Re: Spanish Barrel Pianos
By Marc Kaufman
dwilz@cix.compulink.co.uk (Daniel Wilson) writes:
>I've just spent a very enjoyable four weeks in Spain, doing almost
>nothing but lie in the sun and read. But automatic pianos will come and
>find you out ...
>When I expressed interest, the bar girl led me to a second piano, which
>she said worked, although the regular customers rather preferred it not
>working. This was one of the classic undersized type of around 1890 of
>which a few were still playing in the streets of London during and just
>after WW2. In this case the tune sheet was not only typed but on a
>Madrid piano-tuner's headed notepaper, printed in classical late 1930s
>or 40s style with a six-digit phone number. There was a maker's plate
>"LUIS CASALI Torres Amat 1 Barcelona" and a smaller repairer's plate "J
>DE BERNARDI (unreadable address) SALAMANCA".
>The tunes were as follows:
>Anonymous "1910" piano Luis Casali piano
>---------------------- -----------------
>Nota de las Piezas (Cilindro)
>1 Vals, Fandanguillo de Almeria 1 Vals Peteneras
>2 Paso-doble, El Gallo 2 Pasodoble El Fallero
>3 ld - Las Cosarias 3 " Las Leandras
>4 ld - Valencia 4 " El Gato montes
>5 ld - El Gato Montes 5 " Vaya torerazo
>6 Schotis, Rosa de Madrid 6 Schotis La Violetera
>7 Mazurca, La Verbena de la Paloma 7 Habanera La Paloma
>8 Habanera, El Ven y Ven 8 Mazurka, Santa Lucia
>9 Tango, A media Luz 9 Rok, Ahora te puedes marchar
>10 Jota, T R E M P S 10 Jota Aragonesa
I have a Luis Casali piano with the following tunes:
1 Vals, El Danubio Azul (The Blue Danube!) 2 Paso-Doble, Timbales y Toreros 3 ", Las Leandras 4 ", Pepita Creus 5 ", Dicen de Jaen 6 Schotis, Madrid 7 Mazurca, La Verbena de la Amapola 8 Habanera, Amapola 9 Fox, Vuelo 502 10 Jota, Campesina Aragonesa
It's interesting that the type of tune is the same at the corresponding tune number. My tune sheet is also on a piano tuner's head: Isabelo Velazquez in Madrid. Can anyone explain the different spelling for what was obviously the same tune (la Paloma vs. la Amapola)?
What was the instrumentation? My piano has 54(?) notes, drum, cymbal, wood blocks, and 6 tuned cowbells. It's very loud: The hammers are leather covered at the low end and wood at the high end, with 4 strings per note in the treble.
(shameless sales notes follows:)
If anyone wants a nice Luis Casali, give me a call. I need to make room for the pipe organ I just acquired. (I also have a 2 manual + 30 note pedal 1906 Estey reed organ for sale - not automatic, but comes with a 1916 organ blowing machine that turns the bellows crank)
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(Message sent Thu 11 Jul 1996, 09:52:33 GMT, from time zone GMT-0800.) |
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