Title: How To Get the Most Out of Your Victrola
Author: Company, Victor Talking Machine
Language: English
As this book started as an ASCII text book there are no pictures available.


*** Start of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "How To Get the Most Out of Your Victrola" ***


                           Transcriber Note:

 Obvious typos and punctuation errors corrected.

 In the lists of recordings at the back, thin lines have been used
   instead of the original curly brackets to delineate recordings
   grouped under a single list price.

 Italic text is represented by underscores surrounding _italic text_.

 Some descriptions of illustrations have been added.

------------------------------------------------------------------------



                          _How to get the most
                              out of your
                               Victrola_

               [Illustration: Dog listening to Victrola]

              _“Victrola” is the registered trade mark of
                   the Victor Talking Machine Company
             designating the products of this company only_


                    _Victor Talking Machine Company
                         Camden, N.J., U.S.A._

  COPYRIGHT 1919 BY THE VICTOR TALKING MACHINE COMPANY, CAMDEN, N. J.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Illustration: _Hepplewhite_]

Period Victrolas are now obtainable in twelve of the principal types,
namely: Empire, Chippendale, Louis XV, Louis XVI, Jacobean, Gothic,
William and Mary, Adam, Sheraton, Chinese Chippendale, Queen Anne,
Japanese Lacquer, and the Hepplewhite shown above. There are also two
other variations of each type which are available, but in every case
Period Victrolas are made to order only.

------------------------------------------------------------------------



                          _How to get the most
                              out of your
                               Victrola_


Today, when for the first time you have brought a Victrola into your
home, we wish it were possible to show you how much this, the most
versatile and so the most satisfying musical instrument in all the
world, can be made to entertain, to console and to inspire.

To say that the Victrola offers you, your family and your friends “all
the music of all the world”—is to dismiss the subject with an entirely
inadequate phrase and so this booklet has been prepared to offer certain
suggestions for your greater enjoyment of this, your newest and we
verily believe your happiest possession.

Victor records represent a moment of inspired achievement in the life of
some great artist. The skill, the art and the “atmosphere” of the
Metropolitan Opera House and the concert halls of the world are brought
_into your home_. They are no longer things to be enjoyed only at great
intervals on rare occasions—they may become an integral part of your
life and they are available at a moment’s notice.

Intimately associated as we are with the development of the Victrola,
yet we are fully conscious of the wonder of it and we, no less than our
customers, have learned that amid “the daily round of irritating
concerns and duties” we have only to turn to the Victrola in order to be
once more in love with life and its beautiful, blessed burdens. We
believe, utterly, that no matter with what delight you may have
anticipated the possession of a Victrola, you will still have fallen far
short of complete realization of its possibilities—of the extent to
which through the whole scale of human emotions its music may become
woven into the fabric of your spiritual life and your physical
well-being.

[Illustration: CARUSO]

The keenest of all impressions are those we receive first, and so we
would urge with all earnestness that your first selection of records
should contain at least some of the world’s “big” music.

Art is art, no matter what form it may take, and those who are sincere
in their musical opinions will no more despise the lighter and more
popular music than they will despise good music which is the product of
other kinds of feeling and other rhythms. In certain moods and at
certain times there is as much “inspiration” to be derived from ragtime
as there is from a Beethoven symphony or the thunderous emotions of a
great opera. Each produces its effect in its own way and each supplies a
very real human need; but because they are so different in the form of
their appeal, they need to be treated somewhat differently.

The fact of the matter is that popular music is usually built up on one
of a few well-recognized formulæ. It does what you expect it to do. Not
consciously, but by association, we have learned to accept certain
“patterns” in music as we have learned to expect certain patterns in
clothes. Since there is nothing essentially different in any of them,
they are easy to learn and so—easy to get tired of.

There is, however, a very real pleasure in “picking up the tune.” For a
few days we are quite happy in whistling or singing the new song—but
once the new popular song is learned—then what? Your own experience will
tell you—and that is why we urge that in your first collection of
records you secure a number of the classics or semi-classics with which
you are familiar.

[Illustration: FARRAR]

Familiar! That is precisely the point. Theodore Thomas once said that
“popular music was familiar music,” and that is the unassailable truth.
A Beethoven symphony may be as popular as “The Rosary” when enough
people have become as familiar with it, and yet it may be a classic of
the classics.

Parenthetically it might be said at this point that for those who do not
sing or play, the Victrola is by far the quickest and simplest medium
through which to “pick up” the new music.

To illustrate by a concrete example, “So Long, Letty” or “Tipperary”
will keep a family full to the brim with bright, pleasant, joyful
emotions for quite some little time. It may be days or weeks. It might
even be months, but Clement’s record of the Berceuse from Jocelyn,
Elman’s record of the Schubert Ave Maria, or any one of a thousand we
might mention, will smooth the wrinkles from your brow, the troubled
furrows from your mind, ten years from today as surely as they will
_now_.

When the music of all the world is at your disposal it is almost
impossible to refrain from bathing heart and soul and body in it, but
remember that to become saturated with anything is to lose the fine edge
of enjoyment. With too frequent use the most valuable remedy may lose
its healing virtues. Definite, measurable, physical effects may be
produced by music, and the gist of the matter is that one should become
familiar enough with music to understand and enjoy it, but never
familiar enough to induce the loss of its effect. Hear it when you
_need_ to hear it, and it will continue to be a thing of joy not for
days or weeks, but all through the years.

