FISHER William Arms

FISHER William Arms, American music editor, publisher and composer; b. San Francisco, April 27, 1861; d. Boston, Dec. 18, 1948. He studied theory with Horatio Parker and singing with William Shakespeare in London. When Dvořák went to N.Y. in 1892, Fisher became his pupil. In 1897 he settled in Boston as editor and director of music publication for O. Ditson & Co.; was its vice president (1926–37). He edited several vocal albums, among them 60 Irish Folksongs (Boston, 1915) and Ye Olde New England Psalm Tunes (Boston, 1930). He wrote the words of the song “Goin’ Home” to the melody of the slow movement of Dvořák’s New World Symphony, a setting that became enormously popular.