the amica - stacks
TRANSCRIPT
REPR
ODUC
ING P
IANOS
♦
W
ELTE
-MIGN
ON ♦
AM
PICO
♦
DUO-
ART
♦
ORCH
ESTR
IONS
♦
BA
ND O
RGAN
S ♦
VIO
LIN PL
AYER
S REPRODUCING PIANOS ♦ WELTE-MIGNON ♦ AMPICO ♦ DUO-ART ♦ ORCHESTRIONS ♦ BAND ORGANS ♦ VIOLIN PLAYERS
P L A Y E R P I A N O S ♦ N I C K E L O D E O N S ♦ P I A N O R O L L S
P L A Y E R P I A N O S ♦ N I C K E L O D E O N S ♦ P I A N O R O L L S
AMICAwww.amica.orgT H E
B U L L E T I N
Volume 46, Number 1
January/February 2009
AUTOMATIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENTCOLLECTORS’ ASSOCIATION
Entire contents © 2009 AMICA International Printed by Engler Printing Co., Fremont, OH • [email protected] 1
VOLUME 46, Number 1 January/February 2009
FEATURESOn-Line Library Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Terry Smythe . . . . . . .6Book Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Jack Rummel . . . . . . .6Classical Ghosts, Audible Once Again . . . . . . . . . . . . .Daniel Wakin . . . . . . .8The Seewin-Britannic Organ and Its Associate Rolls .David Rumsey . . . . .10A Duo-Art Expression Simulator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Julian Dyer . . . . .20The People and Pianos of the Engelhardt Mansion . . .Ben Gottfried . . . . .24100+ Years of Automatic Music in Colorado . . . . . . . . . .Art Reblitz . . . . .26
DEPARTMENTSAMICA International . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2-3President’s Message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4Publisher’s Message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4Letters to Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5Obit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37New Piano Rolls & Recuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37Chapter News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40Classified Ads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .61
Front Cover: Photo submitted by Robin Pratt
Inside Front: 2009 Cincinnati Convention Info
Inside Back Cover: 2009 Cincinnati Convention Info
Back Cover: Peerless Piano Player Band submitted by Ben Gottfried
THE AMICA BULLETINAUTOMATIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENT COLLECTORS' ASSOCIATION
Published by the Automatic Musical Instrument Collectors’ Association, a non-profit, tax exempt group devoted to the restoration, distributionand enjoyment of musical instruments using perforated paper music rolls and perforated music books. AMICA was founded in San Francisco, California in 1963.
PROFESSOR MICHAEL A. KUKRAL, PUBLISHER, 216 MADISON BLVD., TERRE HAUTE, IN 47803-1912 -- Phone 812-238-9656, E-mail: [email protected] the AMICA Web page at: http://www.amica.org
“Members-Only” Webpage - Current Username: “AMICA”, Password: “valve”Associate Editor: Mr. Larry Givens • Editor Emeritus: Robin Pratt
AMICA BULLETINDisplay and Classified AdsArticles for PublicationLetters to the PublisherChapter News
UPCOMING PUBLICATIONDEADLINESThe ads and articles must be receivedby the Publisher on the 1st of theOdd number months:
January JulyMarch SeptemberMay November
Bulletins will be mailed on the 2nd weekof the even months.
Dr. Michael A. Kukral, Publisher216 Madison Blvd.
Terre Haute, Indiana 47803-1912Phone: 812-238-9656
e-mail: [email protected]
MEMBERSHIP SERVICES
Membership Dues:USA Bulk Mail . . . . . . . . . . $55.00USA First Class . . . . . . . . . . .$70.00Overseas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$70.00Canada-Mexico . . . . . . . . . . .$65.00
Renewals – Additional $5.00 due if renewed past the Jan. 31 deadline
Address changes and corrections
Directory information updates
Additional copies ofMember Directory . . . . $25.00
Single copies of back issues ($10.00 per -issue – based upon availability)
William Chapman (Bill)53685 Avenida BermudasLa Quinta, CA 92253-3586(760) 564-2951e-mail: [email protected]
To ensure timely delivery of yourBULLETIN, please allow 6-weeksadvance notice of address changes.
AMICA Publications reserves the right to accept, reject, or edit any and all submitted articles and advertising. While the AMICA Bulletin offers accurate and historic information to its members, the bulletin, its publisher and the AMICA Board cannot be held responsible for
contributions that may be considered by some as inaccurate, speculative, or of an OP/ED Format
ISSN #1533-9726
2
AMICA INTERNATIONAL
– INTERNATIONAL OFFICERS –
PRESIDENTJohn Motto-Ros110 Allen Ranch RoadSutter Creek, CA 95685209-267-9252e-mail: [email protected]
PAST PRESIDENTMike Walter65 Running Brook Dr.Lancaster, NY 14086-3314716-656-9583e-mail: [email protected]
VICE PRESIDENTTim Baxter939 Briarcliff Rd. NEAlanta, GA 30306-4664404-377-1220e-mail: [email protected]
PUBLISHERDr. Michael A. Kukral216 Madison Blvd.Terre Haute, IN 47803-1912812-238-9656e-mail: [email protected]
SECRETARYMarlene Beckman4046 SE 53rd StreetBerryton, KS 66409-9714785-862-0128e-mail: [email protected]
TREASURERRobbie Tubbs7405 WillowRaytown, MO 64133816-313-1075e-mail:[email protected]
AMICA ARCHIVESTom Hutchinson15361 Hopper Rd. Sturgeon, MO 65284e-mail: [email protected]
CONVENTION COORDINATORFrank Nix6030 Oakdale Ave.Woodland Hills, CA 91367818-884-6849
AMICA MEMORIAL FUNDRay Dietz1250 Lanier Rd.Martinsville, VA 24112-5212
HONORARY MEMBERSMike Walter65 Running Brook Dr.Lancaster, NY 14086-3314716-656-9583e-mail: [email protected]
AUDIO-VISUAL & TECHNICALHarold Malakinian2345 Forest Trail Dr.Troy, MI 48098
WEBSITE MANAGERKarl Ellison6 Lions LaneSalem, MA 01970-1784e-mail: [email protected]
MEMBERSHIP SECRETARYWilliam Chapman (Bill)53685 Avenida BermudasLa Quinta, CA 92253-3586Phone & Fax: 760-564-2951e-mail: [email protected]
– COMMITTEES –
3
AMICA INTERNATIONAL
BOSTON AREAPres: Bob HuntVice Pres: John VanOpdorpSec: Kirk RussellTreas: Dorothy BromageReporter: Don BrownBoard Rep: Bob Hunt - [email protected] AREAPres: Jerry BiasellaVice Pres: Richard Van MetreSec: Carol Veome - 773-338-1042
[email protected]: Joe PekarekReporter: Curt CliffordBoard Rep:FOUNDING CHAPTERPres: John Ulrich - 510-223-9587
[email protected] Pres: Karen SimonsSec: Jack EdwardsTreas/Bd Rep: Richard ReutlingerReporter: Bonnie and Bob GonzalezHEART OF AMERICAPres: Robbie Tubbs -
[email protected] Pres: Dan DavisSec: T. MoffettTreas: Brian GrahamReporter: H.C. and Marlene BeckmanBoard Rep: Gary CraigLADY LIBERTYPres: Vincent Morgan -
[email protected] Pres: Bill MaguireSec: Richard KarlssonTreas: Maryam Morgan
Reporter: Martin “Buzz” RosaBoard Reps: Marvin & Dianne Polan
631-673-0388Newsletter Editor: Bill MaguireMIDWEST (OH, MI, IN, KY)Pres: Don Johnson - 248-650-1840
[email protected] Pres: Liz BarnhartSec: Hilda MerchantTreas: Alvin WulfekuhlReporter: Christy CountermanBoard Rep: Liz BarnhartNORTHERN LIGHTSPres: Paul Watkins -
[email protected] Pres: Ron OlsenSec: Michael LuBrantTreas: Barbara WatkinsReporter: Jerrilynn BoehlandBoard Rep: Alan Turner & Paul WatkinsPACIFIC CAN-AMPres: Bill MoteVice Pres: David GoodwinSecretary: Judy MoteTreas: Mark SmithbergReporter: Bd. Rep: Dan BrownROCKY MOUNTAINPres: Jere DeBacker - [email protected] Pres: Ken HodgeSec: Louise LuceroTreas: Fred WilsonReporter: Larry Emmons
SIERRA NEVADAPres: John Motto-Ros - 209-267-9252
[email protected] Pres: Doug & Vicki MahrSec: Sonja LemonTreas: Doug & Vicki MahrReporter: Nadine Motto-RosBoard Rep: Chip LusbySOWNY (Southern Ontario,Western New York)Pres:Vice Pres: Mike Walter -
[email protected] • 716-656-9583Sec: Garry Lemon - [email protected]: Holly Walter -
[email protected]: Garry & Anne LemonBoard Rep: Audrey Cannizzaro -
[email protected]: Nancy Group & Anne LemmonSOUTHERN CALIFORNIAPres: Richard IngramVice Pres: Mike ChoateSec./Reporter: Shirley NixTreas: Diane ReidyBoard Rep: Frank NixTEXASPres: Rich Clayton - 972-369-0470
[email protected] Pres: Bill Boruff - [email protected]: Janet Tonnesen - [email protected]./Bulletin Reporter: Maureen Barisonek -
[email protected] Rep: John & Suzanne McCall -
AFFILIATED SOCIETIES AND ORGANIZATIONSAmerican Theatre Organ Society (ATOS)President - Ken Double1201 McDuffie St. #173Houston, TX 77019Phone: 713-520-1911Email: [email protected] Organ Editor - Jeff Weiler1845 South Michigan Avenue #1905Chicago, IL 60616Phone: 312-842-7475Email: [email protected]
Associazione Italiana Musica Meccanica Villa Silvia - Via Lizzano, 124147023 Cesena (FC), ItalyPhone: 0039-547-323425 Fax: 0039-547-661264Email: [email protected]: www.ammi-mm.it
Australian Collectors of Mechanical Musical Instruments19 Waipori StreetSt. Ives NSW 2075, Australia
Netherlands Pianola AssociationNederlandse Pianola VerenigingAtt. Jan van Hulzen, Member of the BoardChopinrode 252717 BH Zoetermeer, NetherlandsEmail: [email protected]
Friends of Scott Joplin1217 St. Croix Ct.Kirkwood, MO 63122-2326website: http//stlouis.missouri.org/fsjoplinEmail: [email protected]
International Piano Archives at MarylandPerforming Arts Library,University of Maryland2511 Clarice Smith Performing Arts CenterCollege Park, MD 20742Phone: 301-405-9224Fax: 301-314-7170Email: [email protected]
International Vintage Phono & Mechanical Music SocietyC.G. Nijsen, Secretaire General19 Mackaylaan5631 NM Eindhoven, Netherlands
Musical Box Society of Great BritainAlan Pratt, EditorP. O. Box 299Waterbeach, Cambridge CB4 4PJEngland
Musical Box Society InternationalRosanna Harris, Editor5815 West 52nd AvenueDenver, CO 80212Phone: 303-431-9033 Fax: 303-431-6978Email: [email protected]
Netherlands Mechanical Organ Society -KDVA. T. MeijerWilgenstraat 24NL-4462 VS Goes, Netherlands
Northwest Player Piano AssociationEverson Whittle, Secretary11 Smiths Road, Darcy Lever,Bolton BL3 2PP, Gt. Manchester, EnglandHome Phone: 01204 529939Business Phone: 01772 208003
Pianola InstituteClair Cavanagh, Secretary43 Great Percy St., London WC1X 9RAEngland
Player Piano GroupJulian Dyer, Bulletin Editor5 Richmond Rise, Wokingham,Berkshire RG41 3XH, United KingdomPhone: 0118 977 1057Email: [email protected]
Smithsonian InstitutionDivision of Musical HistoryWashington, D.C. 20560
Society For Self-Playing Musical InstrumentsGesellschaft für Selbstspielende Musikinstrumente (GSM) E.V.Ralf SmolneEmmastr. 56D-45130 Essen, GermanyPhone:**49-201-784927Fax:**49-201-7266240Email: [email protected]
CHAPTER OFFICERS
A new year is upon us and members of AMICA can look forward to another great convention coming up this year in Cincinnati. It is a fantastic city and I know that the Midwest Chapter, one of our largest andoldest of AMICA, will provide participants with a memorable experience.Mark your calendars now (see inside front and back covers for details).
Another topic was brought to my attention by John and I would like to ask members to re-submit any articles sent to me for publication duringthe past six years that failed to be printed. I try my best to use all worth-while materials sent in for publication but I have been told that many submissions did not appear in our bulletin. Please send them to me againas I am reserving the next issue of the bulletin for these “lost” articles.I’ve searched my stacks of files and computer and honestly cannot locateany quality submitted items that I did not use. Sorry if I have misplacedor lost them so this is your chance to send them in. And to those AMICA members who have sent many submissions during the past six years of my editorship I extend a great big thank you! As always, enjoy your bulletin and let me know what you think.
Best wishes for the New Year!Mike Kukral, Publisher since 2003
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
4
The holidays have come and gone; and the older I get, the faster they seem to roll around the next year. Speaking of the holidays, the first item on your New Year’s resolution list should be renewing your AMICA membership. Please make sure all yourinformation is up to date when sending in your renewal form.
It seems I am always harping on this, but I can’t suggest often enough that our members look at the AMICA International web site. Member Terry Smythe is continuallyposting historical information on “The Members Only” page. Whether you are a long-timemember or new to AMICA, you will find this section interesting, starting with the old Bulletins. It is fun to see how we all looked early on, and then there are the instruments!
I am saddened to report that we have lost two long-time members. Past PresidentMaury Willyard passed away December 24, and Durrell Armstrong, supplier of playerpiano parts, passed December 25. Both will be missed by many.
On a happier note, it is not too early to be thinking about plans to attend the conventionin Cincinnati, July 22-26, 2009. Based on the information in the December 2008 Bulletin,it looks to be an interesting and fun event.
John [email protected]
FROM THE PUBLISHER’S DESK
The website’s Members-Only area password will change to “valve” on January 1, 2009.
5
LE T T E R S T O T H E E D I T O R
26 Nov 2008
Mr. Terry Smythe55 Rowand AvenueWinnipeg, MB R3J2N6, Canada
Dear Terry,
I read in the “Bulletin“ (Vol 45 #5) about your desire to make Obenchains’ AMPICO catalog in digital format. This is a very commendable effort on your part!
I would enjoy an even more exhaustive undertaking! i.e. a complete Ampico, Duo-Art, Welte listings somewhat as is presently in thefine book of Larry Sitsky’s “The Classical Reproducing Piano Roll, a Catalogue Index”.
I’d suggest for ALL rolls, not just classical. I believe most AMICAns would be satisfied with the big 3? Sitsky Lists: Stella, Ampico, Virtuola, Apollo, Pleyela, Artecho, Hupfeld, including Dea, Triphonola, and Phonola. I do believe perhaps Recordo rollswould be of interest to a sizeable number of AMICAns. The others would be too great for a complete catalog undertaking! Animprovement would be to indicate the Welte system that is mentioned- i.e. “Licensee”, or other! I believe most AMICAns (American)are more inclined to have interests, in that format.
I do think it is within the realm of possibility that the “Complete Catalogs of the big 3 (and perhaps Recordo) could be cross-referenced, somewhat as Sitsky has done.
This would indeed be a very valuable tool for all serious roll collectors!
Obenchains’ book is in short supply, the Welte book is sold out, I do not know the status of the Duo-Art book. I believe the Recordorolls have been digitally formatted?
The rolls could be listed by titles, as the composers may not be known to most AMICAns? The present catalogs do have title listings,as well as Composers and Number listings.
Yours very truly,
Dear Mike,
I enjoyed reading this account, “Tale of a Duo-Art Concert Grand Steinway D217715.” I’d like to let the writer know one thing Inoticed that was inaccurate.
He wrote that you can request a McMaster Carr Supply Co. Catalog (pg. 353; A Rubber Tire? 4/5th down).
Sixty years ago, I worked for that firm. Their 1,600 page catalog had a limited distribution. I doubt they put it out on request.
Alternatively, interested folks should go to the company web page: http://www.mcmaster.com/ to access their on-line catalog. I agreethat they are one of the best if not THE best industrial/mill supply house. Furthermore, they will try to find items not in their catalogas a customer service.
Thad Kochanny
6
Earlier I reported an initiative underway to build an on-linelibrary. To date (1 January 2009), we now have available:171 documents created from original literature.350 issues of our AMICA Bulletin from 1964 to 2007.
If you have not yet visited our AMICA web site, this library isavailable through our Members-Only portal. Your current issueprovides the login and password details.
To give you a feeling for the original literature that is there, thelibrary has within it: 24 Music roll catalogs 35 issues of the Standard Player Monthly, with about 20 more to be added.40 publications oriented to reproducing pianos.
These are but a modest indication of what is currently availableon-line, and a hint of much more to come.
Where possible we try to work with original documents, ratherthan reprints, as reprints often were reproduced with lesserdetails.
As I mentioned in an earlier appeal, we are encouraging all members to consider making original literature available fromout of their personal collections.
In particular, members who are considering donating their collection of original literature to an institution of some kind, arestrongly encouraged to contact me for arrangements to archive itinto computer files for our on-line library.
Experience is clearly demonstrating that once such a collection isin the hands of an institution, be it a university, public library,museum, or whatever, open access thereafter is just not possible.Highly restricted access is possible, but in a most unsatisfactorymanner.
Our on-line library is intended to provoke and nourish personalresearch, out of which amazing articles, monographs, and perhaps even books will emerge.
All members are encouraged to support this initiative, which will go a long way towards sustaining the good health of ourassociation. Volunteers to assist in the harvesting and scanningof original literature will be very much appreciated.
Terry Smythe
N-LINE LIBRARY UPDATEO
Book ReviewThe King of Ragtime, Larry Karp, author
Poisoned Pen Press, ISBN: 978-1-59058-526-9 HardcoverBy Jack Rummel - Submitted by Peg Kehret
For the second volume in Larry Karp’s proposed ragtimemystery trilogy, the setting is New York City. Scott Joplin hastaken a manuscript for a musical play to none other than IrvingBerlin, hoping that the firm of Waterson, Berlin and Snyder willpublish it. Joplin soon returns to their office, only to discoverthat the manuscript is missing and he is alone with a still warmcorpse. He is seen leaving the building and the police are onlytoo anxious to pin the crime on him.
His wife, Lottie, fears for his life and contacts Nell Stark,who had previously befriended them. Nell, in turn, sends for herfather, publisher John Stark of St. Louis, to come to New Yorkand help her find the manuscript, solve the mystery and clearJoplin’s name.
Such is the premise for this clever work of historical fiction.Karp has carefully researched his facts and depicts New York asit was in 1916, warts and all. Prejudice abounds, especiallyagainst blacks (Joplin) and Jews (Berlin), and Karp pulls nopunches in his liberal use of the racist vernacular. He has alsodone his medical research (he is a retired physician) and hisdescriptions of Joplin in the terminal stages of syphilis, whilepainful to read, are undoubtedly accurate. Joplin ’s career isalmost over (he will be dead in less than a year) and Berlin’s staris rapidly rising. Each has claimed the title of King of Ragtimeand this creates an underlying layer of friction that helps drivethe story.
The true heroes, however, are Johnand Nell Stark, and there appears not tobe a drop of racial prejudice in thebody of either. Obviously, both areamateur sleuths, yet each shows insightand intelligence that helps them get tothe bottom of the matter. Variousminor characters – some real, some fictitious – also play important parts,but in the end it is the Starks who savethe day. And, like any good mystery,there are twists and unexpected turns atthe conclusion (including one thatcould set the world of ragtime on itsear), but Karp manages to sort everything out.
This review is being written late at night because I had to stay upand find out how it ended. Larry Karp writes good murder mysteries and the fact that this trilogy revolves around real rag-time personalities makes these books even more appealing. I canhardly wait for the third one in the series to appear.
Available at local bookstores. The publisher’s suggested price is$24.95. There is also a large-type soft-cover edition available(ISBN: 978-1-59058-527-6) for $22.95.
7
Sent in by Robert Perry
8
The New York Times, October 26, 2008
By DANIEL J. WAKIN, Submitted by Doug McGee
CLASSICAL GHOSTS,
AUDIBLE ONCE AGAIN
Swarthmore, Pa.FOR decades, hints tantalized record
buffs and anyone interested in how classical music was performed through thecenturies.
Somewhere out there, just possibly,was the largest cache of classical musicfrom the dawn of the recorded age knownto exist: hundreds of cylinders incised onan Edison phonograph from the 1890s bya music-loving businessman, Julius H.Block.
References popped up in his privatelypublished memoirs in the 1960s. Therewere letters between him and ThomasEdison and a chance conversation in 1971between researchers and a schoolmate ofthe great violinist Jascha Heifetz. A fewcylinders came to light at auction in the1990s.
If found, the recordings would furnisha deep and fascinating glimpse into theway music was played in the time ofTchaikovsky and Brahms, a sonic toe-touch into a distant epoch. But there waslittle hope. The collection, most believed,was destroyed in World War II.
Instead, itsurvived.Thanks too t h e rc h a n c eencounters,a sharedpassion forviolin histo-ry by afather andson, and abit of detec-tive work,
some 200 cylinders were rediscoveredseveral years ago in an archive in Russia,where only a handful of musicologistsappear to have known about them.
Three CDs of excerpts are to bereleased late next month by the Marstonlabel (marstonrecords.com), which isbased here and specializes in the earlyrecorded age.
