I am interested to read about counter-melody in band organs.  I was
unaware of the actual meaning of the musical term and rather thought it
was a second melody playing against the first.

The only tune of which I am aware, which offers a suggestion of a
second theme, is found in the last refrain of the Battleship Ohio March
found on an obscure 4-tune Wurlitzer Style 150 march roll.  Throughout
this tune the trumpets dutifully follow the melodie in typical ho-hum
Wurlitzer style until the end of the tune where the trumpets break away
and romp through arpeggios in a remarkable finale.  It is both striking
and delightful to hear.

In one of the marches on roll 13269 the trumpets again claim the
listener's attention with a burst of chords clearly separate from the
melody.  It is an accompaniment to the melody rather than counter to
it, and it sounds rather like an accordionist's bass solo.  The effect
is, again, striking and delightful.

We have long pondered the unwillingness of the Wurlitzer arrangers to
ever exploit the organ's possibilities.  This seems especially odd when
you consider that their most prolific arranger was a band leader and
music teacher.

Doug Hershberger

 [ The artistry of the Wurlitzer staff arrangers shines throughout the
 [ years before about 1921 when the good arrangers quit.  The music
 [ they produced for the Wurlitzer PianOrchestra orchestrions is
 [ wonderful, and so are most of their early arrangements for Style
 [ 165 band organ rolls.  The arrangers probably felt rather stifled
 [ when they had to reduce a nice PianOrchestra or 165 arrangement to
 [ fit the limited scale of the Style 150 organ.  -- Robbie