Amazing every day! The history of the painting 'His Master's Voice'

His Master's Voice (HMV) is a famous trademark in the music and recording industry and was the unofficial name of a major British record label. The name was coined in the 1890s as the title of a painting of a Jack Russell terrier dog named Nipper, listening to a wind-up gramophone. In the original painting, the dog was listening to a cylinder phonograph. In the 1970s, the statue of the dog and gramophone, His Master's Voice, were cloaked in bronze and was awarded by the record company (EMI) to artists or music producers or composers as a music award and often only after selling more than 100,000 sound carriers such as LPs.

Contents

The painting

The trademark image comes from a painting by English artist Francis Barraud and titled His Master's Voice. It was acquired from the artist in 1899 by the newly formed Gramophone Company and adopted by the in the United States. According to contemporary Gramophone Company publicity material, the dog, a terrier named Nipper, had originally belonged to Barraud's brother, Mark. When Mark Barraud died, Francis inherited Nipper, with a cylinder phonograph and recordings of Mark's voice. Francis noted the peculiar interest that the dog took in the recorded voice of his late master emanating from the horn, and conceived the idea of ​​committing the scene to canvas.

The logo

In early 1899, Francis Barraud applied for copyright of the original painting using the descriptive working title Dog looking at and listening to a Phonograph. He was unable to sell the work to any cylinder phonograph company, but William Barry Owen, the American founder of the Gramophone Company in England, offered to purchase the painting under the condition that Barraud modify it to show one of their disc machines. Barraud complied and the image was first used on the company's catalog from December 1899. As the trademark gained in popularity, several additional copies were subsequently commissioned from the artist for various corporate purposes. Emile Berliner, the inventor of the Gramophone, had seen the picture in London and took out a United States copyright on it in July, 1900. The painting was adopted as a trademark by Eldridge R. Johnson of the Consolidated Talking Machine Company, which was reorganized as the Victor Talking Machine Company in 1901. Victor used the image far more aggressively than its UK affiliate, and from 1902 most Victor records had a simplified drawing of Barraud's dog-and-gramophone image on their labels. Magazine advertisements stated record buyers to "look for the dog."

The trademark's ownership is divided among different companies in different countries, reducing its value in the globalized music market. The name HMV was used by a chain of music shops owned by HMV, mainly in the, Ireland, Canada, Singapore, Australia, Hong Kong, and Japan.

In 1921 the Gramophone Company opened the first HMV shop in London. In 1929 RCA absorbed Victor, and with it a major shareholding in the Gramophone Company, which Victor had owned since 1920. RCA was instrumental in the 1931 creation of EMI, which continued to own the His Master's Voice name and image in the UK . In 1935, RCA Victor sold its stake in EMI but continued to own the rights to His Master's Voice in the Americas. HMV continued to distribute RCA Victor recordings in the UK and elsewhere until 1957, when EMI purchased Capitol Records as their distributor in the western hemisphere. The hostilities between the US and Japan during World War II led to RCA Victor's Japanese subsidiary, the Victor Company of Japan (JVC), to become independent, and today the company is still allowed use of the "Victor" brand and Nipper trademark in Japan only. In 1968, RCA introduced a modern logo and restricted the use of Nipper to the album covers of Red Seal Records. The Nipper trademark was reinstated to most RCA record labels in the Western Hemisphere beginning in late 1976 and was once again widely used in RCA advertising throughout the late 1970s and 1980s. The dog reappeared for a time on RCA television sets and was also used on the RCA CED videodisc system. EMI owned the His Master"s Voice label in the UK until the 1980s, and the HMV shops until 1998.

In 1967, EMI converted the HMV label into an exclusive classical music label and dropped its POP series of popular music. HMV"s POP series artists" roster was moved to Columbia Graphophone and Parlophone and licensed American POP record deals to Stateside Records.

According to the HMV website, the organization was restructured by Hilco and, while some stores were closed, it has reopened debt-free and continues to trade.

Further reading

• Southall, Brian (1996) The Story of the World's Leading Music Retailer: HMV 75, 1921-1996.

