Robert Smith's report of a roll on the Arto label credited as
hand-played by Moritz Moszkowski is fascinating, and presents something
of a mystery for a number of reasons.  Several of us have recently had
correspondence on MMD regarding Moszkowski, and it is our commonly
shared belief that Moszkowski never in fact recorded his playing on
rolls.  Certainly there is no trace of him (as performing artist) on
the classical European labels, including Aeolian (Duo-Art), Welte and
Hupfeld.

However, Arto rolls were manufactured in the US by the Standard Music
Roll Co. of Orange, NJ.   The SMR Co. definitely had facilities to
record live playing, and they released hand-played rolls in huge
numbers on a variety of labels, representing a large and diverse group
of artists, both popular and classical.   To the best of my knowledge
the SMR Co. did not have a European branch, so any live recording would
have been done in Orange.  In researching Moszkowski I have never
found reference to a US trip, although certainly it is a possibility.
But what incentive would there have been for Moszkowski to record for
this label?  Certainly if roll recording was his intent the larger
firms as Aeolian could have provided more lucrative terms.   If the
Arto roll is in fact copied from a true hand-played master recorded
in Europe, what was the source of the recording?  Perhaps one of the
more obscure reproducing systems, such as Phillips Duca or another?
And even then, by what route would the SMR Co. have had access to such
an obscure (in the US) recording system?

One might be tempted to discount the credibility of SMR Co.'s claim
that Moszkowski's hand playing is reproduced on the roll, but other
evidence shows it may be dangerous to do so.   I have two similar
rolls produced by the SMR Co. and released on their cheap "Perfection"
or "Little Gem" labels, and surprisingly they are both unmistakably
hand played performances.  The first is Xaver Scharwenka playing his
most famous "Polish Dance," that being Op. 3, No. 1, released on
Perfection No. 86040.  The other is Ignace Jan Paderewski playing his
signature composition "Minuet, Op. 14, No. 1", released on Perfection
No. 86026.  Both rolls are clearly labeled as hand played records by
these composer/pianists.  Each performance contains the hallmarks of
true hand played rolls; significant rubato effects, slightly
arpeggiated chords, and intelligent pedalling (i.e. to complement the
performance, not simply metronomic).

It is possible that the Paderewski and Scharwenka rolls were pirated
from legitimate Duo-Art recordings of these same pieces which were
made by both pianists, likely copied without permission of Aeolian and
certainly without permission of the artists.   It is virtually
impossible that the SMR Co. could have afforded a big-name artist as
Paderewski, and even if they could it would have been a violation of
his contract with Aeolian.   Sadly it is a fact that the SMR Co.
pirated material widely.   Over the years I have come across many
examples of rolls issued on the various SMR Co. labels which were
perfect note-for-note copies of either Aeolian, Connorized, or
US Music Co.  products.   It is possible that these rolls were issued
under license, but there were so many roll companies and business was
so competitive that seems very unlikely.   So, it's likely the
Paderewski and Scharwenka rolls were copied from Aeolian rolls... but
then what of the Moszkowski credit on Arto?

There are numerous examples of SMR Co. rolls where the label claims
hand-playing, but the performance turns out to be clearly mechanically
arranged.   For example, several rolls were released as "Played by
E.T. Paull," one of the most popular march composers.  These are all
mechanically arranged and not hand played.  Similarly there are a few
where Aeolian arranging great Herman Avery Wade is credited as
hand-played artist.  These too are mechanical arrangements.  (Note that
Wade did in fact make hand-played rolls for the Orient Music Roll Co.
of Bridgeport, Connecticut).  I suspect that the Moszkowski
Op. 57 No. 5 might fall into this class... i.e.  an example where
SMR Co. took liberties in falsely claiming hand-playing.  The
"Liebeswalzer" was one of Moszkowski's best loved waltzes, and was
widely issued on piano rolls, affording SMR Co. the choice of many
mechanical arrangements to "borrow".  But, if Robert Smith's Arto
roll turns out to truly sound hand-played, we have an interesting
mystery to explain!

Frank Himpsl