joined the family business on 1 October 1968. Following his appointment to the management board in 1974 and his assumption of the chairmanship in 1983, he transformed the traditional Mainz-based company into a globally operating media enterprise. Under his leadership, Schott Music expanded with subsidiaries in the United States, Japan, France, China, and Russia. He successfully combined the “paper business” of music publishing with a pioneering technological spirit: as early as the 1980s, he introduced digital music engraving and was quick to establish forward-looking e-commerce structures.

His particular focus was always on the creative forces of the present. He maintained close relationships with composers such as György Ligeti, Krzysztof Penderecki, and Jörg Widmann. At the same time, he secured the scholarly foundations of European musical culture through monumental historical-critical Complete Editions, including those of Richard Wagner and Robert Schumann. A milestone of his strategic foresight was the transfer of the company’s shares to the non-profit Strecker Foundation, which he founded in 2024, thereby permanently safeguarding the independence of Schott Music. Hanser-Strecker remained actively involved on the foundation’s board until his death.

With the passing of Peter Hanser-Strecker, the international music publishing industry loses an outstanding figure who made a significant contribution to the global reputation of German music publishers. Bärenreiter also mourns the loss of a trusted friend. The relationship between the two great music publishers was never marked by rivalry, but always by a shared commitment to the heritage and the present of classical music.

The entire Bärenreiter publishing house, and especially the Scheuch-Vötterle publishing family, bow in respect to Peter Hanser-Strecker and extend their deepest sympathy to his wife and his family.
(Photo: Susanna Storch)