See also

References

1. Rye, Howard (2002). Kernfeld, Barry (ed.). The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz. 2 (2nd ed.). New York: Grove's Dictionaries Inc. p. 249. ISBN.
2. "The Nipper Saga" . Retrieved May 27, 2006.
3. HMV shops in Canada and Japan were not allowed to use Nipper for these reasons; nor did the shops HMV operated in the United States in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
4. Billboard - Google Books. Books.google.com. November 11, 1967. Retrieved February 28, 2013.
5. "Trade Mark Details as at 28 February 2013: HMV Group plc" . patent.gov.uk. Retrieved February 28, 2013.

Last September, 2010, marked the 110th anniversary of the most famous and recognizable trademark in the history of the global music industry (and one of the oldest trademarks in the world).
This sign is inextricably linked with the history of the phonograph and with the history of one painting, which I want to tell you about. Perhaps some of you have seen a picture in galleries in which a dog carefully listens to the sounds flying from a gramophone pipe. This painting is called “His Master’s Voice”, painted by the artist Francis James Barro.

In 1884, Herbert (Mark) Barro, who lived in Bristol, picked up a stray fox terrier dog and named it Nipper, which can be translated as biter or claw. The dog was so named for its tendency to bite the legs of visitors. Fox Terrier became true friend Barro.
Shortly before his death, Herbert purchased a phonograph and recorded his voice on it. Nipper often listened to this voice and wondered how it was - the owner was sitting next to him, and his voice was coming from a black pipe.
When Herbert died in 1895, the dog and the phonograph went to his younger brother, Francis, as he agreed to look after the dog. Nipper was transported to Liverpool.
Days and nights the fox terrier sat at the phonograph pipe, yearning for his owner and hoping that his voice, which had previously so often come from this pipe, would sound from there.
Francis Barro recalled that he often noticed how the dog was puzzled to understand where the voice was that should sound from the trumpet. Three years later, in September 1898, Nipper died (they write from melancholy). The scene of waiting for the owner's voice at the gramophone was indelibly imprinted on Barrault's brain, and he decided to transfer it to canvas.

Francis Barraud Dog looking at and listening to a phonograph. 1899

In its original form, the painting was completed on February 11, 1899 and was titled “Dog looking at and listening to a phonograph.” I would like to immediately note that it is from this painting that art lovers know the name of the artist.

"Adventures" paintings

Barrault tried to present the painting at an exhibition at the Royal Academy, but the work was rejected by the jury. The artist decided to place his work in several magazines, but again failed. The argument put forward as the reason for the refusal was that “the title of the picture makes it unclear what the dog is doing and why.”
Barro even offered his work to the Edison Bell Company (a leading manufacturer of phonograph cylinders), but again without success. The company's response read: "Dogs don't listen to gramophones!"
One of Barrault's friends suggested that Francis replace the black gramophone trumpet with a more modern brass model and come up with a shorter name. This could provide a better opportunity to sell it.
Barro visited one of the newly formed gramophone companies (The Gramophone Company) and asked to hire a brass trumpet to use as a model.
Company manager Gary Owen, a great lover of painting, offered to buy the painting if Barro replaced the Berliner gramophone depicted on the canvas with the Edison cylinder machine brand, produced by the Edison plant exclusively for the British market.
Barro took into account all the wishes, and on October 17, 1899 new option The painting was ready under the new title “His Master's Voice”. By the way, I’ll note right away that Gary Owen bought the painting from the artist for only 100 pounds. And another interesting fact - the gramophone company that bought Barrault’s painting was an ancestor famous corporation "Electronic and Musical Industries", known as E.M.I.
But the “adventures” of the film did not end there.
In May 1900, during his visit to London, the inventor of flat-plate recording and the gramophone, Emile Berliner, a German by birth living in the United States, saw a painting by Barrault on the wall in Owen's office. Berliner immediately contacted Barro and asked him to make a copy of the painting, but with a model of his company's gramophone.
The businessman brought the painting to the USA and on July 10, 1900, registered it with the patent office as a trademark of his company.

The United States trademark registration 07/10/1900

Berliner offered this trademark to his partner Eldridge R. Johnson, with whom he worked on improving the gramophone. Johnson's company distributed Barro's painting as the logo of the gramophone corporation in Central and South America, Far East and Japan.
Nipper appeared in advertisements for gramophones already in 1900. In addition, Nipper at the gramophone was placed on official letters and company documents, sales catalogs and disc labels.

