|
|
Currently available transfers 2012
July - Dec 2011 transfers still available
June 25th
Ernest Macmillan conducts the first 4 movements of Holst’s Planets
Adrian Boult conducts Elgar’s Imperial March
Gustav Holst conducts Saturn - two acoustic versions, from 1923 and 1925
June 4th
April 23rd
Shakespeare recordings by pupils of the Guildhall School of Music, Basil Maine and John Gielgud
Albert Coates conducts Siegfried’s Funeral March
February 23rd
Virtuoso String Quartet play Beethoven Op.127 and a movement by Dittersdorf
Marjorie Hayward and Una Bourne play Grieg’s Violin Sonata in C minor, and Mozart K.378
January 17th
Brahms Intermezzi played by PM Ireland
Vocal gems from Balfe’s The Bohemian Girl - Victor Light Opera Company, including Richard Crooks
Lulworth Cove - light orchestral work with the Queen’s Hall Light Orchestra conducted by Charles Williams
January 1st
Works by Lumbye, Warschawsky, Kremer and Waldteufel on early Gramophone Concert records
Chimes and sounds of London, with Stanley Roper, organ
July - Dec 2010 transfers still available
Jan - June 2010 transfers still available
July - Dec 2009 transfers still available
Jan - June 2009 transfers still available
2008 transfers still available
LP transfers still on site
|
|
June 25th 2011 - Check out my blog, for slightly more frequent updates of what I’m working on or listening to.
|
|
This latest update contains a selection of Planets, prompted by an email I received recently. Sir Ernest Macmillan recorded just four parts of Holst’s Planets Suite with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra for Victor in 1942 - Mars, Venus, Mercury and Jupiter. As Mercury required only one side, Adrian Boult’s BBC Symphony Orchestra recording of Elgar’s Imperial March was used as a filler.
|
|
Holst - The Planets Op.32
No.1 Mars (The Bringer of War)
No.2 Venus (The Bringer of Peace)
No.3 Mercury (The Winged Messneger)
No.4 Jupiter (The Bringer of Jollity)
Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Sir Ernest Macmillan
Elgar - Imperial March Op.32
BBC Symphony Orchestra, Adrian Boult
Mediafire link for Holst - Planets - excerpts - Macmillan
(This is a zip file – left click the link, download the file, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Victor album DM929, 11-8303/6 (auto-coupling)
(Standard coupling on 11-84121/5)
Holst:
Matrices ??
Recorded 1942
Elgar
Matrix 2EA-1054-1A
Recorded 16th April 1937
|
|
Holst's recordings as a conductor are well-known. In particular his acoustic and electrical recordings of The Planets have both been reissued more than once. However, as is typical for English Columbia, the subject of the acoustic recordings has some complications. As originally issued, the complete set, recorded from 1922 to 1923 (with the filler side in 1924) was issued on the following records, with the matrix and take numbers as shown:
L1459 - Jupiter 75204-2, 75205-3 (Recorded 27th October 1922 - Issued February 1923)
L1499 - Venus AX 136-2, AX 137-4 (Recorded 23rd August 1923 - Issued November 1923)
L1509 - Uranus AX 138-2, AX 139-3 (Recorded 24th August 1923 - Issued December 1923)
L1528 - Mars AX 197-2, AX 198-2 (Recorded 30th October 1923 - Issued February 1924)
L1532 - Saturn AX 199-1, AX 200-2 (Recorded 30th October 1923 - Issued March 1924)
L1542 - Neptune AX 205-1, AX 206-1 (Recorded 6th November 1923 - Issued April 1924)
L1543 - Mercury AX 135-3 (Recorded 23rd August 1923) and Marching Song AX 303-1 (Recorded 14th February 1924 - Issued May 1924)
However, for whatever reason (besides Columbia's common practice), Jupiter and Saturn were re-recorded acoustically in 1925:
L1532 - Saturn AX 199-3, AX 200-3 (Recorded 19th February 1925 - Issued April 1925)
L1459 - Jupiter 75204-8, 75205-6 (Recorded 15th September 1925 - just a month later Columbia UK were making electrical recordings - Issued October 1925)
All of the acoustic versions were replaced in December 1926 with the electrically recorded remake (for which the catalogue numbers have an R appended.)