[Illustration: GALLI-CURCI]

Personal taste varies more perhaps in music than in any other art, but
in a general way it follows much the same broad channels, and in any
case the Victor Record Catalogue, since it actually does contain almost
all the music of the world by the world’s greatest exponents of musical
art, is a treasure house of untold satisfaction and gives the widest
possible scope for personal selection.

The Victrola is not one instrument, but all of them. It is a voice, a
violin, a trombone or a symphony orchestra, according to your will, and
in making a selection of records full advantage should be taken of this
most extraordinary privilege.

Making up a Victrola program for the entertainment of friends calls for
just the same variety and emotional balance as the professional musician
strives to introduce into his own programs, but in this, you as your own
concert manager, enjoy a degree of latitude wholly beyond the reach of
any single artist and any manager, for every branch of music, every type
of music and every medium of musical expression may be brought into play
by the simple expedient of having a sufficiently large and sufficiently
varied collection of records.

In giving operatic programs or in playing operatic records for your own
satisfaction the Victrola Book of the Opera will be an added source of
pleasure and satisfaction, for it affords a clear, concise understanding
of all the well-known operas, both as to music, plot and dramatic
action.

Then, too, the pleasure you derive from operatic records may be
similarly heightened by listening to the music with a libretto, which
gives the foreign words used by the singer and an English translation of
them.

[Illustration: GLUCK]

Those who are unskilled in languages usually experience some difficulty
in pronouncing the names of composers, artists, operas and opera
characters, and there is an undeniable satisfaction in being able to
pronounce such words correctly. This is really much simpler than it
seems and the list of such names furnished at the back of the Victor
Record Catalogue together with the additional pronunciations given in
the Victrola Book of the Opera and given also from time to time in the
monthly supplements to the Victor Catalogue will be sufficient for most
purposes.

We should like you, our newest customer, to realize that these
suggestions we offer for your consideration are not mere hypothetical
estimates, but conclusions proven by the sifted experience of years. We
present them to you in order that in _your_ home the Victrola shall be
all that it may so easily become.

[Illustration: Seated woman listening to Victrola]

------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Illustration: _The Love Duet from Faust_]

The sheer ecstasy of the passion which may bless or may utterly destroy
has never been put into music more clearly than it is in this exquisite
duet in “Faust,” and the Victrola enables you to hear this music sung by
two of the great artists of our generation.

------------------------------------------------------------------------



                       [Illustration: The Opera]


Grand Opera is unquestionably the most stupendous experience available
to the music-lover, just as it is the ultimate ambition of those upon
whom has been bestowed vocal talent in high degree.

Splendor of music, magnificence of production, are not the only elements
which enter into the making of Grand Opera. The glamour of living
romance is woven into it as well. Petrograd, Paris, London—scarcely a
great love affair nor a great state intrigue, but some of its scenes
have been enacted in the corridors of some one of the world’s great
Opera Houses. The passion and pain, the splendor and the treachery of
passing generations in many lands form part of the unconscious
atmosphere of Grand Opera.

Just as there are some concert pieces with which every concert-goer is
assumed to be familiar, so there are certain operas which form a basis
for discussion among well-informed music-lovers. These are: Faust, Il
Trovatore, Aïda, Mme. Butterfly, La Bohême, Lucia, Rigoletto,
Tannhäuser, Lohengrin, La Tosca, Don Giovanni, Cavalleria Rusticana, I
Pagliacci, Carmen.

There are many more which constitute part of the regular operatic
repertoire, but to have a well-established viewpoint on these is to be
capable of passing judgment on the rest. The Victrola, which permits one
to repeat some aria, duo, trio, chorus or whatever it may be, at will,
affords an infinitely better opportunity to develop a discriminating
taste in such matters than can be had by systematic attendance at Grand
Opera performances—which obviously is quite impossible for the majority
of music-lovers.

[Illustration: McCORMACK]

The keenest enjoyment of Grand Opera music, or for that matter, any
other kind of music, comes to those who listen to it with some sort of
definite conception as to what it is all about and the methods employed
by the composer and the artists in telling the story.

Grand Opera is drama done in music instead of spoken words. In a novel
the author makes his characters do their own talking; he also describes
what they do and how they are dressed, but more than that, he devotes
pages to telling you what they _thought_. He tells you of the mental
struggles that caused them to do or to refrain from doing. It might not
be amiss to say that this is substantially what the orchestra does in
Grand Opera—and so there is much more to listen to besides the “song”
itself.

The song itself and the purport of it must be understood if one is to
get the greatest amount of enjoyment out of it. Play “Celeste Aïda,” for
instance, to someone who knows nothing of the opera. The sheer melody of
it will make an unquestionable appeal, but that appeal is ten times more
vivid when one knows who “Heavenly” Aïda is and why her heroic lover
bursts into song.

Opera is drama—that must always be borne in mind, and the “test” of good
operatic music is that the music shall illustrate accurately,
forcefully, beautifully, not the facts, but the mental conditions and
the emotions of the spirit which are sought to be portrayed. The facts
are taken care of by the action of the plot just as they are on the
dramatic stage, and over and above the satisfaction derived from
listening to the music there is a delightful and limitless exercise for
the intellect in seeing with what amazing subtleties of sound the
composer has sketched the spiritual struggles of Thaïs or the Toreador.

