Printing and publishing

Because Kauder could not always find a publisher for his compositions, he learned to reproduce his scores himself. In Vienna, he used hectography, a method in which a manuscript written in a heavy and greasy ink is applied to a clay mass. The clay mass quite cleanly absorbs the ink from the manuscript, producing a reversed, positive image. A limited number of copies can be printed by bringing blank paper in contact with the clay. Later, in New York, Kauder wrote his manuscripts on transparent staff-paper with India ink. These master sheets could be reproduced in unlimited quantities by the blueprint process and, later, by photocopiers.

Fortunately, some of Kauder’s scores were eventually published. Notably, Kauder received an award from the Fromm Foundation in 1953, sponsoring the publication of two of his works by Boosey and Hawkes. These included the 1947 Trio for Violin, Horn, and Piano, dedicated to Willem Valkenier, and the 1951 setting of 10 poems by James Joyce for three voices and string quartet, dedicated to Norma and Siegmund Levarie.

In addition to individual scores, Kauder wrote two books of music as part of the violin method he developed and utilized with his students. The Geigenbüchlein (Violin Booklet, 1929), a book of violin solos, represented a practical application of his musical theories and also contained the seeds of numerous future ensemble pieces for various combinations. Violinist Joseph Szigeti called it “a worthwhile and musically delightful little volume... music that is deceptively simple, pursues very definite aims, technically speaking, while giving the beginner insight into musical form, diction, phrasing, metrical sophistication.” Kauder followed with the Neues Geigenbüchlein (New Violin Booklet, 1931, unpublished), which included 10 easy duos for two violins, four sonatas for two violins, and three sonatas for violin and viola.

Kauder also wrote extensively about music, publishing two books of theory: Counterpoint, an Introduction to Polyphonic Composition (Macmillan, 1960), and Entwurf einer neuen Melodie- und Harmonielehre (A New Theory of Melody and Harmony, Universal Edition, 1932). He penned numerous essays and reviews on the history and theory of music, individual performances, and events in the lives of prominent musicians. His articles were published in the 1920s in Universal Edition’s Musikblaetter des Anbruch, one of that decade's most important music journals in Europe, as well as in the 1940s in New York’s German language papers.