Research Help

Using the Internet to Solve a Mystery

Can you provide information about this recording?

Pictured are the labels of a double-sided 12-inch acoustic record found recently in a bequest to the Archive. They show all the information we have about this abridged performance of Tchaikovsky’s “Overture 1812”, orchestra and conductor unknown. The numbers 5083 and 5084 are written on the labels and punched into the matrix of the first and second side respectively. The handwritten date on the label is: 26-8-21. This could be interpreted as 26 August 1921 or 1926 August 21 (an unusual, but not rare, European style; note that the dash is longer between the 26 and the 8 than it is between the 8 and the 21).

The earlier date is more likely if this disc came from one of the major record companies: by 1926, a work such as this, featuring an orchestra, would have been recorded electrically. However since the electrical era just started in 1925, if the record company were a small one, then acoustical recording might still prevail in 1926. If you have any information (or a guess that you think is worth pursuing), please contact the Archive at soundarchive@stanford.edu.

Click on the phonograph icon to download a 1.1meg file in au format. This will enable you to hear the first 52 seconds of “Part II” (5084) [reproduced at 78rpm].