[Illustration: MELBA]

Most people love opera for the “tunes” that are in it and broadly
speaking, there are two kinds of tunes used in opera: the dramatic aria,
and the bravura aria. A dramatic aria, such as “Un bel di vedremo” from
Mme. Butterfly, is a lyric outburst of intensely emotional character,
arising naturally from the dramatic situation. A bravura aria is simply
a vocal display piece. In the older operas more attention was paid to
the singing than to the plot and elaborate display pieces (usually for
the coloratura soprano) were invariably included. Compare “Un bel di”
with the “Mad Song” from Lucia and you will readily see the difference.

Each individual music-lover will want to make his own selections of
operatic records, from the Victor Record Catalog and the Victrola Book
of the Opera, which can be obtained from the nearest Victor dealer. In
the Victor Record Catalog, which is alphabetically arranged, will be
found all the more important selections from practically all the big
operas that the world has ever known. These are listed under the name of
the opera and specially listed under the name of the artist in the Red
Seal (pink sheet) section. In passing, however, we may say that the
following are among many operatic numbers which deserve a place of honor
in every collection: “Vissi d’arte,” from La Tosca; “Alerte” final trio
from Faust; “Soave fanciulla,” from La Bohême; the “Miserere,” from Il
Trovatore; “Sextette from Lucia”; “Bel di vedremo,” from Mme. Butterfly;
“Vesti la giubba,” from Pagliacci; the Quartette from Rigoletto; the
Habanera from Carmen; “Celeste Aïda” from Aïda; “Del tempio al limitar,”
from Pearl Fishers.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Illustration: View of Orchestra]



                        _The Symphony Orchestra_


If you limited the number of colors that a painter might use on his
palette, he might, if he were a great painter, produce masterpieces of
art; but give him unlimited scope in the choosing of his pigments and
you might reasonably expect the highest possible achievements.

The symphony orchestra as it is constituted today is the most ambitious
and the most perfect musical “instrument” in the world. It combines all
the existing types of instruments and so can readily achieve all the
possible varieties and shades of tone colors. The analogy between the
organist and the symphony orchestra conductor is fairly close, and to
think of a symphony orchestra, consisting of a hundred or so of the most
skillful players obtainable, as a single instrument, is quite
permissible.

Here, again, a recent achievement of the Victor laboratories has opened
up a vast field of musical satisfaction for the music-lover. Until
recently it seemed impossible to make satisfactory records of a complete
symphony orchestra. The tones and overtones developed in some measure by
every one of the scores of instruments would persist in getting in one
another’s way to such an extent that worthy reproductions could not be
obtained. We have, however, just recently produced records of complete
symphony orchestras, which represent one of the most far-reaching
achievements in many years, and as time goes on we shall continue to
produce more.

Thousands of honest souls despising cant in any form are continually
asking, “How am I to listen to music in order to get the utmost out of
it?” and since the symphony orchestra is the highest instrumental
development of music, and consequently the most complex, it is in
listening to the symphony orchestra that this need is most acute.

When all the splendid pageantry of opera is spread before one’s eyes,
there are plenty of clues, and the emotional struggles of even
fictitious humans can never be entirely beyond our ken. A symphony,
however, has no recognizable background of creatures made in our own
image and laboring under our own frailties, so necessarily it must be
listened to in a more impersonal way.

A symphony has form and design and “color,” just as has a painting. The
essential difference between them as works of art is that the picture
“stands still” while you look at it, whereas the symphony does not. An
even closer simile would be the moving picture, for in that just as in
the symphony, you must know and remember what has gone before in order
to realize the significance of what comes in the middle or at the end.
At the “movies” you are dependent upon your eyes—at the symphony concert
you must depend upon your ears.

The form of the symphony has been pretty thoroughly established. It
consists of four movements. The first an allegro, or quick and energetic
movement, the beginning of a psychological “picture”; the second, an
andante, or slow movement which may represent hopes, fears, aspirations;
a scherzo, or brisk, exhilarating movement of merriment, madness or
strife; and a finale, the tragic or triumphant outcome.

[Illustration: short bar of music for theme of Beethoven C Minor
Symphony]

The theme of the entire Beethoven C Minor Symphony consists of three
short notes of the same pitch and one longer note a little lower in
pitch, and the “design” of that symphony is the manner in which this
same theme is built up and elaborated by repetition in different keys,
rhythms and speeds, and also in the manner in which it is contrasted
with other themes.

Few symphonies are as logically constructed as the C Minor of Beethoven,
and as a rule new themes are chosen for each movement. Each movement is
complete in itself, but sympathetically related to the others. The great
thing in listening to a symphony movement is to listen for repetitions
of the chief themes or melodies. These themes are often greatly changed
in various ways in the course of a movement, as it is part of the
composer’s task to get variety of treatment with unity of idea. But he
invariably contrives to give due prominence to his chief themes, and
half the joy of listening to a symphony lies in recognizing the
principal themes as they emerge from the mass of sound, clothed perhaps
in new harmonies, or new instrumental effects.

As to “color”—we are told that all the colors we see are mere vibration.
We realize easily enough that music is vibration, and it doesn’t require
any very great stretch of the imagination to see the difference in
(tone) color between the violin and the piccolo.

When you can recognize these various elements in their varied forms and
recognize the different “voices” of the orchestra, you will have learned
how the musical “fans” derive the maximum of mental satisfaction from
the symphony and for the reason that any obscure passage may be repeated
as often as necessary it is obvious that the Victrola must be of great
assistance in developing a genuine sense of discrimination.