According to Marston, the cylinderscontain the earliest existing recordings ofworks by Bach, Wagner, Verdi, Chopin,Schumann and others. The performersinclude several noted composer-pianists:Sergei Taneyev, a pupil of Tchaikovsky’swho played the premiere of his SecondConcerto; Anton Arensky, playing hismuch-loved Piano Trio No. 1 in D minorjust months after it was written; and PaulPabst, a Liszt pupil and dedicatee ofpieces by Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff.They also include the legendary pianistJosef Hofmann in his first known recordings and singers who performed inthe premieres of operas by Tchaikovskyand Rimsky-Korsakov. Some 22 of theartists, well known in their day, have notbeen represented on recordings until now,including Taneyev.
With each cylinder able to record foronly two to four minutes, the release willbe limited to snippets: 90 of music and 4with just spoken words. Those includeTolstoy reading from his work and whatmay be the voice and whistling ofTchaikovsky. The musical recordings inthe release run from 1890 to 1923.
The recordings are not likely toappeal to casual music lovers, as even theengineer, Ward Marston of MarstonRecords, concedes. The surface noise isheavy, the music sometimes barely audible. “It’s not what you call pleasant tolisten to,” said Mr. Marston, who is
considered one of the leading audio-conservation engineers.
Still, the cylinders have obviousmusical value, at least for specialist listeners. Runs, singing melodies, expressive rhythmic quirks can be pickedout like gemstones from gravel. Ghostscome alive, and the listener mingles withthem.
The recordings are also fascinatinghistorical documents. They were mostlymade in living rooms, at informal socialoccasions. Listeners applaud and yell“bravo!” The musicians often introducethemselves, as an 11-year-old Heifetz doesin a high-pitched voice.
“Considering when they were doneand the people that Block contacted, theyare extremely exciting,” said Raymond R.Wile, a retired Queens College librarianwho has written extensively about theearly phonograph industry, including theBlock cylinders. “I never thought theywould surface.”
Edison invented the phonograph in1877 and began developing it about adecade later, considering the machinemainly a device for business. It generallyworked like this: a speaking tube wouldtransmit the sound to a vibrating membrane, which would guide a needle asit incised grooves on a four-inch waxcylinder.
Commercial recording did not beginuntil roughly 1889, but Edison’s agentsand others recorded hundreds of cylindersbefore then. Only a handful of classicalmusic recordings from the phonograph’sfirst decades survive. The earliest exampleis believed to be from July 5, 1888:excerpts of Handel’s “Israel in Egypt”incised at London’s Crystal Palace. Othersinclude barely audible recordings ofBrahms playing and speaking in 1889, andof a Danish bass, Peter Schram, possiblyfrom the same year. A music buff in NewYork, Gianni Bettini, made cylinderrecordings of singers in the late 1890s, butonly several dozen survive, Mr. Marstonsaid.
The closest rival in importance to theBlock cylinders is the precious batch oflive recordings made by Lionel Mapleson,the librarian of the Metropolitan Opera, onthe Met stage from 1900 to 1904. Block
The music-loving businessman Julius H. Block
John A. Maltese and his father, John Maltese,co-producers of the CDs. Audio-conservation engineer Ward Marston.
9
was born in 1858, in British territory inSouth Africa. His mother took him as aninfant to rejoin her husband, who was inbusiness in Russia. Educated in Londonand New York, Block returned to takeover the family firm, which mainlyinvolved introducing and importing goodslike the typewriter and the bicycle to Russia. Fascinated by the new phono-graph, he wangled a meeting with Edisonand even managed to procure a phono-graph to take back.
Block, a fine pianist, had bigger ideasthan selling a dictation machine. “Fromthe first the phonograph appeared to me aninvention of untold value for the musicaland scientific world,” he wrote in hismemoirs.
As outlined in the memoirs and lettersexchanged with Edison, Block embarkedon a musical recording spree in Russia,filling hundreds of wax cylinders. He evenmanaged to obtain an audience with theczar and arranged to present him with aphonograph.
Block keptl e a t h e r -b o u n dv o l u m e s ,which stillexist, torecord reac-tions. “Thephonographis certainlythe mostsurprising,the mostb e a u t i f u land the
most interesting among all inventions thatcircumscribe the 19th century,”Tchaikovsky wrote on Oct. 26, 1889.“Honor to the great inventor Edison!”
Block moved to Berlin in 1899 andcontinued making recordings. He died in1934, and his cylinders were dividedbetween archives in Berlin and Warsaw. Alibrary in Bern, Switzerland, receivedmostly scores and manuscripts. In anintroduction to the memoirs, Walter E.Block, his son, said the papers survived,but the cylinders were destroyed in thewar.
The story shifts to 1971, when theviolinist John Maltese and John A. Maltese, his 11-year-old son, visited EddyBrown. Mr. Brown was a classmate ofHeifetz’s in the legendary St. PetersburgConservatory class of Leopold Auer. Mr.Maltese was a major Heifetz fan. Duringthat visit Mr. Brown mentioned that hehad made cylinder recordings in 1914 at aprivate home in Berlin. So had Heifetz.
Father and son never forgot the story.Over the years, as they grew to share apassion for Heifetz and all matters violin-istic, they searched for the cylinders, to noavail. They went on to write the bookletnotes for “The Jascha Heifetz Collection,”a 65-CD series from BMG Classics, andto work together on other historic recording projects.
Separately, Mr. Wile, the phonographexpert at Queens College, dug up a batchof correspondence between Block andEdison at the Edison archives in WestOrange, N.J. Harold C. Schonberg, thenthe chief music critic of The New YorkTimes, wrote about the find in 1979,describing Block’s efforts to make recordings. Mr. Schonberg speculatedabout the juicy possibilities of what couldbe on them. “None of it has survived,” hewrote.
In 1992 about two dozen other Blockcylinders surfaced at a London auction.They were bought by a New York collector, Allen Koenigsberg. Little of themusic was identified.
The trail grew hot in 2001. The Malteses provided material for a Heifetzexhibition in Los Angeles. At the opening,members of the Heifetz family mentionedthat a Russian scholar, Galina Kopytova,was writing a book about Heifetz’s yearsin Russia. The younger Mr. Maltese, apolitical scientist at the University ofGeorgia, exchanged e-mail messages withMs. Kopytova. At the end of one, he casually mentioned Brown’s story aboutmaking the cylinders.
“She answered and said they were inan archive down the street,” Mr. Maltesesaid. “I fell off my chair.” She followed upto confirm that a slew of other cylinderswere in the archive, the Institute of Russian Literature, also known as PushkinHouse.
Mr. Maltese tracked down the Blockmanuscript. It corroborated the contents ofthe St. Petersburg cylinders. He tracedtheir provenance. They were taken fromthe Phonogramm-Archiv in Berlin to Silesia for safekeeping in 1944. After thewar, they were taken to St. Petersburg. A catalog from the Berlin archive matchedthe contents of the cylinders in St. Petersburg, Mr. Maltese said.
The project’s backers and otherexperts are convinced of the cylinders’authenticity. “There’s no chance that thisis a bogus thing,” said Gregor Benko, afounder of the International PianoArchives and a coordinator, with theMarston partner Scott Kessler, of therelease.
Richard Warren, curator of the Historical Sound Recordings Collection atYale University and a panelist on anarchivists’ committee that awarded
Marston a grant for the project, said itwould take “an incredible amount ofwork” to fake the cylinders, for littlechance of financial gain.
After contacting Mr. Marston, Mr.Maltese traveled to St. Petersburg in 2003,examined the cylinders and listened totapes of them. He and Mr. Marstonreturned two years later. Mr. Marstonoversaw the transfer to computer files byRussian engineers. The Malteses are co-producers of the CD issue.
“When we put the first cylinder on,”Mr. Marston said, “my hair stood on end.”
Since then, Mr. Marston has beenworking painstakingly to restore therecordings but only minimally reducingthe surface noise to keep a sense ofauthenticity. The spoken words had to betranscribed and translated. The properplayback speed had to be determined; Mr.Marston, examining scores, estimated thepitch to be 435 cycles for the tuning noteA, which is slightly lower than typicalcurrent practice. The proper temposflowed from that determination.
So what about the music?Mr. Marston, in his second-floor
studio, played excerpts. Blind since birth,he sent his fingers fluttering over the consoles, punching in numbers and adjust-ing knobs. Up came a dreamy and nimblepiano solo by Pabst, a paraphrase of atheme from Tchaikovsky’s “SleepingBeauty.”
Taneyev plays Mozart’s C minor Fantasy tautly and dramatically on an1895 recording. Hofmann plays the MagicFire Music from Wagner’s “Walküre.” Aforgotten soprano known as MademoiselleNikita, famous in her day, sings “Quando,rapito in estasi” from Donizetti’s “Lucia diLammermoor.” She ladles on the embellishment, turning simple intervalsinto intricate runs, in the style of the day.
Most intriguing is the Arensky trio,which the composer plays with Jan Hrimaly, violinist, and Anatoly Brandukov, cellist. The cylinders containbits of only the first three movements, notthe fourth. The performance is fast-paced,free, almost over the top, and must-hearing for any performer of this piece.
Another cylinder has speakers listedas Tchaikovsky, the composer-pianistAnton Rubinstein and other musicians, but Mr. Marston acknowledges that theidentifications of the voices are not iron-clad. The cylinder was previously extract-ed for a 1998 release on the KochSchwann label.
And the one who started it all, a 19-year-old Eddy Brown, is there in a seriesof violin bonbons, accompanied by Blockhimself.
Some of the Block cylinders at the Pashkin House in St. Petersburg
10
It was probably within a year ofTitanic’s sinking in 1912 that the ship-ping company, White Star Line, orderedthe largest Philharmonie organ availablefrom the German organ-building firm of Welte in Freiburg, Germany. The Philharmonie (Philharmonic in Englandand America) had been developed by“crossing” orchestrions with console-played organs. They were thus playableeither by an organist or through an in-built roll playing apparatus, similar to a
p l a y e r -piano. Thismechanismo p e r a t e dthrough themedium ofperforatedpaper rollswhich borepre-record-ed perfor-mances.
W h e nWelte listed their player-piano clients itwas clear that such customers wereamongst the richest and most musically-educated of society in an impressive vari-ety of lands and cultures. Sultans andNoblemen, Winston Churchill, or LadyColgate were amongst the many dignitaries listed. Some ships had theminstalled - especially those of Lloyds. ThePhilharmonie, being an organ, was even
rarer and less affordable - only individu-als or corporations with superior wealthcould ever hope to possess one.
Extremely wealthy private yachtowners began to install Philharmonies intheir vessels as soon as they were available. By late 1912, White Star Linewere under serious competition for “luxuries” in their ships - then the mostup-market mode of travel. Player pianoshad hitherto predominated aboard largepassenger liners and Lloyds, in particular,were formidable White Star rivals. In1912, after Titanic had met her fate, evengreater pressure came to bear on WhiteStar to introduce new luxuries; any distraction from Titanic’s much-discussed fate was always going to beuseful in that connection.
Early references to organ installa-tions aboard boats are found with the calliopes on some American river boatsin mid-19th century. They were a “healthand safety in the workplace” nightmare,burning their players’ fingers anddestroying their hearing. A calliope couldeven use so much steam that it slowedthe boats’ progress! Later, the Pocahuntaswas known to have had a Welte orchestrion made in New York. It wasJules Verne’s 1869/70 novel TwentyThousand Leagues under the Sea that
really introduced the concept to largeocean-going vessels and captured thepublic imagination. Aeolian in the USAand Welte in both USA and Germany,were amongst the main contenders tolater realize this dream. From fiction tofact took little enough time: Welte’s
finely illustrated catalogues around1913/14 depict a number of installationsof Philharmonies aboard yachts and ships. This included one for the Britannic, direct successor to Titanic.
Of the White Star Line’s three great“Olympic” class ships - Olympic, Titanicand Britannic - all three had spaceenough for an organ of consequence.
Their designs around the great First Classstairwell were near enough to identicalfor these purposes. Neither record norrumour nor claim exists for Olympic’sever having had an organ. Speculationabounds, however, as to whether anorchestrion or even a Philharmonie wasintended for Titanic - it would seem alogical step, since player-pianos had longbeen installed on prestigious passengervessels. Titanic is known to have hadfour uprights and one grand piano.Lloyds’ ships also sported player pianos.
The Deutsches Musikautomatenmu-seum at Bruchsal in Germany is one of anumber of claimants to possessing anorchestrion that was “delivered too late”to go on Titanic’s fateful voyage. TheBruchsal story goes that Karl Bockisch,leading figure in the Welte firm, accom-panied it to Southampton, but arrived justtoo late to get it aboard. Owing to theserious illness of one of his children, it issaid, he then had to hurry back to Germany. The only hard evidence supporting this claim so far found is an
By David Rumsey
Sent in by Robin Pratt
THE SEEWIN - BRITANNIC ORGAN
AND ITS ASSOCIATED ROLLS
Michael Welte
Organ aboard a yacht - from the Welte catalogue
The Britannic
Deckplan of the Britannic 1914
11
undated letter written by his second wife.Since they were only married 20 yearsafter the event, and Bockisch died in1952, then the letter must have been written over 40 years later. Judging bythe widow’s shaky handwriting it mayhave been well beyond that. This letterbecame associated with the Bruchsalorgan after that instrument was acquiredby the museum. Its previous owner knewnothing of this history.
Britannic, on the other hand, clearlyhad an organ intended for it - extant plansplaced it occupying both storeys of thegreat First Class stairwell, opposite the
grand staircase. Records also show thatan Aeolian was originally mooted. Welte,however, ended up with the contract andtheir catalogues from c1913-14 show theorgan in place in a very finely-detailedillustration. On careful investigation itturns out - unlike the other illustrations inthese catalogues - to be a rendering, not aphotograph, although the organ is sodetailed and accurate that a photographseems almost certainly to have been usedas its basis. Britannic’s fitting out wasnever completed and the ship was converted to a hospital ship, serving inthe First World War until she was sunk in1916. The wreck remains near the GreekIsland of Kia in the Aegean sea.
The organ never traveled with her,although it is quite possible its case did.It is unclear whether the instrument everleft Freiburg bound for Belfast. It wascertainly ordered, planned, built andprobably finished during 1913, allowingplenty of time to transport it and install itafter the ship’s launching on February26th 1914, although fitting out wouldfirst have to proceed to a point that theorgan could be installed. Interesting
historic footage of Titanic’s fitting-outleaves no doubt about the speed withwhich this could be achieved by a wholearmy of laborers. The remaining windowof time from March to July was sufficientfor installation and, indeed, de-installa-tion. The outbreak of war in late July ofthat year would certainly have sent theGerman builders, if they were in Ireland,scurrying back home, with or withoutorgan or casework.
Reports of Jacques Cousteau’s diversin 1976 could point to the organ casebeing present, remaining in place andnow lying some fathoms under the surface. They identified “an organ” andreported “metal organ pipes”. The valueof these reports has been questioned -indeed the rendering published by Weltein their catalogues hints at wooden pipesor just simple slats in the facade. If theCousteau reports turn out to be true, thenthat could hint that the organ was at leastpartially installed when hostilities began.I visited an impressive exhibition in Kiel,Germany in mid-2007 where, amongstother things, the Titanic’s stairwell wasaccurately reconstructed. Given that thethree ships’ designs were essentiallyidentical here, it was clear that the organcould have been installed or removedwith its facade in place. Being a totallyenclosed instrument the facade was purely decorative. To that extent therewas never any need to keep them togeth-er. Simon Mills (Britannic Foundation, Englandhttp://www.thebritannicfounda-tion.org.uk/) has undertaken more recentdives to the Britannic wreck. He is currently planning another about mid-2008 when currents are favorable. Thearea where the organ was to be placedwill then be very closely investigated. Weremain in close contact about these matters.
No records of the fate of this organsurvived the first world war and all traceof it was effectively lost. A sale of Britannic’s fittings took place in 1919 butno mention of it has yet been traced inthat connection. Nor is there reference toit in records of the insurance and govern-ment compensations for Britannic’s loss.We may assume therefore, that the instrument was not in Belfast after 1914.
In May of 2007, organ buildersrestoring an otherwise unidentified WeltePhilharmonie belonging to the SwissNational Museum at Seewen, needed tolook into some details of the pneumaticsassociated with it. An internet search waspart of this, and they noticed in passing areference to such an instrument oncebeing built for Britannic. Soon after-wards, while cleaning beams supportingsome off-note motors, the word
“Britannik” was found inscribed on oneof them (the “k” is a normal Teutonicadjustment to an English “c” in such acontext, vide Helikopter, Krystal etc.).The builders immediately sent photoswith the question: “could this be the lostBritannic organ?” Two more inscriptionswere found in the following few days,and at least three more have since turnedup.
The Director of the Museum, Dr.Christoph E. Haenggi, and I immediatelyset to work to try and answer this
Welte Catalogue illustrates theirorgan for Britannic
One of the Britannic inscriptions found in theorgan
12
question. Every aspect we subsequentlyexplored increasingly led us to anunequivocal “yes.” Firstly the pre-1920history of our instrument had been totallyshrouded in mystery, so there were no competing claims. I had made an“educated guess,” that it had been built in1913, based on the style of the organ, itsspecification, the technology of the rollswhich it played, the organists whorecorded them and their dates of release.Previously others had estimated anythingfrom 1912 to 1920 so this aligned well.Facts gradually led me to eliminate virtually anything but 1913:
* the Philharmonie was not fully developed or even on the books beingoffered for sale until late 1912, so therewas scant possibility of this organ datingpre-1913;
* the recording organ in Welte’s plushcarpeted studios was modified, around1913, seemingly partly on E. H.Lemare’s advice (his first recording session is dated September 2nd 1913),after which tracker-bars, specificationsand related systems were all fairly standardized;
* the basic Seewen organ typifies thisform exactly;
* some undated rolls exist, but datedorgan rolls of the kind needed for thisinstrument were produced only fromabout 1912-13 onwards;
* apart from some early rolls transcribedfrom already-existing piano or orchestri-on rolls, the very first known recordingsession was Enrico Bossi’s in September1912.
So 1913 looked very likely. This fitted the Britannic story like a glove.
Investigation of Britannic’s surviving plans gave us the dimensions
of the space allowed for the organ. Theoriginal instrument - especially the spaceneeded for its windchests - is still veryclearly defined and everything fits exactly. There were some additions orchanges to the Seewen organ in 1920,and again in 1937. The earliest of these isevident from two small additional wind-chests which stand in front of the originalones. Together with the organbuilders and conservators weexamined the wood which bore the“:Britannik” inscriptions, compar-ing it with the original woodworkfrom the oldest part of the organ.We wanted to be certain that thesebeams had not come from anotherinstrument or were otherwise“strays.” They all matched.
The organ’s history had hith-erto been well known from 1920onwards when the German cameramanufacturer, August Nagel(1882-1943), installed it in hissumptuous Stuttgart villa. A greatmusic lover, he indulged himselfin an instrument by the worldfamous Welte firm from nearbyFreiburg. Around 1935 Nagel returned itto the manufacturer for unknown reasons.In 1937 it was moved to the receptionroom of the Radium electric light company in Wipperfürth, Germany.Organ builder Werner Bosch (1916-1992)was an employee of Welte and worked onthe organ at this time. It received a newTrumpet register, some extensions to thepedal and a few concessions to organreform ideologies were made as additions. A new console was needed,possibly in 1920, but what seems now tobe a 1920-1937 console survives withoutsignificant change. The organ’s originalWienerflöte was replaced by a Harmonieflöte at some stage, but by afluke of circumstances both have beenpreserved. The Wienerflöte has now beenreturned to its original “Britannic” roll-configuration while also being availableas a non-intrusive option controlled by adisused console switch. In spite of theirnames and traditions, neither is a full-compass “harmonic” rank.
In Wipperfürth the organ remainedin use until the 1960s. After the secondworld war it once again came underWerner Bosch’s care. In 1961 it was used
to make an LP-recording issued undervarious titles, possibly best rememberedin English language circles as Regerplays Reger (Electrola Company ofCologne, Germany 1C 053-28925). Thiswas produced using Welte-rolls dated1913 from collections held in Seewenand at the Max-Reger Institut in Germany. The organ was selected as the
best available for this purpose, having thesame basic tonal resources as the originalFreiburg recording organ. In fact it wasby then somewhat larger, but the basicstops were mostly intact and the changes- including adaptation of the roll replayregistration system to a larger instrument- were all made by Welte themselves,thus bearing their imprimatur.
A change of Radium company own-ership led to the Wipperfürth receptionroom being re-consigned as a storeroom.The organ now became superfluous torequirements and was offered for sale,but this generated no interest and theinstrument’s fate was heading quicklytowards the scrap heap. The situation wasdrawn to the attention of Heinrich Weiss,founder of the Museum für Musikauto-maten Seewen, who quickly acquired it.Weiss then invested some 1,500 workinghours in installing it and had WernerBosch come to do the final regulation.They were aided by Basel organ builderBernard Fleig. On 30th May 1970 itscompletion and re-inauguration was celebrated in Seewen. In late 2007 therestoration by Orgelbau Kuhn was completed.
Inspection of the organ in storage (l-r): Wolf-gang Rehn (Kuhn), Heinrich Weiss,Christoph Haenggi, David Rumsey
Installation after restoration - left organ builder UeliSchaerer (Kuhn) group in foreground (l-r) ChristophHaenggi, Heinrich Weiss, Georg Hofmeier (MuseumPresident)
continued. . .