His Master Voice.

Later, Barrault's painting became the logo of the Gramophone Company in England, whose manager was the first to buy the artist's painting, although the company already had its own corporate icon - "Guardian Angel". In Germany, the company DGG (Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft) also used Barrault's masterpiece as a label, only in the German translation - “Die Stimme des Herrn”.

As a result of the 1929 merger of the companies into the International Corporation, the Nipper label was popular until around the end of World War II.

Afterword

The artist died on August 29, 1924, at the age of sixty-nine. He wrote about 24 copies of his own famous work for branches of gramophone companies around the world. At the same time, Barro wrote another version of the picture, in which the phonograph was replaced by a gramophone, and for this work he received only two payments of 50 pounds sterling each. In addition, the artist was denied the copyright to change the painting depicting Nipper (a paradox!).
At the same time, Barrault's painting became one of the most famous commercial trademarks in the world, which was used by such “monsters” of the music industry as HMV, RCA, and JVC.

The first souvenir with the image of a dog and a paperweight pipe.

And although today the EMI corporation uses this mark to identify its stores only in the UK and Europe, the “Voice of its Owner” brand is still recognizable and firmly takes its place in the top ten “Most Recognizable Brands of the 20th Century”.

On November 21, 1877, Thomas Alva Edison presented the world with his invention - the phonograph, the first device for recording and reproducing sound. This is where it started new era, informational.

The most famous and recognizable trademark in the history of the global music industry (and one of the oldest trademarks in the world) is inextricably linked with the history of the phonograph. The reader is probably very familiar with this picture: a dog carefully listens to the sounds flying from a gramophone pipe. The slogan that accompanies the picture, “His Master’s Voice,” contributed to the development of sound recording no less than the invention of the phonograph itself. This sign and this slogan, as well as how Edison’s main invention turned out for humanity, what kind of dream it inspired, will be discussed here...

Actually, this dream was expressed in the picture with a dog listening to a phonograph - in its concentrated, symbolic form. The story began in Great Britain, in late XIX century. A Fox Terrier named Nipper was a faithful friend of a certain Mark Barro. Shortly before his death, Mark purchased a phonograph and recorded his voice on it. When Mark died in 1898, the dog and the phonograph went to his younger brother, the artist Francis Barrault.

Days and nights on end Nipper sat at the phonograph pipe, yearning for his owner and hoping that his voice, which had previously so often come from this pipe, would sound from there.

An observant artist captures the plot.

Francis Barrault could not sell the drawing for a long time (“dogs do not listen to the phonograph,” they explained to him in the offices of the companies that produced this device). But then he got lucky, and in 1899 the picture and idea (“His Master’s Voice”) were bought by the Gramophone company for 100 pounds.

When marketing specialists try to explain the success that this picture and its name brought throughout the 20th century (first to Gramophone and then to its successor EMI), they usually voice the following idea: picture symbolizes such a clear and precise sound (“the dog recognizes the voice of its owner on the recording!”) that it is undoubtedly read by the consumer as a synonym High Quality sound. Accurate sound transmission. This, according to brand experts, is the key phrase.

But, reader, please remember: having watched this picture dozens, maybe hundreds of times, have you ever thought about something like sound quality? No? Or maybe the idea directly affects the subconscious? Or is it simply that the picture itself is very cute and (especially in combination with the slogan and legend) emotionally touches the viewer?

All these explanations, of course, have the right to life. But it’s better to leave them to managers and marketers and try to find out the deeper reason why this icon - a dog staring attentively into the bell of a gramophone - has such an impact. magical influence per person and gained in the 20th century almost more popularity than the swastika and the pentagram.

The first thing that comes to mind when searching for these “deeper reasons” is the novel by Stanislaw Lem. In the original, this fantastic text is called Glos pana, in the USSR it was published under the title “Voice of Heaven”, and in the English-speaking world - under the title His Master’s Voice. Yes, under that: “The voice of his master.”

This is what it's all about in a nutshell. Scientists discover and, under the control of the military, try to decipher a strange sound signal, which, according to their assumptions, is of cosmic origin and contains an encrypted message from an extraterrestrial civilization to earthlings. Quote: “It was decided to create a special commission to study the “neutrino message from the stars,” which, at Beloin’s half-joking suggestion, received the designation “MASTER’S VOICE.”

