COMPANY HISTORY

Edward Kassner 28 February 1920 - 19 November 1996

When BBC Radio broadcast "The Edward Kassner Story" in July 1991, they were paying tribute to one of the last great music publishers, a man widely recognised in the popular music industry around the world. But for Edward Kassner, music was more than just a business; it was a guiding light, the lucky talisman that never deserted him throughout a long and successful career.

Born on the 28th February 1920 in Vienna, Austria of Jewish parentage, he had aspirations of writing operas at an early age. Any plans the young composer may have had were cut short by Hitler's annexation of Austria. At seventeen, Edward was forced to flee his home, escaping across Germany to Holland, Belgium and eventually England, surviving by a combination of his wits and music.

Once in England, like many fellow German, Austrian and Italian refugees of the time, Edward was interned and he was shipped to Australia on the Dundera. Later allowed to return, he joined the British Army, serving in France and Germany from 1941-1945 as an interpreter attached to a Canadian tank corps, the Manitoba Dragoons. By 1944, he had married an English woman, started his company, The Edward Kassner Music Co. Ltd. and had the first of his five children.
More>