I was interested in the postings from Eliyahu Shahar and Joe Orens
about the Duo-Art Audiographic W & Y Series.  The Charles Davis Smith
rollography mentions some of these but there are obviously more that
he did not know about.  I have two W-'s not in Smith, and Eli has one
and there is a Y-101 which just sold on eBay.

I suspect Joe Orens is correct that these rolls (and the "National
Audiographics" like Ger-2, Rus-6, etc.) were intended to be more
seriously educational than the standard A- series.  I do not have any
twin A- and W- versions of the same roll to compare, but in looking at
all my W-'s and several A-'s I think I can see a general difference.

The standard A- Audiographic usually has comments on each side of the
roll.  Those on the left are more technical talking about themes, key
modulations, etc.  Sometimes these are called "Themophrasing" on the
roll.  The beginnings of themes are often marked with letters and
curved lines show on the roll where the theme continues or repeats.

On the right is more descriptive commentary discussing the mood of the
music or what the composer might have been trying to convey.  Usually
the two are printed differently.  The technical is often in red whereas
the mood is black.  If the technical is black, it is usually a smaller
type face from the mood.  The mood is sometimes in italics.

Of the W-, Rus-, Y-, Scan-, and Ger- rolls I have, all have only one
commentary, no mood commentary.  It is (almost) always in red.  Instead
of the curved lines showing themes, every single note of the theme is
marked with an appropriate letter.  So there are lots more letters than
in the A- series.  Usually A's are used for the first theme, B's for
the second, etc.  More technical information about the form of the
composition, exposition, development, etc. is included.

Just before the note holes begin, each of mine contains a statement
beginning, "The fascination of listening to music consists, in great
measure, in realizing through the entry of new themes and their musical
treatment. ..."  These rolls often, but not always, seem to have the
same commentator as the British D- series.

Since the Smith rollography omits many of these I would like to try
to get a more complete list of them.  I would ask anyone who has any
of these American Audiographic rolls with numbers not starting with
A-, especially if not in Smith, to write either to me or the MMDigest.
If I get a significant response I will report it to the MMDigest.

The two I have which are not in Smith are (with pianist and
commentator):
  W-505  Chopin's Polonaise in A Flat -- Hofmann -- Jonson
  W-509  Chopin's Scherzo in B Flat Minor -- Hofmann -- Jonson

Eli's roll is
  W-802  Henselt's Cradle Song -- Godowsky -- White

on eBay:
  Y-101  Liszt's Dance of the Gnomes -- Novaes -- Calvocoressi
This one is interesting since all of Smith's Y- numbers are 800 or
higher.

Those I have which are in Smith are W-401, W-506, Ger-2, Rus-2, and
Scan-8.  These all have the single technical analyses with no "mood"
commentary.

By the way, my copy of A-15 Liszt's Dance of the Gnomes says it is
annotated by Calvocoressi (like Y-101 above), not Scholes as listed
in Smith and shown in a recent eBay sale.  I will try to contact that
buyer to see if the comments are different.  The art work shown on the
eBay A-15 was certainly different from that on my A-15.  The artwork on
the introductory description of my A-15 is much more like the British
D-37.

Why would Aeolian issue rolls printed differently and give them both
the number A-15?

David Sharpe