H.W. Gray has roots in the 1870s, initially founded as the American distributor for Novello. In 1906, in addition to maintaining the Novello distributorship for many more years, H.W. Gray began its own publishing schedule of new works. Leo Sowerby, for example, had a long and distinguished relationship with H.W. Gray, including the publication of his Canticle of the Sun, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1946. Also in the 1940s, H.W. Gray commissioned several late works of Arnold Schoenberg.

The company was sold and moved several times during the late 20th century, and in 2005 was part of a large acquisition by Alfred Music. Since that time, the imprint published only a small number of works. However, with the founding of Jubilate Music Group, ownership of the H.W. Gray catalog transferred to Jubilate (which contains H.W. Gray, as well as Alfred Sacred and Jubilate Music) and the Jubilate management and editorial team are passionate to return H. W. Gray as a highly-visible publisher of distinctive and artful sacred music. Under the editorial guidance of new H.W. Gray Editor Howard Helvey, H.W. Gray is once again publishing exciting new choral works for church and school.