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MMD > Archives > June 2008 > 2008.06.30 > 07Prev  Next


Estey Automatic Player Pipe Organ Rolls
By David Sharpe

Wanting to test the hypothesis that the Estey rolls were copies of the
Aeolian 116-note rolls, I checked my rolls and found only one duplicate
title:

  Kreisler "Caprice Viennois" - Estey 351, Aeolian 51835

They are definitely not the same arrangement.  The same piece, but
parts are in different registers, different flourishes added (at least
to the Aeolian which was transcribed by Archer Gibson), etc.  My single
comparison does not prove that Estey rolls were never copied from
Aeolian.

I compared my early Estey catalog entries with the listing of Aeolian
116-note rolls in Rollin Smith's book.  I was somewhat surprised to
find that, of the approximately 220 rolls in the Estey catalog, 200 of
them were also available as Aeolian rolls.  This seems a little high
for pure chance.  Of course, most of them are "standards" that any
organ owner might want.

On the other hand, there were some rather obscure pieces which make me
suspicious.  Maybe they were standards in the 1920's, but here are some
of them -- judge for yourself:

  Harker "In the Twilight,"
  Horsman "The Curfew,"
  Kinder "In Moonlight,"
  Svendsen "Romanze in G," and
  Titt'l "Serenade."

Has anyone heard of Titt'l?

I would like to try to pursue this further.  If anyone has Aeolian
rolls matching my Estey rolls and would be willing to compare them,
I would like to send a scan of the first couple of feet of the Estey
roll for comparing with the Aeolian.

The following are pieces which appear on both Estey and Aeolian pipe
organ rolls, where I have the Estey.  If anyone has the appropriate
Aeolian roll and would be willing to compare the beginning punches
please get in touch with me.

  Boellmann "Minuet Gothique" - Estey 392, Aeolian 1216
  Drigo "Serenade" - Estey 736, Aeolian 907
  Suppe "Pique Dame" Overture - Estey 643, Aeolian 667
  Tschaikowsky "Symphony #6", Finale - Estey 945, Aeolian 51632
  Wagner "Liebestod" - Estey 292, Aeolian 51510

David Sharpe
Western Massachusetts


(Message sent Mon 30 Jun 2008, 17:41:38 GMT, from time zone GMT-0400.)

Key Words in Subject:  Automatic, Estey, Organ, Pipe, Player, Rolls

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