{"product_id":"1925-landmarks-from-the-dawn-of-electrical-recording-various-artists-1920-25-pasc734","title":"1925: Landmarks from the Dawn of Electrical Recording (Various Artists, 1920-25) - PASC734","description":"overviewfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 18px;\"\u003eTCHAIKOVSKY \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 18px;\"\u003eSymphony No. 4\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 18px;\"\u003eSAINT-SAËNS \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 18px;\"\u003eDanse Macabre\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 18px;\"\u003eBIZET \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 18px;\"\u003ePetite Suite\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 18px;\"\u003eMusic by \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 18px;\"\u003eChopin, Meyerbeer, Mascagni, Schubert\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 18px;\"\u003e \u0026amp; many more\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12px;\"\u003eStudio and Live Recordings, 1920 - 1925\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12px;\"\u003eTotal duration: 2hr 20:22\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003eAlfred Cortot\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003eJesse Crawford\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003eGiuseppe De Luca\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003eArt Gillham\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003eMischa Levitzky\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003eMargarete Matzenauer\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003eLandon Ronald\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003eLeopold Stokowski\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003eand many more\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9review_titlefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fReview578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9review_quotefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fCalaf is undoubtedly the right role for him ... He is absolutely thrilling and the audience go wild after Nessun dorma578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9review_bodyfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f\u003cp\u003e1925 was a pivotal year in recorded music. It was the year that electrical recording displaced the older acoustic system and the microphone replaced the horn. That said, not all companies were in a position to modernise and of course for some time to come people would listen to electrical recordings on non-electrical reproducers. Advances in studio reproduction were not always matched by similar advances in home listening, largely for economic or practical reasons – why get a new electrical reproducer when you still have plenty of acoustic records?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePristine Audio celebrates the centenary of the changeover with a twofer that selects important examples of the new system but also delves back a little to look at experimental electrical recordings. It offers a panorama largely focusing on American recordings but also including a major symphonic statement recorded in London and the focus is not solely on the classical repertoire. There is popular music, quite aptly.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe famous 1920 experimental English Columbia recording of Abide with Me and the Recessional starts things off. Recorded on Armistice Day at the funeral ceremony of the burial of the Unknown Solider this is widely agreed to be the first issued ‘electrical’ recording though it was a primitive system and you’ll be hard pressed to hear the band of the Grenadier Guards let alone to discern any of the words sung by the choir or congregation at Westminster Abbey. In America, Orlando Marsh was releasing his own brand of ‘electrical’ recordings in Chicago in 1922. Anyone who has heard examples of his Autograph label will appreciate that they are variable sonically and such is the case here – a fine sounding organ solo from Jessie Crawford and a more constricted recording, made a year later, of Dell Lampe’s dance band.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMischa Levitzki and Giuseppe De Luca represent the competing companies, Columbia and Victor, and both sides were unissued at the time on 78s. Art Gilham has the honour to be the first person to have a recording released made by the new Western Electric system and his vamp piano and parlando singing, a kind of proto-crooning, comes over loud and clear. The following day Victor recorded a roster of its leading popular artists in a two-sided vaudeville review disc – if you’re a nostalgic soul you’ll appreciate such as pianist Frank Banta, the Sterling Trio, Henry Burr, Billy Murray, the virtuosic saxophonist Rudy Wiedoeft and the Peerless Quartet. A forward-looking instruction appears at the end of the first part of this disc: ‘We’ll see you on the other side.’