The Antique Pops Hour, No. 2 (1901-1928)--Frank Bridge, Theodore Moses Tobani, more!

Henry Carey's 18th-century hit, Sally in Our Alley, to the tune of "The Country Lass" (above).  We'll be hearing Frank Bridge's 1916 arrangement of same.

            Ethelbert Nevin, c. 1890, impersonating Jimmy Stewart (above).  Probably best known for his songs The Rosary and Mighty Lak' a Rose.  We'll be hearing a 1926 recording of his wonderful Narcissus, from Water Scenes (1891).

  English composer Frank Bridge (1879-1941) (above), who taught composition to Benjamin Britten.

                  German composer Theodore Moses Tobani (1855-1933) (above), who gave us Hearts and Flowers (1893), using a tune by Hungarian composer Alphons Czibulka.  Remember the "world's smallest violin playing My Heart Bleeds for You" joke?  Hearts and Flowers.


All 78s from my collection, and ripped and restored by me.

Click here to hear: APH No. 2-a    APH No. 2-b

The Birth of Passion (Karl L. Hoschna)--Prince's Orch., 1910
In a Monastery Garden (Ketelbey)--Capitol Grand Orch., c. Erno Rapee, 1920
Sally In Our Alley (Frank Bridge)--London String Quartette, 1916
Cherry Ripe (Frank Bridge)--Same, 1916
Liebestraum (A Dream of Love; Liszt)--Victor Symphony Orch., Dir. Rosario Bourdon, 1927
Kamennoi-Ostrow (Cloister Scene; Rubenstein) --Same
Narcissus (Nevin)--Arthur Pryor's Band, 1908
Y Como Le Va?  (J. Valverde)--International Novelty Orch., Dir. Nat Shilkret, 1928
El Chocolo (A. Villoldo)--Same, 1928
Spanish Bolero (Moszkowski)--Columbia Band, 1902
Hearts and Flowers (Tobani)--Columbia Band, 1901
The Whistler and His Dog (Pryor)--Arthur Pryor's Band, w. Margaret McKee and Billy Murray, 1925

Lee

78s for Easter!--The Shannon, Trinity, and Columbia Stellar Quartets.

Happy Easter!  I've provided an individual link for each of our three Easter discs.  There would have been four, but Memories of Easter, Part 2 is an off-center pressing--enough so, that I decided to scrap it.  So we're only getting the first part, but it's a very nice first part, so....

Links follow the images, and of course you can click on the images to see the label scans in all of their aging-paper glory.  All sides ripped and restored by me using the usual methods.  Enjoy!

 Christ Arose!--Shannon Q., 1925.

 Jesus Lives!--Trinity Q., 1922.

  Memories of Easter, Part 1--1919.

                                     

Music for Lent--Your blogger at Casio WK-3800!

Me, on the Casio WK-3800, playing "live" (i.e., without MIDI).  The medley was multi-tracked with Sonar X2 Essential, and ditto for the start of O Sacred Head, but the rest are straight from the keyboard to the PC.  If that doesn't spell "authentic," what does?

 A variety of tones, and the dazzling digits of your favorite central Ohio music blogger.  The Box.com links for each track appear just after the titles.  No zip file this time around.

O Sacred Head, Now Wounded (Hans Leo Hassler; Harmonized by J.S. Bach) Click here

Go to Dark Gethsemane (Richard Redhead, 1853)  Click here

Palm Sunday Medley: All Glory, Laud, and Honor (Teschner, 1613)/To Mock Your Reign, O Dearest Lord (English melody, Arr. Ralph Vaughan Williams, 1906)/Ride On, Ride On in Majesty! (Anon., Arr. Monk, 1847)/When, His Salvation Bringing (Tours, 1872)/Ride On! Ride On in Majesty! (Dykes, 1862)  Click here


Lee

The Antique Pops Hour, No. 1 (1901?-1927)

And this is the Antique Pops Hour, No. 1.  There's not quite an hour's worth of music here--closer to 28 minutes, actually.  But you can put each track on repeat play and get something in the area of an hour, so I stand by my description.

With that vital issue out of the way, here are ten tracks from my collection of old (as opposed to new) 78s, all ripped and restored by me and my MAGIX software.  Seems like I mention that every time I post 78s, and, sure enough, it's been true each time.  These selections date from 1901? to 1927, and of course 1901? was the year that preceded 1902? and followed 1900?  I'm going by two things on my 1901 guess: the matrix number and the spoken introduction.  If I'm matching the former against the right series, then it's 1901.  If not, then it's a ? year.

Most of these numbers are pieces which have enjoyed pops/mood/light concert/encore number/parlor/"Music to Relax By" status for quite some time.  On the other hand, Anona, while a very fun piece, doesn't appear to have lasted past its day (which, you'll recall, was 1901?).  And I don't reckon the equally fun Omena Intermezzo (no dash), has been heard in on the radio, in an elevator, or as a title in a "pops" program for many a moon.  Maybe this is because when we think "pops," we don't think banjo pieces.  Too bad, given that the banjo was a staple of the musical stage way back when.  The dying phase of that reality was captured on early sound recordings....

