G. Schirmer, Inc.
G. Schirmer, Inc. is an American classical music publishing company based in New York City, founded in 1861. The oldest active music publisher in the United States, Schirmer publishes sheet music for sale and rental, and represents some well-known European music publishers in North America, such as the Music Sales Affiliates ChesterNovello, Breitkopf & Härtel, Sikorski and many Russian and former Soviet composers' catalogs.
History
In 1861, the G. Schirmer company was founded in the United States by German-born Gustav Schirmer Sr., the son of a German immigrant.In 1866, his son, Rudolph Schirmer, became president of the corporation.
In 1891, the company established its own engraving and printing plant. The next year, in 1892, it inaugurated the Schirmer's Library of Musical Classics.
In 1915, Rudolph Schirmer, together with musicologist Oscar Sonneck, founded The Musical Quarterly, the oldest academic journal on music in the U.S. Sonneck would edit the journal until his death in 1928.
From 1949 to 1965, Rudolph Schirmer Jr., the grandson of Gustav Schirmer, Sr., served as vice-president of the company.
In 1964, Schirmer acquired Associated Music Publishers, which had built up an important catalog of American composers, including Elliott Carter, Henry Cowell, Roy Harris, Charles Ives, Walter Piston, and William Schuman, adding to a Schirmer's ASCAP roster that had already included Samuel Barber, Leonard Bernstein, Morton Gould, Gian Carlo Menotti, and Virgil Thomson, as well as composers from the earlier part of the century such as Charles Tomlinson Griffes, Charles Martin Loeffler, Frances Marion Ralston, Geni Sadero, John Alden Carpenter, and Percy Grainger.
From 1965 to 1979, Rudolph Schirmer moved up from vice-president to serve as chairman of the board.
In 1968, major book publisher Macmillan purchased the company, which had been owned by the Schirmer family for over 100 years.
In 1986, Macmillan sold G. Schirmer to its current owner, Robert Wise, the owner of a popular music publisher, known then as "The Music Sales Group". According to a spokesman, the purchase price was around US$7 million. In February 2020, 14 years later, The Music Sales Group would change its name to "Wise Music Group".
In 1986, Schirmer also joined with the Hal Leonard Corporation, a print distributor of jazz and popular music, who became the sole distributors of Schirmer's printed music.
In 1989, the previously uncertain future of The Musical Quarterly journal, which had not been included in the original sale of Schirmer, was finally resolved with its transition to publisher Oxford University Press.
In 1992, at the age of 72, Gus Schirmer IV died. A theatrical director, producer, and agent, he was the last member of the family named for the founder.
Composers published by the company
The Schirmer/AMP catalog includes composers such as Billy Joel, John Corigliano, Richard Danielpour, Gabriela Lena Frank, John Harbison, Aaron Jay Kernis, Leon Kirchner, Dee Libbey, Peter Lieberson, André Previn, Gladys Rich, Bright Sheng, Tan Dun, Du Yun, Robert Xavier Rodriguez, and Joan Tower.The company also publishes The G. Schirmer Manual of Style and Usage. G. Schirmer is a member of the Music Sales Group of Companies, the Music Publishers Association, the National Music Publishers Association, and the Church Music Publishers Association.