\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eVictor was busy in February and March 1925 recording its artists. Studio pioneer Nathaniel Shilkret recorded obscure music from an even more obscure show but at about the same time Victor enticed contralto Margarete Matzenauer to their Camden, New Jersey studios to sing an aria from Meyerbeer and, rather more improbably, a Mexican folk song. Three days later in came Alfred Cortot to record Schubert and Chopin and two days after Cortot it was the turn of the Victor Concert Orchestra, directed by Josef Pasternack, to record Bizet’s Petite Suite , from which we hear two movements. Other movements were recorded and were issued. The first disc ends with the Associated Glee Clubs of America singing, all 850 voices of them, John Peel and Adeste Fidelis , apparently sung by the choir and audience of 4,000, though as Mark Obert-Thorn notes in the booklet, you could hardly hear more than the 850. In situ recordings of this kind liberated performers from tiny studio choruses – for example Joseph Batten’s 1924 The Dream of Gerontius with its chorus of eight – and soon led to an arms race, with the monstrous Handel recordings of some of the choruses from Messiah made by a chorus of 3,500 voices at the Crystal Place in London and conducted, if that’s the right word, by Henry Wood.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe second disc is much more focused. Gennaro Papi conducts the Prelude to Cavalleria rusticana with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra using Brunswick’s cul-de-sac ‘Light Ray’ system. Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra play Danse macabre with violin soloist Thaddeus Rich – though macabre is appropriate as acoustic reinforcements were still necessary as you’ll hear tubas to reinforce the bass and a sinuous snake-charmer contrabassoon. The main work in the twofer is Landon Ronald’s July 1925 recording of Tchaikovsky Fourth Symphony, something I have reviewed in the past ( review ) but which is here in a fine restoration. The disc ends with the live recording made in Washington D.C. on 4 March 1925 of Calvin Coolidge’s inauguration. This is historically valuable and is representative of the clarity of spoken word even in live circumstances, such as this. That said, I actually found it hard always to understand what Coolidge is saying but that’s more to do with his manner of speaking than the reproduction. However, 20 minutes of this was more than enough for me but I daresay Americans will find it of interest.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eUniquely in my experience, Pristine Audio has issued a 12-page booklet with some illustrations, including a full-page one of the label of the Westminster Abbey recording and a smaller one of Jessie Crawford’s Autograph disc. Mark Obert-Thorn’s text is very readable and a thoroughly accomplished piece of work and will support your listening pleasure.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eJonathan Woolf\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9main_samplefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fsamples\/PASC734.mp3578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_labelfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fProducer's Note578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_typefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fcontent578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_contentfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f\u003cp\u003e\nA century ago, the adoption of electrical recording by major labels on both\nsides of the Atlantic revolutionized the industry. The old method of\nrecording acoustically through a horn-like apparatus had remained\nfundamentally unchanged since Edison’s invention of 1877, nearly 50 years\nearlier. With electrical recording, the frequency range captured on disc\nwas greatly expanded. Instrumentalists and singers now sounded more\nrealistic, and there was no longer a need to rescore orchestral music in\norder to reinforce the bass using tubas (although at first this continued to\nbe done to accommodate acoustic reproducers). Full symphony orchestras and\nchoruses of hundreds of singers could now be recorded. Moreover, recordings\ncould now be taken outside small studios and into large concert halls, even\ninto the open air.\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTo celebrate this sea change in recording history, Pristine presents in this\nrelease the landmark discs from 1925 that forever altered the way people\nlistened to records. All of the major discs that appeared during that year\nand have long been mentioned in books like Roland Gelatt’s \u003ci\u003eThe Fabulous\nPhonograph\u003c\/i\u003e (1954; rev. 1977) are here. This development, however, did not\ncome out of nowhere; and our release also features some of the steps that\nled up to the “electric year”. Also included is the first complete release\nof all that was recorded of Calvin Coolidge’s Presidential Inauguration\nceremony, transferred from rare test pressings.\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhile claims regarding the “earliest recorded electrical” this or “first\nissued electrical” that continue to be disputed, one fact that historians\nhave agreed upon is that the first issued electrical recording was made on\nArmistice Day, 1920, at Westminster Abbey during the ceremony for the\ninterment of the Unknown Warrior of World War I. British engineers Lionel\nGuest and H. O. Merriman had developed a system utilizing something similar\nto the speaking end of a telephone as a microphone, transmitting the signal\nvia phone lines to an offsite cutting turntable.