13
Two specifications follow. The firstis the original recording organ at theWelte Freiburg premises in 1909, basedon that given by Kurt Binninger in ActaOrganologica 1987 Vol. 19. Some corrections have been made as a result ofnow-known oversights. This instrumentwas a prototype, used during the devel-opment period of the Philharmoniebefore these instruments were commer-cially offered in 1912. The second is theBritannic Seewen organ, as modified1920-1937 and restored in 2007. It willbe seen that the core of the 1909 organremains, bearing in mind the changes thefirm made around 1912-13 when most ofthe 1909 pipework was re-made or re-utilized. Later production instrumentsessentially replicated these, although it isevident that the firm undertook a degreeof tailoring in given situations. The “old”pipework in the 2007 instrument is muchthe same as described in the report on the1909 organ.
The 1909 recording studio organManual IPrincipal1 8Traversflöte2 8Viol d'orchestre3 8Gamba4 8Vox coelestis5 8Fagott6 8Flöte7 4Harfe8 G- Glocken9
PedalViolon10 16Subbaß11 16Cello12 8Posaune13 16Manual IIViola14 8Wienerflöte15 8Aeoline16 8Bourdon17 8Horn18 g0- 8Klarinette19 16Oboe20 g0- 8Posaune21 C-f#0- 8Trompete22 g0- 8Vox humana23 8
Compass: Man I: C-a3; Man II: C-g3
(sic!); Ped: C-f1.
Action: Pneumatic (pouch/membrane)
Location: To the right of the playbackorgan.
Pipework:1 metal; "gentle singing tone"2 wood; "internal lips C-f#0; g0-overblowing, typical flute tone; wedge-shaped “rollers”3 metal; "beautiful string-tone"4 metal; "stronger than the viold'orchestre"5 metal; “keen tone” - tuned as a beat ingrank to be used with the viol d'orchestre"6 papier-mâché resonators; C-b0 free reedwith long wooden boots and covered res-onators, very similar to the orchestralinsrtument; c1- flue pipes with Fugarascaling.7 wood; C-b0 resonators tapering front toback; c1- very wide scaling giving around flute tone.8 metal plates placed over wood or papi-er-mâché resonators and hit with pneu-matic hammers. 9 C-g0 metal tubes, sounded as per Harfe.10 open wood11 stopped wood12 often borrowed from the Violon 16.13 wood or metal14 metal; tonally very similar to aGeigenprinzipal 15 wood; harmonic flute, bass only (notharmonic in the trebles) scaled 2 semi-tones narrower than Traversflöte in Man-ual I with wedge-shaped “rollers”16 metal; somewhat more gently voicedthan the Man I Viol d'orchestre17 stopped wood; voiced to sound fulland round18 wood; Flue rank of special construc-tion: it was not harmonic and possessed avery carrying tone;19 papier-mâché; free reed, similar to theFagott, but with wide-scaled, open res-onators. Very similar to the characteris-tics of the orchestral instrument.20 Plays from C in the Tutti. Beatingreed, full-length resonators, lengthenedtops and turning caps. 21 conical tops22 extension of the Posaune23 built as a Silbermann Vox Humana(ed. but with essential differences, e.g.zinc resonators, enclosed in its ownswell-box etc.)
The specification on completion of thecurrent 2007 restoration is:
Manual I IBordun 16Principal 8Traversflöte 8Gedeckt 8Gambe 8Viol d'orchestra 8Vox coelestis 8Flöte 4Rohrflöte 4Nachthorn 2Mixtur Trompete 8Fagott 8Harfe 20 barsGlocken 51 notesManual II IIViola 8Wienerflöte roll-and switch-controlled 8Harmonieflöte 8Aeoline 8Bordun 8Blockflöte 4Quinte 2 2/3Terz 1 3/5Quintzimbel 1Sesquialter draws 2 previous together
Clarinette 16Trompete 8Horn 8Oboe 8Vox humana 8Pedal Violonbass 16Subbass 16Stillgedackt 16Gedackt no stop-tab, controlled
only by rolls 8
David Rumsey performs the first playing testduring re-installation
continued. . .
14
continued. . .
Cello 8Posaune 16Trompete 8Clairon 4Singende Cornett 2
Compass: Manuals: C-a3, Pedals: C-f1
Couplers: I/Ped (coded white-green),II/Ped (coded pink-green), II/I (codedpink-white) II/sub(octave)-I, II/super-I(pink-white); II super (pink);
Accessories: Stop-tabs: Vox HumanaEcho (opens/shuts Vox Humana's sepa-rate box lid); Tremolo. Left key-cheek:Voltmeter. Switch to select hand-registra-tion or automatic (player-roll registra-tion); Hand-switch to control Wienerflöte(the rolls automatically play the originalWienerflöte). Right key-cheek: Slow/Fastregulator controlling the player-roll speedmechanism; Great key-slip left to right:II/sub-I; II/super-I; II super; I-Pedal;II/Pedal; II/I; Freie Komb I; Freie KombII; Cancel; Tutti; Handreg. ab (switchesoff hand stop control); Regschw. ab(Rollschweller function off); Zungen ab;Mixturen ab; Pedalpiano; Above pedalsleft to right: crescendo pedal; swellpedal; toe studs for Harfe and Glocke.
Wind System: Manuals: 97mm (3.82inches); Pedal: 115mm (4.53 inches).Suction wind: 263mm (10.35 inches). 2Schwimmers under the manual divisions,one near the Pedal blower. The suctionwind bellows is found in the motor room.
Tuning: Equal tempering. A=438Hz. at18C.
Action: Pneumatic at and around theconsole, Electro-Pneumatic to the chestsand pipes.
Console: detached, but immediately infront centre of the organ. Rocking-tabs:Pedal coded green Manual I coded whiteManual 2 coded pink
Werk: The entire organ is enclosed. (VoxHumana box - with only two stages,“open” or “shut” controlled by a stop-tab- thus an “enclosure within an enclo-sure.”) A number of off-chests and exten-sion chests are involved.
Status: Restoration 2007 by Kuhn ofMaennedorf, Switzerland.
The rolls1912 201913 1431914 1531915 251916 291917 171918 11919 141920 231921 1281922 951923 241924 571925 571926 1461927 431928 191929 101930 ??
The Welte firm engaged the mostfamous organists of the day to makeplayer-rolls for sale with their Philhar-monie.and certain other models. Thiscould include smaller orchestrions wherethe registration playback had to be adapt-ed, sometimes severely compromised.One of the Seewen organ’s great advan-tages is that it is large enough to accom-modate all the original organists’ registra-tions with the caveat that Welte’s ownchanges to it took into consideration aslightly larger instrument than theseorganists had had at their disposal. The
original registrations are thus recorded“true” on the rolls, the adjustment ofthem to smaller and larger instruments isrevealing and allows some interestingcase studies.
The accompanying table and graphshow the firm’s yearly output of newroll-titles from 1912-1930. They arebased on the Seewen catalogue. Therewere more rolls made than Seewen nowpossesses, but currently the full extent ofproduction, not even just the titles muchless the copies made, is not known. Thereare 271 undated rolls at Seewen asidefrom those forming the basis of these tab-ulated and graphed statistics. As can beseen, the wartime-affected 1915-1920period was a poor time for Welte and alapse in demand around 1923 seems tohave presaged the final decline after1926.
All records of the company’s record-ing sessions with organists have disap-peared except for the earliest sessions of1912-13. The first artist was Bossi inSeptember 1912. The exact date has notsurvived but it is clear that it must havebeen between 1st and 8th. Artists - andsometimes their families, as we knowwas the case with Lemare - spent a goodweek or so “in residence” while theymade their recordings. There appear tohave been “seasons” of them. During the“organ seasons” recordings of pianists’rolls were to some extent curtailed. How-ever, even in the periods covered below,Louis Diémer, Eugen d’Albert, FannyDavies, Claude Debussy, Rudolph Ganz,Josef Hofmann, Serge Liapunow, andEnrique Granados were at times also pre-sent and making recordings. Organists’commencing dates (see detailed informa-tion on 25 of them below) were:
1912September
? Bossi9th Sittard16th Breitenbach30th Erb
November 26th Gigout
1913February
6th Bonnet20th R. Goss-Custard
July0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
19121915 19181921192419271930
The restored Britannic organ in its new home
15
8th Baldwin14th Faulkes26th Reger
August28th Hollins
September2nd Lemare15th Walton26th Wolstenholme
The Welte company struggled onthrough the first world war - roll releasesdwindled (judging by Seewen’s acquisi-tions) to just 1 in 1918 and then recov-ered in the early 1920s. The firm beganto face serious problems from the late1920s. The last roll was dated 1930; itwas possibly the only new roll-titlereleased dated that year.
By the early 1930s Welte were com-ing very close to bankruptcy as generaleconomic circumstances and the newly-developing radio and recording industryseverely eroded their business. Later inthat decade problems continued when theNazis forbad collaboration with Welte,since Edwin Welte’s first wife was Jew-ish. In fact this destroyed an interestingproject in progress with Telefunken. Thetwo firms had been developing an elec-tronic organ, using analogue sampling oforgan tone. Wave-forms were recordedonto glass plates for replay using themedium of an early photo-electric tech-nology. It was a far superior system tothe magnetic tone-wheels and oscillatorswhich prevailed with their contempo-raries, and a portent of modern digitalsampling. Further setbacks for the hap-less firm were still in store - a Luftwaffemission in the early 1940s lost its bear-ings and managed to bomb its own cityof Freiburg, missing intended targets inFrance. They hit the Welte factory. Hitlerpublicly blamed the English. This turnedout to be typical politicians’ misinforma-tion, but lamentably rather good prophe-cy: allied bombs razed everythingremaining, including the firm’s records,just a few weeks prior to war’s end in1945.
When Werner Bosch was able tosecure the preservation of this instrumentin 1969 he brokered Seewen’s acquisitionof some 1,230 original rolls. These hadcome under his aegis when the tatteredWelte business was finally wound uparound 1950. Accordingly the Seewen
Museum now not only possesses anexceptional instrument with a most extra-ordinary history, but also an extensivelibrary of roll recordings - by far the mostcomprehensive holdings of any collec-tion, by a factor of at least 2 to any othercontender and about 10 to most. Further-more the repertoire recorded on theSeewen rolls is mainly “classical” - othercollections often exhibit a more “popu-lar” musical taste. The USA branch ofWelte’s firm (closed down by the USgovernment as an “alien enterprise” in1917) produced a more “popular” cata-logue.
Rolls were released by FreiburgWelte of French, English, Italian, Ger-man and American organists. We do notknow how many rolls were eventuallymade or sold, but clearly well in excessof 1,300 titles were recorded. A slightallowance needs to be made for somerolls which were adapted from pianists’recordings, or simply mechanically“punched”, as a temporary expedient inthe very early stages of the system’sdevelopment. Eventually some 64 organ-ists were involved. In the lists belowdetails of titles are left, as informallyrecorded in the Seewen catalogue - it willtake some time after the organ’s restora-tion is complete for rolls to be exhaus-tively played through and all of therecorded repertoire identified with cer-tainty (“a” is frequently an abbreviationfor “aus”, i.e. “from”). However, most ofit is clear enough and tells a very interest-ing story about the organists, who theywere, what and how they played in thosedays. The “top 25” of the 64 were:
Goss-Custard, Walter Henry [Harry] -English organist. *1871 Feb 7 StLeonards-on-Sea (GB:), in 1917 becamethe first organist appointed to LiverpoolCathedral †1964 Jul 6 St Leonards-on-Sea. He recorded at least 150 rolls forWelte dated 1913-27 (interestingly theWorld War I 1914-18 period accountedfor the release of no fewer than 34 of hisrolls, “in enemy territory”). Composersrepresented include: Beethoven, J. S.Bach, Batiste, Borowski, Bossi, Braga,Bruch, Chopin, Drdla, Dreyschock, Dvo-rak, Elgar, Fletcher, Fricker, Gaul, Grieg,Guilmant, Haydn, Hofmann, Hollins,Humperdinck, Händel, Karg-Elert,Lefébure-Wély, Lemare, Lemmens,Liszt, Macdowell, Makenzie, Mason,
Mendelssohn, Merkel, Meyerbeer,Moliqué, Nessler, Nevin, Rachmaninoff,Rubinstein, Saint Saëns, Schubert,Schytte, Sibelius, Simonetti, Smart,Somervel, Spindler, Spohr, Sterndale-Bennet, Sullivan, Taylor, Thomé,Tschaikowski, Vierne, Wagner, Watling,Wheeldon, Widor, Wolstenholme, d'Evryand some songs or hymns. He alsorecorded some of his own works: Even-song, Benedictus in A-flat major andNocturne.
Lemare, Edwin Henry - internationallyrenowned organist, composer, arrangerand compiler.
*1865 Sep 9 Ventnor/Isle of Wight (GB:)1888 was the year of first performance ofhis most famous work Andantino in Dflat - the song-writer, Charles Daniels,later pirated it and, under the pseudonymof Neil Moret, issued it as a “work of anold master" entitled Moonlight and
continued. . .
Goss-Custard recording at Freiburg WeltePremises
Lemare recording
16
Roses; 1895 appointed organist andchoirmaster at London, St. MargaretWestminster; 1900 Dec 27 left for a visitto New York and played a recital there onNew Year’s Day; 1901 Jun recital for theGlasgow Exhibition; Sep a 15-recital tourof USA; Mid-Dec took a post at theCarnegie Institute in Pittsburgh (62-stopFarrand & Votey organ); 1903 invitationto play a series at Sydney Town Hall;1906 second Australia tour - includedinauguration of Melbourne Town Hallorgan and concerts in New Zealand; 1917he held civic positions in San Franciscoand Portland. †1934 Sep 24 Los Angeles(USA:)
Lemare recorded at least 89 rolls forWelte. Release dates were between 1912and 1928. The repertoire is music tran-scribed from, based on or by J. S. Bach,Bach-Gounod, Brahms, Bizet, Bocherini,Chauvet, Chopin, d'Evry, Dubois, Dvo-rak, Elgar, Faulkes, Goldmark, Gounod,Guilmant, Händel, Hofmann, Hollins,Horseman, Humperdinck, Johnson,Mendelssohn, Mozart, Nevin, Offenbach,Rheinberger, Saint-Saëns, SandifordTurner, Schumann, Wagner, Weber, Wol-stenholme and some popular songs. Hisown works are well-represented: Adagiopatetico a Symphonie D moll Op. 50;Allegro pomposo; Andantino B? major;Arcadian Idyll (Serenade,Musette Soli-tude,) Op. 52; Bell-Scherzo Op. 89;Benediction nuptiale Op.85; Chant dubonheur, Op.62; Chant seraphique,Op.75; Frühlingslied ("From the South")Op. 56; Intermezzo "Moonlight" Op.83No.2; Madrigale; Marche héroiqueOp.74; Morning day Op. 94; Pastorale Emajor; Romance in D? major; RondoCapriccio Op. 64; Scherzo a Symphonied minor Op.50; Sonnenschein "Melodie";Souvenir joyeux Op. 87; Stabat mater:Quis es homo (Rossini-Lemare); SummerSketches: 1.Dawn 2.the bee 3.Cuckoo4.Twilight 5.Evening Op.73; Sunset -Song without Words Op.69; Weihnacht-slied Op.82; Wiegenlied Op. 81. HisOpus 64 mentioned above is his famous"Rondo Capriccio: A Study in Accents".He recorded “Moonlight and Roses” butthis roll is not amongst the Seewen col-lection. Finally there are 4 rolls withimprovisations of his, one entitled"4.Februar für meinen Freund Karl Bock-isch" (foreman at Welte, Freiburg), onenoted in Seewen as "Improvisation mit
Harfen-und Glocken-Effekt", one as"Improvisation on a given Theme tutti"and one as "Improvisation über einMenuett".
Nater, J. J. - Swiss organist, teacher, fl.early 20thc. He played at Zürich, Jako-bikirche and Zürich, Forum cinema andrecorded at least 84 rolls for the Weltecompany released between1912 and1929. The repertoire ranged throughAdam, J. S. Bach, Brahms, Chopin,Debussy, Dubois (22 rolls), Floridia,Grieg, Guilmant (29 rolls), Händel, Jon-gen, Liszt, Mendelssohn, Rheinberger,Ropartz, Saint Saëns, Schubert, Schu-mann and Widor.
Mania, Paul - German organist, compos-er and styled sometimes also “harmoni-um virtuoso”. *1882 Sep 22 Tschö-plowitz/Silesia (D:); Studied with P.Hielscher; 1906 fl. Köln; 1928- BerlinCathedral organist; †1938 Aug 11 or 12Berlin or Obernigk/Breslau (D:).Released an early 75-rpm (sic!) disc withLotte Lehmann of Hummel’s Halleluja;Recorded at least 76 rolls for Weltereleased c1920-9 with a repertoireincluding music by composers identifiedas J. S. Bach, Bizet, Bortniansky,Brahms, Burow, Chaminade, Chopin,Couperin, d'Albert, Delibes, Donizetti,Duon, Dvorak, Eulenburg, Franck, Fres-sel, Galuppi, Giordani, Gounod, Grieg,Gumbert, Hummel, Jensen, Kienzl,Kreisler, Leclair, Leoncavallo, Liszt,Mascagni, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Pirani,Rabaud, Radecke, Rameau, Saint Saëns,Scharkel, Schubert, Schumann, Sinding,Stojowski, Strauss, Thomas, Verdi, Vival-di, Weingartner, Wolf, and some popularhymns and songs. He also recorded manyof his own compositions. They are listedas: Weihnachtsfantasie; Fantasie, G-moll;Innsbruck ich muss dich lassen (arr.)Madrigal; Adagio D moll; 2 Lieder: a)von roten Rosen und Nelken, b)Märchen; Präludium Es-dur; Fantasieüber altniederländische Lieder; MusetteG dur; Paraphrase über das Lied: Stillruht der See; Paraphrase über Rhein-lieder. One of his improvisation is also onroll.
Grosse [Große], Kurt - virtuoso Ger-man organist, noted Reger interpreter.
*1890 Feb 25 Berlin (D:). Student at the"Kgl. Hochschule" (Royal Berlin MusicAcademy); 1914-1919 organist at Berlin,
Garnisonskirche (Spandau); 1920-appointed organist and choirmasterFriedrichs-Werdekirche, Berlin; † after1936 since he demonstrated the WelteLichtton-orgel (an early electronic organ)there on Nov 6th of that year.
He released at least 58 organ rollsfor Welte dated 1915-1928. Composersrepresented were himself (in 3 "Improvi-sations", one subtitled "Stimmungsbild"),J. S. Bach, Benoit, Brahms, Dayas, deBeck, Elgar, Franck, Haydn, Herberigs,Händel, Karg-Elert, Kistler, Kromolicki,Liszt, Moszkowski, Puccini, Reger,Reznicek, Ritter, Roger-Ducasse,Ropartz, Rost, Saint Saëns, Sjögren,Tschaikowski, Wagner and some popularsongs and hymns.
Hollins, Alfred - blind English organist,concert pianist, composer/arranger.*1865 Nov 9 Hull (GB:). 1878 Janentered the Royal Normal College for theBlind. He studied organ with Dr. E. J.Hopkins, later, in Berlin: piano studieswith Hans von Bülow; 1884 appointed asorganist at Redhill, St. John's (GB:);1886 taken to America, with a quartet ofblind performers; studied at the Raff-Konservatorium in Frankfurt/Main; 1897appointed organist at Edinburgh, Free St.George's Church; 1904 Aug and Sep gaveorgan recitals in Australia; 1907, 9 tworecital tours to South Africa
†1942 May 17 Edinburgh (GB:)
Possibly even before 1913 and up to1925 Welte released some 47 rolls of hisplaying, containing transcriptions andoriginal works by Bairstow, Clausmann,Cowen, Dvorak, Faulkes, Foote, Guil-mant, Hall, Hesse, Hopkins Edwards,Hoyte, Johnson, Lemmens,Mendelssohn, Mozart, Paderewski,Rousseau, Sillas, Smart, Stewart, Sulli-van, Watling, West, Whiting, Wolsten-holme. He recorded some of his ownworks in the process - titles, after theSeewen catalogue, are: A song of sun-shine; Andante in D; Andante poco tran-quillo; Cantilène; Concert Rondo; GebetundWiegenlied; Grand Choeur in gminor; Grand choeur No.2; Morceau deconcert; Pastorale and Communion; Thesilver cord; Theme with Variations andFuge; Triumphal March. One improvisa-tion of his is also listed.Bonnet, Joseph Elie Georges Marie -French organist, composer. *1884 Mar 17Bordeaux (F:) 1904 student of Guilmantand Vierne
continued. . .
17
†1944 Aug 2 St. Luce-sur-Mer (CDN:)
1913-26 released 44 rolls for theWelte company including transcriptionsand music by J. S. Bach, Debussy, Schu-mann, Gluck, Buxtehude, Grieg, Ropartz,Guilmant, Frescobaldi, Mozart, Corelli,Berlioz, Boëlly, Moussorgsky, Cléram-bault, Chauvet, Best, Martini and Marcel-lo. There were also rolls of his ownworks: Angelus du soir; Berceuse; Clariede la lune; Consolation; Dédicace, Op.7;No.1; Epithalase, Op.5,No.9; LamentoOp.5, No.2; Pastorale Op.7, No.9;Paysage; Poémes d'Automne No.1; Liedder Chrysanthemen; Romance sansparoles; Rêverie, Op.5, No.6; Songe d'en-fant, Op.7 No.5; Moment musical; Stellamatutina,Op.7,No.4; Zweite Legendeand, fittingly in a connection with theSeewen-Britannic organ, To the memoryof Titanic's heroes,
Wolstenholme, William - blind English19th/20thc organist
*1865 Feb 24 Blackburn (GB:); Studiedat the “College for Blind Sons of Gentle-men,” Worcester; a pupil of Dr. WilliamDone (Worcester Cathedral organist) andviolin with Edward Elgar.