I'm fortunate to have both acoustic versions of Saturn in my collection. As usual on English Columbia, the take numbers are not visible on the records, so it becomes more difficult to determine which version is the earlier. The two issues are distinguished by a different width of playing surface and different copyright stamps.
Quicker performance:
4½d copyright stamp of "The Copyright Protection Society (Mechanics Rights) Ltd."
Playing surface 3 1/16 inch on side 1 and 2 14/16 inch on side 2 (measuring from the start of the groove). It's sadly in a rather battered condition.
This has a total playing time of 7:01
Slower performance:
4d "Mecolico" copyright stamp.
Playing surface 3 11/16 inch on side 1 and 3 5/16 inch on side 2.
This has a total playing time of 8:22
Mecolico was founded slightly earlier than the CPS, but they did coexist. However, my records from the electrical set also have a 4d Mecolico stamp, suggesting that the lower copyright price with Mecolico is later.
Thus the 1925 recording is more than a minute slower than the 1923 recording - a vast difference, and one which sheds interesting light on Holst's performance practice.
My copy of Jupiter, also has a 4½d CPS copyright stamp, and a large gap between the end of the groove and the label. The playing surface is 3 1/16 inch on side 1 and 2 9/16 on side 2. Given the common features with the earlier Saturn recording, this would suggest that this is the earlier recording of Jupiter, total time about 6:50. This would appear to be the oft-reissued version, unsurprisingly, as it was available for 2 years and 8 months, while the 1925 remake was available for only 1 year and 2 months.
I’ve not managed to find a copy of the 1925 version of Jupiter yet, but I’m ever hopeful. I can’t help but wonder whether the two versions of Jupiter will be as different as the two of Saturn.
I suppose we should be thankful that these Holst acoustics had a rather less convoluted history than some English Columbias - most of Henry Wood's acoustics seem to have 2 distinct versions (occasionally up to 4), and one Frank Mullings recordings went through five phases of issue!
|
|
Holst - The Planets Op.32 - No.5 Saturn
London Symphony Orchestra, Gustav Holst
Holst - Saturn (1923) - LSO, Holst
Holst - Saturn (1925) - LSO, Holst
(mp3 files – click to play, or right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
Columbia L1532
Matrices AX 199-1, AX 200-2
Recorded 30th October 1923
Issued March 1924
Columbia L1532
Matrices AX 199-3, AX 200-3
Recorded 19th February 1925
Issued April 1925
Replaced with electrical version in December 1926
|
|
June 4th 2011 - Check out my blog, for more frequent updates of what I’m working on or listening to.
|
|
Things have been going slowly here, but I’m still working on assorted transfers. There should be a big update in the next month or so, but in the meanwhile, I’ll try to post occasional smaller updates, such as this one. One of Toscanini’s acoustic sides has already featured here, but here are another two, the last two movements of Mozart’s Symphony No.39.
|
|
Mozart - Symphony No.39 in E flat major K543
Orchestra of La Scala Milan, Arturo Toscanini
Mozart - Symphony No.39 - III - Toscanini 1920
Mozart - Symphony No.39 - IV - Toscanini 1920
(mp3 files – click to play, or right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
Victrola 6303
Matrices C-24738-4, C-24740-3
Recorded 18th and 21st December 1920, Victor Church Building Studios, Camden, New Jersey
|
|
April 23rd 2011 - Check out my blog, for more frequent updates of what I’m working on or listening to.
|
|
Today marks the anniversary of Shakespeare’s birth and death, and is also St. George’s Day. To mark the first of these, there are two quite different Shakespeare recordings from 78s, which are linked by a review in Gramophone magazine. Then there’s a set of Linguaphone recordings of John Gielgud performing Shakespeare. This is different to the set that has appeared here previously (though he does perform some of the same excerpts.)
