Player Piano Rolls
19th century entertainment was live entertainment and the
piano was the instrument of choice for well-to-do sophisticated
urban families. Guitars, fiddles and banjos were country instruments
and not deemed worthy of serious study. But the piano required
application and talent and was available to the relatively few
who could afford such a costly instrument. The dawn of the 20th
century would bring many new musical inventions that would change
the face of music forever. Beginning around 1900 the player piano
made its appearance and for the first time there was music "on
demand." The paper rolls were inserted into the piano and
the air-pressure hammers allowed the piano to play itself. The
hammers struck the strings, vibrated them and permitted the sound
to resonate through the wood. For the first time classical favorites
as well as the rag time tunes of Jelly Roll Morton could be played
in a family's front parlor at will. Many of the performers were
the greatest artists of their day. Arrangements, composition,
over-dubbing and marketing entered the world of music. The tunes
evolved over time. The end of the Victorian era gave way to uninhibited
music with radical new rhythms and forms. As the economy at the
beginning of the 20th century flourished many middle class families
were able to afford a player piano and the library of piano rolls
that were readily available. The Depression marked the end of
the player piano's heyday. New technological advances such as
radio, the phonograph and talking movies combined with financial
strains to make the instrument obsolete. Yet it never fully disappeared
from the landscape. New player pianos have come on the market
and a supply of the old paper rolls makes it possible to enjoy
today the little known songs of another era. We are offering a
box of 50 piano rolls. We have not checked every roll but they
do seem to be intact and playable. Sold as a lot. The titles are
listed below. (Stock number 003pianorolls) $150.00
Moonbeam! Kiss Her for Me, Solitude, Wishing and Waiting for
Love, Cross Roads, Sonny Boy, A Gal in Calico, It's Too Late to
be Sorry Now, I'm Still Caring, A Precious Little Thing Called
Love, It Goes Like This (That Funny Melody), Jeannine I Dream
of Lilac Time, Once in a While, May I?, Everything I Have is Yours,
Neapolitan Nights, Guess Who?, Dinner for One, Fair and Warmer,
Shadow Waltz, Believe It, Beloved, Carmela Mia, My Angeline, How
Many Times?, Born and Bred in Brooklyn, You Didn't Have to Tell
Me, Speranze Perdute, Kate O'Donoghue, I'm Thru with Love, Just
One More Chance, Vieni E Dansa Il Dolce "Waltz", My
Ohio Home, Waltzing in a Dream, Senza Mamma, Some Sweet Day, Where
Do You Work-A, John?, Good-Night, Dearie, Waves of the Danube,
The Midnight Waltz, Ramona, The Day You Came Along, There's Danger
in Your Eyes, Cherie, Frate E Sora, There's Everything Nice About
You, What Does it Matter, Cielo Celeste, The Anniversary Waltz,
A Picture of Mother, Play Fiddle, Play, 'A Tazza 'E Cafe, Just
a Gigolo.
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