†1931 Jul 23 London (GB:)
1913-26 Wolstenholme released 39rolls for Welte with a repertoire includingJ. S. Bach, Bairstow, Boëllmann, Franck,Händel-Thorley, Lemare, Mendelssohn,Rheinberger, Saint Saëns, Salome, Schu-mann, Wareing, Wesley and d'Evry. Inaddition to this there were some 21 of hisown works including: Méditation in G;Barcarolle; A Pastoral; Finale in B dur;Volkslied; Andantino in G moll; Melodiein B dur; Intermezzo a. Sonate Nr.1 F-dur; Sketches No.1, G-moll; SketchesNo.3, G-dur; Pastorale in D u.RomanzeA-moll; Prélude in A dur; Interlude in G;Sonate für Orgel im Stil v.Händel; Rondi-no; Allegretto in F dur; Prélude in B dur;Ballade in des dur; Melodie in C; He wasa famed improviser and to 2 of his impro-visations are recorded on rolls identifiedas “Improvisation” and “Improv.über Ichhatt'einen Kameraden.”
Fischer, Walter - German organist andteacher
*1872 Jul 10 Seibusch/Galizia (1868- itwas part of the Austro-Hungarianempire) studied with Reimann; appointedas Berlin Cathedral organist
†1931 Jul 17 Berlin (D:). Recorded atleast 37 rolls for Welte 1921-29 includingoriginal organ works and transcriptionsof music by J. S. Bach, Saint Saëns, Hän-del, Godard, Strauss, Gottschalk, Weber,Liszt, Zipoli, Gade, Schumann,Moszkowski, Rubinstein, Chaminade,van den Gheyn, Herberigs, Duparc,Franck, Reger and some popular songs &chorales.
Gigout, Eugène - French organist, com-poser, teacher. The earliest-born of allWelte’s organ recording artists. Thismakes his recordings particularly impor-tant, not only for those with an interest in
studying his own musical performances,but also because he represents a mid-cen-tury French education which floweredinto the full late-19th century traditionsof that country. He made no other knownor surviving recordings.
*1844 Mar 23 Nancy (F:)
1857 studied at École Niedermeyer inParis with Gustave Lefèvre, ClémentLoret and Camille Saint-Saëns
1863-† appointed organist at Paris, St.Augustin (the organ was unfinished until1866)
1911 Succeeded Guilmant as professorof organ at Paris Conservatoire
†1925 Dec 9 Paris (F:)
1913-1922 released at least 35 rolls forWelte. In 1926 one more appeared,posthumously. They contained works byJ. S. Bach, Boëllmann, Boëlly, Chauvet,Franck, Lemmens, Mendelssohn, and
Saint-Saëns. From his own oeuvre werealso: Toccata; Grand Choeur dialogué;Minuetto; Cantilène; Marche defête/Suite; Fughetta; Allegretto Grazioso;Marche réligieuse; Marche des rogations;Lied/Suite; Communion.
Hofmiller, Thaddäus - fl. early 20thc.Recitalist and organist of AugsburgCathedral, Germany. 1912-1928 releasedat least 31 Welte rolls with transcriptionsand works by J. S. Bach, Callaerts,Debussy, Dukas, Gigout, Johnston, Karg-Elert, Lalo, Malling, Massenet, Piernè,Renner, Rheinberger, Saint-Saëns,Salome, Wachs, Wagner and Widor.
Walton, Herbert Francis Raine - Eng-lish/Scottish organist, composer
*1869 Thirsk, Yorkshire (GB:); studiedorgan under Dr. Naylor, organist of YorkMinster
1887 studied composition, theory, organand piano, under Walter Parratt, HubertParry, J. F. Bridge amongst others. 1896Liverpool City Organist; 1897- competedfor, and won, the appointment at Glas-gow Cathedral; †1929
W was a recording artist on both the earlyelectric gramophone and Welte rolls. Heis represented by at least 30 rolls,released 1913-28. Repertoire included is:Arne, J. S. Bach, Barnitt, Best, Brassin,Buck, Chipp, Cowen, Flagler, Fuchs,Grison, Guilmant, Händel, Harwood,Haydn, Karg-Elert, Krebs, Liszt, Mans-field, Meyerbeer, Morandi, Mozart,Piernè, Pullein, Taylor, Widor and Wol-stenholme.
Faulkes, William - British organist,composer
*1863 Nov 3 Liverpool (GB:)-†1933 Jan25 Liverpool (GB:). 1913-24 released atleast 29 rolls for Welte including a reper-toire encompassing works by: J. S. Bach,F. E. Bache, de la Tombelle, Friml,Gounod, Guilmant, Hatton, Henselt,Lefébure-Wély, Lemmens, Salome,Thomas, Tours, Wesley. From his ownoeuvre are: Fantasie über "Urbs beata";Sonata, A moll,Op.106,No.2,Finale;Rhapsody on old french carols; Berceusein G major; Frühlingslied, Ddur,Op.113,No.1; Festival Prélude:: Einfeste Burg; Cantilène A dur; Chansonnuptiale,Op.154,No.2; Fantasie, A moll;Prélude héroique,C moll,Op.139,No.1;Nocturne A dur; Grand choeur D dur.
continued. . .
Gigout recording
18
Baldwin, Samuel Atkinson - a leadingAmerican organist and teacher of his day.
*1862 Jan 22 Lake City, Minnesota-†1949 Sep 15 New York. Released at least26 roll recordings for Welte dated 1912-22. The recorded repertoire extendsthrough J. S. Bach, Bartlett, Batiste,Beethoven, Borowski, Buck, Debussy,Fauré, Foote, Frysinger, Guilmant, Harker,Huntington, Kinder, Macdowell,Massenet, Nevin, Shelley, Thiele andWagner. This included The Star Span-gled Banner variations by Dudley Buck(roll dated 1915).
Matthaei, Karl - *1897-†1960. 20thcSwiss organist, an early leader of organreform and historic organ consciousness,c1940 Winterthur, Stadkirche organist (astreet there is named after him). Herecorded some 17 rolls for the Welte com-pany dated 1926-7 with an almost exclu-sive content of early music, including var-ious works of J. S. Bach, 4 of Buxtehude,1 each of Scheidt, Praetorius, Sweelinckand Hanff. Apart from these he alsorecorded 2 rolls of popular Swiss songs.
Eddy, [Hiram] Clarence - North Ameri-can organist, teacher, composer and com-piler - the leading US concert organist ofhis era,. *1851 Jun 23 Greenfield (MA:-USA:); 1867 studied with Dudley Buck;1871-3 studies with Karl August Hauptand Carl Albert Loeschhorn in Berlin;†1937 Jan 10 Chicago (USA:). 20 rollsreleased for Welte between 1914-29. Eddyalso recorded rolls for the Aeolian compa-ny. For Welte he recorded one of his ownworks ("Festival Prelude and Fugue"),some transcriptions and original works byBossi, Buck, Clérambault, Couperin,Faulkes, Liszt, Mendelssohn, Reger,Saint-Saëns, and Wagner.
Breitenbach, Franz Joseph - Swissorganist *1853 Apr 27 Muri (CH:); 1889-organist at Luzern Cathedral. †1934 Aug30 Luzern (CH:). He was one of a genera-tion of Swiss composers who followed the“Orage” traditions with at least one piecededicated to the genre, in this case givingit a dedicated Swiss content: Fantasie pas-torale sur des Motifs et Chansons suisseset Orage dans les Alpes (4 movements:Alphorn call with echo - folk-tune fromFrench Switzerland - storm scene - songof thanksgiving after the storm). Herecorded at least 16 rolls for the Weltecompany releasing, 1912-26, works by J.
S. Bach, Bossi, Gigout, Liszt, Lorenz,Mailly, Saint-Saëns, Schubert and Wagner.
Sittard, Alfred - German organist, com-poser, editor
*1878 Apr 11 Stuttgart (D:); studied atKöln Konservatorium; 1903 organist atDresden, Kreuzkirche; 1912 organist atHamburg, Michaeliskirche; 1925 organprofessor at Berlin; †1942 Mar 31 Berlin.He made 78-rpm recordings and recordedsome 15 rolls for Welte between 1913 and1924, a repertoire including works by J. S.Bach, Franck, Händel, Liszt, Reger, SaintSaëns, and his own Choralstudie: Wennwir in höchsten Nöten sein.
Bossi, Marco Enrico - Italian organist,composer; *1861 Apr 25 Salo Lago Garda(I:); †1925 Feb 20 at sea. 1912-25released 12 rolls for the Welte Companywith works by J. S. Bach; Chopin,Debussy, Dubois, Franck, Haydn, Henselt,Händel and Schumann. Two of his ownworks are included: Volkslied aus Ath, andNoël, Op. 94,No.2.
Hindermann, Paul - Swiss organist andteacher; *1868 May 28 Zürich (CH:);studied with Rheinberger; †1925 Jul 24Zürich. 1912, 1913, 1926 released at least13 Welte rolls with repertoire by J. S.Bach, Brahms, Saint Saëns; Franck;Boëllmann; Schumann; Guilmant; Salomeand Reger.
Reger, Max (Johann Baptist Joseph Maxi-milian) - *1873 Mar 19 Brand, Bavaria-†1916 May 11 Leipzig. He recordedexclusively his own works. He seems tohave made about 20 rolls, all of them
released in 1913. 11 of them are in theSeewen collection. The Max Reger Insti-tut in Freiburg Germany has a comprehen-sive collection and this has at times beenused to supplement Seewen’s when“Reger plays Reger” recordings or broad-casts were made in the 1960s. Seewen’s
holdings include his Basso Ostinato Opus92 No. 4; Benedictus Opus 59 No. 9; Can-zone Opus 65 No. 9; Fugue in G Op 56No. 3; Melodia Opus 59 No. 11; Momentmusical Opus 69 No. 4; PräludiumOpus.85 No. 3; Romance Opus 69 No. 8as well as a number of Chorale settings.
Erb, Marie-Joseph - Composer, organistand teacher at Strasbourg (Alsace). *1858Oct 23 Strasbourg-†1944 Jul 9 Andlau(Alsace). 10 important Welte rolls of hisexist, a long lived organist, deeply steepedin 19th century traditions. This is madeeven more important with his locationbeing Alsace - where streams of Gerrmanand French organ traditions met:. Reper-toire contained in the rolls, dated 1912-25,includes J. S. Bach, Debussy, Franck,Guilmant, Mendelssohn and Wagner
Straube, Karl (Montgomery Rufus KarlSiegfried) - German organist, editor,choral conductor and teacher.
*1873 Jan 6 Berlin (D:). His mother wasEnglish. 1895 deputy-organist toReimann, Berlin, Kaiser Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche; 1897/8 beginnings oflifelong association with Max Reger; 1902appointed organist at the LeipzigThomaskirche (began duties 1903 Jan 6);1918 appointed Thomaskantor (the 11thafter Bach); †1950 Apr 27 Leipzig (D:)
1922-1928 he released at least 7 rolls forthe Welte company of music by J. S.Bach, and Buxtehude, but appears neverto have recorded any works of Reger forthis medium.
Dupré, Marcel - French organist, impro-viser, teacher, composer, editor andarranger.
*1886 May 3 Rouen (F:); student of Guil-mant, Widor, and Vierne; 1906 assistant toWidor at Paris, St Sulpice; 1916 deputy toVierne at Paris, Notre Dame;
†1971 May 31 Meudon (F:)
His many disc recordings are enhancedwith 7 rolls released for Welte in 1926-7.They include works by J. S. Bach,Daquin, Franck, and Widor, as well as hisown Prelude and Fugue in g minor andCortège et Litanie
Ramin, Günter - German organist, com-poser and choral director
*1898 Oct 15 Karlsruhe (D:); studiedorgan with Teichmüller and Straube; 1918appointed Thomaskirche organist; †1956
continued. . .
Max Reger arriving for his recording sessionin a Maybach
19
Feb 27 Leipzig (D:)
1922-6 released 8 rolls for the Welte company with works of J. S. Bach, Buxte-hude, Händel, Lübeck, Reger and animprovisation on “Vom Himmel hoch, dakomm' ich her”
-----------------------------
Now that the organ restoration iscomplete, the Seewen Museum is intending to arrange symposiums andrelease recordings of selected organists’and repertoire as the rolls can once againbe played. As an aid to this, and to theirpreservation, a computer control system(non-intrusive to any original Welte functioning of the instrument) is attachedto the organ. Seewen’s rolls are still well-preserved, but some other collections arenow known to be deteriorating, one currently threatened by mould. DanielDebrunner is arranging the computer systems and this includes a roll-scannerwhich can digitize organ rolls and turnthem into MIDI data. To varying degreesthe outboard computer will enable play-back options such as “Britannic” or“1937". It will also eventually allow soft-
ware manipulation of various contingen-cies taken by Welte in the multiplexing ofthe Pedal and Great data which led to small imprecisions in playback - “correcting” this will give even moreaccurate rendition of the original perfor-mances.
For those wishing to follow this article with further reading, a relevant bibliography, full list of acknowledgmentsand other articles may be found on myweb-site: www.davidrumsey.ch. A detailedarticle is due for publication by “The Diapason” in 2008.
For more details of the rolls and theirsignificance to performance practiceissues see also David Rumsey: Organistson a roll - the Welte organ's mechanically-recorded performances, Conference PaperArizona 2002 (published by GOART,Göteborg, Sweden).
For specific material relating to MaxReger see David Rumsey: Reger und dieAufführungspraxis seiner Zeit - die Welte-Aufnahmen u.a. Regers aus der Sammlung
des Museums für Musikautomaten Seewen(Solothurn, Schweiz), Referat gelesen an den Internationalen Reger-Tagen,Bruckner-Univsersität, Linz, Österreich,Mittwoch 13. April 2005. / Reger and thePerformance Practice of his Era - theWelte recordings, including Reger's own,from the collection at the Museum fürMusikautomaten, Seewen (Switzerland),paper given at the International RegerSymposium, Bruckner University, Linz,Austria, Wednesday 13th April 2005. Published in German only in Querstand II(2006/7), house journal of the AntonBruckner University, Linz, Austria. Alsoavailable in .pdf format in German orEnglish with musical examples atwww.davidrumsey.ch.
-----------------------------
This article was first published in French in the March 2008 issue of LaTribune de l’Orgue (ed. Guy Bovet)
© 2008 David Rumsey
(Revision of April 20th 2008)
continued. . .
20
As part of the roll scanning and recut-ting activities that have occupied rathertoo much time in recent years, I havedeveloped a perforation editor to correctand create rolls in the computer. This hasgrown in bits until it does most of what Iwant of it. One thing that has been lackingis the ability to hear the results of the editing, so recently I’ve made a concertedeffort to get the computer to play what’son screen.
There are already a number of programs available that will take a computer file representing a piano roll andcreate a playable MIDI file from it. Frommy viewpoint there were two main problems with these: firstly, by taking incomputer files directly they didn’t meetmy aim of being able to play what was onscreen in my roll editor, reacting to anyedits there; secondly, if I wanted to use theprogram to make new rolls the musicalperformance needed to be as realistic aspossible, while many of the programsoffer approximations rather than precisionmodels of the way that pianolas react torolls.
Getting sound out of a computer
The basic facility in a PC that makessounds from a MIDI file is the synthesizer,which makes piano-ish noises in responseto ‘note on’ and ‘note off’ commands. Thederivation of these commands from apiano roll is obvious—the start of the slotis the ‘on’, the end of the slot is the ‘off’,and you have to ignore any bridges in themiddle of the slot.
There are all sorts of fiddling techni-cal details to settle in order to get this towork from a home-written program, need-less to say! For those not interested, pleasefeel free to skip the rest of this section…
The essence of the problem is to convert the roll data—which on screen isjust a pattern of dots—into the commandsneeded to operate the synthesizer. Windows provides many ways for programmers to access it facilities, so thefirst thing that has to be done is to figure
out which to use. One of the characteris-tics of Windows is that there is a lot goingon at the same time, all of it competing forcomputing time (about 80% of the workthat most PCs do is processing mousemovements). Music needs to be accuratelytimed, so the multimedia function (ofwhich the synthesizer is a part) is givenhigh-priority access to the computer’sresources. This works very well, but itmakes it harder to use because a normalprogram doesn’t have the same priority. Itrequires the programmer to create a MIDIfile and save it on the hard disk, and thenplay this with the synthesizer, quite independently of the initial program. Thealternative is to let the program send each‘on’ and ‘off’ at the right time, whichmeans you have to do all the timer calculations, which are vulnerable to disruption if anything else happens duringplaying—on the other hand, if you want to(say) play a note when the cursor movesover it, this is the ideal approach.
The separation of the noise-makingactivity means that any attempt to matchwhat you see on screen to the soundyou’re hearing requires the programmer totry keeping up with the sound withoutusing so much computing power that themusic suffers. In some programs such asMIDI sequencers you can see the visualside stutter and catch up, or move in fairlycoarse jumps to keep in line. It all dependson the way the program is written. In general, programming divides into writingthe machine instructions directly, whichallows great precision and efficiency inuse but is horrendously complex to write,or the use of ‘high-level’ programminglanguages that look more –or-less likehuman language and are converted intomachine instructions by the computer. Thegeneral nature of the latter means that theynever produce such precisely targetedinstructions, so never run as fast. My program is written using Visual Basic, andstructured in a manner to offer a widevariety of editing rather then impressivegraphical capabilities, and when I tried
keeping up with the music I got to about10% of the required speed! I decided toconcentrate on how the music sounded.We all know what a roll looks like, afterall.
Modeling the player pianoThe simplest form of playing the
music from a piano roll-editing program isto behave like a poor pianolist, soundingevery note with exactly the same dynamic.To do this, every ‘on’ command is madethe same other than the detail of whichnote is to be played. This is fine for tryingout the mechanism of getting the computer to make a noise—any noise—but isn’t satisfactory for longer-term listening, and clearly doesn’t do justice tothe music on the roll.
There’s not a lot more that can bedone with standard 65- and 88-note rolls,because the roll itself carries no informa-tion to indicate how it should sound otherthan (sometimes) in the form of printeddetails, which don’t get included in thetype of files we’re talking about here.However, many rolls do carry extradynamic-control information in their perforations, ranging from the Themodistsystem that identifies which notes areaccented although not how much thataccent is, to the reproducing piano systems that completely control the performance dynamics. It is the latter thatare the primary focus of computer play-back.
One of the frequently-heard comments is that “you’ll never get it tosound right”, which is on reflection not aparticularly insightful observation: if computers can be programmed to send aspaceship to the moon with pinpoint accuracy, or any number of other incredibly-detailed tasks we now see on adaily basis, then it really ought to be possible to represent the movement of afew bits of wood and metal and theireffect on a suction supply. That is theessence of the task, and it brings us toworking out how the roll controls theplayer piano.
A DUO-ART EXPRESSION
SIMULATOR
By Julian Dyer
From Player Piano Group Bulletin 189-December 2008
21
Regardless of how the program is towork, the input is always the pattern ofholes on a roll, while the output must be a series of ‘note on’ instruction each witha particular dynamic level, and corresponding ‘note off’ instructions pluspedal controls. There are all sorts of waysof creating the dynamics from the patternsof holes in the roll, and the programmerhas to decide what approach to adopt. Thesimplest is to ignore the dynamic codes onthe roll altogether, not vaguely accurate ofcourse, but possibly the best that can bedone with an unknown system. Ratherbetter is a made-up series of rules, whichdo enough to present a broad-brushapproximation of the intended perfor-mance without necessarily reflecting anydeep or accurate understanding of the system. Best is an approach that factors ina realistic description of the engineeringand physics of the device in question, sothat the resulting performance is derivedusing a model for each significant component in the system so building upthe effect in the same way the player itselfconverts perforations into dynamics. Evenhere, the level of precision used to modeleach component can vary from a simplified approximation to a rigoroussolution of a mathematical equation.
The beauty of a component-basedmodel is that the level of precision canalways be increased in one area or anotheruntil the model works. The process ofrefinement is a powerful tool to gainunderstanding of the system: you learnwhat matters and what doesn’t, and howthe significant parts affect the overallresult. Far from being a frivolous andinappropriate exercise in applyingcomputers to an old-world problem, math-ematical modeling is a modern professional engineering approach to gainunderstanding of a system. Once the system is correctly modeled, the modelcan be used in many ways: for instance, tosimulate fault conditions so that real systems can be examined and diagnosed.
Simulating the Duo-Art dynamic system
The first (and so far, only) model thatI have worked on is for the Duo-Art system, for the simple reason that this isthe type of piano that I have, and the typeof rolls that I recut. It is also the least wellserved of the major systems by other soft-ware simulators.
As rebuilders know, and owners canobserve by comparing the perforation patterns on the roll with the resulting
sounds, the Duo-Art has a fairly complexrelationship between the roll coding andthe dynamic level. This is primarilybecause of the behavior of the suction regulator itself, thanks to its fairly high‘droop’ characteristic—the drop in suctionlevel as the flow of air through the systemincreases. Test rolls have ‘play’ and ‘won’tplay’ chords that indicate the expectedimpact of droop on stack suction, althoughthe tests varied over the years so don’tgive as much help as they should. Thereare also numerous other less well-definedeffects to consider.
