Oliver Ditson (October 20, 1811 – December 21, 1888) was an American businessman and founder of Oliver Ditson and Company, one of the major music publishing houses of the late 19th century.

Early life and career

Oliver Ditson was born in Boston, Massachusetts, of Scottish ancestry, on October 20, 1811. His parents lived near the home of Paul Revere at the lower end of Hanover Street. In 1823, just out of grammar school, Oliver became an employee of Col.

Samuel Hale Parker Samuel Hale Parker (1781–1864) was a publisher and bookseller in 19th-century Boston, Massachusetts, United States. He published musical scores as well as novels, sermons, and other titles. He operated the Boston Circulating Library, and was among ...

, father of J.C.D. Parker, the organist and composer. Col. Parker owned a book store on Washington street, near Franklin Street in Boston, and kept in addition to his regular stock a few pieces of music. At the time the Waverley novels were making their appearance and Col. Parker was republishing them as rapidly as they could be gotten from England. Oliver left the bookstore to master the printer's trade. About 1834, fire destroyed the store of Col. Parker. With what was saved he moved with his now indispensable young friend into a wooden building on Washington street, near School street, and later took a single counter in the famous 'Old Corner Bookstore,' then kept by William D. Ticknor in the gambrel roofed building erected in 1712, at the northwest corner of Washington and School streets. At this location, in 1834, the firm of Parker & Ditson was formed. Mr. Ditson was then twenty-three, and changed it into a music store. In 1840, Ditson bought out Col. Parker's interest and carried on the business of music seller and publisher under the name of Oliver Ditson. He acquired the ''Oliver Ditson and Company'' moniker in 1857 when he began collaborating with John C. Haynes on what would become the John C. Haynes & Co. Ditson's company published the first American edition of Haydn's '' The Creation'', " Jingle Bells" and "

Darling Nelly Gray "Darling Nelly Gray" is a 19th century anti-slavery ballad written and composed by Benjamin Hanby in 1856. It is written as from the point of view of an African-American male slave in Kentucky whose sweetheart has been taken away by slave-owners. ...

", as well as most of the works of the

Hutchinson Family The Hutchinson Family Singers were an American family singing group who became the most popular American entertainers of the 1840s. The group sang in four-part harmony a repertoire of political, social, comic, sentimental and dramatic works, an ...

- though Ditson refused to publish "Get Off the Track" due to its abolitionist sentiment. In 1858, Ditson purchased '' Dwight's Journal of Music'', a serious musical journal. During the American Civil War, Ditson released a number of popular songs, including " Battle Hymn of the Republic" and " Tenting on the Old Camp Ground". Theodore Presser purchased the Ditson catalogue in 1931.

Death

On December 21, 1888, Oliver Ditson, the pioneer of music publishing in America, died at his home in Boston at the age of seventy-seven.

Published by Ditson

* Mandolin, guitar, and vocal music by Clara Ross * Songs by

Dagmar de Corval Rybner Dagmar de Corval Rybner Barclay (9 September 1890 - 22 July 1965) was a Swiss-German composer, pianist, and teacher who worked and corresponded with Sergei Rachmaninoff. She published and performed under the name Dagmar Rybner. Biography Rybner was ...

* Songs, piano pieces, and musical readings by

Lalla Ryckoff Clara Amely “Lala” Ryckoff (2 August 1878 - 3 December 1977) was an American composer who wrote more than 200 vocal works (both text and music), including spoken word performances with musical accompaniment, also known as pianologues or musical ...

* Music by Sophie Seipt * Music by

William Stuckenholz William Stuckenholz (c. 1840, Germany''1880 United States Federal Census'' for Wm Stuckenholz, California, San Francisco County, San Francisco, 085, p. 277 – died July 18, 1884, New Orleans) was a German born American composer, pianist, and musi ...

* Hymns by

Lillian Tait Sheldon Lillian Alison Tait Sheldon (10 September 1865 - 10 January 1925) was an American composer and organist who composed many hymns. Sheldon was born in Gouverneur, New York to Lucretia Maria and George Peter Tait. She married James Otis Sheldon and ...

* ''Racquet Galop'' and other piano pieces by

Kate Simmons Emma Kate Simmons Flint (March 3, 1850 - March 8, 1926) was an American composer who is best known for her piano piece ''Racquet Galop'', which sold over 100,000 copies. She published her music under the name Kate Simmons or E. Kate Simmons. Simmo ...

*Organ and vocal works by Fannie Morris Spencer *American editions of Edvard Grieg's piano works, edited by Bertha Tapper *''Biographical Sketches of Eminent Musical Composers'' by

Levina Buoncuore Urbino __NOTOC__ Levina Buoncuore Urbino or Lavinia Buoncuore Urbino (died 1888) was an American writer and translator who lived in the Boston, Massachusetts area in the 19th century. Among her published works was ''An American Woman in Europe'' (1869), ...

1876 Internet Archive *Compositions for rhythm band by author and music educator

J. Lilian Vandevere J. Lillian Vandevere (Jul 1885 – 10 May 1957) was an American author, composer, and music educator. She is best remembered today for her compositions for rhythm band and toy orchestra, and her work on the California State Series textbooks for musi ...

*Piano pedagogy pieces by

Margaret Wigham Margaret Viola Wigham (February 3, 1904 – April 17, 1972) was a composer, music educator and pianist, born in Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in are ...

Gallery

1854 Crinoline Ditson.png, Sheet music for Quadrille Militaire "Les Hussards" by

Charles A. White Charles A. White (July 7, 1881 – October 7, 1925) was an American organized labor lobbyist and politician. He was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, to Sarah Householder and Jesse Alexander White. Married Ruth Lillian Shaw from Ohio. Died October ...

published by Oliver Ditson & Co., 277 Washington Street, Boston, 1854 Hornpipe Ditson.png, Sheet music for

Durang Durang is a surname. People with that name include: * Charles Durang (1796–1870), American dancer and actor *Christopher Durang (b. 1949), American playwright *Edwin Forrest Durang (1829–1911), American architect *Ferdinand Durang (c. 1785–18 ...

's ''Horn Pipe'' published by Oliver Ditson, in Washington Street, Boston 19th century Ditson_Bldg_Boston.JPG, Former Oliver Ditson Company building, 166 Terrace Street, in the

Mission Hill Mission Hills or Mission Hill may refer to: Places Communities ;In the United States (alphabetically by state) * Mission Hills, Santa Barbara County, California, a town north of the city of Lompoc * Mission Hills, Los Angeles, California, in the S ...

neighborhood of Roxbury, Massachusetts, later gutted and re-built as luxury apartments. Building inscription reads "Oliver Ditson Co. 1835-1925".Oliver Lofts website
/ref> File:Oscar Wilde (Boston Public Library).jpg ,

References

General

* *

Inline

External links

"Profile: Ditson"
IMSLP.org. International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP: Petrucci Music Library)
Temperance melodeon
Boston: O. Ditson, 1850. * https://www.flickr.com/photos/boston_public_library/2492686114 * https://www.flickr.com/photos/boston_public_library/2492686298 {{DEFAULTSORT:Ditson, Oliver 1811 births 1888 deaths American music publishers (people) Businesspeople from Boston 19th-century American businesspeople 19th century in Boston Cultural history of Boston