Hello MMD.  Bob Loesch enquires about E. Humperdinck rolls.  The UK
1914 Aeolian Catalog lists the following compositions by Humperdinck.
The three columns of serial numbers represent, from the left, 65-note
standard rolls, 65-note Metrostyle-Themodist rolls, and 88-note
Metrostyle-Themodist rolls.

67579  70681   ---    Dornröschen Overture
65335  69423  TL20222 Hänsel and Gretel Overture
60535* 69421  80103   Hänsel and Gretel Potpourri
69565   ---    ---    Königskinder Overture
69895   ---    ---    Königskinder, Intro to Act 3
L3687   ---   TL21300 The Miracle, Selection 1
L3580   ---    ---    The Miracle, Selection 2
L3581   ---    ---    The Miracle, Selection 3
L3733*  ---   TL21276 The Miracle, Waltz


I have two of the above rolls in my collection (see the asterisks) but
I also have a U.S Aeolian roll, M-T 100382, of Königskinder Vorspiel
(a word I cannot find in my ancient pocket German dictionary).

The catalog also lists a vast number of arrangements by Humperdinck
of Wagner's "Parsifal".  It looks as if just about the whole opera was
available, a concept that indicates our forebears were made of tougher
stuff than are we.

The UK Universal 88-note catalog of 1928 lists The Miracle Selection,
as well as the Overture and a Potpourri from Hänsel and Gretel, but
this is not surprising, as these were simply Aeolian rolls without the
Metrostyle line.  However there is also listed in the Hand-Played
section No. U929, Dream Music from Hänsel and Gretel, played by Robert
Armbruster.

The Imperial Music Roll Co. in London issued three different Hänsel and
Gretel rolls, in both 65-note and 88-note formats.  Another London firm,
the Herbert Marshall Co., issued 88-note Artistyle rolls of the Hänsel
and Gretel Overture and a Hänsel and Gretel Potpourri, as well as a
Miracle Selection.  However, these rolls may have been cut for Marshalls
in the Aeolian factory, using Aeolian masters.

The German Hupfeld Company issued quite a lot of Humperdinck music, but
these rolls are probably pretty rare in the US.  If you want to pursue
this, Bob, I can put you in touch with someone in the UK who is very
knowledgeable about Hupfeld rolls.

John Phillips in Hobart, Tasmania