User:Max Peltuinum/Sandbox2

Albert Martin Schacht (c. 1842 – August 9, 1885) was an American composer and music publisher active in New York City during the mid-to-late 19th century. He was the founder of A.M. Schacht & Co., a publishing house that specialized in dance music and orchestral repertoire, contributing to the popularity of waltzes, polkas, and marches in the American musical landscape of the Gilded Age.^[1]

Schacht established the publishing firm A.M. Schacht & Co. in 1868 in New York City. Initially located on Allen Street, the business moved to several locations across the city as it grew.^{[2] [3]}

The firm focused on publishing dance music, overtures, and operatic selections arranged for theater orchestras, brass bands, and small ensembles. Schacht also published piano reductions of his own compositions and those of other contemporary New York composers.^[3]

Following Schacht's death on August 9, 1885, his widow, Augusta Schacht, was listed in city directories as the proprietor of the company. The firm was later managed by their son, Robert, until it was sold in 1888.^[3]

Schacht's work reflects the popular tastes of 19th-century New York, with a repertoire centered on the waltz, polka, galop, and quadrille. Through his publishing house, he made these genres accessible to local orchestras and bands, playing a role in the dissemination of social dance music in the United States.^[3]

Schacht was a respected figure within the New York music publishing scene. In 1879, fellow composer Emil Boettger dedicated the Mountaineer March to him (published by Oliver Ditson & Co.), signifying Schacht's professional standing and ties with other prominent musicians and publishers of the era.^[4]

His compositions, such as Satanella, often utilized cultural and iconographic themes common in 19th-century dance music.^[5]

• American Dance Album (1877–1878)^[6]
• Echoes of the Night (Medley Quadrille No. 10) (1874)
• Teutonia March (1874)^[7]
• Satanella, or Devil’s Call Galop (1874)
• On Time Waltz (1876)^[8]
• Decoration Day Grand Parade March (1878)^[9]
• Four Encores (1876–1884)

• Free scores by Max Peltuinum/Sandbox2 at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)
• A.M. Schacht’s Dance Album at the Library of Congress