Langinger, Herman

Biographical Note

Herman Langinger (1908-1979) was born in Spas, Austria. He immigrated to the United States as a teenager and eventually settled in New York City, where he cultivated the craft of music engraving. After working on the score of Charles Ives' Symphony no. 4, Langinger became known for handling difficult contemporary works. In 1928, he moved to San Francisco and started his own publishing house, Golden West Music Press. He subsequently began publishing Henry Cowell's quarterly serial New Music and became an influential figure in West Coast avant-garde circles. Langinger engraved such high profile pieces as Edgar Varese's Ionisation and works by Carl Ruggles, Roy Harris, and Arnold Schoenberg.

After Cowell was imprisoned in 1936, Langinger, along with Gerald Strang, became co-managers of Cowell’s New Music Society, where they worked hard to keep the organization financially solvent. In his later years, Langinger became the owner of Highland Music Press in Los Angeles. He died in 1979.