\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe resultant signal was dim, nearly overwhelmed by the surface noise of the\nrecord, and muddied by the vast reverberant space of the church in which it\nwas recorded. (The cutting turntable had not yet come up to speed when \"Abide with me\"\nbegan to be recorded, resulting in the fall in pitch heard as the record\nbegins.) Still, the melodies of the hymns can be\nclearly discerned, as well as the fact that people are singing (although the\ntext cannot be made out) and that instruments were playing. The record was\nissued by English Columbia, and sold locally as a fundraiser for the church;\nbut the experiment proved to be a dead end for this system, although it did\nspur English Columbia to further experimentation in electrical recording\nover the next few years.\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e(A note about the pitching of these tracks is in order. At this time, Royal\nbands still tuned to the Victorian-era “high pitch” of A4=452 Hz. Since the\nGrenadier Guards would not retire their older instruments until 440 Hz was\nstandardized for Royal bands in 1927, these two tracks have been pitched\nhigher than the others in this release.)\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe next two tracks shed light on a pioneer of electrical recording whose\nwork had been largely ignored by (or perhaps unknown to) audio historians\nuntil recent years. Orlando R. Marsh was a Chicago-based engineer who\ndeveloped an electrical system and began issuing recordings using it on his\nown Autograph label as early as 1922. One of the first performers to gain\n\u003cfont face=\"Open Sans, sans-serif\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"letter-spacing: normal;\"\u003efame\u003c\/span\u003e \u003c\/font\u003efrom this source was silent movie house organist Jesse Crawford,\nwho began a forty-year recording career with these discs. Using the old\nacoustic system with its limited frequency range, it was thought to be\nimpossible to capture the sound of an organ. Marsh was able to accomplish\nthis with his system, even recording Crawford on-site in the large cinema in\nwhich he regularly played. Marsh’s system, however, had variable results.\nThe following track, featuring Dell Lampe’s Orchestra (at the time,\nChicago’s highest-paid and most popular local dance band) is not quite as\nsuccessful, exhibiting a more restricted frequency range commonly associated\nwith acoustic recordings.\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSince 1919, Western Electric, the commercial research and development arm of\nBell Laboratories, had been attempting to develop electrical recording under\nthe direction of Joseph P. Maxfield and Henry C. Harrison. Part of their\nexperiments involved recording broadcast concerts of the New York\nPhilharmonic via direct radio lines. (Pristine has already released several\nsides recorded in that manner from an April, 1924 concert conducted by\nWillem Mengelberg on PASC 184.) By late 1924, they had made sufficient\nprogress to offer their system to the two major labels in America, Victor\nand Columbia. In the same month that Marsh’s Dell Lampe recording was made,\nColumbia had one of their featured pianists, Mischa Levitzki, make the test\nrecording of Chopin presented here. Even through the surface noise of this\nunique test pressing, the gain in frequency range and presence is audible.\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSurprisingly, Western Electric’s offer at first did not attract any takers.\nAmerican Columbia was nearly broke and couldn’t afford the licensing fee and\nroyalties being demanded, while Victor’s management had an almost\npathological aversion to anything related to its growing competitor, radio,\nincluding the use of microphones. It was only after a disastrous Christmas\nsales season at the end of 1924 that Victor bit the bullet and became open\nto the offer.\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn the meantime, the manager of the New York plant where Western Electric\nwas having its test records pressed surreptitiously sent copies of some of\nthe discs to an old friend in England – Louis Sterling, the head of English\nColumbia. The package arrived on Christmas Eve, 1924, and Sterling\nauditioned the discs on Christmas day. The following day, he was aboard the\nfirst ship he could book to New York, eager to cut a deal with WE. For\ntheir part, WE insisted that the rights could only be granted to an American\ncompany; so Sterling swiftly obtained a loan to buy a controlling interest\nin American Columbia. Shortly afterward, Victor signed up, as well.\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBy early February, 1925, Victor had set up a special studio in Camden to\nwork exclusively on test recordings using the new system. The Giuseppe De\nLuca recording included here, from a test pressing unpublished on 78 rpm,\nwas made during this interim period. (British record collector and\nresearcher Jolyon Hudson has identified several sides believed to stem from\nthese trials that were sent over to HMV after March, 1925 and issued in\nEngland. However, because Victor did not include recording matrix or date\ndata for these electric tests in its surviving logs, it is impossible to\nknow with certainty whether these sides predate the label’s first electrical\nreleases.)\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBy the end of February, Victor was ready to proceed with recording\nelectrically with a view to publish. However, they were pipped to the post\nby rival Columbia, who made two sides which, coupled on a single disc,\nbecame the earliest Western Electric process electrical recordings to be\nissued. Art Gillham, who was billed as “The Whispering Pianist”, had made a\nsuccessful career on the radio with his intimate, confessional singing,\npresaging the kind of “crooning” that electrical recording would make\npossible and which would change the direction of popular singing.