Today is also the anniversary of the birth of the conductor Albert Coates, so I present here his 1926 recording of Siegfried’s Funeral March from Götterdämmerung.
|
|
Shakespeare - As You Like It: Rosalind’s Speech, Act III, Scene V
Miss Margaret Littlefair, actor
Shakespeare - Twelfth Night: Garden Scene Duologue, Olivia and Viola, Act III, Scene 1
Miss Winifred Cain, actor
Miss Bronwen Rees, actor
Shakespeare - As You Like It: Rosalind’s Speech - Littlefair
Shakespeare - Twelfth Night: Garden Scene - Cain, Rees
(mp3 files – click to play, or right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
Columbia 4396
Matrices WA 3717-3, 3715-2 (23549, 23547)
Recorded 1927
Available from June 1927
Paul Berton, BA, BCI, FGSM, Professor of Dramatic Art and Declamation at the Guildhall School of Music, with the aid of some of his students, made the following 8 recordings demonstrating his principle of "Logical-Rhetorical Dissection of Speech"
This is the third of four records. This set was roundly demolished in a review in Gramophone in August 1927:
You all know the lines about little victims heedless of their doom, and here have I been sitting hard at work to-day quite unaware of the doom in store for me in a little heap of unplayed records. This afternoon the blow fell. I have played them all through, and if I say that they are more depressing than any recent weather forecast I shall actually be understating their effect. These records, four in number from Columbia, are announced as follows :--" TRAINING FOR SPEAKING. A Series of Columbia Records of Declamatory Art Demonstrating the Logical-Rhetorical Dissection of Speech by the Students of Paul Berton, B.A., etc., Professor of the Guildhall School of Music."
...I find in these four records every fault of the professional elocutionist. It is all very well to dissect Shakespeare, but there is surely no reason why he should be murdered first, for murdered he is by these pupils of Mons. Paul Berton. Miss Winifred Cain has a really good voice; if she were properly taught she might make a good Shakespearian actress, and I am not sure that something might not be made of Miss Bronwen Rees. But no amount of logical-rhetorical dissection can compensate for the monotonous two notes, which is all that Mons. Berton seems to allow his pupils. I am aware that most Rosalinds rebuke their Phoebes in the style of a coy governess, but this particular version of the speech by Miss Margaret Littlefair outdoes all previous Rosalinds.
...It is dreadful to think what may be going on under our ears all the time without our being aware of it. I don't know how long Mons. Berton has been a professor of declamation and dramatic art at the Guildhall School of Music, but he has evidently been there long enough to write a book about it, and a fine nonsensical piece of work it seems to be, to judge by the extracts. I had never thought of the Guildhall School of Music as a dangerous institution until I played through these records to-day.
....these elocutionary records are not a success, and I shall not send any of my young friends to the Guildhall School of Music. Does Shakespeare pay ? No, and he never will pay until we can get somebody to act him. Mr. Basil Maine the other night read three or four lines from Shakespeare so well that I wish he would record John of Gaunt's glorious speech. Then there is the chief announcer of the B.B.C. He knows how to read. It is all very fine to have a Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings, but we shall soon have to start a Society for the Protection of Ancient Poetry, with appeals to The Times signed by Mr. J. C. Squire, etc., calling on the public to help in preserving Hamlet's soliloquies from logical rhetorical dissection. Columbia ! Columbia ! Why did you publish these records ?
|
|
The Gramophone reviewer’s request was soon answered, as Basil Maine made a number of recordings, both for HMV in 1929, and for Parlophone a little later, including John o’Gaunt’s speech from Richard II.