The Voice of the Lord project aims to comprehensively study and, if possible, decipher the so-called Message from the stars; in all likelihood, this is a series of signals deliberately sent through artificial technical devices by a being or beings belonging to an unidentified extraterrestrial civilization.

During long-term recording of low-energy flows in the 57 MeV band, a signal of artificial origin was discovered, consisting of more than two billion characters in terms of binary code, and it is transmitted consecutively (without interruptions). This signal, whose radiant covers the entire alpha region Canis Minor(my italics - G.D.), as well as its surroundings within one and a half degrees - that is, quite extensive - carries information of unknown content and purpose. Since the redundancy of the communication channel is apparently close to zero, the signal is perceived by us as noise. The fact that we are dealing with a signal is evidenced by the fact that every 416 hours 11 minutes and 23 seconds the entire modulated sequence is repeated again - with an accuracy that is at least equal to the resolving power of earthly instruments."

That is, it seems to be a noise at first hearing, but in reality it is not. The narrator (a mathematician on behalf of whom Lem writes) explains: it often happens that the flow of information - for example, human speech - is not perceived as information at all, but rather resembles a chaotic set of sounds. For example, speaking in a foreign language often seems completely meaningless. And there is only one way to recognize the non-noise nature of a signal: in genuine noise, series of signals do not repeat. In this sense, a “noise series” would be the thousand numbers thrown out by the roulette wheel. The appearance of exactly the same series - in the next thousand games - is completely excluded. This is the nature of “noise”, that the order of appearance of its elements - sounds or other signals - is unpredictable. If the series is repeated, it means that the “noise” nature of the phenomena is only apparent, and in fact we have before us a device that transmits information.

The more fully the transmitter uses the communication channel bandwidth, the more the information resembles pure noise. If it is fully used (redundancy is reduced to zero), then for the uninitiated the signal is no different from pure noise.”

What is all this for? Here's what it's all about. Since Lem named his work the same as the name of the very icon we are talking about, it means this is directly related to the matter. (It is known that Lem was a meticulous writer, so he would certainly have objected if he had not agreed with the emergence of an obvious allusion due to the addition of the pronoun “his” to English version the title of the novel. Here is what the translator of the novel, Michael Kandel, told me about this: “It was my decision to use this translation option. A dog cannot understand what is coming from a gramophone, just as humanity does not understand the message of the stars. There was another option - the biblical "Voice of God" ("The Voice of the Lord"), but I felt that Lem did not mean it." The author favorably accepted the translator's offer.)

"The Voice of the Lord" was written in 1968. During the times caused by the widespread fashion for LSD. At the same time, famous works appeared, for example, by other adherents of the “global village” concept. The role of information and communications in the life and development of mankind was actively comprehended and rethought. Of course, Lem was aware of all these trends. And even if he had not read McLuhan, he certainly caught the ideas that were then floating in the air.

Thus, Lem gives us a reason to look at the icon with a dog and a gramophone as symbol of the information society era(which actually appeared just when Edison invented the phonograph, so it was Edison who can be considered the father of this very society). This picture is a visualization of an incessant information flow, summarized in a capacious logo, which humanity has been trying to decipher for more than a hundred years - just like that dog hearing a familiar voice and not understanding that the owner is already dead and that everything is a recording. Remember the otherworldly agents in David Lynch's film Mulholland Drive? “There are no musicians here. There is no orchestra here. “All this is a recording”... In fact, a gramophone is the same, a metaphorical entry point into other worlds. In this sense, it does not matter at all whether the message contained in this recording can be deciphered, or whether nothing is encrypted in it at all (the problem that Stanislaw Lem’s heroes are struggling with). As McLuhan used to say, the transmitter of a message is itself a message (The medium is the message), a blue box with which you can go as far as you like, and then also come back.