Among the Symphony Orchestra records listed in the Victor Catalogue, we
suggest that you make a point of hearing the Lohengrin Prelude, the
Tschaikowsky Symphony in F Minor, the Brahms Hungarian Dances, the
Surprise Symphony, the Poet and Peasant Overture, the Mozart G Minor
Symphony and the “Invitation to the Waltz.”

------------------------------------------------------------------------



                      [Illustration: _Band Music_]


Strange—but in all the varied development of music and musical
instruments nothing quite touches our primeval spirit like the beating
of the drum. Rhythm—it was the first music and it will be a dominant
factor in the last, no matter how we may dress it up or refine it to
suit our “civilized” ears.

The small boy deaf to any other musical appeal, races down the street at
the first blare of a band. In some measure we are all children to the
last, and so it is that the music of the band sets our hearts and feet
to beating out its gallant measures. Moreover such music produces
definite measurable effects on the body, and it is well known that men
march further and with less fatigue to the music of a band than they can
without it.

In composition the band is not far removed from the orchestra, except
that woodwind instruments, such as flutes and clarinets, take the place
of strings, but the result is that the band in its own field of music
more particularly stimulates activities of the body where the symphony
orchestra makes a stronger appeal to mental activity.

There are hundreds of records of band music made by the most famous
bands in the world, which will be found in the Victor Record Catalogue
under “Bands.” But as a working nucleus, the following selection of
double-faced records may be welcome to those who are beginning to form a
collection: Aïda Grand March and Rondo Capriccioso, Vessella’s Band;
Lights Out and Washington Post, Victor Military Band; Stars and Stripes
Forever and Fairest of the Fair, Sousa’s Band; Chopin’s Funeral March
and Cujus Animam, Pryor’s Band; Marsovia Waltz and Amina, United States
Marine Band and Pryor’s Band.

------------------------------------------------------------------------



                            _Chamber Music_


When you hear a violin solo played with lots of “double stopping” you
find that the air develops a new richness of tone color, for the
violinist is playing the “air” notes and certain other harmony notes at
the same time. This is substantially what happens in the quartettes and
trios. One instrument or voice plays or sings the air while the others
play or sing harmony parts, and in the smaller groups of instruments,
where there are only three or four “parts,” it is easier to follow the
work of each instrument and consequently it is easier to get the musical
“pattern” of the selection.

The basis of chamber music is the string quartette, comprising two
violins, viola and ’cello. These instruments are, of course, alike in
character, but each has its own peculiar quality of tone. Other
effective combinations are violin, ’cello and piano; flute, violin,
’cello and piano; and additional instruments heard with the string
quartette.

It would be a mistake, however, to think of the string quartette as
being elementary—for it is one of the richest and most satisfying
branches of musical art.

A special interest attaches to all the smaller combinations of strings,
and the Victor Catalogue contains many selections by such small
combinations, among which the following are perhaps worthy of special
attention: The Mendelssohn Canzonetta, the Quartette in G Major, the
Minuet of Boccherini and Tschaikowsky’s “Andante Cantabile.”

[Illustration: String quartet performing]

------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Illustration: Side Portrait of man]



                             _Piano Music_


The piano is a solo instrument that provides accompaniment for other
instruments and for itself, and it is so exceedingly successful in this
respect that it must be regarded as the basis of things musical. To the
composer, the chorus master, the vocal teacher, as well as to the
pianist, the modern piano is a necessity, because it is the one
instrument on which all the harmony parts can be elaborated with
comparative ease.

Apart from its use as an accompanying instrument, the piano is one of
the most satisfactory of solo instruments. It is a complete orchestra in
itself. A greater volume of solo music has been composed expressly for
the piano than for any other instrument. Schumann, Liszt and especially
Chopin, for instance, wrote music for the piano which sounds as well on
no other instrument and so it is with great pleasure that we offer truly
worthy piano records, thus opening up a vast field of new musical
delight.

The tones played by the piano are produced by a hammer striking a
string. They therefore develop their greatest volume at the moment the
strings are struck, and immediately begin to diminish. They can be
sustained to some slight extent only—as compared with instruments that
are played with a bow. Among piano records of special interest are the
following by that “maestro” among pianists—Paderewski: The Nocturne in F
Sharp Major, the Polonaise Militaire, the Etude in G Flat, his own
Minuet and the Cracovienne Fantastique, as well as the “Seguidilla” and
Waltz Etude in D Flat by Cortot.

------------------------------------------------------------------------



                     [Illustration: _Violin Music_]


There is one very marked physical difference between the violin group of
instruments and all others—with one exception which is negligible for
the moment—and that is that the tone and the pitch are controlled wholly
by the player.

In other instruments there are keys, pedals, frets or some other means
of assisting the player to maintain the pitch. The violin has a plain
fingerboard, strings, a bow and—the fingers of the violinist. What kind
of tone will you get out of it? Will your tone be true to the pitch?
That depends on _you_. And because of these things the music of the
violins is more intimate, more personal than that of any other
instrument.

Another interesting fact concerning the violin is that while almost all
other instruments have been improved upon, the violin alone has
undergone no change and no improvement since Stradivarius put by the
last violin he was to make. That was about 1737. And so the violin may
be regarded as the one accomplishment of human craftsmanship that has
reached perfection.