Click here to hear: Antique Pops Hour, No. 1

PLAYLIST

Waltzes from the Operetta, The Waltz Dream (Oscar Straus)--Prince's Orch., 1907
Dans Les Larmes (Berger)--Columbia Orchestra, 1905
Anona (Intermezzo; Two-Step) (Vivian Grey)--Columbia Band, 1903
Jolly Fellows Waltz (Robert Vollstedt)--Columbia Band, with Bell Effects, 1901?
Omena Intermezzo (Hartz)--Fred Van Eps, Banjo, 1912
William Tell Fantasie (Rossini)--William H. Reitz, Xylophone w. Orch., 1912
Love's Dream After the Ball--Intermezzo (Alphons Czibulka)--Eagle Trio, 1926
The Herd Girl's Dream--Idyl (August Labitzky) Eagle Trio, 1926
Soldier's Joy (Soldier's Joy, Young America Hornpipe)--Victor Orchestra, 1927
Lady of the Lake (Durang's Hornpipe, Old Zip Coon)--Victor Orch., 1927

Lee

Smith's Sacred Singers, Part 2 (1926-1929)

More classic country gospel from the early days of electrical recording.  Eight tracks this time (last time, I posted twelve)--as before, ripped and restored by me from my out-of-control collection.  Digging through my old songbooks and Google-searching, I was able to find composer and year info for five of them, partial info for another, and no data at all for City of Gold and Jesus Died for Me.  I must have encountered six or seven hymns entitled City of Gold, but not the one sung by Smith and Co.

Here's the song info:

Climbing Up the Golden Stairs (w: George W. Sebren; m: George W. and Arthur B. Sebren, 1905)
City of Gold
Jesus Died for Me
Are You Washed in the Blood of the Lamb (w/m: Elisha A. Hoffman, 1878)
Hold to God's Unchanging Hand (w: Jennie Wilson; m:Franklin L. Eiland, 1906)
Waiting on the Golden Shore (w: William M. Ramsey; m:?; 1916?)
Life's Railway to Heaven (w: Eliza R. Snow & M. E. Abbey; m: Charles D. Tillman, 1890)
Jesus Prayed (w: E.M. Barlett; m: J.M. Henson, 1923)

Climbing Up the Golden Stairs has no "Up" in the original title, and Jesus Prayed is actually He Prayed.  The Columbia label's song research department must have been a real pro operation....

Last time, I described an "answer" chorus, but then realized that was my own personal term for gospel quartet antiphony.  So I changed "answer" to "echo," a term actually used back in the day.  Most of these tracks have antiphonal choruses, with the one in Jesus Died for Me especially cool (though it's kind of a rehash of the 1857 Church in the Wildwood refrain). The chorus of Waiting on the Golden Shore, meanwhile, is more complex, with its responsive singing happening in spurts, a la He Will Set Your Fields on Fire, and I'll wager I'm the first person ever to type "response singing happening in spurts."  The most complex answer/echo/response/antiphonal gospel chorus I've ever heard happens on/in His Charming Love, a gospel number scheduled for a future tune, so stay posted. Er, I mean, scheduled for a future post, so stay tuned.

When my brother and I were kids, we thought "stay tuned" was a single word.  And we heard it as "stachuned."  We thought TV announcers were asking us to "stachuned" for The Man from U.N.C.L.E. or Green Acres.  (We got the meaning, however.)  Oh, and we also thought "under arrest" was a single word.  As in, people getting "under-arrested."  Kids.  When our grandma said a cop had "pinched" her, we looked for the bruise.  But back to the post....

I have a theory--merely a guess--that gospel-style antiphony is a remnant of the "fuging" sections  found in late 18th-century hymns and anthems, since they do sort of function the same way.  This is pure supposition on my part--hence, the preponderance of qualifiers ("merely a guess," "sort of").  Bold claims have a way of going "poof" upon closer examination, unless they're being made by Donald Trump, in which case their momentum grows the more they are refuted.

To the music: Smith's Sacred Singers, Part 2

TRACKLIST

Climbing Up the Golden Stairs--Columbia 15195-D (1927)
City of Gold--Columbia 15195-D (1927)
Jesus Died for Me--Columbia 15430-D (1929)
Are You Washed in the Blood of the Lamb--Columbia 15430-D (1929)
Hold to God's Unchanging Hand--Columbia 15308-D (1928)
Waiting on the Golden Shore--Columbia 15308-D (1928)
Life's Railway to Heaven--Columbia 15159-D (1927)
Jesus Prayed--Columbia 15159-D (1926)


Lee