McLuhan writes in his book that before the advent of electricity (we emphasize that, in particular, before the advent of the phonograph), it was not obvious to man that a medium is a message. “The message seemed to be “content”, this is comparable to the usual question “what” the picture is about. However, people never ask what the melody, or the house, or the clothes are about. In such cases they hold in consciousness some sense of a coherent pattern, form and function as a unity. But in the age of electricity this integral idea of ​​structure and configuration became so dominant that it was taken up by educational theory. Instead of working with specialized 'problems' of arithmetic, the structured approach follows a line of force in the number field and gets young children to meditate on number and set theory." The narrator Lema (a mathematician, let me remind you) often talks about literally the same thing.

In general, overlaps between McLuhan's ideas and the ideas voiced by Lem arise constantly. This could be ignored if the connection between our icon and Lemov’s “Voice of the Lord” (“The Voice of His Master”) was limited only to the name. But here everything comes together. The dog in this canonical picture is really listening to a set of sounds, the meaning of which he, with all his intelligence, cannot understand. For her, this is simply an inarticulate sound stream, in which she can only guess the timbre of the owner, familiar to her, and from this conclude that he is trying to convey to her some kind of, for example, a Message.

However, are dogs capable of concluding anything? Here the answer naturally arises: yes, within the framework of what is called. Pavlov's dog, demonstrating a conditioned reflex, also listens to a certain sound. If you call and then give the dog something to eat, the dog will get used to it and will prepare to digest the food after each call. Even if she is not served food, she will still salivate when the call is made. In this sense, the situation with our icon is even simpler than one might think: it is a symbol of deception, propaganda and PR. That is, what the recording industry often did throughout the 20th century and is still doing today. More broadly, it is a symbol of the fact that a person can be trained and taken under control. Like a dog. Physiology of higher nervous activity in its purest form. Let us remember McLuhan again here (so as not to limit ourselves too much to physiology): “When we are dealing with information overload, we have nothing left but perception according to the principles of stable schematism (pattern, template).”

By the way, McLuhan understood this nature perfectly well information control and mass communications, knew all this dog business: “Our traditional response to all media (mediums), for example, to the way they use calculations, is the numb state of a technological idiot. So the “content” of the remedy is like a juicy piece of meat carried by a robber to distract the guard dog of the mind.”

In the same article, he gives the example of an African who was willing to endure severe pain in order to listen to the BBC news every evening, although he did not understand anything about it. “It was important for him to just be around these sounds every day at 7 p.m. His habit of speech was similar to our habit of melody, where resonant intonations are significant in themselves." Needless to say, this is the same dog listening to the voice of its owner?

In the context of the above, the fact that the picture “The Voice of His Master” was one of the most popular and recognizable images of the 20th century and remains so to this day, speaks not only of the media and information nature of this time, but once again emphasizes that the media - it is a means of control. A means by which someone (the Master) dictates to a person (for starters, for example, some editor-in-chief of the media - it’s not for nothing that they love to be photographed with telephone handsets) their will. Or rather, it fills his brain with information noise so that, McLuhan forbid, he would not hear anything real.

P.S.: However, something like this could happen:

By the way, it was Edison who became the creator of the tradition of starting a telephone conversation with the word “Hello.”

“His Master`s Voice” - belongs to the English company “The Gramophone Company EMI Records”, which traces its history back to the English joint-stock company “Gramophone and Typewriter ltd.”, created in 1899 on the basis of a subsidiary of the “Gramophone Company of the United States” (founded in 1893 by E. Berliner). The name “HMV” appeared in 1899, when the joint-stock company “Gramophone...” bought from the artist F. Barrot a painting in which a dog was drawn looking in surprise into the bell of a gramophone. This image became the emblem and trademark of the society. In the 1900s The HMV brand appeared on the records of the American company Victor. Founded in 1902, the first gramophone record factory in Russia also belonged to the Gramophone ... society. Since 1913, this company became part of the EMI corporation (Electrical and Musical Industries) and the HMV brand became its property. EMI has subsidiaries in many countries, which also produce records bearing the HMV brand.

Since its inception, the HMV brand has produced mainly records of classical music performed by outstanding musicians.

Many operas were recorded for the first time under the HMV brand.

