Benjamin Carr

He was also the nephew of his namesake Benjamin Carr (1731–80), who ran an instrument-making and repair shop in London for over 20 years.

He was "decidedly the most important and prolific music publisher in America during the 1790s (as well as one of its most distinguished composers), conducting, in addition to his Philadelphia business, a New York branch from 1794 to 1797, when it was acquired by James Hewitt".

Also among his songs are several sets of ballads, including Six Ballads from The Lady of the Lake op.7, published in the same year (1810) as the poem by Sir Walter Scott on which they are based; the set contains the Hymn to the Virgin ("Ave Maria"), which is especially notable for its harp-like arpeggiated accompaniment.

[1] His piano music includes shorter sonatas, rondos and variation forms; much of it was written for pedagogical purposes, although a few works are more technically advanced.

He also wrote several important pedagogical works, including the Lessons and Exercises in Vocal Music (c.1811) and The Analytical Instructor for the Piano Forte (1826).