This page presents a collection of 20-note organette music from the 1880s, originally recorded on paper music rolls and now preserved in computer format as freely downloadable MIDI files.
Paper music rolls from the 1880s and 90s were the first affordable media for mass distribution of recorded music to the general public, long before the phonograph became established as a household item during the 1900s. The rolls contain a broad range of traditional songs, operatic songs and choruses, popular and music-hall songs, dance tunes, comic songs, religious songs and hymns, and military songs and marches, which together form an important part of the historical record. These MIDI files will reproduce the music of the time, exactly as our ancestors heard it in their homes on their mechanical organettes.
The Aeolian "Celestina" was the best known of the American-style 20-note organettes. It was one of several table-top reed organs mass-produced by the Munroe Organ Reed Company and distributed by the Mechanical Orguinette Company (later the Aeolian Organ and Music Company). Similar instruments were available from other suppliers, including the "Symphonia" from Wilcox & White in the USA and the "Seraphone" in the U.K.
The Celestina, Seraphone, and Symphonia all used the same musical
scale of 20 notes spanning almost three octaves, but with many notes
omitted. The usual scale runs from MIDI note 44 (G#) to 77 (F), but
the actual pitch may vary by one or two notes either way. Transposing
the lowest note up to C gives the more familar scale:
C F G Bb C D E F F# G Ab A Bb B C D E F G A
The three instruments all used music from the same catalog, which was presumably sourced from or through the Munroe company. The Celestina and Seraphone used the same rolls and the same roll numbers. The Symphonia used the same music, but with a different spool and a different numbering system. 20-note rolls were also produced by others, and there was quite an industry in "pirate" copies.
To prepare these MIDI files, the vintage rolls and "tune sheets" from my own collection were transcribed by hand or scanned electronically into computer format. They were then digitally "re-mastered" to re-align the note starts and ends with the original perforator grid, and edited where necessary to remove the effects of age and wear, and to correct any obvious timing or punching errors in the original sheets. Details were added to the MIDI file headers, and the transcriptions were checked again, often more than once. Details of the transcription process are provided on the Preserving the original music page.
The resulting files are electronic "master rolls" which conform to the original punching and timing specifications. They can be played directly on a computer or synthesiser, or used with suitable machinery to produce exact duplicates of the original paper rolls. Several hundred such rolls have been produced for my own use and for others.
The left-hand column below lists published music rolls in numerical order by manufacturer and shows the tunes on each. Mechanical Orguinette/Aeolian rolls are prefixed A; those from Wilcox & White with W. The table on the right-hand side lists all the individual tunes in alphabetical order. Tunes may appear in more than one roll, in the same or different arangements.
Clicking a tune title in the "Listing by Roll" will take you to the tune details in the "Listing by Tune". Clicking the title here will play the tune on whatever MIDI player your browser uses. ("VanBasco's Karaoke Player" works well, and will display the details in the MIDI file header. The quality of the sound you hear will depend on how well your computer plays the General MIDI "Reed Organ" patch). Clicking the roll number in the right-hand table will take you back to the roll listing. Clicking the roll number in the roll listing will show the original roll label (if available).
Listing by Roll |
Listing by Tune |
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Aeolian/Mechanical Orguinette RollsA300 series - religious songs.
A301 - six hymns
A304 - Abide With Me
A308 - six hymns
A313 - six hymns
A317 - five hymn tunes
A361 - two hymns
A400 series - popular songs.A402 - four songs1. Only a pansy blossom 2. Peek-a-boo 3. Wait till the clouds roll by 4. Mollie Darling Roll length 7.0m, duration 4:36.
A406 - four songs
A423 - five Irish songs
A425 - five songs
A433 - four songs
A434 - four Scotch songs
A486 - four Irish songs
A500 series - opera.A501 - "The Bohemian Girl" (Balfe, 1843)1. The heart bowed down 2. I dreamt that I dwelt 3. Then you'll remember me 4. Chorus - Finale Roll length 6.1m, duration 4:02.
A503 - "Patience" (Sullivan, 1881)
A508 - "Mascotte" and "Olivette" (Audran, 1879-80)
A512 - "The Chimes of Normandy" (Planquette, 1887)
A524 - "The Mikado" (Sullivan, 1885)
A600 series - dances and marches.A601 - three waltzes1. Blue Danube Waltz 2. Wine, Women And Song 3. Valse Des Roses Roll length 6.2m, duration 4:06.
A604 - four polkas
A607 - seven short tunes
A613 - three waltzes
A615 - Sweethearts Waltz (d'Albert, 1875)
A652 - three marches
A700 series - international.A702 - six German songs1. Die Wacht am Rhein 2. Deutschland Uber Alles 3. Die Zebrochene Ringlein 4. Die Drei Reiter 5. Der Gute Kamerad 6. Der Tannenbaum Roll length 6.6m, duration 4:19.
A704 - Marseillaise Hymn
A1000 series.By the late 1880s some of the "hundreds" seriesof numbers had all been used. The 400 series then continued at 4000, 600 at 6000, etc.
A4005 - three songs.
A6070 - Washington Post March
Wilcox & White "Symphonia" Rolls.
W103 - six hymns
W106 - five hymns
W109 - five hymns
W112 - six hymns
W146 - two hymns
W202 - four Stephen Foster songs
W206 - four songs
W210 - four US Civil War songs
W211 - four US Civil War songs
W219 - Yankee Doodle medley
W233 - four songs
W238 - four songs
W239 - four songs
W244 - four songs
W269 - Operatic and popular medley
W517 - Money Musk
W538 - two Varsouvianas
W746 - El Dia Quadrilla
W909 - Auld Lang Syne
W910 - Home Sweet Home
W-40 - Down Went McGinty (First digit illegible).
Unknown Roll Numbers.
X105 - Pins And Needles Galop
X106 - Unknown Dance Roll
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Religious tunes.
Secular tunes.Note 1. Second version W103-1a edited to remove doubtful Accel at 39 seconds. Note 2. W238-2 has chord Eb-Bb-Eb-Ab in bar 20 (43 seconds); W244-2 has Eb-C-Eb-Ab. In W244 the two opening Ab notes are 1 punch step shorter than in W238. Otherwise the two versions are identical. |