Carr, Benjamin (EN)

Carr Benjamin, *12 September 1768 London, †24 May 1831 Philadelphia, American music publisher, singer, pianist, organist, composer, and organizer of musical life. He studied music in London with S. Arnold and Ch. Wesley. In 1793 he emigrated to the United States and settled in Philadelphia. Soon afterward his father, Joseph Carr, and his brother, Thomas Carr (1780–1849), also arrived and settled in Baltimore. All three Carr men were among the pioneers of American music publishing. Only a few months after the establishment of the first American music-publishing firm (Molier & Capron), Benjamin Carr founded a music-publishing house and music shop in Philadelphia in 1793. Joseph Carr operated a publishing business in Baltimore until 1819, after which it was taken over by Thomas. From 1794 to 1797 the Carr firm also maintained a branch in New York City, later sold to J. Hewitt. Thomas Carr published the song Star-Spangled Banner (the words of F.S. Key set to the melody of J.S. Smith’s To Anacreon in Heaven), which later became the national anthem of the United States. 

Beginning in 1794, Benjamin Carr helped organize concerts in Philadelphia, appearing as a singer. Around the same time, he made his operatic debut in the ballad opera Love in a Village, attributed to Th. Arne and staged by the Old American Company. He was also active as a concert pianist and organist, serving in Philadelphia churches from 1801 to 1831. In 1820 he was a co-founder of the Musical Fund Society in Philadelphia. 

Together with A. Reinagle, R. Taylor, J. Hewitt, and V. Pelissier, Carr belonged to the first generation of professional American composers drawn from immigrant communities. He introduced traditions of English ballad opera and Anglican church music (anthems) into American musical culture. For many years historians mistakenly regarded him as the composer of the first American opera. Of his frequently performed ballad opera The Archers, only a few fragments survive; these are characterized by simple, fluent melodies. Carr was less notable for originality than for productivity. He composed approximately 85 sacred works and 275 secular works, most of which were published by his own Philadelphia firm or by his father’s publishing house in Baltimore. Manuscripts of his songs and ballads are preserved in the New York Public Library and in private collections. These pieces were generally intended for amateur performance and feature simple piano accompaniments. Carr frequently arranged both his own music and that of other composers, as well as popular tunes. For example, his The Federal Ouverture was published in The Gentleman’s Amusement (1795) as a duet for two recorders. The work incorporates a medley of patriotic songs, including the melody of Yankee Doodle, which was already widely popular before the American Revolution and was first published then. 

Carr’s wide-ranging activities significantly influenced the development of musical life in the United States. Above all, he distinguished himself as a publisher who consciously sought to raise the level of musical culture by providing the public with accessible repertoire. In the weekly periodical «Musical Journal» and in the series «Carr’s Musical Miscellany» (85 issues), he published piano works and songs by contemporary European and American composers. The Musical Fund Society, which Carr founded with R. Taylor to organize regular concerts, served similar aims. In recognition of his contributions, the society erected a monument to him after his death.

Literature: V Redway The Carrs. American Music Publishers, “The Musical Quarterly” XVIII, 1932; R. Gerson Music in Philadelphia, Philadelphia 1940; W. Konen Puti amierikanskoj muzyki, Moscow 21965; Ch. A. Sprenkle The life and works of Benjamin Carr (1768–1831), dissertation at Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore (Maryland) 1970; E.R. Meyer Benjamin Carr’s Musical Miscellany, “Notes” XXXIII, 1976/77 pp. 253–265; C.J. Lehman Benjamin Carr, dissertation at the University of Iowa 1975; J. Bunker Clark, E.R. Meyer Benjamin Carr: Selected Secular and Sacred Songs, “American Music” VI (1988), pp. 460-462; K. Kroeger, E.R. Meyer Benjamin Carr. Selected Secular and Sacred Songs, “Notes” XLV no. 1 (1988), p. 149; S. Siek Benjamin Carr’s Theatrical Career, “American Music” XI no. 2 (1993), pp. 158–184; R. R. Grimes A Grand Selection of Sacred Music: Benjamin Carr and Early Nineteenth Century Catholic Music in Philadelphia, “U.S. Catholic Historian” XXX no. 4 (2012), pp. 21–37.