|
|
Shakespeare - Richard II - John o’Gaunt’s Speech
Shakespeare - Macbeth - The Dagger Speech
Basil Maine, actor
Shakespeare - Richard II - John o’Gaunt - Maine
Shakespeare - Macbeth - Dagger - Maine
(mp3 files – click to play, or right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
Parlophone E5987
Matrices W1549, W1550
Recorded c1930
|
|
Around 1930, John Gielgud recorded a number of Shakespearian excerpts for Linguaphone. These were issued on five 78s, and have been available on this site before, but they are available to download again below. Some years later, Gielgud recorded again for Linguaphone, another set of five 78s. He is named as Sir John Gielgud on the labels, which places the records no earlier than 1953. There are a few overlaps with the earlier set, but most selections are new. In both sets, the records are numbered only by matrix - there are no disc numbers.
|
|
Shakespeare - excerpts from plays and Sonnets - Sir John Gielgud
Mediafire link for Shakespeare - excerpts - Gielgud (c1953)
(This is a zip file – left click the link, download the file, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Linguaphone - Shakespeare Series A
Matrices given below
Recorded c1953
ENG 242-2 - Much Ado About Nothing (Act 2, Scene 3)
ENG 243-2 - King Richard the Second (Act 3, Scene 2); Sonnet XXX
ENG 244 - King Richard the Second (Act 3, Scene 3); King Henry the Fifth (Act 1, Scene 1)
ENG 245 - Romeo and Juliet (Act 1, Scene 4)
ENG 246-2 - Romeo and Juliet (Act 5, Scene 3); Cymbeline (Act 4, Scene 2)
ENG 247 - Hamlet (Act 2, Scene 2)
ENG 248 - Hamlet (Act 4, Scene 4); Measure for Measure (Act 2, Scene 2)
ENG 249-2 - Richard II (Act 3, Scene 3)
ENG 250-2 - Henry V (Act 4, Scene 1)
ENG 251-2 - Macbeth (Act 1, Scene 7); Macbeth (Act 5, Scene 5); The Tempest (Act 4, Scene 1)
|
|
Shakespeare - excerpts from plays and Sonnets - John Gielgud
Mediafire link for Shakespeare - excerpts - Gielgud (c1930)
(This is a zip file – left click the link, download the file, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Linguaphone - Shakespearian Records by John Gielgud
Matrices given below
Recorded c1930
EEG.28E - The Merchant of Venice - Gratiano's Speech (Act 1, Scene 1); As You Like It - Jaques' Speech (Act 2, Scene 7)
EEG.29E - King Richard the Second - John of Gaunt's Speech (Act 2, Scene 1); Sonnet CXVI
EEG.30E - As You Like It - Jaques' Speech (Act 2, Scene 7); The Tempest - Prospero's Speech (Act 4, Scene 1)
EEG.32E - King Henry the Fifth - King Henry's Speech (Act 2, Scene 1); King Henry the Fourth - Hotspur's Speech (Act 1, Scene 3)
EEG.33E - Othello - Othello's Speech (Act 1, Scene 3)
EEG.34E - Hamlet - Hamlet's Speech (Act 2, Scene 2)
EEG.35E - Hamlet - Hamlet's Speech (Act 4, Scene 4); Sonnet XVIII
EEG.36E - Richard II - King Richard's Speech (Act 3, Scene 3)
EEG.37E - Henry V - King Henry's Speech (Act 4, Scene 3)
EEG.38E - Midsummer Night's Dream - Oberon's Speech (Act 3, Scene 1); Oberon's Speech (Act 3, Scene 2); Puck's Speech (Act 3, Scene 2)
|
|
Albert Coates is without doubt one of my favourite conductors, though I haven’t featured him here very much at all. To celebrate his birthday, I’ve remastered his 1926 recording of Siegfried’s Funeral March from Wagner’s Götterdämmerung.
|
|
Wagner - The Twilight of the Gods - Siegfried’s Funeral March
Symphony Orchestra, Albert Coates
Wagner - The Twilight of the Gods - Funeral March - Coates
(mp3 file – click to play, or right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
His Master’s Vocie D1092
Matrices CR 217-II, 141-III (4-0837/8)
Recorded 26th March, 25th January 1926, Queen’s Hall, London
|
|
February 23rd 2011 - Check out my blog, for more frequent updates of what I’m working on or listening to.
