Cylinder of the Month
See also the Cylinders of the Month Archive.
For June 1999 . . .
This month:
An early brown wax recording of a most unusual nature – from 1892,
The Esquimaux Dance.
The Esquimaux Dance
| Company |
New Jersey Phonograph Company
|
| Cylinder # |
426
|
| Category |
Clarinet solo
|
| Title |
The Esquimaux Dance
|
| Performed by |
William Tuson
|
| Circa |
1892
|
| Announcement |
"The Esquimaux Dance – This is a religious rite performed by Esquimaux after the rising of the sun."
|
It is difficult to overstate the oddness of a piece written for clarinet, piano, anvil, and dog.
|
To hear The Esquimaux Dance —
|
|
To hear an excerpt —
For help playing these sounds, click here.
|
This recording was made on a so-called "cuff"-length cylinder, 3-5/8" long,
as compared with a standard-sized cylinder of 4-1/8".
Cuff-length cylinders were common in the early 1890's.
A 3" mini-cuff-length, 3-5/8" cuff-length, and 4-1/8" standard brown wax cylinder.
Although one would expect these smaller cylinders to generally contain shorter
recordings, they were oftentimes recorded at fewer revolutions per minute (RPM).
Whereas a standard-sized cylinder of this era might typically be recorded in the
115 to 130-RPM range, a cuff-length cylinder might run from 90 to 125-RPM.
In this case, The Esquimaux Dance appears to have been recorded at 102-RPM.
The 1892 New Jersey Phonograph Company record catalog shows a list of 20 clarinet solos,
"by the popular soloist and composer, Mr. William M. Tuson",
concluding with the following entry:
- 426
- The Esquimaux Dance, With jingling of bells, barking of dogs, etc
Based on other listings in the catalog, I would be willing to bet that the pianist
is none other than Edward Issler of Issler's orchestra!
— This cylinder of the month is from the collection of The Library of Congress —
To hear other examples of wax cylinders, see the
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