(By the way, the high droop is not adesign fault but an innate characteristic ofa theme-accompaniment system. All regulators need droop to stabilize them,but normally negative feedback is used to reduce this droop. With a theme-accom-paniment system, it is mechanically impractical if not downright impossible toprovide such feedback: the theme regula-tor isn’t connected to anything most of thetime so there is nothing to receive feed-back from, and when the theme regulatoris in use the accompaniment regulator hasno feedback source. In bass-treble systemssuch as the Welte-Mignon and Ampico,each regulator is permanently connectedto the thing it is controlling so can be provided with negative feedback from thestack. The Artrio-Angelus system, whichuses a theme-accompaniment design likethe Duo-Art, has no feedback.)
The Duo-Art simulator thereforeneeds to consist of sections representingeach of the mechanical and pneumaticeffects in the system. Taken in their logical sequence, these are (1) the relationship between punch position andactivation of different controls by openingof tracker bar holes; (2) the accordionpneumatics that are activated by dynamicperforations in the roll; (3) the spill valvethat admits air into the system and isdirectly linked to the accordion setting; (4) the knife valve, which converts accordion movement into a regulated suction level; the theme valves that switchbetween accompaniment and theme regulators. As well as these, it is necessaryto map between the dynamic code on theroll and the resulting MIDI playing level. One of the things that needed to bedecided was how to represent the dynamiclevel. It starts off being in Duo-Artexpression levels, and (in the physical system) is converted into a suction levelwhich in turn is converted to a playing
level in the pneumatic stack. On the Duo-Art the intermediate suction level is not adirect indicator of the playing levelbecause there are various designs of stackthat use a variety of sizes for the playingpneumatics, and differing mechanicallinkages. I decided instead to map directlyfrom DA levels to MIDI velocities,although in practice it’s hard to know thebest point to make this conversion.
Tracker bar effects
The Duo-Art tracker bar is character-ized by the additional rectangular portsabove the top and bottom four playingnotes (used to operate the dynamic controls), and the double-width holes ateither end of the bar (used to operate theaccenting). Because the paper moves fromtop to bottom, the dynamic holes areopened relatively earlier than the noteholes for any given horizontal row of perforations. As with all tracker bar ports,they operate from the moment that a perforation in the roll first admits enoughair until it ceases to admit air. The heightof the dynamic ports means they are heldopen longer by a single perforation.
When simulating playback from acomputer file there is no concept of thephysical movement of paper, so both theadvance and height characteristics have tobe modeled explicitly. The values usedneed to allow for the size of roll perfora-tions and the amount of air that needs tobe admitted to operate the internal mecha-nisms (which itself relates to the bleedsizes). Although the accenting ports arealways in line with the note ports, Duo-Art ‘snakebite’ accenting perforationsvary somewhat in their relative position tothe note perforations. American rolls werecut with all perforations on a commonleading edge, but British rolls have thesnakebites centered on the leading edge ofthe notes.
Accordions
Each change of dynamic code perforation on the roll causes an accordion-pneumatic segment to open orclose and so move the regulator’s knifevalve. Clearly, each individual segment isindependent, and the resulting position ofthe knife valve is the sum of all the individual segments. Each segment willtake a different time to open or close.Closing is performed by suction so thetime will depend on the accordion sizeand the valve setting. Most Duo-Art systems when built used a larger valve or
continued. . .
22
wider valve setting for the largest of thefour segments, so it opens proportionatelyfaster (whether rebuilders maintain thisdifferential setting is a moot point,because it’s not in most books). Thereforethe simulator has different times for eachsegment, with a default for the largest segment to close in the same time as thenext largest. The actual times used bydefault are somewhat arbitrary, based onobservation, which suggest the time isabout a quarter of a second.
Accordion segments are opened by areturn spring attached to the arm at the top(the smallest segment), so the openingforce on a lower (larger) segments presumably varies somewhat if a smallersegment is closing while they are opening.To date I’ve simply made the opening andclosing times for a particular segment thesame, which observation of a system inoperation suggests is about correct, andhave completely ignored any subtleties inopening time. I’ve also assumed that themovement is purely linear with time,which is probably true enough.
Spill valve
The spill valve modifies the effectivesuction supply to the expression regulatorby admitting air into the suction supply,which drops the suction level because ofresistive losses in the supply line. Thespill valve is completely open at level 0and completely closed at level 10, itsdegree of closure depending on the higherof theme or accompaniment settings. Thesimulator models the fraction of the fullsuction supply: it is 100% with spillclosed, and a given fraction when the spill is open. To date I’ve not made anymeasurements, but I’ve put in 0.75 as afirst guess.
Pneumatic droop
The Duo-Art regulator’s suction leveldrops as more notes play, because theknife valve opens further to remove theincreased volume of air from the system.This makes the regulator board drop, soreduces the tension in the expressionspring and therefore makes the suctionlevel drop. There are two air-inlet effects:the initial entry of air into the system viathe valve (dynamic droop), and the contin-uing entry via the bleed (static droop).Dynamic droop settings can be estimatedfrom the test roll’s play/don’t-play tests,and work out to about 0.25 Duo-Art levelsper simultaneous note. I’ve assumed thatthe static effect is half that of the dynamic
effect. I’ve also assumed that droop is alinear function, which is not true but iseasy to model.
The amount of droop in the system is affected by the strength of the suctionsupply. All else being equal, the higher thesuction the less the knife valve needs toopen to remove the air from the system, sothe less the droop. The droop effect istherefore modified by the spill valve fraction.
When a theme accent is open it isassumed that all droop effects are halved,because there are two regulators removingair from the stack so each has only half ofthe droop.
All of this analysis assumes that the stack is airtight, which is not quite trueeven for good instruments. Any leakageincreases the droop effect, as if a greaternumber of notes are playing. This proba-bly should be modeled, but hasn’t been sofar. Incidentally, in an airtight system theDuo-Art regulator will (in theory) settle sothat the knife value is just closed if nonotes are playing, because no air is passing through. As notes are played (orleakage increases) the amount of air flowing through the system increases sothe droop effect also increases. A strongersuction level will reduce the droop butshould not affect the maximum suctionlevel.
Theme level
The theme regulator is connectedwith a no-return flap valve to the accom-paniment, so is assumed in the simulatorto ride at the accompaniment level whenthe theme level is lower than the accompa-niment, and at the coded theme level whenthis is higher.
When a theme accent is opened thesuction level ramps up from the accompa-niment until it reaches the coded level.The rise is affected by the available suction after calculating the spill effect.The decay rate after an accent is a fixedslower rate.
Most British DA systems have a smallhole drilled into the theme regulator toforce a fairly rapid (and constant) suctiondecay, which the simulator models. Somesystems, however, do not have this vent sohigh suction levels decay more slowlyusing residual leakage and air that is let inwhen theme accents connect the themeregulator to the pneumatic stack. Somerolls can be seen to have additional themeaccents after large drops in theme level,
coded when no notes are starting, placedthere simply to drop the regulator suction.To date I have not modeled this—it isharder to do because you need to calculatethe total volume of incoming air. It is alsohard to know what kinds of system rollswere coded for. This is an area wheremore research is needed!
Hammer velocity is the integration ofthe power supplied up to let-off, not justthe suction at note-on time, so is affectedif the suction is still ramping up at note-ontime. Ideally this would be modeledexplicitly, but is at the moment approxi-mated by a ‘first row advance’ that movesthe start-time of the ramping forward togive time for ramping to stabilize at thenote-on point, where a spot velocity isassumed.
The effect of a theme accent at halving the droop effect described above,coupled with the theme level never dropping below the accompaniment level,means that a theme accent always causesan audible accent even if the theme-levelcoding is zero. At least, that’s how I seethe system as working, and I think that theeffect sounds correct.
Mapping of DA levels to MIDI velocities
I decided to define the playing scaleby allowing setting of the MIDI velocityat accompaniment levels 0 and 15, startingwith a linear scale although this reallyshould be non-linear, with a progressiverise—the precise form depends to on thenature of the playback device, because theresponse of MIDI instruments is not particularly standard. The theme level isautomatically made half a step higher thanaccompaniment, which is a correct modelof the earlier American systems, and allBritish systems, where the theme andaccompaniment regulator had equal-strength springs. The model still needs tobe extended at allow for the later American rolls where the theme springwas stronger.
A number of levels need to be definedbelow Duo-Art level zero, to allow for theeffect of droop at low playing levels—thesituation tested by the ‘no play’ chords inthe test roll. Because computer synthesiz-ers tend not to have any concept of notplaying, this is hard to get sounding con-vincing. What I have tried as a start is tomake the ‘no play’ levels significantlyquieter so they are at least obviously quieter even if they can still be heard. Thelevel below 0 should play, because a
continued. . .
23
continued. . .
single note should sound at level 0 withsustaining pedal on. Levels lower than this“do not sound or sound very quietly”.
Not (yet) modeled
No allowance is made for the effectof dampers being lifted or not. It shouldperhaps be half a DA level, but is onlymaterial at level 0 for play/don’t-playeffects, which as described above are hardto replicate with simulated pianos.
No allowance is made for timingeffects caused by the difference betweenplayer pianos (whose ‘on’ indicates thestart of hammer movement) and MIDIinstruments (whose ‘on’ indicates the timethe note sounds). Because louder notes areachieved by higher hammer speed, a loudnote will play sooner than a quiet one rela-tive to the start of the perforation on theroll. This is not a matter for the Duo-Artsimulator itself but a general one relating to the difference between roll-andsolenoid-pianos.
Showing the results
The intention of this exercise hasbeen to integrate expression simulationwith the roll editing facility, so that a rollcan be seen and modified on screen andthe results be heard over the speakers.When an edit is made, the expression isre-calculated.
It’s nice to see things change as wellas listen to them, so I’ve added on-screenindication of the expression levels. Theseshow as lines made of small dots. Thelines up the edges of the roll show the as-coded and actual (post-droop etc) themeand accompaniment levels, and lines upthe centre show the resulting bass andtreble expression which you actually hear.
The example shows at A the effect oftheme accents and at B the pulling-up oftheme suction to accompaniment with aslight rise at the end of the chord when thedroop changes.
With a little practice I’ve found theselines to be quite revealing about what’sgoing on, and when I’ve made codingerrors it’s possible to spot them in odd-looking patterns even before the soundgives them away. The lines also revealsome quite intriguing effects such asexpression codes that stop a little too earlyfor the note they appear to apply to, asshown below. I’ve put in a horizontal lineto show how the accented note playswhile the theme suction level is alreadydropping: exactly what level the notes willplay at depends quite critically on theramp rate of the particular piano’s regula-tor.
This may, ofcourse, be an artifactof putting incorrecttime constants ortracker-bar measure-ments into the simula-tor, but I suspect thescreen’s telling some-thing like the truth.This kind of effectprobably explains why rolls don’t alwaysplay as expected—you see an accent butdon’t hear it because the codes and notesdon’t quite align.
The display also shows how the system smoothes therather messy-lookingcoding of British rolls,such as exampleshown to the right at the start of BillyMayerl’s “EskimoShivers” where theresulting playing levelshows a fairly smoothcrescendo/decrescen-do.
I hope our ‘interactive bulletin’ partof the website will host a few examples ofthese files for all to hear. At the momentit’s very much “work in progress”, but
doing quite well Ifeel. When the Duo-Art’s done there areplenty of other systems to tackle!
24
The Engelhardt Piano Company ofSaint Johnsville, New York is a long gonememory for area residents of this upstateNew York community. The EngelhardtMansion is however, an active part of thesocial fabric of the community to this day.The Mansion at sixteen Washington Streetin the Village of St. Johnsville serves asVillage offices and a community meetingplace. The Mansion also contains two historically significant pianos which arereminders of the time when the Mansionwas owned by Frederic Engelhardt.
On the ground floor community roomis Engelhardt reproducing piano #180,167.The instrument incorporates a simplexplayer system which is typical of Engelhardt products. Engelhardt usedSimplex player components in their various lines of Nickelodeon pianos andOrchestrions. The piano appears to have a“Virtuolo” expression system. The Villageand its sesquicentennial committee arecurrently involved with fund raising activities to return this piano to serviceand provide a basis for a historical displayhighlighting the Engelhardt manufacturingCompany and its History.
On the third floor dancehall is Kohlerand Campbell Welte-Mignon #224,694.This reproducing piano is historically significant in that the Welte Corporationcame to control the Engelhardt Companyat some point in the nineteen twentiesaccording to the Encyclopedia of Automatic Musical Instruments. TheKohler and Campbell serial number corresponds to pianos made in 1923 andwould make one suspect that theWelte/Engelhardt alliance had its begin-ning at this time. Perhaps the piano was agift to the family and good will gesture bythe German firm.
The following photographs weretaken on December 29, 2008 and depictthe pianos and some of the peopleinvolved with the effort to bring musicback to this historic site.
THE PEOPLE AND PIANOS OF THE
ENGELHARDT MANSION
By Ben Gottfried of Ben’s Player Piano Service
Sixteen Washington Street, Saint Johnsville,New York- The Engelhardt Mansion
A charming place with an exceptional musicalhistory
The Grand Foyer
The Entry Foyer
The 1912 Peerless Piano Player Band- The Band often played for the people of this
industrious Village from the porch of the Mansion. Robert Smith Collection Photograph.
“Don’t upset Mr. Engelhardt as you touraround his home,”Karen Crouse-Clerk/Treasurer for the Village of Saint Johnsvillereminds visitors to the former home of Frederick Engelhardt that his presence isstill felt in the house.
25
continued. . .
Shall we dance? Kimberly Breese and BenGottfried can’t resist the urge to dance at thethought of past times at the Hall. Futhur plansfor the building include using the dance hallfor future events.
Front view
Interior view - Welte Licensee built playeraction as built by the Auto-Deluxe Companyinstalled in Kohler and Campbell Piano.
Three intensity pneumatics, sliding lock andcancel valves and a cancel pneumatic areemployed for the Reproducing System.
A Lady in Waiting - 1923 Kohler and Campbell Welte-Mignon Licensee in theEngelhardt Mansion dancehall.
Player Piano Man - Ben Gottfried of Ben’sPlayer Piano Service with the Engelhardt.
Engelhardt reproducing system- A three stepintensity Expression Mechanism can be seenon the bass end of the piano.
Robert Smith Co-Chairman for the SaintJohnsville Sesquicentennial Committee andEngelhardt Electric Reproducing Piano.
26
By Art Reblitz (Copyright 2004, all rights reserved.)
Originally presented as the opening talk for the 2004 AMICA Convention, Denver, Colorado
100+ YEARS OF AUTOMATIC
MUSIC IN COLORADO
Background: How the Talk Came AboutFor the 2004 AMICA convention in Denver, I thought it
would be fun to give a presentation on some of the importantautomatic musical instruments located in Colorado in the pastand present. I had grown up in the Chicago area, and worked atSvoboda’s Nickelodeon Tavern servicing, tuning and restoringinstruments from 1965 through 1968 while attending the University of Illinois. In the greater Midwestern U.S. in the1950s and 1960s, there were numerous medium-size and largecollections, including Svoboda’s (with over 100 instruments ofnearly all types and sizes, in Chicago Heights), Dettmering’sTavern (Matteson, Illinois), Valente’s House of Nickelodeons(Chicago), Paul and Laura Eakins’ Gay 90s Village (Sikeston,Missouri), Haning & White (Troy, Ohio), The House on the Rock(Spring Green, Wisconsin), Klavestad’s Stagecoach (Shakopee,Minnesota), Bill Wunderlich’s House of Nickelodeons (Appleton, Wisconsin), Bahlau’s Stagecoach Stop (Onsted,Michigan), the Kugler Collection (Minneapolis) and many others.
When I first moved to Colorado in late 1968, I immediatelysearched out all the automatic instruments and collectors I could find in the area. To my surprise, there seemed to be relatively few. Most of the large commercially-used instrumentsorchestrions and band organs had either been destroyed longbefore the collecting era, or had been acquired by collectors fromother parts of the country who came here and took them home.Of course, this was long before today’s collecting scene, in whichwe have enough enthusiasts in the Rocky Mountain region tohave our own AMICA chapter, numerous fine small and medium-sized collections, and Bill and Rosanna Harris’ major collectionof restored orchestrions, dance organs and fairground organs.
During the era of the pioneer collectors—the 1940s and
50s—Colorado might never have had as many large collectionsas there were in the areas of higher population density along theWest coast and from the Mississippi River to the East coast, butwhile helping to plan the 2004 AMICA Convention in Denver, Ireminisced about all the instruments I’d seen in Colorado andthought it would be fun to make a list. Four of us “near native”Colorado AMICA members (Dick Kroeckel, Dana Johnson, DonHein and I) sat down and quickly came up with nearly 200 coinpianos, orchestrions, reproducing pipe organs and band organsthat we had collectively seen in this state since the 1960s. Thisdidn’t even include the 700+ player and reproducing pianos thatI’d tuned, serviced or rebuilt here during the 1970s.
Recognizing that Colorado indeed had seen a vast treasure ofautomatic pianos and organs over the years, I realized that theproblem of writing a talk for the convention would not be one offinding enough instruments to discuss, but rather how to narrowdown the long list. I tracked down the best photos I could find ofinstruments in their original and recent locations, plus “then andnow” photos of the locations when available, and sought out thefew remaining old timers for their memories. The result was thefollowing presentation.
For the talk, Dick Kroeckel and I alternately read thedescriptions of instruments as the photos were shown on a largescreen, interspersed with a few sound clips. For the present seriesof articles in the AMICA Bulletin, I’ve made minor changes toaccommodate the print version and to reflect certain changessince 2004.
The article is arranged in columns. For the correct continu-ity, read the entire left column of each page, and then the rightcolumn. All photos not taken by the author were used with one-time permission for this AMICA talk and article. The source foreach photo is acknowledged in the caption or description.
The Colorado gold rush, which began in 1858.(Photo courtesy of Byron Akers, Sr.)“Pikes Peak or Bust.” “The Richest Square Mileon Earth.” “Yonder lies the world’s greatestgold camp.” Words like these still echo theexcitement of Colorado’s early pioneers. In1858, there were still only 32 United States. Thatyear, gold was discovered about a mile fromtoday’s downtown Denver, changing Coloradoforever. Within two years, thousands of peoplehad moved here attempting to strike it rich, andthere were over 100 businesses providing themwith supplies, room and board, drinks and otherpleasures.
Part One – The Gold Rush Era
27
continued. . .
Early coin piano in the Rosebud Café, Leadville. (DanaJohnson archive.)Pikes Peak, just west of Colorado Springs, was the firstprominent landmark discovered in Colorado, but the term“Pikes Peak or Bust” originally referred to the Denverregion, then Central City, Leadville, Cripple Creek, andothers. Mining was hard work. Where there were a lot ofminers, there were a lot of saloons. Where there weresaloons, there were music machines.
Kaltenbach’s orchestrion,moved to Denver in 1873,
looked something like this.(Richard Howe archive.)In 1873, the Kaltenbach
family moved an 11-foot tallorchestrion something like this
Welte into a tavern on BlakeStreet in Denver, renaming it
“Orchestrion Hall.” From 1876to 1885, they moved it to fivedifferent cities in Colorado,
before dismantling it for good.It’s a miracle the delicate
instrument survived as long as itdid, especially in an era before
paved roads and motorized vehicles with modern
suspension! Today, the originalbuilding is gone, and the
location is part of the Universityof Colorado.
Haas Orchestrion in Golden, 1872. (Golden Historical Society.)The earliest mention of an orchestrion in Colorado that I’ve found was in Golden, just west of Denver. The saloon at the far right, on Washington Street, was built in 1859. Gustavus Haas, its third owner,bought a weight-driven barrel orchestrion in 1872. It was so tall that he had to cut a hole in the ceiling to make room for it. The orchestrion is long gone, but the Coors Brewery, founded nearby in the same year, is still going strong.
Mining Exchange building, 1890s. (Q. David Bowers postcard archive.)By 1891, Denver was abooming city of over100,000 people. Thatyear, a group of investorsbuilt the MiningExchange Building, which becamethe financial center of the Rocky Mountain West. Atop the buildingwas “The Old Prospector,” a copperstatue symbolizing industry, patience andenterprise.
The Haas saloon was demolished in 1902, and replaced with this build-ing—today, the home of the Buffalo Rose Saloon. At least one buildingfrom the earlier photograph was still standing in 2004. (Author’s photo.)
Dandel & Becherer’s saloon, 1906. (Slim Ewing reprint of Wurlitzer catalog.)
In 1901, Dandel and Becherer opened the “Mining Exchange Bar” in the building, and in 1906, installed
a Wurlitzer Style 25 PianOrchestra with three animated figures.
28
continued. . .
Wurlitzer PianOrchestraStyle 25, 1906. (Slim Ewing reprint ofWurlitzer catalog.)Unfortunately for privatesaloon owners, Denver’sbrewery barons wantedcontrol over the saloons.Private owners were nomatch for large brewersand corrupt politicians. By 1913 Becherer wasforced out of business bythe Zang brewery, whichheld a mortgage on his fixtures. The PianOrchestra disappeared.
Harrison Avenue, Leadville, circa 1900. (Dana Johnson archive.)Leadville, “America’s highest city,” perches at an altitude over10,000 feet, about 100 miles southwest of Denver. In the late 1890s,it was a thriving city, with over 100 newcomers arriving every day.
“The Old Prospector,”2004. (Author’s photo.)The 12-foot tall, 490 pound “OldProspector” statue byAlphonse Pelzer, modeled after civil warveteran John Straughn,remained on the building until it wasrazed in 1962. Today it stands in front of theBrooks Tower at thesame location.