|
|
The major project continues, so I’ve again transferred some other items, with the focus on violinists. Marjorie Hayward is heard as the first violinist of the Virtuoso Quartet in a Beethoven Quartet, and then as soloist in Grieg’s Third Sonata, with Una Bourne at the piano. The additional curiosity item is of the Turkish violinist Fethi Kapuz, recorded by the BBC in 1950 with Clarence Raybould as accompanist, playing two movements by the Turkish composer Hasan Ferit Alnar.
|
|
Beethoven - String Quartet No.12 in E flat major Op.127
I. Maestoso - Allegro (2 sides)
II. Adagio ma non troppo - Andante con moto - Adagio molto espressivo (3 sides)
III. Scherzando, vivace (2 sides)
IV. Finale (2 sides)
Dittersdorf - Minuet from Quartet in E flat major
Virtuoso String Quartet:
Marjorie Hayward, violin
Edwin Virgo, violin
Raymond Jeremy, viola
Cedric Sharpe, cello
Mediafire link for Beethoven - String Quartet Op.127 - Virtuoso Quartet
(This is a zip file – left click the link, download the file, then unzip when downloaded)
|
His Master's Voice Album Series No.35, D1183-7
Matrices Cc 7022-V, 7023-VI, 7059-II, 7060-II, 7503-I, 7506-II, 7507-III, 7552-I, 7553-II, 8517-I (single side numbers 08293, 08294, 08260, 08268, 08298, 08256, 08261, 08269, 08257, 08272)
Recorded 12th October 1926 (sides 1, 2), 26th October 1925 (sides 3, 4 at 79rpm), 14th December 1925 (sides 5, 6, 7), 17th December 1925 (sides 8, 9), 6th September 1926 (side 10), Hayes
|
|
Grieg - Violin Sonata No.3 in C minor Op.45
I. Allegro molto ed appassionato (2 sides)
II. Allegretto espressivo alla Romanza - Allegro molto - Allegretto espressivo alla Romanza (2 sides)
III. Allegro animato (2 sides)
Marjorie Hayward, violin
Una Bourne, piano
Mediafire link for Grieg - Violin Sonata No.3 in C minor Op.45 - Hayward and Bourne
(This is a zip file – left click the link, download the file, then unzip when downloaded)
|
His Master's Voice C 1388-90
Matrices Cc 6812-IV, 6813-VI, 6814-VIII, 7008-V, 7009-V, 7010-III (single side numbers 08254, 08258, 08266, 08267, 08255, 08259)
Recorded 11th November 1925 (side 1), 19th November 1925 (sides 2 to 6), Hayes
|
|
Mozart - Violin Sonata in B flat major K.378
Marjorie Hayward, violin
Una Bourne, piano
Mediafire link for Mozart - Violin Sonata in B flat K378 - Hayward and Bourne
(This is a zip file – left click the link, download the file, then unzip when downloaded)
|
His Master's Voice C 1247-8
Matrices Cc 7233-I, 7234-IV, 7492-II, 7493-III (single side numbers 08234/7)
Recorded 11th November 1925 (sides 1 and 2), 10th December 1925 (sides 3 and 4), Hayes
|
|
The next item is a BBC library recording, with that stalwart of the Columbia catalogues, Clarence Raybould providing the accompaniment for the Turkish violinist Fethi Kapuz in two of the three pieces from Suite for Violin and Piano by Hasan Ferit Alnar.
|
|
Hasan Ferit Alnar - Three Pieces from Suite for Violin and Piano
Fethi Kapuz, violin
Clarence Raybould, piano
Alnar - Adagio from Suite for Violin and Piano - Kapuz, Raybould
Alnar - Taksim from Suite for Violin and Piano - Kapuz, Raybould
(mp3 files – click to play, or right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
BBC Lib. No. 15484
Matrices 12RH 64450, 64452
Recorded 21st June 1950
|
|
January 17th 2011 - Check out my blog, for more frequent updates of what I’m working on or listening to.
