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MMD > Archives > September 1997 > 1997.09.29 > 03Prev  Next


Music Rolls for Two Instruments
By Dan Wilson

I said about two-piano sets of rolls, "I've heard Denis Hall mention
early organ-plus-piano pairs...,"  but there weren't many.  Looking in
the 1914 Pianola catalog, I find:

L3  Nocturne Op 9 No 2. E Flat major.  (Special arrangement to be played
with Aeolian roll 10007.  Accompaniment only.) _Chopin_       2/6

Value of 2/6 was about 70 cents in those days.  (Before Metrostyle,
'L' meant a London roll -- Culture vultures at work.)

In the Accompaniments section, along with several hundred rolls for
accompanying voice, violin, trio and quartet (many used these days for
recitals, especially by Michael Broadway) there were three other piano
accompaniments for organ, presumably hand-played, and a small handful of
accompaniments for a second piano.

Only Mozart's Sonata in D major for two pianos, K448, had rolls issued
for both parts, and only three other pieces, all by Chaminade, had rolls
for the first part and not the second.  So Rex Lawson has outperformed
Aeolian in this area by a considerable margin.

Dan Wilson

 [ Kudos to Rex!  It's quite a task to scale-down the orchestra score to
 [ perform on the Second Piano.  I hope to hear his rolls.  -- Robbie


Key Words in Subject:  Instruments, Music, Rolls, Two

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