Perhaps it is because of these things that violin music occupies a quite
unique place in human experience. There is nothing more deeply thrilling
than the violin’s low-pitched “G” string and nothing quite so
light-hearted and fairy-like as the “E” string. With such a range from
grave to gay there is never a human mood nor emotion but what the violin
can reach and express it more keenly than any other single instrument—
and in the form in which we have it today it has been the sharer of our
joys and sorrows for more than two hundred years.

Consciously or unconsciously we feel the need of some standard of
comparison, some sort of yardstick by which we may measure human
achievements, and this seems to be especially so in all instrumental
music.

No one would have any very serious difficulty in telling why he found
enjoyment or dissatisfaction in the recitation of a poem, but it is just
as easy to pass judgment on the playing of a violin solo. The
enunciation of the words and their pronunciation—the intelligible or
muddled treatment of the phrases, the use of pauses, the pitch of the
voice and its dramatic shading would all have something to do with your
opinion of a recitation, and those are much the same standards by which
the technical and interpretative skill of the violinist are to be
determined. The performance is good or bad, depending upon how well or
ill it meets much the same requirements that you would impose upon the
“reader” of the recitation. It is easier in the case of the poem,
because we all get a good deal of practical experience in the delivery
of words, whereas most of us have had no experience in the delivery of
musical tones.

To recognize these various effects and to appreciate the influence they
have on the interpretation of the music, is to enjoy an added pleasure
in the world’s best violin music, practically all of which will be found
in the Victor Record Catalogue by world-famous artists.

If the Victrola, reproducing the music of the violin in all its
exquisite beauty, could do no more than that, it would justify its
existence by that one service alone; but shut your eyes and the Victrola
becomes whatever instrument you may wish it to be, including the most
wonderful of all—the human voice.

Whatever other records you may select, we feel very sure you will find
untold satisfaction in any of the following. The Caprice Viennois, the
Schubert Ave Maria, the Scherzo Tarantella, the Humoresque, the
Mendelssohn Concerto, the Nocturne in E Flat and Moszkowski’s
“Guitarre.”

------------------------------------------------------------------------



                             _Sacred Music_


[Illustration: Woman listening to organist playing]

In the Dark Ages, when only might was right, it was the church that kept
music alive. And today humanity responds more universally, perhaps, to
the appeal of “the good old hymns” than to any other one type of music.

No one will seriously deny that music is a necessary element in our
lives when it can produce in the same listener the highest spiritual
exaltation as well as the most frivolous gaiety. The inspiration to
strive for an ideal—the will to be better than we really are—these
things come to us most readily through music and afford an adequate
refuge from the world, the flesh and the devil—the triad which gives
battle in every heart.

Sacred music in all its many forms occupies a quite special position and
carries a quite special significance. In all of it there is the same
basic effect on the mind and one must be cold as ice not to feel the
thrill of the full choir, the magnificent choruses of oratorio.

All of these things are part of what the Victrola brings into your home
and into your life. Reverence or the brimming over of one’s faith does
not manifest itself only under specially consecrated roofs, and in these
exalted moments it is good to know that the Victrola brings to you not
only the music of the church but the music of all faiths.

It would be exceedingly difficult to suggest records of hymn tunes which
would be of equal interest to everybody, but the Gluck and Homer Duets,
the Crucifix, the Palms, Élégie, the Angel’s Serenade, the Mascagni Ave
Maria and the record of Come, All Ye Faithful, in which chimes are used,
are among those which make a very general appeal.

------------------------------------------------------------------------



                            _Concert Songs_


[Illustration: Woman holding flowers standing by piano]

There are those who will tell you that the highest achievement of vocal
art is the concert song, and much may be said in justification of such a
statement. Certainly, on the concert stage, art is shorn of accessories.
There are no borrowed effects and no borrowed interests. The composer,
the accompanist and the soloist stand alone at the bar of public opinion
and it would seem quite reasonable to suppose that only a consistent
excellence on the part of all three would be sufficient to win the
world’s acclaim.

One thing is very certain, that the concert song, like the violin solo,
is a complete musical composition in itself. One needs to know no
“context” for there is none, and so none of its effect is lost. However
that may be, opera and the symphony are available to only those who live
in the big cities or near enough so that frequent visits are possible,
and so it happens that for the majority of us a concert is about the
biggest musical experience we can attain. For that reason, if for no
other, concert songs mean more to the great majority than does any other
form of music.

One’s enjoyment of any concert can be vastly increased by a little
preliminary knowledge of the forthcoming program gained by means of the
Victrola and while it would be quite impossible to offer a list of all
the concert songs which are available in the form of Victor records, the
following will unquestionably satisfy the most discriminating taste:
“Voce di primavera,” “Ah, Moon of My Delight,” “Leggiero invisible”
(Bolero), “A la Luz de la Luna,” “Oh, That We Two Were Maying,” the
Lullaby from Jocelyn, “Caro mio ben,” “Le Nil” and “The Cry of Rachel.”

------------------------------------------------------------------------



                            _Popular Music_


[Illustration: Group gathered around piano]

Simple, catchy tunes have always caught the public fancy and always
will, for the reason that they supply a perfectly natural human need.

That such music should soon lose its charm doesn’t matter much, for the
charm is real enough while it lasts. Beauty is only skin deep, so they
say; to which one may answer that that is plenty deep enough, and music
is only one of Beauty’s many forms. When a piece of music has smoothed
out a frown or brought a touch of inspiration into grey lives, it has
justified its existence, whether it be a popular song or a symphony.