|
|
While a big project slowly progresses, I’ll be posting occasional smaller updates. This latest includes three very different records, embracing opera, orchestra and piano.
|
|
Balfe - The Bohemian Girl - Vocal Gems:
Light Opera Company:
Sopranos: Della Baker, Helen Clark, Erva Giles, Emily Stokes Hagar, Olive Kline, Lucy Isabelle Marsh, Gladys Rice
Contraltos: Edna Indermauer, Marie Stone Langston, Mrs James Price
Tenors: Franklyn Baur, Richard Crooks, Charles H Hart, Lambert Murphy
Baritones: Royal Dadmun, Elliott Shaw
Basses: Frank Croxton, Wilfred Glenn
Light Opera Orchestra, Rosario Bourdon
Balfe - The Bohemian Girl - Vocal gems - Bourdon
(mp3 file – click to play, or right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
His Master’s Voice C 1382
Matrices CVE-17507-01, 17508-10 (HMV sides 2-04606, 2-04607)
Recorded 25th August 1926, Victor Church Building Studio, Camden, New Jersey
Score references to Boosey The Royal Edition vocal score (1899)
Side 1:
Intro.: - Away to Hill and Glen - I dreamt that I dwellt (Eb, p96-98, on pitch) - Heart bow'd down - Silence (D, p82-84, 87, semitone down) - Fair Land of Poland - Happy and light (Eb, p114-117)
Side 2
Intro.: - In the gipsy life (G, p32-35 - on pitch) - Come with the Gypsy Bride - Bliss for ever past - What is the spell - Then you'll remember me (Db, p178-9) - Oh what full delight
|
|
Brahms - Intermezzo Op.119 No.1 and Intermezzo Op.117 No.1
PM Ireland, piano
Brahms - Intermezzo Op.119 No.1 - PM Ireland
Brahms - Intermezzo Op.117 No.1 - PM Ireland
(mp3 file – click to play, or right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
Private Recording by Levy's Sound Studios Ltd, London W.1. England
73 & 101 New Bond St., W.1 - Mafair 8521/2
Lacquer on aluminium disc
Unnumbered, no matrix numbers. Probably recorded around 1950
I have been unable to trace any information about the pianist PM Ireland who is heard on these two sides.
|
|
Charles Shadwell - Lulworth Cove
Queen’s Hall Light Orchestra, Charles Williams
Shadwell - Lulworth Cove - QHLO, Williams
(mp3 file – click to play, or right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
Chappell C.163 (single sided)
Matrix CTP 12319-1
Recorded 1942-5
This piece of British light music is inspired by Lulworth Cove, on the south coast of England.
|
|
January 1st 2011 - Check out my blog, for more frequent updates of what I’m working on or listening to.
|
|
Here in London, it’s traditional that the chiming of Big Ben rings in the New Year. The following recordings, from November 1926, includes that distinctive bell, and other bells of Westminster, together with Stanley Roper playing the organ of St. Margaret’s Church, Westminster.
|
|
St. Margaret’s Chimes, Westminster. “O God, our help in ages past”
Impressions of London (Westminster). Actual recording of BIG BEN and traffic noises. St. Margaret’s Chimes and Organ (“The Old 100th”)
Stanley Roper, organ
St Margaret’s Chimes. “O God, our help” - Roper
Impressions of London. “The Old 100th” - Roper
(mp3 file – click to play, or right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
His Master’s Voice B 2398
Matrices BR 868-III, 869-I (9764, 9765)
Recorded 24th November 1926, St. Margaret’s Church, Westminster, London
|
|
New Year’s Day itself brings the concert from Vienna, with waltzes, polkas, galops and so on, usually by the Strauss family. The four recordings presented here are dances of the same type, but by a wider range of composers, and ensembles.
