A Closet of Curiosities

various artists compilation - African Tribal Dances

released on LP

From the liner notes:

"The greatest free show on earth!" These words were used by an overseas visitor to Africa to describe the African Tribal Dances heard on this hi-fi recording made on the Witwatersrand. Every Sunday morning various mines take the turn in presenting to the public, visitors in particular, a cross section of the dancing of the tribes employed on the mines. These people come from many parts of Africa and use the dances as a form of exercise and a means of retaining their identity. The excitement is intense and it can certainly be described as the greatest free show on earth!

Technical notes:

These recordings were made with the camera in mind; the movement of sound in the recording follows the most likely camera requirements. To achieve this effect 6 Neumann microphones were suspended over the dance arena resulting in the best possible pick-up of the action taking place. This is a complete transistorised recording, a special 6 channel mixer being used in conjunction with a Nagra transistorised recording. The recordings were made by Alan D. Boyle and the recording lasting approximately 36 minutes was edited from 3 hours of tape to bring you the best sounds of each group participating.

Tracklisting:

Side 1

1.  Mzingili - untitled  {4:02}

2.  Nguni - untitled  {2:36}

3.  Bapedi - untitled  {1:59}

4.  Bakwenas (Bechuanas) - untitled  {1:59}

5.  Whistling Bechuanas (Balete) - untitled  {3:01}

6.  Hlubi - untitled  {3:09}

7.  Batswa (Shangaan from Nyambane) - untitled  {3:03}

Side 2

1.  Mchopi - untitled  {3:04}

2.  Amakway (Shangaan Choir) - untitled  {1:49}

3.  Amakwenkwe (Xhosa) - untitled  {2:04}

4.  Pondo - untitled  {2:27}

5.  Baca (Gumboot Dancers) - untitled  {3:11}

6.  Bacas Umzimkulu - untitled  {2:51}

7.  Barotse - untitled  {2:31}

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Brad Miller - Steel Rails Under Thundering Skys

released on cassette in 1972

Recordings of steam engine trains with thunderstorms in the background (or were the storms mixed in?). Brad Miller first started out recording trains. Those recordings were on several albums including this one. He later founded The Mystic Moods Orchestra and Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs, both of which he is most remembered for.

There are supposed to be separate tracks, but they were mixed together. Separating them would have been disruptive so I made the decision to rip each side as one track. It sounds coherent which I'm sure was the intention. The trains recorded are mentioned below in the tracklisting.

Tracklisting:

Side 1

1.  Steel Rails Under Thundering Skys side 1  {20:08}
No. 1702 2-8-0 Reader Railroad, Reader, Arkansas ; No. 11 2-6-2 Reader Railroad, Reader, Arkansas ; No. 8444 4-8-4 Union Pacific Railroad, Denver, Colorado ; No. 34 2-8-2 Sierra Railroad, Jamestown, California

Side 2

1.  Steel Rails Under Thundering Skys side 2  {21:01}
No. 759 2-8-4 Steamtown Foundation, Bellows Falls, Vermont (ex-Nickle Plate) ; No. 28 2-8-0 Sierra Railroad, Jamestown, California ; No. 2102 4-8-4 Steam Tours inc. (ex-Reading Railroad), Roncevert, West Virginia ; No. 1246 4-6-2 Steamtown Foundation, Bellows Falls, Vermont (ex-Canadian Pacific) ; No. 1278 4-6-2 Steamtown Foundation, Bellows Falls, Vermont (ex-Canadian Pacific) ; No. 4449 4-8-4 Amerian Freedom Train Foundation (ex-Southern Pacific GS4) ; No. 36 2-8-2 White Mountain Scenic Railway, McNary, Arizona (ex-Sierra Railroad)

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[music boxes] - Music Box Opera

released on cassette in 1989

I found this tape with Mechanical Opera on one of my shopping trips, therefore making this a companion to the prior post. This will be the last "music box" post here for some time.

From the liner notes:

A native of northeastern Italy, Rita Ford came to the United States when she was six. She spent her childhood and young womanhood on Fisher's Island, New York and in Hartford, Connecticut. She was graduated as a registered nurse when she was 19 and worked in that capacity, as well as that of social worker, for a number of years in Hartford. When she moved to New York upon her marriage in the 1930s, she started to visit antique galleries and shops and to collect in a small way. It was when her husband became incapacitated that she turned to the antique field professionally. Occasionally, when purchasing a group of antique items, a music box would come her way. She gradually developed such an interest in them that about 30 years ago she decided to specialize exclusively in the purchase, sale, and repair of music boxes, and now owns the only such all-music box shop in the country (in New York City).