Expansion of mining. (Fred Mazzulla photo.)By that time, Colorado’s treasure hunt had evolved from gold
panning and placer mining into a major industry when investorsfrom the eastern United States combined forces with Colorado’s
miners and experienced engineers from Europe. Leadville’s economy was always like a roller coaster, but from 1878 to 1908,
it produced $300 million dollars worth of precious metals, mainly silver.
Lemp’s Café Welte, 1910. (Vestal Press reprint of Welte orchestrion catalog.)The Wurlitzer and Welte firms each found a good market in Colorado in theearly Twentieth Century. Around 1910, Lemp’s Café and Wine Company onCurtis Street featured a large Brisgovia piano orchestrion like this one. Theowner wrote to Welte: “We have noted a considerable increase in our business which shows that this investment will be a profitable one.” In thefast-changing city, Lemp’s café was gone by 1916 when prohibition wasenacted locally, four years earlier than most of the country. The Denver Federal Reserve Bank occupies the site today.
This was John Bernat’s Crystal Palace Hotel on Chestnut Street,Leadville, circa 1940s, after the first silver boom had waned.
(Wolle sketch from Bowers archive.)
29
continued. . .
The Crystal Palace featured a beautiful Style 32A WurlitzerConcert PianOrchestra, like this catalog illustration buthaving a statue with hanging lamps instead of the tapestry.(Wurlitzer archive, courtesy of Dana Johnson.)
Muriel Wolle’s sketch of the PianOrchestra, made in the 1940s. (Wolle sketch from Bowers archive.)
The author Muriel Sibell Wolle traveled Colorado in the 1940s, making sketches and documenting pioneer stories. This sketch of the
PianOrchestra is from her book “Stampede to Timberline,” published in 1949. Bernat died in 1952, and Sam Arnholtz of Wichita bought the
PianOrchestra from the Bernat family in 1953.
Bernat’s Style 32A Concert PianOrchestra, circa 1930s or 1940s.(Lake County Public Library, courtesy of Nancy Manly.)John Bernat bought it from Wurlitzer after moving into the CrystalPalace building in 1920, although he claimed he had bought it inGermany in the 1880s. He enjoyed opening the cabinet and showingpeople the intriguing instruments and mechanisms inside.
The building was demolished in 1961, after an arson fire had sent several people to jail. (Sue Fikany photo, courtesy of Jere DeBacker.)
This is the vacant lot in 2004, and the same house down the street as in the older photo. (Jere DeBacker photo.)
30
continued. . .
Dave Bowers ownedthe PianOrchestraseveral times, selling it to JudgeRoy Hoffheinz,owner of theAstroworld Hotel in Houston, andlater to Jerry andSylvia Cohen in Studio City, California. (Q. David Bowersphoto.)
Mike Argain completed the restoration for the Milhous Collection in 1998. A cabinet company in Chicago built the
new case, John Nolte made new pipes, and an Ohio firm recreated the stained glass. (Mike Argain photo.)
In 1980, the gas heater in Cohen’s music building caughtthe roof on fire, damaging most of the collection. This is the32-A just after the fire. Dave Bowers bought the remainsand sent the chassis to me and the cabinet parts to Haning& White. Before any restoration had begun, Dave sold it toRon Cappel, who later sold it to the Milhous brothers.(Author’s photo.)
Restored 32A PianOrchestra, Milhouscollection, 1998. (Author’s photo.)Here’s the beautifully-restored 32-A at the Milhous collection in Boca Raton, Florida. (The WurlitzerPianOrchestra historypages of the MechanicalMusic Press website, atwww.mechanicalmusic-press.com, include morephotos and Terry Hathaway’s detailed storyof the PianOrchestra, the Crystal Palace and its owner.)
During the 1990s, Dana Johnson restored the chassis,pumps and reservoirs, and engineered the reconstruction ofthe piano, pipes, pipe chest, and other parts for the MilhousCollection. (Dana Johnson photo.)
Downtown Trinidad, Colorado, early 1900s. (Dana Johnson archive.)Trinidad, Colorado, near the New Mexico Border, was a coal mining city,
supplying fuel to the railroads, the steel mill in Pueblo and other Colorado industries. Like every successful mining town, it had its share of saloons and
several large hotels. It was served by stagecoach until the railroad arrived in 1878.By 1900, Bat Masterson and other lawmen slowly civilized this rough frontier town.
31
continued. . .
The Grand Hotel opened on Main Street in Trinidad in 1904. It featured a gold dome, 32 rooms, an indoor pool, barber shop,massage rooms, dining room, tavern and a dancing room.(1940s photo from Trinidad Public Library, courtesy of Alice Romero.)
1913 Wurlitzer BX from Trinidad, Colorado, 1973. (Dana Johnson photo.)This Wurlitzer BX orchestrion came from a bar in Trinidad that opened
in 1913. Two years later, the owner was killed when someone threw a gasoline bomb through the window. His wife and son closed the bar,
which was intact until 1973, when Jim Swickard bought the piano from the son. Jim took the Wurlitzer to a piano shop in Denver, where a local player piano mechanic took it apart and disappeared. Jim then hired me
(peeking out from behind the drum) to restore the pneumatic mechanisms. Thepiano had so little wear that the piano action required almost no regulation,
although the covering on the pneumatics and bellows had to be replaced.
The dancing room included this large Welte Brisgoviaorchestrion, which has never been found. The building wasdemolished in 1958 to make room for a gas station thatwas torn down for expansion of the interchange on I-25 inthe early 2000s. (Circa 1910 photo from the Vestal Pressreprint of Welte Orchestrion catalog.)
Wurlitzer BX in Estes Park, 1973. (Author’s photo.)
Jim put it in The JollyDrover, his antique
store in Estes Park. In1978, Bill Harris sold itfor him to Pete Griffen,
who used it in a commercial location in
California.
Jasper Sanfilippo bought it in 1988,and Reblitz Restorations completelyrestored it. In this photo, a differentstyle of art glass has been installed.(Author’s photo, Sanfilippo Collection, 2005.)
32
continued. . .
Allan Stafford foundthis beautiful PeerlessArcadian in theTrinidad area in the1970s and eventuallysold it to Jasper Sanfilippo. ReblitzRestorations completedthe restoration for the Sanfilippo collection in 2007.(Author’s photo.)
Bennett Ave., Cripple Creek, circa early 1900s. (Author’s collection.)Colorado’s last major gold strike was in 1891 in Cripple Creek,
in an ancient volcanic caldera on the west side of Pikes Peak. In three years, Cripple Creek had over 10,000 residents.
By 1923, the district had produced nearly 20 million ounces of gold, worth over 400 million dollars at $20.67 an ounce.
Peerless Style D coin piano in The Branchsaloon, Cripple Creek, early 1900s. (Author’scollection.)The Branch was one of Cripple Creek’s originalsaloons built in 1896 and open until 1905. Thispicture shows an early Peerless style D coinpiano in the front corner.
Steam calliope in Cripple Creek. (Dana Johnson archive.)This undated photograph shows a team of four horses getting ready topull an eight-note steam calliope down Bennett Ave., the main streetof Cripple Creek. The calliope wagon bears a large banner reading“This is a caliope.” Although not self-playing, the calliope is relatedclosely enough to its roll-operated brothers to be included here.
The Branch, CrippleCreek, 2004.
(Author’s photo.)Cripple Creek now has
legalized gambling, and this is the Branch
building in 2004. Mining continues, with
annual production ofabout 330,000 troy
ounces of gold in recentyears, valued at $270
million in 2008 prices.
Wurlitzer Tonophone, Aguilar. Where is it now? (Slim Ewing reprint of Wurlitzer catalog.)Here’s a mystery: over thirty years ago, Sid Squib, a tax assessor of Gilpin County andragtime pianist, found a Wurlitzer Tonophone that was originally used in Aguilar, nearTrinidad. Aguilar had no electricity at the time, so the Tonophone was fitted with a handcrank. Gil Allen, a player piano enthusiast from Denver, bought it, never finished pay-ing for it, lost it in storage, and has since passed away. If anyone ever finds a mahoganyTonophone with a hand crank, we’ll be interested to know where it was found.
33
continued. . .
Peerless Style D coin piano,found in Pueblo, 1972.(Author’s photo.)At least six Peerless style Dshave been found in Coloradosince the 1960s. I found thisone in Pueblo, restored it, andsold it to “Miss Hallie’s,” ashort-lived pizza parlor inCripple Creek across the streetfrom the old Branch saloon.Dick Kroeckel owns anotherstyle D that he found inGeorgetown, Colorado.
1914 Wurlitzer Style 30A Mandolin PianOrchestra, owned by madam Laura Evans. (Dana Johnson photo.)Laura bought at least three music machines, including
a Wurlitzer Paganini. After receiving the Paganini, she called the salesman and said “What do you mean selling me an instrument for my parlor house, when the blankety-blank
thing plays church music?” The dealer picked up the instrument immediately. In January 1914 she bought
this style 30A Wurlitzer PianOrchestra.Laura Evans’ Parlor House, Salida, circa 1940s. (Terry Hathaway archive.)Salida, 140 miles southwest of Denver, was a railroad town and home of one of Colorado’s infamous madams, Laura Evans. In 1900,Laura bought this building for her brothel, near the Denver & RioGrande repair shops.
“Female Boarding House.” Laura Evans’ cribs, circa 1940s.(Terry Hathaway archive.)These units, across the street, were the cribs for Laura’s girls.They were listed euphemistically in city directories as “female boarding houses.”
This is the original 1914 receipt for the Style 30A PianOrchestra fromKnight-Campbell Music Company for $3,150. (Mike Ames archive.)
34
continued. . .
Playland Arcade, Fun Zone, Newport Beach, California,1950s. (Lyle Martin photo.)A.C. Raney, an early collector from California, bought the 30A in the early 1930s and sold it to the Playlandarcade at the Newport Beach Fun Zone in California. Terry Hathaway became fascinated with it at the Fun Zone at an early age in the mid-1940s, and finally had the chance to buy it in 1971.
Laura Evans’ building, 2004 – a big stucco cake! (Earle Kittleman photo.)Back in Salida, the city council shut down Laura’s brothel, the original location
of the 30A, in 1950. She died in 1953 at age 91. Her buildings are now coatedwith stucco, out of character with nearby historic buildings.
Wurlitzer Style 30A PianOrchestra, Ames Collection,Solana Beach CA, 1986. (Author’s photo.)
Often, the first instrument you ever see and hear remainsone of your favorites. That was true of this 30A, which
inspired not only Terry Hathaway, but also Bob Gilson,George and Suzie Coade, Mike Ames and Jasper Sanfilippo
when they were all just beginning to collect. Mike eventually bought it in 1985;
this picture shows it in his collection.
Today the Style 30A, shown here in an interiorview, is in the Gilson Collection.
(Dana Johnson photo.)
35
continued. . .
Knight-Campbell Music Co., Denver, circa 1920. (Bowers postcard archive.)Who were the dealers that sold automatic instruments in Colorado? The largest was probably the Knight-Campbell Music Company, founded in Denver in 1874. The store later hadone of the first large electric signs in the city, visible for blocks. It also had branches in other major Colorado cities.
Mills Violano-Virtuoso, Lund’s Billiard Hall, Brush, Colorado 1926. (Mills booklet Evidence of Music Profits.)
Colorado’s unsurpassed Mills Violano distributor was Gano Senter, from Denver. He averaged one sale every ten days
for the whole year of 1928. Gano had an accompaniment roll of Italian opera music custom-made. Whenever he sold a Violano to an Italian restaurant, he and his wife, a fine
musician, went there the next weekend, where she sang opera, accompanied by the special roll.
Knight-Campbell logo decal on Autopiano player piano, circa 1920s.(Author’s photo.)In Colorado, we find this cute little logo with a knight and camel on allsorts of home and commercially-used instruments: Steinway, Wurlitzer,Seeburg, Aeolian, Weber, Estey, Autopiano, Victor, Edison and manyothers. You’ll hear the Knight-Campbell name often in this talk. Othermajor dealers that sold reproducing pianos and player pianos includedWells Music and Darrow Music Company.
1928 Mills DeLuxe Violano-Virtuoso, Hein Collection –never used commercially. (Don Hein photo.)
Gano told the Mills boys he could sell 100 Violanos,and they said “If you do, we’ll give you the Violano in
the showroom.” He did, and they gave him the beautiful new double Violano pictured here. He
eventually sold it to a music box dealer, who later soldit to local member Don Hein. At least 25 Violanos have been found in Colorado in the last 30 years.
Part Two – a few of Denver’s Automatic Music Dealers
(continued in next issue)
37
New QRS Roll Issues
NEW ROLL RELEASES
IN MEMORY
MAURY WILLYARDDecember 24, 2008
Sent in by Carl & Halie Dodrill
Maurice Willyard passed away peace-fully on Christmas eve, 2008 in Bremerton, Washington where he and hiswife, Frances, had lived for many years.He had suffered from cancer for a considerable period of time, and this cancer was unresponsive to treatment. Hehad been under hospice care for severalmonths. No services are planned.
Maury had a long and distinguishedcareer in the United States Navy. Hiscareer there unquestionably impacted hislife including organization and precisionin his work, and the distinguished way inwhich he conducted himself and his business. Further, Maury had a central role
in AMICA. He joined in 1973, and madethe organization a priority. He was President of AMICA International from1994-1996, he took a major role in organizing the Seattle Convention in1994, and he and a small number of othersstarted the Pacific Can-Am Chapter of AMICA in 1994. This chapter hasgrown, it organized the Portland AMICAConvention in 2003, and it continues to bean active chapter of AMICA International.
Maury will be sorely missed by all hisfriends in the Pacific Can-Am Chapter andin AMICA International. Our deepest condolences to Fran and to the family.Gifts in memory of Maury may be sent to the Memorial Fund at AMICAInternational (AMICA Memorial Fund,Ray Dietz Chair, 1250 Lanier Rd., Martinsville VA 24112-5212).
DURRELLARMSTRONGArmstrong, Durrell, 75, Player Piano Co.Owner, passed away Thursday, December25, 2008. Graveside service 2:00 Monday,December 29, 2008, White Chapel Cemetery. Survivors, long time friend andcompanion, Jack Johnson; sister, Elaine(Kenneth) Wimmer, Wichita; nephews andniece, Don (Lisa) Wimmer, Jon (Kim)Wimmer and Cindi (Joe) Montgomery; 7great and 2 great-great nieces andn e p h e w s .Memorials toN a t i o n a lP a r k i n s o n ’sF o u n d a t i o n .Services byB r o a d w a yMortuary.
Cat. No. XP521 -C Jersey Boys...$21.00Includes: Sherry; Big Girls Don’t Cry; Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You.Played by Charles Czarnecki and Bob Berkman
Cat. No. XP522 -C Supertramp...$21.00Includes: The Logical Song; Take The Long Way Home.Played by Christopher T. Sierzchula and Bob Berkman
Cat. No. XP523-C...Fats Waller Medley No. 14 $21.00Includes: Boogie Woogie Piggy; Fat Meat Is Good Meat; Sweet And Slow.As played by Fats WallerArranged by J. Lawrence Cook
Cat. No. XP524-C...Nat King Cole Hits No. 3 $21.00Includes Candy; Orange Colored Sky; Walkin’ My Baby Back Home.Played by J. Lawrence Cook
Cat. No. XP525-C..WICKED .$21.00 Includes: One Short Day; Popular; Defying Gravity.Played by Charles Czarnecki & Bob Berkman
Cat. No. 11059 ...$14.00Seasons of Love (from Rent)Played by Charles Czarnecki and Bob Berkman
Cat. No. 11060..SPRING IS HERE (Rodgers & Hart) $14.00Played by Michael T. Jones
Cat. No. Q364..Don’t Stop Now .$14.00As played by Fats WallerArranged by J. Lawrence Cook
Get them while they’re “Hot!” Mike Walter
38
Rob Deland: Blues Tone Rollswww.bluesrolls.com
[email protected]: (847) 548-6416
Bob & Ginny Billings: Rock Soup14010 Rim Rock Drive, Reno, NV 89521
[email protected]: (775) 853-4659
Leedy Brothers Music Rolls4660 Hagar Shore Road, Coloma, MI 49038
www.leedyrolls.comPhone: (269) 468-5986 - Fax: (269) 468-0019
Larry Norman: Rollertuneswww.home.earthlink.net/~rollertunes
[email protected]: (540) 721-7188
Don Teach: Shreveport Music Co.1815 E. 70th Street, Shreveport, LA 71105
[email protected]: (318) 798-6000 - Fax: (318) 797-4572
Robin Pratt: Artist’s Choice Music [email protected]
Phone: (419) 626-1903516 Pierce Street, Sandusky, OH 44870-4725
Steve Bentley: Playrite Music Rolls1536 N. Palm St., Turlock, CA 95380 U.S.A.
Phone/Voice: (209) 632-5784 - Fax: (209) 667-8241
QRS Music Technologies, Inc.1026 Niagara Street, Buffalo, NY 14213
Phone: 1-800-247-6557 - Fax: 1-716-885-7510www.qrsmusic.com
Magic Melodies360 Lawless Road, Jamestown, KY 42629
Phone: (270) 343-2061
David Saul: Precision Music Rolls1043 Eastside Road, El Cajon, CA 92020-1414
Joyce Brite: Player Piano & Musical Music Exchangehttp://mmd.foxtail.com/Exchange/
http://mmd.foxtail.com/Exchange/rollpage.htm
Tim Baxter: Meliora Music Rollswww.melioramusicrolls.com
David Caldwell400 Lincoln Lake Ave., N.E., Lowell, MI 49331
Phone: (616) 897-5609DavidWFrom [email protected]
Dick Hack: Hack Mechanical Music2051 Chesapeake Road, Annapolis, MD 21409
[email protected](410) 279-5859 Cell Days
(410) 757-2164 Home Evenings
Frank L. Himpsl: Valley Forge Music Roll Company604 Linnet Road, Audubon, PA 19403
(484)-250-7046 roll shop(610)-291-1841 my cell
http://www.valleyforgemusicroll.com
Kukral Collection: Welte-Mignon and 88-Note Rolls216 Madison Blvd., Terre Haute, IN 47803
Phone: (812) [email protected]
Julian Dyer5 Richmond Rise, Wokingham RG41 3XH, United Kingdom
John Motto-Ros“Nickelodeon Rolls”
“A” “G” “O” Rolls & Boxes110 Allen Ranch Road, Sutter Creek, CA 95685
209-267-9252www.johnnysmusicrolls.com
e-mail: [email protected]
Keystone Music RollsP.O. Box 650, Bethlehem, PA 18016
Gnaw-Vol-ty RollsStephen Kent Goodman
www.gnaw-vol-ty.com
PLEASE VISIT THESE SUPPLIERS OF RECUT ROLLS
39
Lady LibertyS.O.W.N.Y.Heart of AmericaRocky MountainTexasSouthern CaliforniaSierra NevadaPacific Can-AmNorthern LightsMidwestBostonFoundingChicago
LOCATION OF CHAPTERS KEY
Currently the rest of thestates do not have an
AMICA Chapter
MAP of the AMICA Chapters
40
NewsFrom
The Chapters
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA CHAPTERReporter: Shirley Nix
President: Richard Ingram
SPECIAL THANK YOU
A special “thank you”to Bob and Diane Lloyd,whose picture somehowdidn’t get into the Convention issue. Theywere such a big part of thesuccess of the WoodlandHills Convention, withDiane handling the registration, doing theprinting of all those tickets, meal tickets, registration forms, and allthat went with the job.
As for Bob, he handled all the money, and while thatsounds like a really pleasant job, believe me, it had itsheadaches. He kept track of everything that was paid for during the convention and the sale of the table favors after theConvention was over. All that and he didn’t even take themoney and run off to some tropical island, as he kept threatening to do.
After all that, they hosted an open house after the Convention was over. That’s dedication, and they surelydeserved to be highlighted in the Bulletin, but as often happens, they got overlooked. So here’s a special highlightmoment for Bob and Diane for a job well done.
An AMICA Organ Rally in Sutter CreekBy Shirley Nix
Photos by Shirley Nix & Darryl Coe
Sutter Creek was the site for another organ rally, our second in this terrific town. October 11 and 12 were the dates,and this one was even bigger than last year. Once again Johnhad ordered fine weather, if a bit windy and nippy.
Sutter Creek is a lovely town, right in the center of California’s gold country, and is surrounded by delightful and historic areas. It is a nice drive through winding hilly roadsand small towns. When you arrived, you found the mainstreet, which is only a few blocks long, boasting a bannerstrung across this highway announcing the rally.
The town goes all out for us, with the AmericanExchange Hotel furnishing rooms and John and NadineMotto-Ros putting on a barbecue (with a lot of help fromtheir friends) that is really amazing. You haven’t lived untilyou’ve tried John’s tri tip.
The Southern California Chapter has been fortunate inthat John has called to invite us and we have had a goodturnout. Maybe we all needed this as a way to relax after thehectic pace we had for so long planning and making the con-vention in Woodland Hills happen.
This year there were more organs from the Sierra NevadaChapter, and I think a couple from the Founding Chapter.
We start playing on Saturday morning, to the delight ofthe people who stop to enjoy some “real music”, as one ladyput it. The day seems to fly by, enhanced by visits to antiqueshops and various boutiques (not to forget the ice cream store,which always does a big business, although not as big thisyear since the weather was much cooler.)
When the day comes to a close it’s off to the Motto-Roshome. John and Nadine have a lovely collection, and that addsto the fun of the barbecue.
