Firth

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History

John Firth was born in Yorkshire, England in 1789. In 1810 he arrived in New York and after military service in the War of 1812 both he and his future partner William Hall (1796-1873) found work with the instrument maker Edward Riley. Firth left in 1815 to establish his own shop and was joined in 1821 by Hall thus creating the firm Firth & Hall. In addition to manufacturing musical instruments the firm published sheet music at least as early as 1833. In that year Sylvanus Billings Pond (1792-1871) was admitted into partnership and the firm was renamed Firth, Hall & Pond. The business re-organized again in 1847 when Hall left establishing his own firm William Hall & Son while Thaddeus Firth and William A. Pond (d.1885), sons of the two remaining partners, were admitted into the firm which was renamed Firth, Pond & Co. In 1863 the firm was split up with the Ponds forming William A. Pond & Co. and the Firths forming Firth, Son & Co. John Firth died on September 10, 1864 and the firm continued to be run by his son Thaddeus until it was sold to Oliver Ditson Company in March, 1867.

Firth primarily published popular songs and piano pieces. By far, its most valuable commodity was the popular songs of Stephen Foster.

Imprints, Addresses, Agencies

Imprints

• John Firth (1815-1820) - Probably manufactured instruments only.
• Firth & Hall (1821-1832) - Imprint was still in use in the 1840s.
• Firth, Hall & Pond (1833-1847)
• Firth, Pond & Co. (1847-1863)
• Firth, Son & Co. (1863-1867)

Addresses

• 1 Franklin Square, New York (1832-1856)
• 239 Broadway, New York (1846) - address for Firth, Hall & Pond at same time that Firth & Hall were located at Franklin Square
• 547 Broadway, New York (1857-1863)
• 563 Broadway, New York (1864-1867)

Plate Numbers

Firth & Hall and Firth, Hall & Pond appear to have used either no plate numbers or an abbreviation of the work's title followed by the number of plates. Plate numbers for Firth, Pond & Co. and Firth, Son & Co. were issued in a fairly regular chronological fashion in the format of ####..

Firth & Hall and Firth, Hall & Pond

Plate	Composer	Work	Year
Isle of Sheppy Waltzes. 7	Bristow	Isle of Sheppy Waltzes	1840
Rory O Moore Var. 6	Bristow	Rory O'Moore	1842
3846	Wallace	Grande valse de concert, Op.27	1845
3904	Saroni	Music From Afar	1846
4010	Wallace	La belle anglaise	1846
4048	Heinrich	The Tribute - pt.2, The City of Fraternal Love	1846
4138	Saroni	Atlantic	1847
4194	Saroni	Autumn	1847
4195	Scharfenberg	Spring	1847

Firth, Pond & Co. and Firth, Son & Co.

Plate	Composer	Work	Year
470	Zorer	The May Breezes (trans. English by Leland)	1849
472	Underner	Magdalena Polka	1849
610	Zorer	Der vogel und die schlinge	1850
644	Hoffman	Grande Fantasie on Here's To You, Harry Clay	1850
797	La Hache	Woodman, Spare that Tree	1850
821	Wels	Grand Funeral March (arr. piano solo)	1850
874	Wels	The Polka for the People	1850
931	Wels	Solitude and Memory, Op.6	1851
950	Taubert	4 Gesänge, Op.74 (no.1 arr. for Guitar by Zorer)	1851
1026	Dressler	The Sea Steamer Schottisch, Op.16	1851
1083	Brown	Happy Family Polka	1851
1094	Wels	The Opal Waltzes, Op.8	1851
1102	Leutner	The Gipsey Polka (arr. for solo piano)	1851
1555	Dressler	The Blossom Schottisch, Op.8	1852
1668	Wels	Spirito Gentil, Op.9	1852
1883	Wels	3 Lays of the People, Op.10 (no.1)	1853
1884	Wollenhaupt	Grand march de concert, Op.19	1853
1925	Wels	3 Lays of the People, Op.10 (no.2)	1853
1928	Wels	3 Lays of the People, Op.10 (no.3)	1853
2048	La Hache	Sicilienne in C major	1853
2279	Phelps	The Bamboula Polka	1853
2393	Wels	The Sigh, Op.21	1853
2436	Grobe	Massa's in the Cold Ground with Variations, Op.367	1853
2561	Wels	Grand Triumphal March, Op.14	1853
2578	Wels	Omar Pasha's March, Op.22	1853
2599	Gottschalk	L'Etincelle, Op.20	1854
2624	Wels	Trill Schottisch, Op.17	1854
2662	Phelps	Come in Beautiful Dreams	1854
2796	Foster	Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair	1854
2809	Wels	Le tremolo, Op.23	1854
2924	Kleber	The Gazelle Schottisch	1854
3342	Herz	Variations Brillantes on 'The Last Rose of Summer', Op.159 (arr. for piano 4-hand)	1855
3392	Schulhoff	3 Impromptus, Op.8 (No.1)	(1855)
3476	Dressler	The Copyright Schottisch, Op.63	1855
3623	Wels	Joie du cœur mazurka, Op.29	1855(?)
3666	Bellak	Scenes from Martha, Op.501	1856(?)
3674	Bellak	Kleber's Rainbow Schottisch, Op.546	1856
3848	Mason	3 Valses de Salon, Op.7 (No.1)	1856
3851-52	Mason	3 Valses de Salon, Op.7 (Nos.2 and 3)	1856
3913	Bellak	Crown Diamonds	1856
4035	Mason	3 Preludes, Op.8	1856
4056	Berg	Reminiscences of the North Star, Op.25	1856
4082	Satter	Méditation religieuse, Op.6	1857
4206	Wels	Le Bonheur, Op.35	1857
4213	Mason	Lullaby, Op.10	1857
4280	Wels	Transcription et variation sur 'Di provenza il mar', Op.45	1857
4380	Goldbeck	La Blonde, Op.43	(1857)
4939	Gottschalk	Columbia, Op.34	1860
4984	Grobe	Dixie's Land, Op.1250	1860
5077	Warren	Christ the Lord is Risen Today	1860
5282	Foster	That's What's the Matter	1862
5924	Bishop	I'll Never Forget Thee, Dear Mary	1866

Sources Consulted

1. "Firth, Pond & Co." Wikipedia.
2. "Firth Pond and Co." - New York Makers" McGee Flutes.
3. Groce, Nancy. Musical Instrument Makers of New York (Pendragon Press, 1991). Google Preview.