\nSibiliants that could never be recorded acoustically could finally be heard.\nGillham (who was neither fat nor bald, as he described himself in “I had\nsomeone else”, but rather resembled silent film comedian Harold Lloyd, even\ndown to his trademark glasses) was surprised when Columbia granted him a\nbonus of one thousand dollars – then a princely sum – to have been their\nelectrical guinea pig.\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe very next day, Victor recorded its own earliest electrical disc to be\nissued, featuring several of its best-selling popular acts on what amounts\nto an elaborate demo record. Acts which had been recording for over a\ndecade, like Billy Murray, the Peerless Quartet and the Sterling Trio, were\nplaced side-by-side with jazz instrumentalists and a dialect comedian,\nperforming operetta arias, Victorian-era ballads and plantation songs – a\ntrue snapshot of mainstream American popular culture of the time. (The\nreference to Henry Ford here was not due to his musical accomplishments –\nalthough he was an avid fan of country fiddling who owned an array of rare\nviolins, including Stradivari – but to the nickname of his famed Model T,\nthe “Tin Lizzie”.)\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBut “earliest recorded” is not always “first issued”; and the prize for that\ngoes to the two tracks that follow. Someone at the University of\nPennsylvania’s theatrical Mask and Wig Club must have known someone at\nVictor; for how else could they have gotten a recording made of highlights\nfrom their latest annual musical, \u003ci\u003eJoan of Arkansas\u003c\/i\u003e, with members of their\nall-male glee club backed by Nat Shilkret and Victor’s crack band? Suffice\nit to say that the mid-March recording made it to local Philadelphia stores\nby April, and the rest is history.\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eVictor and Columbia had agreed that no mention would be made of the new\nelectrical process prior to November. Both companies had sizeable stocks of\nexisting acoustic recordings in the catalog and new ones waiting to be\nreleased, most of which would be considered obsolete once the new technology\nwas identified. (English Columbia had been in the midst of a major program\nof recording complete Classical works – symphonies and chamber music –\nacoustically, and would be the most harmed by the changeover.) Nonetheless,\nreviewers who knew what was up found ways to indicate that these records had\na startlingly new presence without violating the ban.\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe next six tracks document “firsts” of different varieties. Contralto\nMargarete Matzenauer set down two sides on March 18th which became the\nearliest-recorded issued vocal sides made by a Classical artist using the\nWestern Electric process. They were coupled with sides recorded the\nfollowing day and issued on separate discs (one ten-inch, the other twelve).\nAlthough her vibrato was a bit wide by this point in her career, the power\nbehind her high notes is certainly made clear by the new technology.\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe following tracks by pianist Alfred Cortot were coupled on the Victor’s\nfirst electrical Red Seal release (6502). Oddly, the HMV issue of the\nChopin Impromptu coupled it with the second half only of Chopin’s G-minor\nBallade, and this version of Cortot’s Schubert song transcription was not\nreleased in Europe at all. (Neither was the “Ballade Fragment”, as it was\nbilled, released in the U.S.)\n\u003c\/p\u003e\nThe next two tracks come from a ten-inch side which was part of a set of two\ndiscs (the other twelve-inch) containing Bizet’s complete \u003ci\u003ePetite Suite\u003c\/i\u003e, his\norchestrated version of several numbers drawn from his piano collection,\n\u003ci\u003eJeux d’enfants\u003c\/i\u003e. It demonstrates that Victor had already recorded a\nClassical orchestral work over a month before Stokowski would conduct his\nown first Victor electric, \u003ci\u003eDanse Macabre\u003c\/i\u003e. Surprisingly, both discs of the\nBizet, the uncredited work of Victor house conductor Josef Pasternack, would\nremain in the catalog until the end of the 78 rpm era.\n\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\nPerhaps no other single disc helped to sell the public on the new process\nmore than Columbia’s Associated Glee Clubs of America coupling of “John\nPeel” and “Adeste Fidelis”. During the acoustic era, one was likely to\nencounter on disc a chorus of eight voices (the number used in Albert\nCoates’ 1923 recording of the Beethoven Ninth), about as many as could fit\nin a small recording studio alongside a reduced orchestra. But the Columbia\nrelease, recorded during a live performance at the old Metropolitan Opera\nHouse in New York, boasted 850 voices for “John Peel” and a whopping\nadditional 4,000 voices for “Adeste”, counting the total number of the\naudience that was invited to join in for the final verse. (Truth be told,\nno more voices can be discerned on this track than on the other, possibly\nbecause the rather directional microphone used was focused on what was\nhappening onstage, not in the audience.) As Roland Gelatt wrote in \u003ci\u003eThe\nFabulous Phonograph\u003c\/i\u003e,\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"margin-left: 25px;\"\u003eIt was staggeringly loud and brilliant (as compared to anything made by the\nold method), it embodied a resonance and sense of “atmosphere” never before\nheard on a phonograph record, and it sold in the thousands. Although [it]\nwas not the very first electrical recording to reach the public, it was the\nfirst one to dramatize the revolution in recording and the first to make a\nsharp impression on the average record buyer.