|
|
Warschawsky (or Vasily S. Varshavsky) recorded for a number of different labels (Beka, Columbia, Favorite, Gramophone Co., Zonophone) with his “Harmonia Orchestra”. This was in fact an accordion ensemble. He conducted accompaniments for choirs and solos. More details can be found at Russian Records.
|
|
Warschawsky Polka
W. Warschawsky’s Orchester
Warschawsky Polka
(mp3 file – click to play, or right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
G&T Gramophone Concert Record G.C.-20596
Matrix 1556z (20596 II)
Recorded 1903, Moscow
This plays in G major at 78rpm (with concert pitch of A440). My copy of this record is very worn, particularly at the start.
|
|
Chris Chapman was an American percussionist who recorded for Victor from 1905 to 1909, playing mainly bells or xylophone. In this recording he plays a Gavotte by Charles W Kremer, about whom I can find no further information. This is the only recording of one of his works to appear in the Victor acoustic catalogues.
|
|
Charles W Kremer - Southern Girl Gavotte
Chris Chapman, bells with Orchestra
Kremer - Southern Girl Gavotte - Chris Chapman
(mp3 file – click to play, or right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
Gramophone Concert Record G.C.-9383
Matrix B-4764 (Victor master - English pressing gives A4764 (9383 IV))
Recorded 5th August 1907
This plays in F major at 78rpm.
|
|
Although named on the label as “Clarkes London Concert Band,” this recording was issued in the French catalogue as being played by the Musique de la Garde Républicaine, and its use of the o-series matrix number also suggests a French recording.
|
|
Waldteufel - Toujours ou jamais Waltz
“Clarkes London Concert Band” - Musique de la Garde Républicaine
Waldteufel - Toujours ou jamais - Garde Republicain (G flat major)
Waldteufel - Toujours ou jamais - Garde Republicaine (G major)
(mp3 file – click to play, or right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
G&T Gramophone Concert Record G.C.-2-145
Matrix 4397o (2-145)
Recorded 1904-5, Paris
Curiously, after the end of the Waldteufel, there is a gap in the grooves, and then another track - a few seconds of a steady single note on a trumpet.
The French military had already adopted diapason normal by this time and this recording plays in G flat major at 75.9rpm. At this speed, this trumpet tone appears as A440. A speed of around 80.4rpm would put the work in G major, with the test tone as a B flat, this would put result in many of the transposing instruments playing in A major and E major, which may be less likely than playing in A flat major and E flat major. However, I’ve provided transfers at both pitches, and leave it to the listener to decide which sounds more likely. The original orchestral key of E major is unfeasible!
As with the Warschawsky, there is a great deal of wear and distortion, particularly near the start of this record.
|
|
The label for the following record of music by Lumbye names “Elite Orkester”, then København, Danish Orchestra. However, the matrix listings name the Black Diamonds Band, the Gramophone Company’s house band. At the same session they recorded several other works by Lumbye, Lund, Eriksen and Wenrich, likely for the Danish catalogue.
|
|
H.C. Lumbye - Salut for August Bournonville, Galop
“Elite Orkester” - Black Diamons Band
Lumbye - Salut for August Bournonville - Black Diamonds Band
(mp3 file – click to play, or right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
Gramophone Concert Record V.*70659
Matrix 11414e (V*70659)
Recorded 4th March 1910, London
On the basis that standard military band pitch at the time was A452, I’ve transferred this at 80rpm, which puts it in B flat for this pitch standard. The original orchestral version is in D, which would give a turntable speed which is unfeasibly fast for Gramophone records of this period. It would however give the piece at a speed comparable to modern recordings of this galop!
|
|
Recordings digitized using Stanton ST.150 turntable with Stanton 500 cartridge. Various styli supplied by Expert Stylus Company. Digital sound processing, including equalization, filtering to remove rumble and hum, speed adjustments and dehissing, using DC6, by Diamond Cut productions. Declicking and decrackling using ClickRepair. Re-equalisation using HarBal.
All recordings remastered from original analogue recordings, out of copyright in the UK (1960 or earlier), and hosted in the UK.
|
|
