Hi friends,  I just received a copy of "Minstrels" by Debussy, played
by E. Robert Schmitz (Ampico 66251).  It has no tempo on the leader and
I would like to find out what the correct tempo is.

Schmitz was supposed to be an authority on the playing of Debussy.
I do have a "Camden" LP of his playing this piece, and the recording
has his fingers _flying_ across the keyboard.  To get the tempo of the
roll and the record to be about the same, the tempo has to be set at
about "110" on the piano.

What makes this even more interesting is that the record and roll do
not match, pitch-wise.  The record is about a half-step _flat_.  Which
means, in order to bring it up to pitch, the record has to be sped up,
which means that the roll has to play even faster. :)  Probably at 120,
which is not unheard of, but unlikely.

If anyone has an original copy of 66251, please send me the tempo
reading.  Thanks very much!

Mike Walter

 [ Schmitz was one of those pianists who was not likely to alter
 [ his normal performance just to meet the deficiencies of mechanical
 [ recordings.  Raise the speed of the record to bring the music
 [ to normal pitch and then match the roll speed.  Tempo 120 may
 [ be unusual, but it's possible, especially if there is fast
 [ repetition needed.  -- Robbie