\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe focus on the Western Electric system has all but obscured the\nshort-lived rival process developed by General Electric, the so-called\n“Light-Ray” system, used by its licensees Brunswick and Grammophon\/Polydor\nuntil 1927. This employed a beam of light to convey electrical impulses to\nthe disc cutting head. The Prelude from Mascagni’s \u003ci\u003eCavalleria Rusticana\u003c\/i\u003e\nincluded here was the earliest issued Brunswick electrical recording (noted\nby the “E” in the “XE” matrix prefix). The general drawback of this system\nwas that it tended to distort at higher volume levels, although it works\nwell in this mostly quiet music.\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFollowing this track is what history books have generally cited as the\nearliest electrical recording of a symphony orchestra (although, as we’ve\nseen, it was predated by both Brunswick and Victor itself). Leopold\nStokowski’s disc of Saint-Saëns’\u003ci\u003e Danse Macabre\u003c\/i\u003e utilized the same kind of\nrescoring that was done for acoustic sessions in order to bolster bass\nfrequencies for acoustic horn reproducers. Here, string basses were\nreplaced by a tuba, and a contrabassoon substituted for the tympani, giving\nthe resulting performance a weirder, even more disconcerting sound than the\ncomposer originally intended.\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOn May 15th, Stokowski began recording Dvořák’s \u003ci\u003eNew World\u003c\/i\u003e Symphony. Had he\nfinished it around that time, it would have been the first electrical\nrecording of a symphony. As it was, however, the sessions continued through\nDecember; and by then, Sir Landon Ronald’s electrical set of Tchaikovsky’s\nFourth Symphony had been released in the UK. Ronald conducted the Royal\nAlbert Hall Orchestra from its start (as the New Symphony Orchestra) in 1908\nuntil its dissolution in 1928. He recorded extensively for HMV throughout\nhis career, both as conductor and piano accompanist.\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHis Tchaikovsky Fourth, recorded at HMV’s Hayes studios in July of 1925,\nuses tuba reinforcement for the string basses (as HMV would continue to do\nthrough at least early 1927), although we are spared Stokowski’s\ncontrabassoon in lieu of the tympani, a decided advantage at the ends of the\noutlying movements. Ronald could be a variable interpreter, but here he\nturns in an exciting and highly satisfying performance which checks all the\nright boxes. Gramophone’s editor Compton Mackenzie was not pleased,\nhowever, writing that there seemed to be “something almost deliberately\ndefiant in choosing this particular work for a symphonic debut in the latest\nmethods of recording,” citing the music itself being “a jangle of shattered\nnerves” which was only magnified by the harshness of the new process. It\nwould take the changeover to electrical reproducers to enable listeners to\nfully appreciate what the new records could convey.\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePlaced at the end of our survey for programming purposes is another example\nof what the electrical process could now capture. When the previous U.S.\npresidential election had taken place in 1920, radio was in its infancy, and\nonly the results of the polls were broadcast as they came in. By March,\n1925, a presidential inauguration could not only be sent out as it happened\non the radio, but also simultaneously preserved for posterity on an\nelectrical recording.\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBell Laboratories spared no expense for this technological demonstration.\nLoudspeakers were installed at school auditoriums throughout the country for\nstudents to hear the broadcast live, and seven sides were recorded from the\ndirect line. No attempt was made to record the complete speech, which was\ntwice as long as the extant excerpts. Comparing the records to the complete\ntext of Coolidge’s speech (reproduced on the webpage for this release) shows\nhow much was left out. The transfer here from unpublished test pressings is\ncomplete as recorded, with only some lengthy spots of “dead air” edited out.\nPortions have previously appeared online, but this is the first publication\nof the entire recording, including the oath of office given by Supreme Court\nChief Justice (and former President) William Howard Taft in his only\nelectrical recording, and the U.S. Marine Band playing “Hail to the Chief”\nat the end.