The Broadway hit, the tingling choruses and solos of the latest musical
comedy are as accessible to the Victor owner as they are to the
residents of a metropolis and—better yet, they may be enjoyed without
the fatigues involved in theatre-going.

Another factor of Victor popular music is that you can get the latest
song or dance while it is all the vogue. Each month, each week, each day
a vast amount of “popular” music is published which will never become
popular, but is thrust willy-nilly on a patient public. Out of this mass
the Victor Company selects only the best. The plainsman in Texas
therefore can get the music of the moment at the moment just as readily
as the office man on Broadway.

------------------------------------------------------------------------



                             _Dance Music_


[Illustration: Couple dancing]

The impulse to dance is spontaneous. It is a manifestation of the joy o’
life that needs some more vigorous means of expression than is provided
by speech. To have to wait two weeks for a formal dancing party is to
lose that fine edge of impulse, and that is why the Victrola renders an
otherwise unobtainable service to the dancers.

No need to rent a hall, engage an orchestra and send out invitations.
You may dance when the inspiration seizes you. You may dance the kind of
dances that the mood of the moment may suggest for as long a time or as
short a time as you may wish.

And—here as in every other branch of musical art, the Victrola offers
you the _best_.

Beside the dancers themselves, there are two other vital factors to be
considered—the music and the floor—and you _know_ that your music is
right when it is provided by the Victrola. If you happen to live in a
fairly large town it is easy enough, of course, to engage an orchestra
(at considerable expense and for stated times) which will furnish
entirely satisfactory music; but—the Victrola? It gives you the best
dance music by the most accomplished orchestras and bands and, when the
music is good enough, people can and will dance on a rubber mat or in a
city street.

Three or four friends call of a winter evening—nothing simpler than to
roll back the rugs and dance—and certainly nothing more beneficial from
the mental or physical viewpoints.

Then, too, you may dance to the music of the same orchestra as you would
if you lived in the gayest of metropolitan cities.

------------------------------------------------------------------------



                        _The Lesser Instruments_


[Illustration: Man playing accordion]

[Illustration: Woman playing guitar]

Human nature is a moody thing—breaking out unexpectedly in unexpected
ways, and in an evening’s program it is quite likely that special
interest may center on an oboe solo or some other such musical _hors
d’oeuvre_. There are times when one may respond quite vividly to a
concertina.

This side of music is also taken care of in the Victor Catalogue. There
is, we believe, not one instrument in general use anywhere in the
Western world which may not be heard by means of the Victrola, in solos
or in small combinations. There are cornet records, trombone, harp,
mandolin, guitar, banjo, xylophone, chimes, balalaika, Hawaiian guitars,
marimba, zither, cembalom and others, including even the street piano,
affording solos in infinite variety and a few such records are highly
acceptable additions to any collection.

It is on just such instruments as these that the composer depends for
the introducing of special effects. The oboe is curiously suggestive of
the East, as castanets are of Spain and the Latin Americas, and when
one’s fancy happens to run in that direction such records may easily
become sources of untold satisfaction.

All musical composition simmers down to a question of saying the same
thing in as many different and interesting ways as possible, and
something of this applies to the building up of an evening’s program. A
record of Hawaiian guitars included in a program of better music is apt
to be quite fascinating and serves to emphasize the tremendous
versatility of the Victrola.

------------------------------------------------------------------------



                     _How to get the Best Results_


Just as there are certain best conditions for all instruments and for
the voice, so too there are certain best conditions for the Victrola,
and the search for those best conditions will be a source of much
pleasurable experimentation. The acoustic properties of no two rooms are
exactly alike. They depend on the size and shape of the room, the height
of the ceilings and the character of the furnishings, but the Victor
system of changeable needles and tone modifying doors afford all the
necessary latitude needed to produce the most satisfactory results in
any home.

We would strongly recommend that you try all the varieties of Victor
Tungs-tone Styli and steel needles with the modifying doors at certain
chosen apertures and in the various available rooms until you find the
combinations giving the most satisfying results.

In this connection it might be well to point out that a full tone
Tungs-tone stylus or needle is particularly suited for a _large_
music-room and that when the Victrola is to be used in a small room or
even a room which is comparatively small, the soft tone Tungs-tone
stylus or needle very frequently will give better results. It sometimes
happens that a particularly good effect is secured by placing the
Victrola in a room adjoining the one in which the listener sits, and
using a full tone Tungs-tone stylus needle.

The operation of a Victrola is exceedingly simple, but the few
prescribed rules should be followed literally until they become a fixed
habit.

In starting a record, release the brake and allow the turntable to make
several revolutions to attain its full maximum speed. Then take the
circumference of the soundbox between the thumb and two first fingers of
the right hand and lower gently until the reproducing point comes,
gently, into contact with the smooth, shiny rim at the circumference of
the record. That is the right way and the only right way to start a
record.

In stopping the record without the use of the automatic brake, the
soundbox should be lifted off and doubled back until it lies on the
taper tone arm or other rest provided for it.

[Sidenote: SPEED]

The dealer from whom you purchased your Victrola will see that it is
properly assembled and that the speed of the turntable is set at 78
revolutions per minute. That is the speed at which all Victor records
should be played, and we most strongly advise that the speed regulator
be not tampered with under any circumstances, except when it may be
necessary to reset the regulator in order that the turntable shall
actually turn at 78 revolutions when the soundbox is _not_ in contact
with the record.

