Editing Chappell & Co. (section)

==The Dreyfus Era and the Great American Songbook (1926–1968)==

In 1926, American brothers '''Max Dreyfus''' (1874–1964) and '''Louis Dreyfus''' (1877–1967) purchased a controlling interest in Chappell & Co. Max Dreyfus, already one of the most powerful figures in the American music publishing industry through his control of T. B. Harms & Co., had spent decades developing and signing the leading songwriters of the era. His roster at Harms included [[Jerome Kern]], [[George Gershwin]], [[Richard Rodgers]], [[Lorenz Hart]], [[Cole Porter]], [[Oscar Hammerstein II]], [[Irving Caesar]], [[Alan Jay Lerner]], and [[Frederick Loewe]]. Under the Dreyfus brothers, Chappell became the dominant publisher of the [[Great American Songbook]] and of Broadway musical theater, holding the rights to an extraordinary body of American popular song. In the United Kingdom, the firm continued publishing works by theater composers including [[Noël Coward]] and [[Ivor Novello]]. Chappell also served as the British agent for [[G. Schirmer]] from 1938 to 1973, and continued to publish concert music by prominent British composers including [[Arnold Bax]].

On May 15, 1964, three days after Max Dreyfus died in the United States, fire destroyed the London building on Bond Street. The archives were devastated. Louis Dreyfus, who was present in London at the time, was deeply affected by the loss. The premises were subsequently rebuilt. In 1968–1970, the publishing business was sold to [[PolyGram]] for £20 million. In 1975, Chappell acquired the American publisher Hill & Range, further expanding its catalog.