Title Page | Collection Summary | Biographical/Organizational Note | Scope and Content | Arrangement
Administrative History Note
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 1783 | Ebenezer Battelle opened the Boston Book-Store, which included a stock of music |
| 1785-1811 | The store changed hands several times. Under the ownership of Samuel H. Parker, it became known as Parker’s Music Store |
| 1811 October 20 | Oliver Ditson was born in Boston, Massachusetts |
| 1823-1826 | Parker employed Ditson at the music store |
| 1826-1835 | Ditson worked as a printer |
| 1834 | John Church was born in Providence, Rhode Island |
| 1835 | Ditson published and copyrighted his first piece of music, “There’s Not a Leaf Within the Bower” by F. Valentine, which was available for sale at Parker’s Music Store |
| 1836 | Ditson and Parker became business partners |
| 1842 | The partnership was dissolved and Ditson remained as sole owner |
| 1848 July 3 | Theodore Presser was born in Pittsburgh |
| circa 1852 | Oliver Ditson & Co. acquired the Mason Brothers catalog |
| 1859 | Ditson established a music store in Cincinnati in association with John Church |
| 1860-1890 | Oliver Ditson & Co. expanded greatly by acquiring more than fifty catalogs of other music publishers |
| 1864 | Presser sold tickets in C. C. Mellor’s music store for the Maurice Strakosch Opera Company performances and later became a music clerk in the store |
| circa 1866 | Presser became manager of the sheet music department |
| 1867 | Presser began studying piano with Jacob Margstein |
| circa 1871-1876 | Presser taught at Ohio Northern University, and Smith College and Conservatory as well as Miami Conservatory of Music in Zenia, Ohio |
| 1872 | John Church Company bought the catalogue of George Root & Sons of Chicago |
| 1876 | Presser was appointed music department head at Ohio University in Delaware, Ohio |
| 1876 December 26-1876 December 28 | Presser convened 62 prominent music educators, including George Whitefield Chadwick, Calvin Brainerd Cady, Karl Merz, George F. Root, and Luther Whiting Mason, to found the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA), now the oldest national music organization in the United States |
| 1880 | Presser was appointed director of music at Hollins University near Roanoke, Virginia |
| 1883 | Presser moved to Lynchburg, Virginia |
| 1883 October | Presser published the first issue of The Etude, a monthly music education magazine that provided advice, reviews, analyses, and a mixture of piano studies and pieces, among other practical items |
| 1884 | Presser moved to Philadelphia Became a music publisher and dealer due to demand from The Etude subscribers for sheet music Pioneered the sale of music by mail-order as well as a system of supplying teachers with stocks of music on approval they could sell to their pupils |
| 1887-1923 | Presser built a practical catalog along educational lines, in part by purchasing the stock and catalogs of several music publishers in New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Cleveland, Washington, D.C., Memphis, and Los Angeles |
| 1888 December 21 | Death of Oliver Ditson Oliver Ditson Company incorporated by the surviving partners |
| 1890 April 19 | Death of John Church |
| 1889-1895 | Presser published an innovative piano method, Touch and Technic by William Mason, and the Standard Graded Course of Study. This new type of music book, the graded piano method, came to dominate the twentieth-century music education market |
| 1898 | Presser acquired part of the John Church Company |
| 1906 | Presser opened a home for retired music teachers in Philadelphia |
| 1908 | Theodore Presser Company incorporated |
| 1916 | Presser endowed the Presser Foundation and served as its first president |
| 1925 October 28 | Presser died in Philadelphia |
| 1930 April | The Theodore Presser Company purchased the remaining stock of the John Church Company |
| 1931 February | The Theodore Presser Company purchased the Oliver Ditson Company |
| 1951 | The Theodore Presser Company moved its operations, including the sheet music retail store, to Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania |
| circa 1952-1960 | George Rochberg hired as an editor and later named Director of Publications at the Theodore Presser Company Rochberg introduced serious concert music to the Presser catalog by initiating contracts with William Schuman and Roger Sessions |
| 1953 | The Theodore Presser Company established Merion Music to administer the catalogs of their Broadcast Music International (BMI) affiliated composers |
| 1957 | The Etude ceased circulation |
| 1958 | The Theodore Presser Company acquired the catalog of New Music Edition, which was founded in 1930 by Henry Cowell |
| 1969 | Arnold Broido named president Serious concert music and international distribution were gradually expanded The Theodore Presser Company bought Mercury Music Corporation, which included the catalogs of Beekman Music, Inc. and Merrymount Music, Inc. |
| 1972 | The Theodore Presser Company acquired Elkan-Vogel, Inc. of Philadelphia and its US distribution rights for European publishers including Durand, Jobert, Leduc, and Lemoine |
| 1981 | The Theodore Presser Company purchased the bulk of the copyrights of American Music Edition |
| 1985 | Daniel Dorff became editor and began expanding the role of woodwind repertoire and methods, as well as developing the next generations of serious concert music composers in the Theodore Presser Company catalog |
| 2001 January | The Theodore Presser Company moved to King of Prussia, Pennsylvania |
| 2004 August | The Presser Foundation sold Theodore Presser Company to the family of Carl Fischer Music, beginning a cooperative relationship between the two companies |
| 2006 | Sonya Kim became president and chief executive officer Theodore Presser Company began offering sheet music more widely, including through digital distribution |
| 2019 September | The Theodore Presser Company publishing office relocated to Malvern, Pennsylvania Distribution centers established in upstate New York and Germany |