\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eMark Obert-Thorn\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e, January, 2025\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_cover_thumbnail1_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_cover_thumbnail2_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_cover_download_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_sample1_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_sample2_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_sample3_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_sample4_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_sample5_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_sample6_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_labelfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fFull Track Listing578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_typefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5ftrack_listing578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_contentfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 24px;\"\u003e1925: Landmarks from the Dawn of Electrical Recording\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eDisc 1\u003c\/b\u003e (66:09)\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e1. \u003cb\u003e MONK \u003c\/b\u003eAbide with me (2:50)\u003cbr\u003e2. \u003cb\u003e DYKES \u003c\/b\u003eRecessional (3:34)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eChoir, Congregation and Band of H. M. Grenadier Guards\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12px;\"\u003eRecorded 11 November 1920 in Westminster Abbey, London ∙ Matrices: unknown ∙\nFirst issued on unnumbered Columbia “Memorial Record”\n\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e3. \u003cb\u003e JONES \u0026amp; KAHN\u003c\/b\u003e The one I love belongs to somebody else (3:17)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eJesse Crawford\u003c\/b\u003e, organ\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12px;\"\u003eRecorded c. December, 1923 in the Chicago Theater, Chicago ∙ Matrix: 447 ∙\nFirst issued on Autograph (no catalog number)\n\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n4. \u003cb\u003eBERLIN \u003c\/b\u003eAll alone (2:52)\n\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eDell Lampe Orchestra from the Trianon Ballroom\/Al Dodson\u003c\/b\u003e, vocal chorus\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12px;\"\u003eRecorded c. November, 1924, Chicago ∙ Matrix: 658 ∙ First issued on\nAutograph 604\n\n\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n5. \u003cb\u003eCHOPIN \u003c\/b\u003eWaltz No. 14 in E minor, Op. Posth. (2:51)\n\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\nMischa Levitzki, piano\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12px;\"\u003eRecorded 19 November 1924, New York ∙ Matrix: 6466-1 ∙ Columbia (unpublished\non 78 rpm)\n\n\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n6. \u003cb\u003e CIMARA \u003c\/b\u003eStornello (Son come i chicchi) (3:03)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eGiuseppe De Luca\u003c\/b\u003e, baritone\/Orchestra conducted by \u003cb\u003eRosario Bourdon\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12px;\"\u003eRecorded 17 February 1925, Camden, New Jersey ∙ Matrix: WER-3719 ∙ Victor\n(unpublished on 78 rpm)\n\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n7. \u003cb\u003eSMYTHE \u0026amp; GILLHAM\u003c\/b\u003e You may be lonesome (2:55)\n\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n8. \u003cb\u003eSTANLEY, HARRIS \u0026amp; DARCEY\u003c\/b\u003e I had someone else before I had you*\n(3:17)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eArt Gillham\u003c\/b\u003e, piano and vocal\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12px;\"\u003eRecorded 25 February 1925 in New York ∙ Matrices: 140125-7 \u0026amp; *140394-2\n∙ First issued on Columbia 328-D\n\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e9. \u003cb\u003eTHE EIGHT POPULAR VICTOR ARTISTS\u003c\/b\u003e A miniature concert (9:29)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eOpening Chorus\u003c\/b\u003e; “Strut Miss Lizzie” – \u003cb\u003eFrank Banta\u003c\/b\u003e, piano; “Love’s old sweet\nsong” –\u003cb\u003e Sterling Trio\u003c\/b\u003e; “Friend Cohen” – \u003cb\u003eMonroe Silver\u003c\/b\u003e, speaker; “When you\nand I were young, Maggie” – \u003cb\u003eHenry Burr\u003c\/b\u003e, tenor; “Casey Jones” – \u003cb\u003eBilly Murray\u003c\/b\u003e,\ntenor and Chorus; “Sweet Genevieve” – \u003cb\u003eAlbert Campbell\u003c\/b\u003e, tenor and \u003cb\u003eHenry Burr,\u003c\/b\u003e\ntenor; “Saxophobia” – \u003cb\u003eRudy Wiedoeft\u003c\/b\u003e, saxophone; “Gypsy Love Song” – \u003cb\u003eFrank\nCroxton\u003c\/b\u003e, bass; “Carry me back to old Virginny” – \u003cb\u003ePeerless Quartet\u003c\/b\u003e; “Massa’s\nin de cold, cold ground” – \u003cb\u003eChorus\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12px;\"\u003eRecorded 26 February 1925 in Camden, New Jersey ∙ Matrices: CVE 31874-3 and\n31875-4 ∙ First issued on Victor 35753\n\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e10. \u003cb\u003eGILPIN\u003c\/b\u003e Joan of Arkansas – Medley (3:15)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eMask and Wig Glee Chorus\u003c\/b\u003e; Orchestra conducted by \u003cb\u003eNathaniel Shilkret\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12px;\"\u003eRecorded 16 March 1925 in Camden, New Jersey ∙ Matrix: BVE 32160-2 ∙ First\nissued on Victor 19626\n\n\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e11. \u003cb\u003e GILPIN \u003c\/b\u003eJoan of Arkansas – Buenos Aires (3:37)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eArthur Hall\u003c\/b\u003e, tenor; \u003cb\u003eBernard Baker\u003c\/b\u003e, cornet solo; \u003cb\u003eInternational Novelty\nOrchestra\u003c\/b\u003e conducted by \u003cb\u003eNathaniel Shilkret\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12px;\"\u003eRecorded 20 