So in the HMV fund, which is stored in the RGAFD, there are four full records such operas: G. Verdi “Il Trovatore” performed by A. Gelli (bass), B. Garmazzi (bass), A. Granforte (baritone), G. Callegari (tenor), M. Carena (soprano), I. Cattaneo ( mezzo-soprano), A. Pertile (tenor), O. de Franco (soprano), accompanied by the choir and orchestra of the Milan La Scala Theater conducted by C. Sabaino; G. Donizetti “Don Pasquale” performed by E. Badini (baritone), A. Poli (baritone), A. Saraceni (soprano), T. Skipa (tenor) and others, accompanied by the orchestra of the Milan La Scala Theater conducted by . K. Sabaino; R. Leoncavallo “Pagliacci” performed by L. Bori (baritone), N. Palay (tenor), A. Saraceni (soprano) and others, accompanied by the choir and orchestra of the Milan La Scala Theater under the direction. K. Sabaino; P. Mascagni “Rural Honor” performed by P. Biasini (baritone), G. Breviario (tenor), D. Sanchio (soprano), O. de Franco (contralto) and others, accompanied by the orchestra of the Milan La Scala Theater under management. K. Sabaino.

In general, opera music is represented in the fund by recordings of the voices of great singers, performing individual parts from operas. These are such stars as: M. Basiola (baritone) (sings an aria from R. Leoncavallo’s opera “Pagliacci”); M. Battistini (baritone) (sings parts from the operas G. Berlioz “The Damnation of Faust”, G. Verdi “Un ballo in maschera” and “Ernani”, G. Rossini “William Tell”); L. Bori (soprano) (sings an aria from G. Puccini’s opera “La Bohème”); A. Galli-Curci (soprano) (sings arias from the operas G. Verdi “Rigoletto” and “La Traviata”, C. Gounod “Romeo and Juliet”, L. Delibes “Lakmé”, J. Meyerbeer “Dinora” and “Northern Star” ”, G. Puccini “Cio-Cio-San”, G. Rossini “The Barber of Seville”, A. Thoma “Mignon”); M. Galvani (soprano) (sings an aria from G. Donizetti’s opera “Lucia di Lammermoor”); A. Granforte (baritone) (sings an aria from R. Leoncavallo’s opera “Pagliacci”); B. Gigli (tenor) (sings arias from the operas G. Verdi “Aida” and “La Traviata”, J. Halévy “The Jew”, G.-F. Handel “Xerxes”, C. Gounod “Faust”, G. Donizetti " Elixir of Love" and "Lucia di Lammermoor", E. Lalo "King of the City of Is", R. Leoncavallo "Pagliacci", P. Mascagni "Rural Honor", A. Ponchielli "La Gioconda", G. Puccini "La Bohème"); M. Journet (bass) (performs an aria from J. Meyerbeer’s opera “The Huguenots”); E. Caruso (tenor) (sings arias from the operas by G. Bizet “The Pearl Fishers” and “Carmen”, G. Verdi “Aida”, “Un ballo in maschera”, “Othello”, “Rigoletto”, J. Halévy “The Jew” , G.-F. Handel “Xerxes”, A.C. Gomez “Salvator Rosa”, U. Giordano “Andre Chénier”, G. Donizetti “Elisir of Love”, P. Mascagni “Rural Honor”, ​​J. Massenet “Manon” ", "Sid", J. Meyerbeer "African", A. Ponchielli "La Gioconda", G. Puccini "La Boheme", "Manon Lescaut", "Tosca", A.G. Rubinstein "Nero"); I. Cattaneo (mezzo-soprano) (sings an aria from the opera “Samson and Delilah” by C. Saint-Saëns); F. de Lucia (tenor) (sings arias from W.A. Mozart’s operas “Don Giovanni”, A. Thomas “Mignon”); G. Martinelli (tenor) (sings arias from the operas by G. Verdi “Force of Destiny”, P. Mascagni’s “Honor Rusticana”); T. dal Monte (soprano) (performs parts from G. Donizetti’s operas “La Daughter of the Regiment” and “Lucia di Lammermoor”); A. Pertile (tenor) (sings arias from the operas U. Giordano “André Chénier”, R. Leoncavallo “Pagliacci”); R. Ponselli (soprano) (sings arias from G. Verdi’s operas “Force of Destiny” and “Ernani”); T. Ruffo (baritone) (sings arias from the operas G. Bizet “Carmen”, G. Verdi “Rigoletto”, R. Leoncavallo “Zaza”, “Pagliacci”, G. Meyerbeer “The African Woman”, G. Rossini “The Barber of Seville” ); T. Skipa (tenor) (sings arias from the operas R. Leoncavallo “Pagliacci”, J. Massenet “Manon”); F. Tamagno (tenor) (sings arias from operas by J. Massenet “Herodias”, C. Saint-Saens “Samson and Delilah”); L. Tetrazzini (soprano) (sings arias from the operas F. Veracini “Rosalind”, G. Verdi “Rigoletto”, G. Rossini “The Barber of Seville”); L. Tibett (baritone) (sings an aria from R. Leoncavallo’s opera “Pagliacci”); B. Hristov (bass) (sings arias from the operas by G. Verdi “Don Carlos”, “Ernani”, M.P. Mussorgsky “Boris Godunov”).

