Editing Warner Chappell Music (section)

===The Dreyfus Era and American Expansion (1926–1983)===

In 1926, American brothers '''Max Dreyfus''' and '''Louis Dreyfus''' — already prominent New York music publishers through their control of T. B. Harms & Co. — purchased a controlling interest in Chappell & Co. Max Dreyfus was one of the most powerful figures in the American music publishing industry, having signed and developed the careers of [[Jerome Kern]], [[George Gershwin]], [[Richard Rodgers]], [[Lorenz Hart]], [[Cole Porter]], [[Oscar Hammerstein II]], [[Irving Caesar]], [[Alan Jay Lerner]], and [[Frederick Loewe]], among others. Under the Dreyfus brothers, Chappell became the dominant publisher of the [[Great American Songbook]] and of Broadway musical theater. On May 15, 1964, three days after Max Dreyfus died in the United States, a fire destroyed the London building on Bond Street, devastating the archives and deeply affecting Louis Dreyfus, who was present. The premises were subsequently rebuilt. In 1975, Chappell acquired the American music publisher Hill & Range. The Chappell publishing business was eventually acquired by [[PolyGram]], while the Chappell retail and instrument business on Bond Street was sold separately to Kemble Pianos, which continued to operate the store under the Chappell of Bond Street name.