Fischer, Carl

Fischer, Carl (1849–1923) music publisher; born in Buttstadt, Germany. Trained as a musician, he emigrated to the U.S.A. in 1872 and opened a music store in New York City. He sold instruments and other firms' scores but soon found a market for reproducing music; by 1880 he was moving to larger quarters and the Carl Fischer firm went on to become one of the major American publishers of a wide spectrum of music—band, choral, instructional, as well as the classical and contemporary composers. The firm also published The Metronome (1885) for bandleaders and the Musical Observer (later Musical Courier).