Besides, how many places can you sit and enjoy themeal, the friendship and the music and be further entertainedby a flock of wild turkeys on the hillside?
John had decided to have a non-formal meeting of theSierra Nevada Chapter, and that made for quite a crowd. Itwas a lot of fun, and we caught up on all the happenings up inNorthern California. We hated to leave when dinner was over,and we stayed to enjoy the music as long as we dared, butfinally we gave up and returned to our home away fromhome.
Sunday morning we were back on the main street of Sutter Creek, and the place rang with the sound of organs,from small monkey organs to the large Bruder that Jerry Pelland Diane Minzey bring. The people are fascinated with themusic and the organs, and want to know all about them. Theyare really interested in the technology involved, and can spenda lot of time just watching the roll or book go by. It’s a greatexperience for all, and I’m sure it will stay in the memories ofa lot of those who come to enjoy our performance, and that’swhat we are all about.
Julie Porter brought her Caliola this year, mounted onthe back of rental truck. The instrument sounded great, andwas a good addition. Robin Biggins and Ardis Prescott came
41
Frank Nixmakingmusic on his Hofbauerorgan
Josh Rapier,with a toolin hand,doing somefinal adjust-ments toJerry Pell’sWurlitzer103.
Daniel and Phillip Wright demonstrating their monkey organs
A popular place is the Ice Cream Emporium
on Saturday with the Molinari Organ, and the Van Veldhuizens who stopped by with their organ on their way toa family affair. Newcomer (to our rallies that is) Darryl Coeshowed up in a top hat and a tux…quite dapper, and veryimpressive. Rich Shaw brought his circus automata organ.Dan and Phillip Wright had the organs they made, with cutemoving figures on front, and it was nice to have the wholefamily there. Bob Meyer had his organ, which he also made,and which has a great, full sound. Brad Harmer, too, broughta really nice organ with carousel horses on the front riding upand down to the music.
Jerry Pell brought his wonderful Bruder and a smallerWurlitzer 103, which Josh Rapier and his wife Tawnyademonstrated. Josh had done some tune-up work and had bothorgans sounding to perfection.
Frank and Shirley Nix brought the Limonaire and theHofbauer. The latter is fun for the public to crank, since itisn’t so critical as to back or forward cranking. That makes itnice for the kids.
Since the “Main Street” is the main highway through theGold Country there is a fair amount of traffic, and we hadpeople just driving through who ended up stopping to walkthe town and hear the music.
This years badge was graced with the image of a goldminer, which represents this area quite well. These badges aregiven to all participants, and this year quite a few of the SutterCreek people also wanted them.
For the Southern California Chapter it’s a long drive, andwith the price of gas still high, although not as high as it was at its peak, it’s a sign of the dedication and love of theinstruments for those who come, some from as far away asSan Diego.
We all thank John and Nadine for their hard work inarranging for this event. It’s a fine venue, as we all love doingit. A special thanks, too, to those who come and bring theirinstruments, because with out them we wouldn’t have anevent at all.
It’s one of the best venues we’ve had, and we look forward to next year. Hope to see even more of the memberscoming out, either with an organ or just to enjoy the day. Youcould spend a week just driving around the area and sight seeing, and a trip to Yosemite isn’t out of the range. In fact,there are so many places you could visit it would make a greatvacation, and October is a lovely time of the year.
42
Rick Shaw and his circus organ
Joan Van Veldyluizen holding down the fort
John Motto-Ros, our host
Robin Biggins,who makes agood ItalianOrganGrinder from Australia
Brad Harmer
Darryl Coe, all dressed up
Bob Meyer
Jerry Pell’s Bruder
43
Enjoying the music in the Motto-Ros music room
Julie Porter and her Caliola
Dinner time at John and Nadine’s
Jerry had his wonderful Bruder playing in the garage aswe arrived. This is a great organ, which he brings out to theorgan rallies, where it is always a favorite. It’s beautiful just tolook at, and the music matches the majesty of the instrument.
He also had his Wurlitzer 125 and 103 organs up and running for our enjoyment, all tweaked up and in wonderfulplaying condition. Josh Rapier had everything in supershape.
Inside the house were more treasures, and Diane Minzeyhad a delicious assortment of refreshments, more than wecould eat, although we tried. There were really a lot of tastysandwiches and desserts for our gastronomic enjoyment.
We left the Pell residence later than we were supposed to,and journeyed another half hour over winding hilly roads tothe desert area of Hesperia to enjoy the hospitality of RichardIngram. It was a case of “from the mountains to the desert”for this meeting, and both places had a wealth of things toenjoy.
Richard has a roll collection that is mind-boggling, andwe were free to play whatever we liked. He has several beautiful pianos, including the 1910 A B Chase, which gracedthe Hospitality room at the Convention this year, and was signed by Hi Babbit after he sat and played it for animpromptu concert. It’s a beautiful piano, and we were happyto be able to hear it up close. His Knabe, too, was a joy tohear. It was fun going through the endless (seemingly, any-way) choice of rolls to find something special to play.
Another interesting piece, and one of his later acquisi-tions, was a push up pumper. Richard demonstrated it, and it was quite nice. The case was carved and it played well,thanks to Richard’s hard work. It’s a 65-note player, and itwas good to see it work with the top off so we could see allthe mechanics.
We had a short business meeting, mainly a rundown of the recent organ rally at Sutter Creek, and of course theConvention. We discussed dates for the Christmas party thisyear, and will firm up that later. It will probably be at the Nixhome this year.
We are lucky to have Richard as President, with MikeChoate as Vice-President, Dianne Reidy as Treasurer,Frank Nix as International Board Rep, and Shirley Nix asSec/Reporter.
It’s hard to believe the year of 2008 is almost at an end.Time flies by, and we have a lot of fun packed in. We lookforward to the Convention in Cincinnati next year, and theorgan rallies, meetings, and all the good times.October 25 Meeting
Shirley Nix-ReporterPhotos by Lowel Boehland and Shirley Nix
October 25th was the date for a special meeting. Westarted out the day at the home of Jerry Pell in the mountaintown of Wrightwood. It’s a quaint, friendly place wherethings happen like Don Henry and Kelly Peters going outfor a walk and meeting one of the neighbors who had anapple tree and they were told to “please pick as many as youcan”, which meant a couple of shopping bags full ofapples…apple pie on the menu?
44
Frank Nix looks very guilty and Bill Blair is enjoying the moment.
A typical AMICA garage-filled with band organs.
Diane Minzey and Jerry Pell (our hosts) in front of what was once a guest closet now filled with piano rolls.
The music room at Jerry’s.
RichardIngram,Jack Conway,Frank Nix,ShirleyNix,DanielWright &Tom Silversteinenjoyingthe music.
Richarddemon-strates theCerilianpush-uppumper, a reallygreatpiece.
The A B Chase piano signedby Hi Babbit at the
Convention hospitalityroom.
45
Philip Baird, Tom Wurdeman peruse the goodies while PierreGirard and Craig Remmen look on.
The Northern Lights Chapter celebrated its Christmasparty at the home of hosts Michael LuBrant and JeffreyCharlton in Hastings, Minnesota. Michael and Jeff ’s geodesic home provides for large open spaces, ideal for the1923 Kimball Soloist player residence organ it houses. Theeighteen rank organ is divided, with the great organ on thebalcony upstairs and the swell organ downstairs.
Michael gave background history of the Kimball and ademonstration of the organ’s considerable tonal resources. Itpresently may be played manually or from a computer. In addition, Michael introduced his newest acquisition, astunning 1973 William Dowd harpsicord.
After chapter president Paul Watkins’ business meeting,more snacking and Christmas carols ensued accompanied bythe organ and harpsicord.
Our good friends from Winnipeg Canada, Terry Smytheand Alan Turner braved a winter storm and made it to ourmeeting. A chapter trip is planned to Winnipeg in the future.Terry also gave a short talk on his roll and document scanningproject’s status. He kindly gave every member in attendance a CD of his archived AMICA bulletins, “Our Published Heritage”.
Everyone had a good time and left Michael and Jeff’shome filled with Christmas cheer. Our next chapter meetingwill be in Hudson, Wisconsin, followed by a concert at thePhipps Center for the Arts (ex-KSTP) Wurlitzer organ, Saturday, January 31, 2009.
NORTHERN LIGHTS CHAPTERReporter: Jerilynn Boehland
President: Paul Watkins - [email protected]
Don Henry and Kelly Peters
Paul Watkins presides over the business meeting.
Michael LuBrant with his William Dowd harpsicord.
46
SOWNY CHAPTERReporter: Garry Lemon
President: Mike Walter
Summer days in SOWNY territory are sunny and warm.It was such a day when Anne and Garry hosted the summergathering. Mike and Tom enjoyed the swimming pool, Garryshowed his two classic Jaguars, and Anne gave tours of herflower garden. John and Janet gave plans for the upcomingvisit to their home and collection in Canada’s capital city,Ottawa. Donna and Holly enjoyed sitting on the patio and weall ate well at barbecue time.
John informed us about the latest book on Glenn Gould.The world of Bach and Byrd requires an instrument of lightaction and almost a dry sound so the voices could be inter-woven and expressive. His quest for such a piano is the subject of Katie Hafner’s book, A Romance on Three Legs.An old New York Steinway (CD 318) came into Gould’s life;but, his quest for the ultimate piano that would feel right andsounded as he had imagined the music to be had only begun.As his trusted companion, CD 318 was often carted from cityto city and was obsessively cared for. However, accidents dohappen and it was apparently dropped and severely damaged.
Michael with his 1923 Kimball Soloist residence pipe organ.
Christmas carols with the Tim Short at the harpsicord.
Gould did his best to determine the guilty party and althoughextensive repairs were attempted, the ever-faithful companionwas compromised. It is now in the National Library in Ottawaand its responsive action to be unaltered so researchers canstudy his technique.
Fall days in Ottawa come earlier than those in SOWNY.John and Janet had invited several friends and collectors ofautomated instruments to their home. Janet has an orchid collection and a private yard of raised beds and colorful plantsand trees. We had a wonderful time on the deck and sampledtesty vegetarian and curried casseroles.
John’s membership in the Registered Tuner’s Associationand participation in master classes by soundboard expert,Bolduc, have given him insights into the principles, construc-tion and repair of these instruments. His upright SteinwayDuo-Art has a strong, clear and authoritative voice that gave astirring account of the National Emblem March. Piccolos,flutes, horns and you could imagine the marching band. Nexton the program was an eclectic version of Chopsticks that presented the styles of several well-known pianists whoaccompanied a child’s version. This was a complete surpriseand great fun. John has a large collection and he encouragedus to investigate. A popular choice was the Danse Macabre bySaint-Saens and arranged and played by Vladimir Horowitz—a very young Horowitz who could conjure up many colorsand sounds.
A favorite Orthophonic recording was by Al Jolsonsinging ‘By the light of the Silvery Moon.’ Although this was a 1940’s re-release, the articulation of voices and the separation of instruments were realistic. What wonderfulsound and joy. The Orme Victor Orphonic is alive and well. Itis always good to be at John and Janet’s home for they trulyappreciate sharing their love of music.
I was reminded about our ‘customer inspection’ at theCanada/American customs. The customs officer asked uswhere we were traveling to and why that destination.‘Ottawa’, I said, ‘to hear player pianos’. After a long period ofsilence and an inquisitive facial expression, the next questions, ‘well why would you want to do that?’
Winter days in SOWNY territory are often snowy andcold. It was such a day when Mike and Holly hosted the annual Christmas party. Remarkably, Mike always finds theright tree to fell, Holly knows just how to deck the tree andfellow AMICANS bring brightly wrapped gifts for the ‘giftexchange’.
Mike has several instruments set and ready to be played.The vintage Beckwith and Stoddard uprights got lots of playtime—and some of our members knew all the tunes and sangalong. Dan Wilkey brought two smaller instruments. TheRaffin was a delight to both hear and see. The attractive marquetry cabinet housed a well-constructed mechanism andis a tribute to a fine workshop.
A buffet style supper encouraged many trips around thetable and the colorful dessert presentation made sure that wewere all well attended to.
Mike held a brief business meeting. Highlights included:Election of 2009 officers; Discussion on need to collect, scanand digitally preserve document; 2010 Buffalo Convention.
47
Summer time at the Lemon’s
From Mike’s Haines Ampico
Gary, Bill and Audrey wondering what Gary’s gift will be…
Anne has the gift!
Don Wilkey playing the Raffin Anne at the Wurlitzer Glenn and Shirley
48
Tom listening to Mike’s tech suggestions
Carl Burgwardt sings while Clary plays
Jason checks out a roll from Mike’s ‘for sale’ box
About 200 people attended the Saturday meeting at theestate of Marian and Jasper Sanfilippo in Barrington Hills,IL. The holiday gala began at 4:00 pm in their spectacular44,000 square foot home. Holiday music was loaded andawaiting our arrival. The Mason & Hamlin RAA Ampico Band Steinway AR Duo-Art reproducing pianos were featuredand docents played other instruments upon request.
At 5:15 p.m. we assembled in the theatre and PresidentJerry Biasella called the meeting to order. Vice PresidentRichard Van Metre gave a brief rundown of our tentativeschedule for 2009. Future meetings are planned in the homesof George Glastris, James Huffer and Michael Hubbard,and Wayne and Connie Wolf. There are also many otherpossibilities being worked on as well. Secretary CarolVeome advised that the minutes of the September meetingwere sent to the members via email a few days after the lastmeeting, chapter minutes can also be viewed on line on ourlocal web site. Treasurer Joe Pekarek reported that we nowhave 73 memberships and more than six are new.
About 5:30 pm we were all treated to a live, festive organconcert of holiday tunes by world renowned theater organist,Jelani Eddington which put us all in the holiday spirit.
After the concert the festivities moved to the CarouselPavilion for more music, wine and a holiday buffet dinner.We dined in a setting with the 1890 Eden Palais SalonCarousel and 24 fairground and dance organs! The latestaddition, a 92 key Decap dance organ, was formerly in Svoboda’s Nickelodeon Tavern and Museum. We were alsoable to view the progress of the facade restoration for thecolossal 110 key Gavioliphone and enjoy hearing it play a wonderful program. A new observation deck offers a spectacular view of the adjacent Steam Engine Gallery, butoperation on live steam is still a year away. Jasper did “fireup” a few engines on compressed air.
CHICAGO CHAPTERReporter: Curt Cliford
President: Jerry Biasella
Guests enjoy a buffet dinner.
49
The Carousel Visitors and Friends meet at the grand entrance.
Mike Lazae starts up the grand stair case as his wife Mry looks on.
l-r: Anrhony Malouhos, Jasper Sanfilippo, Hariet Walczak
50
On December 6, the Pacific Can-Am Chapter met for itsquarterly meeting at Kenyon Hall in Seattle. The chapter hadnever met at Kenyon Hall, and this concluded a year in whichevery meeting had been at a new site to facilitate newexperiences and see new instruments. Kenyon Hall presentsfun-filled musical events, and it routinely presents Lou Majoron the piano and Andy Crow on the theatre pipe organ. Bothof these accomplished artists made excellent presentations oftheir skills, and Andy also accompanied a silent movie, thefamous Christmas film by Laurel and Hardy entitled “BigBusiness.”
Members began the meeting with seeing and hearing the instruments at the hall including the Star orchestrion. Asignificant Mart provided additional opportunities and entertainment for interested buyers. Lou and Andy thenmade their musical presentation. This was followed by abusiness meeting and a presentation of a gift of appreciationfor their years of service to outgoing Presidents Carl andHalie Dodrill. The presentation was made by incoming president Bill Mote. This was followed by the annual holiday gift exchange which attracts a great deal of interestevery year. A potluck meal concluded the meeting, andmembers went home happy and well fed.
PACIFIC CAN-AM CHAPTERReporter: Carl & Halie Dodrill
President: Bill Mote
Mark Baratta, David Goodwin, Dan Danko, and Stuart Swanbergadmire the Star orchestrion at Kenyon Hall.
Carl Dodrill introduces Lou Major at the beginning of the musical program.
Lou Major (piano) and Andy Crow (organ) entertain with a duet.
At the end of the musical program, Halie Dodrill presents Andy and Lou with decorated gingerbread houses that
she had prepared on behalf of the chapter.
Bill Mote, incoming President, makes a presentation to outgoing Presidents Halie and Carl Dodrill.
Dale Dodrill is pictured on the right.
51
ROCKY MOUNTAIN CHAPTERReporter: Art Reblitz
President: Jere DeBacker
The Seeburg G and Coinola X orchestrions entertained all with their lively, happy music.
A late Seeburg K with xylophone and an early K with pipes and rare “dancing girls” motif art glass
Ed Zimmerman and Wes Melander enjoying the Coinola X.
Restored Joseph Bursens dance organ with art deco front, playing cardboard book music. (B Bronson photo.)
Joe Samanglowingwith themusic
Rocky Mountain Chapter members had a great annualholiday party and meeting at the wonderful collection of Billand Rosanna Harris on Saturday, November 15th. It was awarm, sunny and mild day in Denver and we enjoyed it…thewinter cold and snow will be here soon enough!
In our business meeting, our main discussion was a newleadership plan for our chapter. With a relatively small chapter, and with our members spread over several statesstraddling the Continental Divide, we have a difficult timefinding enough volunteers to fill the officer positions eachyear. It is too much work for one person or even four officersto handle all the responsibility of planning, organizing andorchestrating all the meetings several years in a row. So, wedecided to have everyone get involved.
Here’s how it will work. Everyone can have the opportu-nity to organize and host a meeting from start to finish: put together the idea, select a date, and plan the schedule(including any food, entertainment, etc.). They can do italone, or ask others to help. Then they will send the details toJere, he will distribute it to the members via e-mail, and thesecretary will mail via regular post to those who don’t use acomputer. We also decided that meetings do NOT have to beelaborate productions, but can be a simple player piano party,or anything that might be of interest to our members, friends,or affiliates in other related fields. We’ll try to assemble aschedule for the year and give as much advance notice as possible. However, when something comes up suddenly, likethe completion of an instrument by one of our members whorestores professionally, just before the instrument is to bepicked up by a moving company, there might be a last-minutenotice for a meeting and demonstration.
The day was Art Reblitz’ birthday and we sang andcheered and thanked him for his service to our club and to theautomatic music hobby. Art graciously filled in as reporterwith photos and a write-up for the Bulletin. Ginger Heintook notes for our secretary Louise Lucero, who was unableto attend, and Fred Wilson faithfully gave our treasurer’sreport.
We ended the business meeting with a round of applauseto Rosanna and Bill for opening their collection once again—the largest collection of organs and orchestrions ever displayed in the state of Colorado—and for providing thedelicious ham and hot dishes that served as the fundamentalsto the side dishes brought by all the members.
52
Libbie & Fred Wilson, Faye & Wayne Irelan and Ken Hodge in the front room of the Harris’ collection.
“Romantika,” a sweetbut powerful
90-key Carl Freistreet organ.
(B Bronson photo.)
The elaborateKoenigsberg
orchestrion with piano, pipes, and
exposed drums,
xylophone,accordion and
saxophones. (B Bronson
photo.)
Large 102-key Mortier dance organ. (B Bronson photo.)
Bill Harriswith DonHein and
JeremyStevens in
front of thewonderful
Bruder fairground
organ.
A beautifulDecap danceorgan with colorful front,exposed drumset, accordionand saxophone.(B Bronsonphoto.)
80-key Mortier dance organ with classic front. (B Bronson photo.)
Don Wick, Ed Zimmermanand Bob Grunow.
53
Some of theranks of pipesin the Decap.
Don & Ginger Hein, Jeremy & Clyde Stevens, Jere DeBacker and his guest Kate Monaghan from Cleveland Heights, Ohio.
Rosanna & Bill Harris with the staff of Publication Printers (printers for theMusical Box Society publications, of which Rosanna is the editor):
Gary Rosenberg (center), his father (left), and his brother Joe (right)
Libbie Wilson (named after Libbie Allen, the St. Louisragtime player) carefully watching the entire stack of
music feeding through the Decap dance organ.
A Philipps Pianellaorchestrion, madein Germany andalso sold in the U.S.as a Wurlitzer Style27-B MandolinPianOrchestra.
Jeremy andClyde Stevens,who made thetrek from Utah,in front of alarge Gaviolifairgroundorgan with 10 bass!
54
Art Reblitz taking pictures
Owanah & Don Wick, Ed & Karen Zimmerman, and Bill & Marilyn Decker.
Jerry Hutt, Jere DeBacker presiding over the meeting, and Fred Wilson.
HEART OF AMERICA CHAPTERReporter: H.C. & Marlene Beckman
President: Robbie Tubbs
The Heart of America Chapter met in Sugar Creek, Missouri for an old fashioned holiday celebration hosted byTom and Katie Hellstein.
On Saturday, December 6, 2008, we toured the elegantlydecorated 1880’s Vaile Mansion once owned by one of Independence, Missouri’s pioneer millionaires. The homewas elegantly decorated.
From the Vaile Mansion we traveled to the Bingham-Waggoner estate alive with a century’s worth of original family furniture and memorabilia. This estate was also elaborately decorated.
The motel was across the street from the home of President Harry Truman in the heart of historic Independence.
On Saturday evening we enjoyed a catered meal organized by Katie, then went to the Hellsteins for our traditional gift exchange. We also enjoyed the music from theHellstein’s collection.
On Sunday morning we returned to Hellstein’s for brunchand a business meeting.
