A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Wessel, Christian
WESSEL, Christian Rudolph, born in 1797, at Bremen, came to England in 1825, and established, with an amateur named Stodart, at No. 1 Soho Square, the firm of music-publishers Wessel & Stodart, for the popularisation of foreign music in this country. In 1838 Stodart retired and Wessel continued the business until 1839, when he took in Stapleton as a partner, and removed to 67 Frith Street, Soho. About this time the firm entered into a contract with Chopin for the exclusive right to publish his works in England, paying him £12 for each fresh composition. In 1845 Stapleton left the firm, and Wessel again carried on business by himself, from 1846 at 229 Regent Street, and from 1856 at 19 Hanover Square, until 1860, when he retired in favour of Messrs. Edwin Ashdown and Henry John Parry, both of them long in his employ. In 1882 Mr. Parry retired, and since then it has been in the hands of Mr. Ashdown alone.
Wessel was a great benefactor to the spread of music in England. Among composers whose works were introduced by him are Schubert, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Abt, Kücken, Gade, Schulhof, Heller, etc. Of the works of Heller, as of those of Chopin, Wessel and his successors have had, and still hold, the exclusive copyright in England, though by a decision of the Court of Chancery in 1853, several important works were lost to them. [See Boosey & Co.] Since that period they have turned their attention to the publication of the works of resident composers, such as Brinley Richards, Sydney Smith, Ganz, Elliott, etc. In 1867 they were the first to establish a monthly musical magazine by the publication of 'Hanover Square.' Mr. Wessel died at Eastbourne, March 15, 1885.[ A. C. ]