Edition Wilhelm Hansen was established in Copenhagen in 1857 after Jens Wilhelm Hansen decided to expand his engraving business into music publishing. At the time the sector offered little competition and hardly any regulation.

Aided by his enterprising wife Hanne he met with early success and for several years the two of them served in the store, only later taking on two apprentices. After a few more years Hanne was to play an even more significant part in the business when Jens’ health began to deteriorate. Her vigorous contribution identified the emerging publishing house as very much a family concern.

Today, sixth-generation member of the Wilhelm Hansen family, Loui Törnqvist, heads the Copenhagen-based company. Now the largest music publisher in Scandinavia the company maintains a catalogue that includes celebrated Scandinavian composers from established masters like Edvard Grieg, Jean Sibelius, Carl Nielsen, Vagn Holmboe, and Arne Nordheim to contemporary Danish composers such as Per Nørgård, Poul Ruders, Bent Sørensen, and Hans Abrahamsen.

In addition, more than 150 years after its founding, Edition Wilhelm Hansen produces a variety of songbooks, educational books and CDs and is now a major supplier of printed music in Scandinavia as well as the largest single recipient of performing and mechanical publishing income in Denmark.

Edition Wilhelm Hansen’s wide-ranging Rental Library represents all of Wise Music Group’s composers.