The collection also contains recordings of duets from various operas. For example, the duet from G. Verdi’s opera “Don Carlos” is performed by M. Battistini (baritone) and E. Corsi (soprano); a duet from G. Verdi's opera La Traviata performed by A. Galli-Curci (soprano) and D. de Luca (baritone); the duet of B. Gigli (tenor) and D. de Luca (baritone) perform duets from the operas “The Pearl Fishers” by J. Bizet and “La Gioconda” by A. Ponchielli; together with M. Copiglia (soprano) B. Gigli (tenor) performs a duet from G. Puccini’s opera “La Bohème”; E. Caruso (tenor) together with P. Amato (baritone) sings a duet from G. Verdi’s opera “Force of Destiny”, and together with E. Destin (soprano) sings a duet from the opera by A.K. Gomez "Guarami"; the duet of R. Ponselli (soprano) and G. Martinelli (tenor) performs a fragment from G. Verdi’s opera “Aida”; a duet from G. Rossini’s opera “The Barber of Seville” performed by T. Ruffo (baritone) and M. Galvani (soprano); J. Farrar (soprano) sings two duets from J. Bizet’s opera “Carmen” - one with P. Amato (baritone), the other with G. Martinelli (tenor); M. Sheridan (soprano) together with A. Pertile (tenor) sings a duet from the opera “André Chénier” by U. Giordano and duets from the operas “Manon” and “Cio-Cio-San” by G. Puccini.

There are two recordings of quartets from the operas by G. Verdi “Rigoletto” and G. Donizetti “Lucia di Lammermoor” performed by A. Galli-Curci (soprano), L. Homer (contralto), B. Gigli (tenor) and D. de Luca (baritone).
HMV was a great promoter of Russian music and the Russian opera school. Therefore, this fund also contains records of Russian stars - D.A. Smirnova (tenor) (performs arias from the operas M. P. Mussorgsky “Sorochinskaya Fair”, N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov “Sadko”, P. I. Tchaikovsky “Eugene Onegin”); L.V. Sobinova (tenor) (sings arias from the operas J. Bizet “The Pearl Fishers”, R. Wagner “Lohengrin”, G. Donizetti “Don Pasquale”, J. Massenet “Werther”, “Manon”, S. Monyushko “Pebble”, N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov “May Night”, “Snow Maiden”, A. Tom “Mignon”, P.I. Tchaikovsky “Eugene Onegin”); F.I. Chaliapin (bass) (performs parts from the operas V. Bellini “Norma”, “Somnambulist”, A. Boito “Mephistopheles”, A.P. Borodin “Prince Igor”, G. Verdi “Ernani”, C. Gounod “Faust” , A. S. Dargomyzhsky “Mermaid”, L. Delibes “Lakmé”, G. Donizetti “ Lucrezia Borgia", J. Meyerbeer "Robert the Devil", W.-A. Mozart "Don Giovanni", M.P. Mussorgsky "Boris Godunov", N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov “Sadko”, G. Rossini “The Barber of Seville”, A.G. Rubinstein “Demon”, A.N. Serov "Enemy Power").

The collection contains recordings of several duets from operas performed by Russian singers. So, L.V. Sobinov (tenor) and A.V. Nezhdanova (soprano) sings duets from the operas “The Pearl Fishers” by J. Bizet and “Lohengrin” by R. Wagner; duet from the opera M.P. Mussorgsky's "Boris Godunov" is performed by D.A. Smirnova (tenor) and M.S. Davydova (soprano).

