Heinrich (Henri) Simrock was the brother of the music publisher Nikolaus Simrock, whose firm still exists today. He was born in Bonn in 1754 and died in 1839; like his brother, he learned to play the horn. It is assumed that he and his brother Nikolaus gave the first performance of Beethoven's Sextet op. 81b, which was later published by Nikolaus Simrock's firm.
In Paris, he later worked as a horn and singing teacher at the Conservatoire. He also represented his brother's publishing house in France. From 1802 he ran the Paris branch of the firm and was among those who helped introduce Beethoven's music to France.