Max Dreyfus
| Max Dreyfus | |
|---|---|
| Born |
April 1, 1874 Kuppenheim, Grand Duchy of Baden, German Empire |
| Died | May 12, 1964 (aged 90) Brewster, New York, United States |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Music publisher, arranger, songwriter |
Max Dreyfus (April 1, 1874 – May 12, 1964) was a German-born American music publisher, arranger and songwriter. Between the 1910s and 1950s he encouraged and published the work of many of the writers of the so-called Great American Songbook, and was president of Chappell & Co., Inc., the world's largest music publishing firm.
He was born in Kuppenheim, Germany, and at the age of 14 traveled to the USA at the invitation of family friend Aaron Lehman who had immigrated to Jackson, Mississippi. Initially, Dreyfus worked as a travelling salesman selling picture frames, but by the mid-1890s worked on Tin Pan Alley in New York City where he worked closely with songwriter Paul Dresser and transcribed song arrangements. Within a few years he had secured a post with the publishing firm set up by Thomas B. Harms (1860-1906), arranging, plugging songs, and doing some songwriting; his song "Cupid's Garden", published under the pseudonym Max Eugene, was successful in 1901.
Harms sold his share in the family publishing firm in 1904 to Max and his younger brother Louis Dreyfus (1877-1967), who had joined him in the US. The two brothers retained the company name T. B. Harms, and established a partnership with the London firm of Francis, Day & Hunter, allowing them to market their songs in Britain. They also encouraged young new songwriters in New York, most notably Jerome Kern, who soon achieved success and became a partner in the company. After the First World War, the company had commercial success with songs such as "Poor Butterfly", and more songwriters joined the company, including George Gershwin, Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart, Rudolf Friml, Vincent Youmans, Irving Caesar, and Cole Porter.
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