From time to time it may be necessary to test the speed of the turntable
to see that there is no variation from the designated speed of 78
revolutions. This may be done by putting a record on the turntable and
inserting a small piece of paper between the record and the turntable so
that a portion of the paper protrudes. The actual number of revolutions
per minute may then be counted by holding a watch close enough to the
turntable so that the eyes may have a simultaneous vision of the paper
“marker” and the face of the watch.

[Sidenote: CARE OF RECORDS]

Be sure you keep your records in the albums provided for them, for dust
or dirt should not be permitted to accumulate in the fine spiral groove
which contains the sound wave impressions. Records should be dusted off
with a brush or soft rag before and after playing. If this is done
systematically and the records kept under cover they will need no other
attention, even over a period of many years.

[Sidenote: VICTOR NEEDLES AND STYLI]

Use Victrola needles or Victrola Tungs-tone Styli. These products are
the result of many years’ experience and thousands of dollars’ worth of
experimentation. They are built to conform to the exact requirements of
our records, which obviously will be better understood by us than by any
one else.

A permanent point can be permanent only because it is too hard to wear—
in which case it must inevitably wear the records. The Victor system of
changeable needles permits you to replace a worn stylus or change a
needle instantly with the result that perfect reproduction can be
secured at all times without serious wear on your records. The
changeable needle system does more than that, for it enables you to use
the same discretion in playing records as the artist who made the record
would himself use if he knew in just what kind of room he would be
required to play.

[Sidenote: RECORD INDEX]

Keep your records indexed. It is a very small matter, and once the habit
is formed it is easy to find the record you want the moment you want it.

Victrola Record Albums consist of ten record envelopes, numbered 1 to 10
and bound into book form. Each album bears a letter of the alphabet.
Inside its cover is a printed form to index its contents. Enter here the
name of each record and its artists, and the envelope number. You should
use, in addition, your Victor Index Book as a “directory” of all your
records. If you enter in the Index Book the names of each record and its
artists, the letter of the album and the envelope number, it will be an
easy matter to turn directly to any record needed.

It will be seen that there are two extensions of the gold circle at the
circumference of Victor record labels. On these the album and album
envelope should be marked. The return of each record to its proper album
and proper envelope is thus assured.

[Sidenote: ARRANGING PROGRAMS]

The first essential in the arrangement of any program is—variety.
Following a big dramatic number there should be an emotional let down,
although obviously it should not be so great as to be incongruous. It is
best to go from a violin composition to a song or from a big concerted
number like the Sextette from Lucia to some quieting composition for
string quartette.

Another important point is that you have music of all possible tone
colors to choose from. There are solos by voices of all kinds, but there
are also solos by violins, ’cellos, trombones, cornets, flutes,
saxophones, harps, xylophones, chimes—in fact, as we have said, solos by
every known instrument and other numbers by all the known combinations
of instruments are available to the Victrola owner.

With the Victor Catalogue to draw on, one might easily give a more or
less formal concert program every night for years without exhausting the
possibilities and without any sense of sameness.

[Sidenote: CHOICE OF RECORDS]

The final choice of records must always be left to the individual buyer.
We have already pointed out that personal taste differs widely in music,
but with the idea of giving you all the assistance possible in a general
way, we have compiled a few special lists. The nearest Victor dealer
will be glad to give you every assistance in building up your own
library of records, and play any records you may wish to hear without
obligation.

[Illustration: Man and woman listening to music]

------------------------------------------------------------------------



                      _Selected Lists of Records_


For convenience sake these lists have been prepared with a view to
certain specified investments. There are lists figuring approximately
$10.00, $15.00, $25.00 and $50.00. Each one may be varied slightly at
the discretion of the customer, other selections of similar value being
chosen from the Victor Catalogue.


                      A TEN-DOLLAR LIST OF RECORDS

                                                           _List Price_
 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 Poet and Peasant Overture—Part I                   35509  12     $1.35
   Victor Concert Orchestra
 Poet and Peasant Overture—Part II
   Victor Concert Orchestra
 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 ’A Vucchella (D’Annunzio-Tosti)                    87307  10      1.00
   In Italian
   Enrico Caruso
 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 Gems from “The Mikado”—Part I (Sullivan)           35551  12      1.35
 Gems from “The Mikado”—Part II
   Victor Light Opera Company
 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 Roamin’ in the Gloamin’ (Lauder)                   70061  12      1.25
   Harry Lauder
 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 Cross Bow, The (From “Robin Hood”) (de Koven)      17873  10       .85
   Imperial Quartet
 Way Down Yonder in the Cornfield
   Imperial Quartet
 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 Semper Fidelis March (Sousa)                       16190  10       .85
   Sousa’s Band
 Hands Across the Sea March (Sousa)
   Sousa’s Band
 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 Paraphrase on Minuet (Paderewski)                  64709  10      1.00
   Violin
   Kreisler
 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 Dinorah—Ombra leggiera (Shadow Song)               74532  12      1.50
   Galli-Curci
 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 Hungarian Dance No. 5 (Brahms)                     64752  10      1.00
   Philadelphia Orchestra
                                                                 ______
                                                                 $10.15


                    A FIFTEEN-DOLLAR LIST OF RECORDS
 _Can be compiled by adding the following to the previous $10.00 list_

