About Carus

Carus – Excellence in choral music

Carus-Verlag of Stuttgart is the top address for vocal and choral music. Over the last 50 years Carus has built up a catalog of sheet music which is unique worldwide. The program of around 45,000 works, mainly vocal, reflects the development of five centuries of choral music, ranging from Gregorian chant, madrigals and motets of the Renaissance, to contemporary choral music, and works for jazz and pop choir. The most important oratorios, Masses and cantatas in the history of music are available in modern Urtext editions, orientated towards historically informed performance practice.

Carus offers choirs reliable, multi award-winning, and high-quality editions. Choirs, orchestras, and conductors worldwide rely on Carus music editions. Countless concerts, television, radio and CD productions use the scholarly-critical music editions from the Stuttgart specialist choral publisher.


In 1972 choral director Günter Graulich and his wife Waltraud Graulich founded Carus-Verlag and published Antonio Vivaldi’s Gloria in D RV 589 for choir and orchestra as their first edition – the first scholarly-critical music edition of this masterpiece. Today the catalog of this medium-sized publisher contains works – largely vocal – from five centuries of the European choral tradition, and in addition, books, CDs and apps. The edition of the Gloria has remained a bestseller in the Carus program.

Publisher and Managing Shareholder Dr. Johannes Graulich on the Carus formula for success:

Right from the beginnings of Carus, we have sought to establish a dialog with choral conductors from all over the world and have orientated our program closely to the needs of choirs. This is now to our advantage, for closeness to customers, quality, and service are key success factors. Getting people to sing, making singing in every form easier and improving it – that is at the heart of what Carus does, it’s our mission. The fact that Carus has been able to become the publisher of choice for ambitious choirs over the last 50 years fills me with pride.


Managing Director Ester Petri on the Carus claim:

Excellence in choral music - for us, this means using our knowhow and the new digital opportunities to offer choirs and choral directors worldwide the best possible service – from researching works, via rehearsal, up to performance.


Publishing focus

Most of the vocal works of Bach, the Latin church music of Haydn, Mozart, and Schubert, the choral-orchestral works of Beethoven, and the choral music of Monteverdi, Buxtehude, Mendelssohn, Telemann, Handel, Vivaldi, Rossini, Dvořák, Saint-Saëns, Gounod, Brahms, and Bruckner are available from Carus. In particular, the company has championed the works of Felix Mendelssohn by publishing numerous first editions, accompanied by a complete recording of the sacred vocal music conducted by Frieder Bernius. Carus publishes the Reger Complete Works, the Edizione Nazionale delle Opere di Giacomo Puccini, and the Stuttgart Schütz Edition, also available in a complete recording conducted by Hans-Christoph Rademann. Through its highly acclaimed editions and recordings, the company has spear-headed the long-overdue rediscovery of choral music works by Rheinberger, Homilius, Zelenka, and Spohr.

Since its founding in 1972, Carus editions have set high standards for practical music-making. Carus always offers full scores and performance material for all works. The Carus range is unrivalled, with over 750 vocal scores for sacred and secular choral works with orchestra. As well as Urtext editions, the Carus choral collections have also been extremely successful. This series opens up the world of choral music thematically in a superb way, and has proved itself as a basic repertoire resource for church choirs of both major confessions and for chamber choirs. With the “chorissimo!” series, Carus’s music education publications encompass vocal work from Kindergarten to secondary school.

But the range of the Carus catalog is much broader than this. With "Basiswissen Kirchenmusik", a series of course books devised for use in both Catholic and Protestant churches, Carus publishes a standard work for church music training. The Carus book program includes, for example, catalogs of works, musicological and pedagogical specialist literature as well as guidebooks on a variety of musical topics.

Carus – Urtext

Our Urtext editions aim to provide a reliable music text, cleansed of the additions of later centuries. They are developed according to current musicological standards, taking into account all of the known sources, with the objective of most closely realizing the composer’s intention. Every decision made by the editor – from the choice of the definitive source to the individual readings – is documented and discussed in the critical report, and emendations in the musical text – for example, in parallel passages – are marked accordingly. The foreword offers performers important information concerning the work and its genesis as well as suggestions for performance.

Carus Sheet Music offers excellent readability due to clear layout and precise printing. We use high quality paper which does not crease. Turning pages does not cause any unwanted noise during concerts. The faint yellow color contributes to the pleasant ease of readability. A sturdy and practical binding guarantees a long life for the music.

Together with our critically edited scores, we offer affordable performance material:

  •  Vocal scores with playable, substantial and pianistic settings on the basis of the Urtext
  • Choral scores to reduce the cost of performing large choral works
  • Orchestral parts with convenient page turn and practical cues
  • Study scores are available for many of our editions – the supply is being steadily increased.

    Carus digital

    The company had a huge success in 2015 with “carus music”, the app for choral singers.  The app is used worldwide by choral singers to prepare for rehearsals. In 2020 Carus launched the digital distribution of its extensive music program to be able to use music flexibly either in digital or analog form.
    Many sheet music editions are also available in digital form. As well as this, additional materials for successful rehearsal and concert preparation – like our popular practice aids as mp3s as well as introductory and singing texts for selected works – are available for the first time.

    Carus Label

    Since the founding of the publishing house, it has been a special concern to keep our music program vibrant, to let it be heard and to issue recordings on our own label. The Carus label has, in the meantime, firmly established itself in the international music business and stands worldwide for the highest standards and quality in the field of vocal music. This success is founded on the close co-operation with the best choirs, ensembles and choral conductors from all over the world. Leading artists including Frieder Bernius, Hans-Christoph Rademann, and the Calmus Ensemble record on the Carus label. New ideas for recording repertoire are developed together with projects for Carus editions in conjunction with the concert plans of our artists. The label cooperates frequently with different ARD broadcasters, in particular the SWR.

    Trade fairs, workshops and conventions

    The direct communication choral conductors worldwide is very important to us. Carus is regulary represented at major trade fairs, festivals and conventions in Germany and around the world. We are always happy to meet you at these events!

    Social engagement

    Carus is a family business and is run by the Graulich publishing family. The business is engaged in supporting music-making in society. In particular, singing with children is something which is close to the hearts of Carus. With the LIEDERPROJEKT the company launched an important charitable initiative which has made many singing projects in Germany possible.