March 1925 in Camden, New Jersey ∙ Matrix: BVE 32170-2 ∙ First\nissued on Victor 19626\n\n\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e12. \u003cb\u003e MEYERBEER \u003c\/b\u003eLe prophète – Ah, mon fils! (4:36)\u003cbr\u003e13. \u003cb\u003eMEXICAN FOLK SONG\u003c\/b\u003e Pregúntales á las estrellas* (3:23)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eMargarete Matzenauer\u003c\/b\u003e, contralto; Orchestra conducted by \u003cb\u003eRosario Bourdon\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12px;\"\u003eRecorded 18 March 1925 in Camden, New Jersey ∙ Matrices: CVE 31632-3 and\n*BVE 31629-4 ∙ First issued on Victor 6531 and *1080\n\n\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n14. \u003cb\u003e SCHUBERT \u003c\/b\u003e(arr. Cortot) Litany (3:29)\n\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n15. \u003cb\u003e CHOPIN \u003c\/b\u003eImpromptu No. 2 in F sharp major, Op. 36* (4:41)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAlfred Cortot\u003c\/b\u003e, piano\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12px;\"\u003eRecorded 21 March 1925 in Camden, New Jersey ∙ Matrices: CE 22512-11 and\n*31689-5 ∙ First issued on Victor 6502\n\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 18px;\"\u003eBIZET \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 18px;\"\u003ePetite suite (from Jeux d’enfants)\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e16. 1st Mvt.: Marche (2:09)\u003cbr\u003e17. 3rd Mvt.: Impromptu (1:03)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eVictor Concert Orchestra\u003c\/b\u003e conducted by \u003cb\u003eJosef Pasternack\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12px;\"\u003eRecorded 23 March 1925 in Camden, New Jersey ∙ Matrix: BE 32179-3 ∙ First\nissued on Victor 19730\n\n\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n18. \u003cb\u003e METCALFE \u003c\/b\u003e(arr. Andrews) John Peel (2:53)\n\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n19. \u003cb\u003e WADE \u003c\/b\u003eAdeste fideles* (2:43)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAssociated Glee Clubs of America\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12px;\"\u003eRecorded 31 March 1925 in the Metropolitan Opera House, New York ∙ Matrices:\nW98163-1 and *W98166-1 ∙ First issued on Columbia 50013-D\n\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eDisc 2\u003c\/b\u003e (74:13)\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n1. \u003cb\u003e MASCAGNI \u003c\/b\u003eCavalleria rusticana - Prelude (4:45)\n\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eMetropolitan Opera Orchestra\u003c\/b\u003e conducted by \u003cb\u003eGennaro Papi\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12px;\"\u003eRecorded 8 April 1925 in Room No. 3, 799 Seventh Avenue, New York ∙ Matrix:\nXE 15472 or 15473 ∙ First issued on Brunswick 50067\n\n\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n2. \u003cb\u003eSAINT-SAËNS\u003c\/b\u003e Danse macabre, Op. 40 (7:19)\n\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eThaddeus Rich\u003c\/b\u003e, solo violin\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe Philadelphia Orchestra\u003c\/b\u003e conducted by \u003cb\u003eLeopold Stokowski\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12px;\"\u003eRecorded 29 April 1925 in Camden, New Jersey ∙ Matrices: CVE 27929-2 \u0026amp;\n27930-2 ∙ First issued on Victor 6505\n\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 18px;\"\u003eTCHAIKOVSKY \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 18px;\"\u003eSymphony No. 4 in F minor, Op. 36\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e3. 1st Mvt.: Andante sostenuto (17:38)\u003cbr\u003e4. 2nd Mvt.: Andantino in modo di canzona (7:51)\u003cbr\u003e5. 3rd Mvt.: Scherzo: Pizzicato ostinato (5:22)\u003cbr\u003e6. 4th Mvt.: Allegro con fuoco (8:45)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eRoyal Albert Hall Orchestra\u003c\/b\u003e conducted by \u003cb\u003eSir Landon Ronald\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12px;\"\u003eRecorded 20, 21 \u0026amp; 27 July 1925 in Hayes, Middlesex ∙ Matrices: Cc\n6374-2, 6375-3, 6376-3, 6377-2, 6378-2, 6379-2, 6381-1, 6410-1, 6380-5 \u0026amp;\n6382-2 ∙ First issued on HMV 1037\/41\n\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 18px;\"\u003eInauguration of Calvin Coolidge as President of the United States\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e7. Oath of Office (given by Chief Justice William Howard Taft) (0:57)\u003cbr\u003e8. “My Countrymen . . .” (2:04)\u003cbr\u003e9. “It will be well not to be too much disturbed . . .” (3:28)\u003cbr\u003e10. “Our private citizens have advanced large sums of money . . .” (3:33)\u003cbr\u003e11. “There is no salvation in a narrow and bigoted partisanship” (3:25)\u003cbr\u003e12. “. . . they ought not to be burdened . . .” (3:34)\u003cbr\u003e13. “Under a despotism the law may be imposed . . .” (3:24)\u003cbr\u003e14. “. . . built on blood and force” (0:51)\u003cbr\u003e15. Ruffles and Flourishes\/Hail to the Chief (U.S. Marine Band) (1:11)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCalvin Coolidge,\u003c\/b\u003e speaker\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12px;\"\u003eRecorded 4 March 1925 in Washington, D.C. ∙ Matrices: 51175\/81 ∙ Columbia\n(unpublished on 78 rpm)\n\n\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\nProducer and Audio Restoration Engineer: \u003cb\u003eMark Obert-Thorn\n\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSpecial thanks to Gregor Benko, Jim Cartwright’s Immortal Performances,\nInc., Cate Gasco, Colin Hancock, Ward Marston, David Mason, Dave Schmutz,\nthe collection of the late Don Tait and Lew Williams for providing source\nmaterial and\/or valuable guidance for this project\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTotal timing: \u003cb\u003e 2hr 20:22\n\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_cover_thumbnail1_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_cover_thumbnail2_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_cover_download_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_sample1_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_sample2_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_sample3_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_sample4_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_sample5_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_sample6_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_labelfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fCover Art578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_typefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fcover_art578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_contentfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_cover_thumbnail1_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fcovers\/thumbs\/PASC734.jpg578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_cover_thumbnail2_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_cover_download_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fcovers\/PASC734.pdf578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_sample1_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_sample2_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_sample3_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_sample4_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_sample5_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_sample6_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab4_labelfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fCoolidge's Address578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab4_typefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fcontent578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab4_contentfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f\u003cp\u003e\nComplete text of Calvin Coolidge’s Inaugural Address, March 4, 1925\u003cbr\u003e(\u003cb\u003eRecorded portions shown in boldface\u003c\/b\u003e, and side track beginnings and endings\nindicated \u003ci\u003ein italics within paretheses\u003c\/i\u003e)\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n(\u003ci\u003eTrack 8 start\u003c\/i\u003e)\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eMY COUNTRYMEN:\n\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eNo one can contemplate current conditions without finding much that is\nsatisfying and still more that is encouraging. Our own country is leading\nthe world in the general readjustment to the results of the great conflict.\nMany of its burdens will bear heavily upon us for years, and the secondary\nand indirect effects we must expect to experience for some time. But we are\nbeginning to comprehend more definitely what course should be pursued, what\nremedies ought to be applied, what actions should be taken for our\ndeliverance, and are clearly manifesting a determined will faithfully and\nconscientiously to adopt these methods of relief. Already we have\nsufficiently rearranged our domestic affairs so that confidence has\nreturned, business has revived, and we appear to be entering an era of\nprosperity which is gradually reaching into every part of the nation.\nRealizing that we can not live unto ourselves alone, we have contributed of\nour resources and our counsel to the relief of the suffering and the\nsettlement of the disputes among the European nations. Because of what\nAmerica is and what America has done, a firmer courage, a higher hope,\ninspires the heart of all humanity.\u003c\/b\u003e (\u003ci\u003eTrack 8 end\u003c\/i\u003e)\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThese results have not occurred by mere chance. They have been secured by a\nconstant and enlightened effort marked by many sacrifices and extending over\nmany generations. We can not continue these brilliant successes in the\nfuture, unless we continue to learn from the past. It is necessary to keep\nthe former experiences of our country both at home and abroad continually\nbefore us, if we are to have any science of government. If we wish to erect\nnew structures, we must have a definite knowledge of the old foundations. We\nmust realize that human nature is about the most constant thing in the\nuniverse and that the essentials of human relationshi\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Pristine Classical","offers":[{"title":"Mono 16-bit FLAC","offer_id":44064737263706,"sku":"tto1789304114177","price":17.36,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"320kbps Mono MP3","offer_id":44064737296474,"sku":"pnj1789304114178","price":15.88,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0726\/3807\/0874\/files\/1925-landmarks-from-the-dawn-of-electrical-recording-various-artists-1920-25---p_1.jpg?v=1789304121","url":"https:\/\/vestorawear.shop\/products\/1925-landmarks-from-the-dawn-of-electrical-recording-various-artists-1920-25-pasc734","provider":"My Store","version":"1.0","type":"link"}