Re: MMDigest 011010

Frank Himpsl said, on the subject of Metrostyle rolls:

> However, the rolls which I've played appear to be no more than direct
> transcriptions of the music score onto paper, and they don't sound
> more "hand played" than any of the other classical Aeolian 65-note or
> 88-note rolls of the period (i.e. without the Themodist snakebite
> expression perforations).  That's not to say that hand-played-sounding
> performances can't be achieved in the creative, live performances of
> this type of roll...only that these deluxe Metrostyle rolls don't
> appear (to me) to differ substantially from other similar Aeolian
> rolls of the era.

The Autograph Metrostyles (eminent artists or composers providing the
Metrostyle line) mustn't be confused with the Metro-Art rolls, which
were hand-played rolls which were also Metrostyled but by staff editors
(except that there was a non-Metrostyled version in England issued by
the Aeolian subsidiary the Universal Music Co, called the Uni-Record !).
The Autographs were, apart from the line, plain rolls arranged from the
sheet music.

> I know two composers of light classical music who are represented on
> the early Themodists with facsimile signatures and testimonials; these
> being Moritz Moszkowski and Cecile Chaminade.  Their extensive piano
> music is of the late romantic style, very beautiful and melodic, and
> it enjoyed immense popularity in its day.    While anything is
> possible, I sincerely doubt that either composer/artist ever did
> Themodist arranging of their compositions for Aeolian.  I believe
> both artists lived in Paris at the time the Metrostyles would have
> been issued, so travel to and from the Aeolian office in England
> would likely have been a minimum necessity.   It seems more likely
> that Aeolian paid them a fee for the use of their name and testimonials
> on the rolls, and the expression or tempo effects (if any) were added
> by staff artists.   Maybe the Themodist-edited rolls were later sent
> to the composers for approval, that's a possibility.   The only way to
> gauge whatever artistic input these artists might have contributed to
> the Themodist rolls would be a comparison of like-compositions on the
> Aeolian "standard" 65- or 88-note issue rolls against the Themodist
> artist-credited versions of the same piece.  Of course that assumes
> there are examples where these pieces were issued in both formats, but
> I'm fairly certain there are several because of the popularity of their
> material.  Finding the roll comparison-sets to study is the only
> problem.

Both Moszkowski and Chaminade were regularly in London, the former to
conduct his hugely successful piano Concerto Op 59, which for several
years after its debut in 1898 was much more popular in London than
either of the Brahms concertos (!) and the latter to give recitals of
her own music. Her only known (disc) phonograph records were made in
London around 1905, though I believe some were also made in Paris which
are now lost.

Moszkowski's Autograph Metrostyle rolls are very distinctive, since
they show that he had almost no idea how to play a Pianola, just
sitting happily pedalling with the Tempo lever held steady right
through the very obvious rallentandos and accelerandos and, no doubt,
puffing his cigar - afterwards going to the accountants' window for
his cheque.

> If memory serves correctly I think I've seen Edvard Grieg's name on
> these rolls as well.   Grieg did record his playing for the red Welte,
> whereas to my knowledge Moszkowski and Chaminade never recorded.
> Moszkowski died in 1925, but Chaminade lived into the 1940s.

True for MM (other than the Metrostyles), untrue for CC, who made both
discs and Duo-Art rolls. The fortepianist Lorna Fulford has made a
specialty of Chaminade's music and Denis Hall has produced a private CD
for her of all the known disc and roll recordings. This is notable for
showing the strong similarities in recording the same piece onto Duo-Art
two years apart in London and in New York (I haven't got my rollography
handy to say which this was). The Grieg Metrostyle of "The Butterfly"
was later made into a Duo-Art roll, in my view entirely unsuccessfully.

Dan Wilson