Officers for 2009 are:
President: Robbie Tubbs
Vice President: Dan Davis
Secretary: T. Moffett
Treasurer: Brian Graham
Board Rep: Gary Craig
Reporters: H.C. and Marlene Beckman
After the meeting we drove to the home of Craig andEllen Brougher for more food and music. Several touredCraig’s shop. The highlight of their array of instruments isSofi, the orchestrion designed and built by Craig.
The Hellsteins and Broughers provided a memorable holiday event.
55
57
BOSTON AREA CHAPTERReporter: Dorothy Bromage
President: Bob Hunt
September meetingKen and Sandra Goldman have a beautiful home in
Westwood, Massachusetts and believe in sharing their collections. These include fine early cylinder music boxes, aHupfeld Helios Orchestrion, other European machines, andearly French automata. The spacious music room is ringedwith large mechanical music instruments, and in the centerare tables with exceptional music boxes. Comfortable chairsand a sofa contribute to a special musical experience. OnSunday, September 28, Boston Area Chapter members metthere and were pleased to have the comments by Ken as hedemonstrated each instrument.
Coming from Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts,and Rhode Island, members listened with great interest andasked questions, while carousel animals gazed down uponthem from a mezzanine.
Sandra and Ken Goldman opened their home for the Boston Area Chapter’s fall meeting.
Ed Patt and Steve Bucknam by one wall of the music room.
Attentive duringthe business
meeting JackBreen, KenVolk, Chris
Christiansen,and
Roger Wiegand.
Business meeting being conducted by President Bob Hunt with Treasurer Dorothy Bromage, as Althea and Ed Patt observe.
In a custom-built music
room, custom-built
furniture accommodates
the smaller items in a
magnificentmusic box collection.
Alex Goldmanand Bob Hunt
58
Beverly Koenigsberg, Chris Christiansen, and Bob Hunt admire theSteinway Duo-Art. Visible in the photograph are automata
“Girl training a bulldog” by Decamps, “Drunk on a bench,” by Vichy, —all are French circa 1900-1910.
Jack Breen, Roger Wiegand, Chris Christiansen, Bob Hunt and SteveBucknam speculating on the possibility of any of those present trying
the stunt of the automaton. It is “Clown on a ladder” by Vichy.Three sizes of these pieces were made, and this is the largest.
Part of the music room viewed from the mezzanine.
November meetingDonald Brown-Reporter
The winter meeting of the Boston Chapter was held at thehome of Roger and Jean Wiegand in Wayland, MA. Themajor attraction was the 89 key Diamond Jubilee fair organ. Itwas built by the Gavioli Company in Paris in 1897, probablyfor the British showman’s market. From the 1930’s onward itplayed in the center of a steam powered carousel. In the1950’s it was in Playland Park, Cleethorps near Hull, UK. Itwas owned by the Screeton family. It was purchased by Rogerin 2007, restored in England, and shipped in crates to Americain the fall. Its display trailer was custom built last winter by acompany specializing in concession trailers.
The Jubilee is one of only two organs playing on the 89-key VB or “violin-baritone” in the Americas. The decorationsof the organ and trailer are still being completed.
In addition to the fair organ, there was a small collectionof other instruments including a Mills Violano, Knabe AmpicoGrand piano, Upright player, Bagcigalupo barrel organ,Castlewood kit built Busker organ, Mills juke-box coin operated record player and a Regina music box. These wereall working and demonstrated. We were all invited to visit theworkshop in the basement where restoration of an AeolianGrand Player organ, construction of parts to operate Jubilee’sbellringers and Bandmaster, and MIDI system for the Jubileeare all in progress. There are silicone rubber molds used forreproducing the organ carvings to be seen.
The Jubilee in trailer are outside and we dressed for acold November day to see and hear it play. The neighborshave been accustomed to occasional performances and whenindoors in winter months it is not as loud.
Inside we heard the Knabe Ampico Grand with an earlydrawer performing nicely. The Violano Virtuoso is a singleviolin instrument and was rebuilt to near new condition byTerry Houghout seven years ago. The pumper piano is anAccoustagrand by Chickering and touted to be a replica of asmall grand piano. After touring the immaculate shop in thebasement, we gathered for a business meeting. Treasurer’sreport and notes of last gathering at The Goldman’s home. TheCharles River Museum piano project has the piano at DorothyBromage’s barn and the parts with Bob Hunt in Maine. Themarriage will be weather governed. The nominating committee of three is Ken Volk, Phil Konop, and BillKoenigsberg.
The host Roger then described his collection. After theacquisition of an Edison player, he went to the Dorsett Steamfair and “needed” to have a Gavioli Organ. His agreement wasone instrument per year, but all must work before next one.The Mills Zephyr record jukebox was bought by his grandfather and has cast iron record changer. It plays well,too.
The Jubilee was for sale in an ad in England. Roger wentthere to see it all apart, but all there. Restoration began yearsago explaining it being apart. It arrived here a year ago withfigures from Belgium and new paintings due soon. The Golden Jubilee in big guilt letters and a 3-foot proscenium tobe done. A motorized hand dolly is needed to maneuver trailerin driveway. The music is hand done in England. It is bookmusic, four minutes per song and $400 per book. The book isread by levers up thru the holes. There is a MIDI chest inprogress. The original pumps were in salt water! The earliest performance was in 1930.
The thirteen members attending really had an enjoyableday.
Golden Jubilee
Mike Cerullo, Roger, Joe Lavacchia
59
Conductor closeup
Jubilee
Phil Konop & Mike Cerullo at Violano
Joe Lavacchia greets Chris Christiansen and Ken Volk
Host Roger, Joe Lavacchia at Knabe grand
BagcigalupoBarrel organ
60
Castlewood busker organ
Accoustagrand Chickering
Mike Cerullo & wife, Phyllis Konop, Joe, Phil Konop
Roger, Jack Breen, Chris, Bill K.
Bill Koegnisberg& Phil Konopat snacktable
Joe Lavaccia & Norman Daley
Mills juke box
61
ExperienceATOS
Preserving a unique art form.Concerts, education, silent film, preservation, fellowship and more. www.atos.org
Jim Merry, Executive SecretaryP.O. Box 5327, Fullerton, CA [email protected]
American Theatre Organ Society
(6-09)
Vertical Castlewood play
Playing barrel organ
Playing Castlewood Busker organ
Trailer in driveway
Dot Bromage, Roger, Joe & Pat Lavacchia, Chris Christiansen
62
ADVERTISING GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT
ALL ADVERTISING IN THE AMICA BULLETINAll advertising should be directed to:
Mike Kukral216 Madison Blvd.Terre Haute, Indiana 47803Phone: 812-238-9656e-mail: [email protected]
Ad copy must contain text directly related to the product/servicebeing offered. Extraneous text will be deleted at the Publisher’sdiscretion. All advertising must be accompanied by payment inU.S. funds. No telephone ads or written ads without payment willbe accepted. This policy was established by a unanimous vote ofthe AMICA Board at the 1991 Board Meeting and reaffirmed atthe 1992 meeting. AMICA reserves the right to edit or toreject any ad deemed inappropriate or not in keeping withAMICA’s objectives.
The BULLETIN accepts advertising without endorsement,implied or otherwise, of the products or services being offered.Publication of business advertising in no way implies AMICA’sendorsement of any commercial operation.
AMICA PUBLICATIONS RESERVES THE RIGHT TOACCEPT, REJECT, OR EDIT ANY AND ALL SUBMITTED ARTICLES AND ADVERTISING.
All items for publication must be submitted directly to thePublisher for consideration.
CLASSIFIED AD RATES FOR AMICA MEMBERS:1-50 Words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $10.0051-100 Words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $20.00101-150 Words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $30.00
Non-member rates are double for all advertising.
DISPLAY ADVERTISINGFull Page — 71/2 " x 10" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $150.00Half Page — 71/2 " x 43/4" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 80.00Quarter Page —35/8 " x 43/4" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 45.00Business Card — 31/2 " x 2" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 30.00
Special 6 for 5 Ad Offer - Place any ad, with no changes, for afull year (6 issues), and pay for only 5 issues. Payable in advance.Photographs or halftones $15.00 eachLoose Sheet or Insert Advertising: InquireWe recommend that display advertisers supply camera-readycopy. Copy that is oversized or undersized will be changed tocorrect size at your cost. We can prepare advertisements fromyour suggested layout at cost.PAYMENT: U.S. funds must accompany ad order. Make checkpayable to AMICA INTERNATIONAL. Typesetting and layout size alterations charges will be billed.DEADLINES: Submissions must be received no later than thefirst of the odd months (January, March, May, July, September,November). The Bulletin will be mailed the second week of theeven months.
(Rev. 5-05)
FOR SALEMILLS DOUBLE VIOLANO. Late model with excellent original finish cabinet and sounds great. SEEBURG KT SPECIAL WITH SINGLE STROKE XYLOPHONE AND WOOD BLOCK. Perfect forplaying those wonderful 4X Rolls. WESTERN ELECTRIC MASCOT. Small piano with a big sound. All of the listed instrumentsare totally restored and would be an asset to any collection. Bart Off,Allentown, PA 610-641-9272. Please no evening calls. (1/09)
NEW PIANO ROLL BOXES - Duo-Art Audiographic series -Exactly like the originals! Maroon with Gold Printing, all 3 sizes available! (small & medium are “Top Hat” style) $7.00 ea. Quantitiesare limited, so get them before they are all gone! AMPICO “Top Hat”boxes- Black Leather with Gold Printing and False Bottom, Exactly likethe originals, $5.00 ea. 88 note roll boxes in two sizes- Large (fits 2 3⁄4flange) covered with Black Alligator paper (Top), Black Leather (Bottom). or Brown Leather Paper (Top & Bottom) $3.00 ea. Small (fits 2” flange) Covered with Black or Tan Leather Paper (Top), WhiteLitho (Bottom) $2.00 ea. Other repair supplies available- ParchmentLeaders, Tabs, Tubes, Flanges, Repair Tissue. Quantity Discounts available. Rich Ingram [email protected] 626-824-4404 (6-09)
5,000+ PLAYER PIANO ROLLS. All in Boxes and in playablecondition. $1.25 each plus shipping Rich [email protected] 626-824-4404 (6-09)
REGINA ORCHESTRIAL UPRIGHT MUSIC BOX 27” DISCS.Single play, Style 4 (home model), no coin mechanism. Ser # 30787,Mahogany case, purchased 40 years ago from original owner. All origi-nal including Mahogany case, double comb and mechanism, includedapprox 25-27” discs. $22,500.00. Page 201 Encyclopedia of AutomaticMusical Instruments, bottom of page. Joe Uhler, Box 126, Ingomar, PA15127; 724-940-4331. (1-09)
SOUSA BAND 78RPM RECORDINGS: 106 ten-inch and 16-twelveinch (1898-1931 era). All are in good to very good playing condition.Many are over 100 years old and rare. Wish to sell as a collection ormake offer. I am still interested in acquiring Sousa Player Piano [email protected] (1-09)
COLLECTION LIQUIDATION: Estey Reed Organ, two manual pedalboard, bench; Packard Reed Organ; Marshall and Wendell AmpicoB Grand Piano; Welte Mignon Concertola, eight roll carousel wheelwith hand selector, rare; Steinway Duo-Art XR, very rare Renissancecase; Rolls: Duo-Art; Ampico, including Jumbos, Welte, Recordo.Selection of roll cabinets. Call or write. [email protected]; 304-667-9564. (1-09)
BAND ORGANS, KNABE AMPICO GRAND, JUKEBOXES,PLAYER ORGAN, AND MANY PERFORATED MUSIC BOOKSAND ROLLS FOR SALE. Band organs include a Stellemann, 70 keyHooghuys organ, and a Wurlitzer 125 roll with oak case, and more.Jukeboxes include a Mills Deluxe Dance Master model 886, a 1953AMI model E, and a Wurlitzer 1015. For photos and information pleaseemail: [email protected] or call Ron at 404-314-5744 in Atlanta,GA. (1-09)
WEBER DUO-ART UPRIGHT 1920, rebuilt & refinished new hammers & dampers, new bass strings, new key tops, pump rebuilt, new rods made by Robert Streicher, all new bearings, Expression verygood. Asking $3500, will sell for $2500. Carl De Nunzio, 789 Lake Rd.,Conneaut, OH 44030, phone 440-593-2155 (1-09)
1913 STEINWAY UPRIGHT pump player with added Duo Art mechanism. The motor and pump are installed in a new and matchingbeautiful roll cabinet. The piano, cabinet, and player mechanism werecompletely rebuilt in 1989 by Harry Garrison and associates in Cincinnati. Approximately 2000 new and old 88 note and Duo Art rolls.Two other old roll cabinets and shelves are included. It is a fun and sensitive pumper, but sad to say, we are moving to a smaller home.$20,000. Bob Howard, Apt 109, 2 Fenwick Rd., Hampton VA, 23651757-637-7168, [email protected] (2-09)
SEEBURG “E” with xylophone - Walnut case; WURLITZER 1015Jukebox; CYLINDER MUSIC BOX 20 TUNE, 2 tunes per turn, cylinder 7 1/2 inches long, lid with tune sheet $2,500.00. All items professionally restored and refinished. J. Uhler, Box 126, Ingomar, PA15127; 724-940-4331. (1-09)
“I stopped believing in Santa Clauswhen my mother took me to see him in a department store, and he asked
for my autograph.”- Shirley Temple
63
THE GOLDEN AGE of AUTOMATIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.Art Reblitz’ award-winning reference that brings history, musical andtechnical information to life with hundreds of spectacular color photos.448 oversize pages. Get your copy today! $120 plus $5 S/H (single copyUSA ground shipment). MECHANICAL MUSIC PRESS-A WildAmmonoosuc Rd., Woodsville, NH 03785. 603-747-2636.www.mechanicalmusicpress.com (2-10)
WANTEDFISHER LINCOLN TURNOVER TURNTABLE, Stereo turntableplays both sides of the record automatically. Kirk Russell, 401-742-1565 or russellmusicco.aim.com (5-09)
J & C FISCHER “SPANISH AMPICO GRAND” Style 14GE Piano.Picture can be found in the Bowers Book page 278. Please email me [email protected] or call me 619-559-0564. Keith. (6-08)
RED WELTE MIGNON piano rolls (T-100). Paying top dollar. Mike Kukral 812-238-9656 or [email protected] (3-09)
Need one NORTH TONAWANDA PIANOLIN in any condition orparts for same. Need twenty-four rose wood (or equal) xylo phone bars. Scale #A to A to be used on “O” roll arrangement. Call Mike Krumenacker @ 610-489-7394 or e-mail at [email protected] (6-08)
WELTE-MIGNON AND DELUXE REPRODUCING piano rolls. Mike Kukral 812-238-9656, E-mail [email protected] (1-09)
WURLITZER KT table favor from recent convention. We now have areal one and would love to have the miniature. Name your price. CallBob at 805-630-2187 or at [email protected] (3-09)
Offering high top quality reissues ofWWeellttee--MMiiggnnoonn aanndd
8888 NNoottee PPllaayyeerr PPiiaannoo rroollllss..
Featuring rare, important, and fun music rolls recut
from the legendary Welte-Mignon library of recordings
and great music of the teens and twentieson 88-note player piano rolls.
PPLLEEAASSEE CCOONNTTAACCTTMike Kukral
216 Madison Blvd.Terre Haute, IN 47803
812-238-9656Email: [email protected]
THE
Kukral Collection
(6-09)(3-09)
BLACKSTONE VALLEY PIANO
Michael A. MorvanCOVERING PIANO AND ORGAN KEYBOARDS
Our services include:• RESTORATION OF ORIGINAL IVORY, BONE AND EBONY • RECOVERING KEYBOARDS IN NEW IVORY, BONE AND
EBONY• RECOVERING KEYBOARDS IN ACRYLIC AND MINERAL
PLASTICS• NEW KEYBOARD AND KEYFRAME FABRICATION• REPLACEMENT BALANCE HOLES, BUTTONS, MORTISES,
KEYPINS AND SHOES• BUSHINGS, BACKCHECKS, KEY-END FELT, BACK RAIL
CLOTH• KEYSTICK REPAIR: THE BUILD-UP OF TOPS, SIDES AND
FRONTS TO CORRECT FOR WEAR, EROSION AND NOVICE REPAIRS
• KEYBOARD RESTORATION SUPPLIES
DEDICATED TO ADVANCING THE ART OF KEYBOARD RESTORATION
Michael A. MorvanUxbridge, Massachusetts • (508) 278-9762
E-MAIL: [email protected]
WWW.PIANOANDORGANKEYS.COM
Call or E-MAIL for our latest Price and Services Sheet
64
WANTED TO BUYMUSIC BOXES
MUSICAL CLOCKSMECHANICAL ORGANS
Always in the market for better quality disc and cylindermusic boxes, musical clocks, singing birds, band organs, player organs, monkey organs, Wurlitzer 78 rpm jukeboxes,slot machines. Any condition.
MARTIN ROENIGK75 Prospect Avenue
Eureka Springs, AR 72632
(800) 671-6333 • (479) 253-0405
www.mechantiques.com • [email protected]
(1-10)
www.ptg.org
Anywhere you go, a Registered Piano Technician (RPT) is ready to help you give customers the
extra service and assurance they expect.
Join us in Rochester, NY, June 21-25, 2006For information on the 15,000 sq. ft. exhibit hall and being
part of 250+ hours of educational opportunities visit
4444 Forest Ave.Kansas City, KS 913-432-9975 (1-10)
Anywhere you go, a Registered Piano Technician(RPT) is ready to help you give customers the extra
service and assurance they expect.
(1-10)
65
WANTED: AMICA Advertising Manager to contact
businesses or individuals who would benefit by advertising
in the AMICA Bulletin. This position will receive a
percentage payment of advertisements sold. The AMICA
Executive Committee of the Board of Directors will set the
percentage to be paid. Please contact President John
Motto-Ros, [email protected] or phone 209-267-9252.
JOHN WRASSEP I A N O M O V I N G
Specializing in:Player Grands, Nickelodeons & Orchestrions
Anywhere in Continental US• • • • • •
25 years experienceKnowledgeable Rebuilder
Well-known - References AvailableInsured• • • • • •
Your instrument is wrapped, padded andsecured for transport in an insulated,clean custom-built heavy-duty trailer.
Professional and personal service.
John P. Wrasse, Piano Pro31387 216th St., Bellevue, IA 52031
Cell (John): 563-580-2472
E-mail: [email protected](6-09)
WILHELM BRUDER SOHNEModel 79 Band Organ
48 key with metal bells (two known to exist)
Made in Waldkirch, Germany.
Serial Number 3549 indicates 1920-1921.
Imported to USA in late 1960’s bya carnival operator of King Reid Shows.
Featured at Eastern Exposition,West Springfield, MA in 1970.
Just completed total restoration by Hauguanout Music Co.
Equipped with a MIDI system and included are many tune selections
arranged by Wayne Holton.
Some original and reproduced cardboard book music is also included.
Original Facade is painted in floral theme with gold leaf.
$62, 500.00
Joe UhlerBox 126 • Ingomar, PA 15127
724-940-4331 (1-09)
VISIT THE
AMICA WEB PAGE at wwwwww..aammiiccaa..oorrgg
66
(1-09)
67
Circa 1915 Fair Organ with 90+ year old deMetz Conductor Figure
that is truly a centerpiece! It comes with 11 crates (1100 meters) of book music, a
14-foot Wells Cargo utility trailer complete with an electricjack for easy transportation of this organ, a remote on/off
control, and extensive book making equipment.
Additionally this organ has been midified, with about halfthe book music available at the touch of the mouse on the
included laptop computer.
See the article “Midification of a Bruder Fair Organ” inCarousel Organ, issue #37, Oct. 2008, pg. 12.
Asking price: $49,900.
Contact Tom Hutchinson at [email protected] or at(573) 442-6675.
Organ can be seen and heard at my website:
www.playerpianogallery.com
<http://www.playerpianogallery.com/>(1-09)
52-KEY GEBRUDER BRUDER FAIR ORGAN
68
Preliminary Schedule of EventsAMICA Cincinnati Convention
July 22-26, 2009
Wednesday, July 22nd:
• Registration (Open to 11:00 pm)
• International Board Meeting
• Optional Activities on your own
• Hospitality Room
Thursday, July 23rd:
• Welcome Breakfast
• Daytime Tours via Coach to:
Union Station Museums, Pipe Organ Demo, and Lunch
Basilica of the Assumption Cathedral with brief Pipe Organ Recital
• Ohio Riverboat Dinner Cruise
• Pumper Contest Practice
Friday, July 24th:
• Breakfast on your own
• Daytime Tours via Coach to:
Ron Wehmeier Collection including Pipe Organ Demo & Work Shop Tour
EnterTRAINment Junction (a model train theme park!) and Lunch
Cincinnati Music Hall
• Dinner on your own
• Pumper Contest @ 8:00 pm
Saturday, July 25th:
• Breakfast on your own
• Workshops
• Lunch on your own
• The Mart
• Banquet with Dance Music
Sunday, July 26th:
• Farewell Breakfast
• Open Houses
• Optional Activities on your own
Join your AMICA friends for an AMICA good time in the historic Queen City area this
summer. Registration forms and event details will be in the next issue of the AMICA Bulletin.
Your hotel reservations may be made at anytime as shown in our advertisement on the inside
of the front cover of this issue. Don’t be disappointed - Make your plans now!
If you have questions or if you would like additional information
contact Bob Andersen or Don Johnson at home: 248-650-1840 or [email protected]
Downtown Cincinnati and our host hotel,
the Radisson, in the lower right corner
