I mentioned earlier in the week that I had been to the lovely Pianola
Museum in Amsterdam on our recent trip.  They gave me a little flyer
in Dutch, with an English translation on the side, and I'd like to
share this with other MMD'ers:

    "In one of the oldest parts of Amsterdam -- the Jordaan -- is a
    small museum dedicated to the digital music machine invented as the
    turn of the century 'hi-fi' player: the pianola.

    "These impressive musical instruments can be changed, as if by
    magic, from a conventional piano into a magnificent reproducing
    medium, performing repertoire played by Gershwin, Debussy, Fats
    Waller, the young Horowitz, Scott Joplin and many, many more.   They
    were the 'juke boxes' during the exciting 'Fin-de-siecle'  and the
    Roaring Twenties, toys for the rich and complex experimental
    recording equipment for latter day composers like Stravinsky,
    Milhaud and Hindemith.

    "The Pianola Museum possesses approximately 14,000 music rolls,
    with music in almost every conceivable style.  With exceptionally
    hard work and dedication 15 instruments have been restored to full
    working order and can be seen and heard with a visit to the museum.
    Some documentation from the extensive archives is shown.  CDs and
    new piano rolls can be purchased at the museum shop.

    "The Pianola  Museum is opened to the public on a daily basis by
    appointment only.  On Sundays the doors are open from 13.00 -17.00
    hours with no appointment necessary, and you are welcome to enjoy a
    guided tour.  Entrance f.5  Address: Westerstraat 106.
    Telephone 020-6279624."

The director of the museum is Kasper Janse.  He and almost everyone
else we met in Amsterdam speaks excellent English, so communication is
no problem.

On the back of this little hand-out, there is more:

    "Few people realize, that at the turn of the century it was
    possible to record music digitally.  The very first piano was
    exhibited in 1897 by the American firm Aeolian, an automatic piano
    that was played with the help of perforated paper music rolls.  Seven
    years later the cumulative efforts by the scientists at the German
    firm Welte resulted in an even more spectacular instrument, one that
    could register the wonderful playing style of concert pianists and
    composers from all over the world.

    "Using an intricate pneumatic system, an electric motor and
    perforated paper rolls, for the first time in history, it was
    possible to listen to an honest reproduction of the composers and
    pianists of the time.

    "The music world was flabbergasted and enthusiastic.  The composer
    Ferruccio Busoni criticised  (sic) the new invention: 'This is the
    camera of the piano sound and just as fascinating for the man in the
    street as for the artist, and hopefully just as enjoyable.'

    "He was certainly right.  Mega firms selling mechanical instruments
    tried to better the already ingenious system produced by Welte.
    Steinway and Boesendorfer for example followed suit and produced
    automatic pianos.

    "Enormous interest produced scores of music rolls composed and
    played by all other important names of the day;  they all wanted
    to be involved.  As Busoni predicted,  the man in the street also
    devoured the pianola and could enjoy the music in the comfort of
    his own home.  The rage continued until the '30s, when the economic
    crisis and the success of the new radio medium meant that the pianola
    disappeared almost as quickly as it had conquered the world. "

Note: As I mentioned in my last article about the trip to Europe, the
German reproducing systems, particularly Welte,  dominated the
reproducing market there, which explains why the Museum's flyer
mentions nothing of  Ampico and Duo-Art, which had dominance in this
country but were rare on the European Continent.

With best regards,

Tom Steuer