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
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
,
, of Scottish ancestry, on October 20, 1811. His parents lived near the home of
Paul Revere
Paul Revere (; December 21, 1734 O.S. (January 1, 1735 N.S.)May 10, 1818) was an American silversmith, engraver, early industrialist, Sons of Liberty member, and Patriot and Founding Father. He is best known for his midnight ride to a ...
at the lower end of
Hanover Street.
In 1823, just out of grammar school, Oliver became an employee of Col.
Samuel Hale Parker, 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
The Waverley Novels are a long series of novels by Sir Walter Scott (1771–1832). For nearly a century, they were among the most popular and widely read novels in Europe.
Because Scott did not publicly acknowledge authorship until 1827, the se ...
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
Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions to musical form have led ...
's ''
The Creation'', "
Jingle Bells
"Jingle Bells" is one of the best-known and most commonly sung American songs in the world. It was written by James Lord Pierpont (1822–1893) and published under the title "The One Horse Open Sleigh" in September 1857. It has been claimed t ...
" and "
Darling Nelly Gray", as well as most of the works of the
Hutchinson Family - though Ditson refused to publish "Get Off the Track" due to its abolitionist sentiment.
In 1858, Ditson purchased ''
Dwight's Journal of Music
''Dwight's Journal of Music'' (1852–1881, ''DJM'') was an American music journal, one of the most respected and influential such periodicals in the country in the mid-19th century. John Sullivan Dwight created the Journal, and published it in B ...
'', a serious musical journal.
During the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
, Ditson released a number of popular songs, including "
Battle Hymn of the Republic
The "Battle Hymn of the Republic", also known as "Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory" or "Glory, Glory Hallelujah" outside of the United States, is a popular American patriotic song written by the abolitionist writer Julia Ward Howe.
Howe wrote her l ...
" and "
Tenting on the Old Camp Ground
"Tenting on the Old Camp Ground" (also known as Tenting Tonight) was a popular song during the American Civil War. A particular favorite of enlisted men in the Union army, it was written in 1863 by Walter Kittredge and first performed in that yea ...
".
Theodore Presser
The Theodore Presser Company is an American music publishing and distribution company located in Malvern, Pennsylvania, formerly King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, and originally based in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. It is the oldest continuing music pub ...
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
* Music by Sophie Seipt
Sophie Seipt, also seen as Sophie Seibt (1812-1889), was a German composer and arranger who wrote several pieces for cello and piano.
Seipt was born in Cologne. Little is known about her education. Her music has been recorded commercially by Kale ...
* 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
Fannie Morris Spencer (August 15, 1865 - April 9, 1943) was an American composer and organist who wrote a collection of 32 hymns and was a founding member of the American Guild of Organists.
Spencer was born in Newburgh, New York, to Cynthia McCo ...
*American editions of Edvard Grieg
Edvard Hagerup Grieg ( , ; 15 June 18434 September 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is widely considered one of the foremost Romantic era composers, and his music is part of the standard classical repertoire worldwide. His use of ...
's piano works, edited by Bertha Tapper
Bertha Johanne Feiring Maass Tapper (25 January 1859 - 2 September 1915) was a Norwegian composer, pianist, and teacher, best known for editing the piano works of Edvard Grieg for publication in America. She published under the name Bertha Feirin ...
*''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
The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...
*Compositions for rhythm band by author and music educator J. Lilian Vandevere
*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'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 neighborhood of Roxbury, Massachusetts
Roxbury () is a neighborhood within the City of Boston, Massachusetts.
Roxbury is a dissolved municipality and one of 23 official neighborhoods of Boston used by the city for neighborhood services coordination. The city states that Roxbury se ...
, later gutted and re-built as luxury apartments.
/ref>
References
General
* ; ; .
* ; ; .
Inline
External links
"Profile: Ditson"
IMSLP.org. International Music Score Library Project
The International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP), also known as the Petrucci Music Library after publisher Ottaviano Petrucci, is a subscription-based digital library of public-domain music scores. The project, which uses MediaWiki softwar ...
(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