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 Forget-Me-Not—Intermezzo (Macbeth)                 17951  10     $0.85
   Venetian Trio
 To You—Waltz Serenade (Czibulka)
   Venetian Trio
 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 Bonnie Wee Thing (Burns-Lehmann)                   64427  10      1.00
   John McCormack
 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 Valse Bluette (Drigo)                              64758  10      1.00
   Violin
   Jascha Heifetz
 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 Oh, That We Two Were Maying (Nevin)                87525  10      1.50
   Gluck-Homer
 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 Secret, Le—Intermezzo (Gautier)                    17689  10       .85
   Vessella’s Italian Band
 Sylvia Ballet (Valse Lento) (Delibes)
   Victor Concert Orchestra
                                                                 ______
                                                                  $5.20


                  A TWENTY-FIVE-DOLLAR LIST OF RECORDS
 _Can be compiled by adding the following to the previous $15.00 list_

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 Gems from “In a Persian Garden”—Part I             35441  12     $1.35
   Victor Opera Company
 Gems from “In a Persian Garden”—Part II
   Victor Opera Company
 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 Figlia del Reggimento (Daughter of the Regiment)   74221  12      1.50
   “To Be Near Her”
   In Italian
   John McCormack
 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 Serenade (Tosti)                                   64399  10      1.00
   In Italian
   Alma Gluck
 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 Capricietto (Mendelssohn-Burmester)                64204  10      1.00
   Mischa Elman
 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 Holy, Holy, Holy! (Heber-Dykes)                    16966  10       .85
   Trinity Choir
 Holy Ghost, with Light Divine
   Trinity Choir
 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 Midsummer Night’s Dream—Scherzo                    74560  12      1.50
   Philadelphia Orchestra
 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 Bohême—Racconto di Rodolfo                         88002  12      1.50
   In Italian
   Enrico Caruso
 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 Aïda—Grand March (Verdi)                           35265  12      1.35
   Vessella’s Band
 Rondo Capriccioso (Mendelssohn)
   Vessella’s Italian Band
                                                                 ______
                                                                 $10.05


                     A FIFTY-DOLLAR LIST OF RECORDS
 _Can be compiled by adding the following to the previous $25.00 list_

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 American Fantasie—Part I                           55093  12     $1.50
   Herbert’s Orchestra
 American Fantasie—Part II
   Herbert’s Orchestra
 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 Angel’s Serenade (Braga)                           89092  12      2.00
   Gluck and Zimbalist
 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 Dream Faces (Hutchinson)                           74451  12      1.50
   Clarence Whitehill
 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 Viking Song (There Are Steel Ships Wanted)         64786  10      1.00
   Emilio de Gogorza
 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 Merry Wives of Windsor Overture                    35270  12      1.35
   New Symphony Orchestra
 Jewels of the Madonna—Intermezzo
   Victor Concert Orchestra
 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 Hawaiian Waltz Medley Guitars                      17701  10       .85
   Lua and Kaili
 Kilima Waltz Hawaiian Guitars
   Lua and Kaili
 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 Cupid’s Arrow (Eno)                                16855  10       .85
   Banjo
   Fred Van Eps
 Polish Dance No. 1 (Scharwenka)
   Xylophone
   Wm. H. Reitz
 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 Evening Chimes (Heins)                             17523  10       .85
   Violin-Flute-Harp, with Bells
   Neapolitan Trio
 Woodland Echoes (Wyman)
   Neapolitan Trio
 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 Oh, Dry Those Tears (Del Riego)                    74456  12      1.50
   Sophie Braslau
 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 Si vous l’aviez compris—Melodie (Denza)            89084  12      2.00
   In French
   Caruso-Elman
 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 Tosca—Vissi d’arte (Love and Music)                88192  12      1.50
   In Italian
   Geraldine Farrar
 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 Indian Lament (Dvořák-Kreisler)                    74387  12      1.50
   Violin
   Fritz Kreisler
 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 Canzonetta (from String Quartet in E Flat)         64784  10      1.00
   (Mendelssohn)
   Flonzaley Quartet
 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 Lombardi—Qual volutta                              95211  12      2.50
   In Italian
   Alda, Caruso and Journet
 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 Faust—Salut, demeure (All Hail, Thou Dwelling      74573  12      1.50
   Lowly)
   In French
   Giovanni Martinelli
 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 Madama Butterfly—O quanti occhi fisi (Oh Kindly    89017  12      2.00
   Heavens)
   In Italian
   Farrar-Caruso
 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 Lucia Sextette (Donizetti)                         95212  12      2.50
   Galli-Curci, Egener, Caruso, de Luca, Journet,
   Bada
                                                                 ______
                                                                 $25.90

[Illustration: People sitting and listening to music]

------------------------------------------------------------------------



[Illustration:

  _The Victor Record Catalog_
  _A Book that Every Music Lover Will Want_
]


It has required twenty-five years of constant research, of steady
application, of tireless effort, and the expenditure of more than eleven
million dollars to place this Victor Record Catalogue in your hands.

It contains a special Red Seal Section in which are listed records by
the world’s most famous artists. There are brief sketches of the most
popular operas and illustrations of scenes from opera. There are also
biographies of prominent composers and artists, and within its covers
will be found practically all the music of the world by the world’s
greatest singers and by every kind of musical organization. We furnish
these catalogues free to dealers in Victor products so that on request
they may be furnished free to _you_. So be sure you ask your dealer for
a copy.


    Victor Talking Machine Company, Camden, N. J., U. S. A., Printed
                             January, 1920

                                                          4339 TTXA 1-20





*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "How To Get the Most Out of Your Victrola" ***

Copyright 2023 LibraryBlog. All rights reserved.