Following my earlier posts about working on the Romeo and Juliet
Overture roll, I have a few comments about the music itself and how
Aeolian handled the transcription.

The story is about two young people who hail from feuding families,
as they find each other and fall in love.  Tschaikowsky alternately
uses different orchestra sections, back and forth, to give the illusion
of warring factions.  Aeolian uses strings on one division versus
flutes on the other to follow this concept.  Opus 1280 has two well
separated chambers that respond well to this concept.  As the love
story emerges, the two main themes are again portrayed in separate
chambers.

Of course the pipe organ can't sound entirely like the full orchestra,
but it does put forth a good effort.  Aeolian's harp renders the
orchestra harp quite well.  Missing the all important crashing cymbals
and frequent use of tympani, the organ must do other things.  In one
section the full organ is frantically racing up and down the scale on
three octaves, and the cymbals crashes are simulated by huge chords
played in an almost ragtime syncopation.  Later, in the closing
moments, while the tympani are beating quietly forming a drone sound,
the organ arrangers play a variety of pipes on the manual low B in a
pulsing four note pattern, while the pedal plays a lower B in a single
note against the four.  The effect is like a ringing undamped tympani.

Perhaps no other roll in my collection makes more dramatic changes in
volume.  The softest string pipes play against fully closed shutters
just seconds after the full organ is heard with shutters wide open

I doubt that many of Aeolian's wealthy clientele took the time to learn
how to play this 116 note roll.  Yet, it is a masterpiece of the organ
roll arrangers at Aeolian.  It may not be for everyone, but it is now
on one of my web sites as a fully coded Duo Art roll, a project that
I first started in 2005, but completed this year..  It is about 18 and
one-half minutes long.  Make sure you have good speakers or headphones,
and turn up the volume (it plays with QuickTime).

  http://aeolianorgan.com/aeolian/Special_Selections.html 

Bob Taylor
Missouri

 [ The brisk tempo of the pipe organ performance, which I like, is
 [ comparable to my favorite live orchestra performance by Arturo
 [ Toscanini.  Search YouTube for Tchaikowsky Romeo & Juliet 1938
 [ Toscanini.  The percussion is wonderful!  ;-)  -- Robbie