Tracklisting:

Side 1

1.  Semiramide: Overture  {4:02}
composed by Gioacchino Rossini

2.  Mystery Piece: Belosi Celeh  {3:46}
composed by Gioacchino Rossini

3.  The Barber of Seville: Overture  {3:45}
composed by Gioacchino Rossini

4.  The Barber of Seville: Una Voce Poco Fa  {3:45}
composed by Gioacchino Rossini

5.  La traviata: Libiamo  {4:15}
composed by Giuseppe Verdi

6.  Carmen [excerpt]  {4:20}
composed by Georges Bizet

7.  Faust [excerpt]  {4:17}
composed by Charles Gounod

Side 2

1.  Cavalleria rusticana [excerpt]  {4:16}
composed by Pietro Mascagni

2.  Der Freischutz [excerpt]  {5:44}
composed by Carl Maria von Weber

3.  Don Giovanni [excerpt]  {5:35}
composed by Wolfgang A. Mozart

4.  Die lustige Witwe [excerpt]  {2:24}
composed by Franz Lehar

5.  Die Walkure [excerpt]  {2:36}
composed by Richard Wagner

6.  Rigoletto [excerpt]  {2:40}
composed by Giuseppe Verdi

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[music boxes] - Meachanical Opera

released on cassette in 1987

Music boxes were a phenomenon of the 19th century and were developed during a period of immense change. The industrial revolution brought riches to a few and comparative wealth to many of the new middle class. Home entertainment became a new industry; the intricate music box was symbolic of this new age of machinery. The tastes of the day are reflected in the tunes which are included on the music box discs and cylinders: in addition to many popular songs, hymns, and an abundance of dance tunes, one finds a wealth of opera arias. Most of these opera favorites are popular to this day and will be familiar to opera lovers.
The instruments featured on this recording are from two collections: The Roy Mickleburgh Collection of Bristol and the collection of Tony Sherriff of Truro, Cornwall. All the boxes have undergone careful restoration; the voices of our "prima donnas" are much as they were a hundred or more years ago. We hope that these charming tones will delight, entertain, and possibly amuse opera and music-box lovers everywhere.  (from the liner notes)

Tracklisting:

Side 1

1.  24 1/2" Disc Polyphon (Penny-in-the-Slot) - Czar and Carpenter: Once I played with a scepter  {2:00}
composed by Albert Lortzing

2.  Paillard Vaucher Fils Cylinder Music Box - The Marriage of Figaro: Non piu andrai  {1:06}
composed by Wolfgang A. Mozart

3.  Le Croix "Mandoline" Cylinder Music Box - La dame blanche: Viens gentille dame  {0:57}
composed by Adrien Boieldieu

4.  22" Disc Polyphon with Glockenspiel Attachment (Penny-in-the Slot) - Mignon: Do You Know the Land?  {1:57}
composed by Ambroise Thomas

5.  Sublime Harmony Piccolo Cylinder Music Box - Lohengrin: Wedding March  {0:52}
composed by Richard Wagner

6.  Paillard Vaucher Fils Cylinder Music Box - Tannhauser: Grand March  {1:09}
composed by Richard Wagner

7.  Le Croix "Mandoline" Cylinder Music Box - Les cloches de Corneville: Chorus  {0:52}
composed by Robert Planquette

8.  Paillard Vaucher Fils Cylinder Music Box - A Midsummer Night's Dream: Wedding March  {1:09}
composed by Felix Mendelssohn

9.  Nicole Freres Cylinder Music Box - La fille du regiment: Ah! Mes amis, quei jour de fete  {1:41}
composed by Gaetano Donizetti

10. Nicole Freres Cylinder Music Box - Linda di Chamounix: Mia vendetta  {0:40}
composed by Gaetano Donizetti

11. 12 Air, 2 Comb Cylinder Music Box and 27" Disc Regina - Lucia di Lammermoor: Sextet  {2:00}
composed by Gaetano Donizetti

12. Paillard Vaucher Fils Cylinder Music Box - William Tell Ballet: "Tyrolienne"  {1:06}
composed by Gioacchino Rossini

13. Le Croix "Mandoline" Cylinder Music Box - William Tell: Ah Matthilde  {0:53}
composed by Gioacchino Rossini

14. Paillard Vaucher Fils Cylinder Music Box - The Barber of Seville: Una Voce Poco Fa  {1:06}
composed by Gioacchino Rossini

15. Le Croix "Mandoline" Cylinder Music Box - The Barber of Seville: La Calunnia  {0:55}
composed by Gioacchino Rossini

16. Nicole Freres 10 Air Cylinder Music Box (1841) - I puritani: Quartet: A te O cara amor talora  {0:50}
composed by Vincenzo Bellini

17. Nicole Freres Cylinder Music Box - I puritani: Se tra il buio  {0:53}
composed by Vincenzo Bellini

18. Paillard Vaucher Fils Cylinder Music Box - La sonnambula: Ah perche non posso odiarti?  {1:07}
composed by Vincenzo Bellini

19. 27" Disc Regina Music Box - Norma: Mira, O Norma  {2:01}
composed by Vincenzo Bellini

20. Le Croix "Mandoline" Cylinder Music Box - Norma: Mira, O Norma  {0:53}
composed by Vincenzo Bellini

Side 2

1. 24 1/2" Disc Polyphon (Penny-in-the-Slot) - Il trovatore: Cabaletta: Di Tale Amor  {2:03}
composed by Giuseppe Verdi

2. Le Croix "Mandoline" Cylinder Music Box - Il trovatore: Chorus: Convent Scene  {0:52}
composed by Giuseppe Verdi

3. Paillard Vaucher Fils Cylinder Music Box - Ernani: Ernani Involami  {1:14}
composed by Giuseppe Verdi

4. 27" Disc Regina Music Box - La traviata: Gypsy Chorus  {1:58}
composed by Giuseppe Verdi

5. Le Croix "Mandoline" Cylinder Music Box - La traviata: Gypsy Chorus  {1:01}
composed by Giuseppe Verdi

6. Le Croix "Mandoline" Cylinder Music Box - Rigoletto: La donna e mobile  {0:54}
composed by Giuseppe Verdi

7. Ducommum Girod Cylinder Music Box - Nabucco: Overture  {0:42}
composed by Giuseppe Verdi

8. Paillard Vaucher Fils Cylinder Music Box - Il trovatore: Miserere  {1:08}
composed by Giuseppe Verdi

9. Excelsior Piccolo 12 Air Cylinder Music Box - The Mikado: The Flowers That Bloom in the Spring  {0:44}
composed by Gilbert & Sullivan

10. Nicole Freres 19 1/2" Fortepiano Interchangeable Cylinder Box - The Mikado: The Flowers That Bloom in the Spring  {0:51}
composed by Gilbert & Sullivan

11. 45-Note Penny-in-the-Slot Piano - The Pirates of Penzance: Poor Wandering One  {1:39}
composed by Gilbert & Sullivan

12. Sublime Harmony Piccolo Cylinder Music Box - HMS Pinafore: I'm Called Little Buttercup  {0:51}
composed by Gilbert & Sullivan

13. Nicole Freres 19 half" Fortepiano Interchangeable Cylinder Box - HMS Pinafore: When I Was a Lad I Served a Term  {0:48}
composed by Gilbert & Sullivan

14. Nicole Freres 19 half" Fortepiano Interchangeable Cylinder Box - The Mikado: Tit Willow  {0:51}
composed by Gilbert & Sullivan

15. Excelsior Piccolo 12 Air Cylinder Music Box - Faust: Soldier's Chorus: Deposons Les Armes  {0:45}
composed by Charles Gounod

16. 15 1/2" Disc Regina Music Box - Faust: Soldier's Chorus: Deposons Les Armes  {0:52}
composed by Charles Gounod

17. Sublime Harmony Piccolo Cylinder Music Box - Carmen: Toreador's Song  {0:54}
composed by Georges Bizet

18. 27" Disc Regina Music Box - Carmen: Toreador's Song  {2:03}
composed by Georges Bizet

19. Nicole Freres Cylinder Music Box - Les Huguenots: Air de ballet  {0:48}
composed by Giacomo Meyerbeer

20. Paillard Vaucher Fils Cylinder Music Box - Robert le diable: Sicilienne  {1:09}
composed by Giacomo Meyerbeer

21. Le Croix "Mandoline" Cylinder Music Box - Robert le diable: Sicilienne  {0:56}
composed by Giacomo Meyerbeer

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