Vocal and chamber music is represented in the fund quite widely. Thus, performed by M. Battistini (baritone), the romances of L.-V. Beethoven's "Pleasure" and C. Gounod's "Evening"; performed by L. Bori (soprano) - L. Varne's romance “Waltz of the Hummingbird”; performed by A. Galli-Curci (soprano) - Solveig's song from E. Grieg's suite "Peer Gynt", romances by E. del Acua "Swallow", T. Giordani "Dear Friend", S. Iradier "The Dove" and P. Tosti "Serenade"; performed by B. Gigli (tenor) - romances by L. Denz “Wonderful Eyes”, “If”, R. Drigo “Nocturne of Love”, S. Iradier “Dove”, E. de Curtis “Come Back to Sorrento”, “Lucia” , “My Maria”, “Guardian”, “I Think of You”, R. Leoncavallo “Mattinata”, A. Sullivan “Last Chord”, E. Tagladerry “Mandolin Serenade”, F.P. Tosti “Farewell”, Di Chiaro “Spanish Flu”, F. Schubert “Serenade”, Neapolitan song “Santa Lucia”; performed by E. Caruso (tenor) - romances by F.M. Alvarez “Granada”, Bowles “Your eyes spoke”, Gartner “Trusting eyes”, L. Denz “If only you understood me”, E. del Capua “Oh my sun”, E. de Curtis “Your tears”, R. Leoncavallo “Two Serenades”, J. Massenet “Elegy”, L. Mercantini “Hymn of Garibaldi”, G. Pasadas “Happy Night”, G. Rossini spiritual chant “Stabat mater”, A. Sullivan “Lost Harmony”, P. Tosti “My song”, “Farewell”, P.I. Tchaikovsky “Pimpinella”, “Don Giovanni Serenade”, Neapolitan songs “Come to the Sea” and “Santa Lucia”; performed by D. Oldham (tenor) - romances by S.V. Rachmaninov’s “In the Silence of the Night” and “Don’t Sing, Beauty”; performed by T. Skipa (tenor) - romances by Kaleia “Farewell Granada”, Palomero “The Little Princess”, M. de Falla “Jota”, Y. Huarte “Spanish Madrigal”; performed by L. Tetrazini (soprano) - “The Great Waltz”, op. 10 for voice and orchestra by Venziano and F. Eckert’s romance “Echo”.

Vocal and chamber music performed by Russian singers is also in the fund. Let us note a few: performed by Yu.S. Morfessi (baritone) performs Russian romances “Like a Fragrant Flower” and “Song of the Guslar”; performed by V. Panina (contralto) the romance by N.N. Vilinsky's "Eye"; romance “Among the noisy ball”, op. 38 No. 2 P.I. Tchaikovsky sounds performed by L.V. Sobinova (tenor); M. Poiret's romance “Swan Song” is performed by N.I. Tamara (mezzo-soprano); F.I. Chaliapin (bass) performs romances by L.V. Beethoven's "In the Dark Tomb", M.I. Glinka “Night View”, A.S. Dargomyzhsky “The Old Corporal”, F. Keneman “How the King Went to War”, J. Massenet “Elegy”, M.P. Mussorgsky “Song of a Flea”, N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov “The Prophet”, A.G. Rubinstein “Persian Song”, Flegier “Horn”, R. Schumann “Two Grenadiers”.

The most extensive section of the fund is the genre of symphonic music. It is impossible to list all the recordings in this genre. Let's name a few recordings from the largest orchestras. The following works are performed by the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra under the direction of L. Stokowski: fragment of the Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F major, Prelude in B flat minor, op. 1 I.-S. Bach; March from the dramatic poem “The Damnation of Faust” by G. Berlioz; Symphony No. 7 in A major, op. 92 L.V. Beethoven; Fragment from the music for the drama “La Arlesienne” and Intermission from the opera “Carmen” by J. Bizet; Symphony No. 2 in D major, op. 73 J. Brahms; Finale from the opera “Twilight of the Gods” and Overture from the opera “Rienzi” by R. Wagner; "Invitation to Dance", op. 65 K. M. Weber; Pastoral symphony “Messiah” G.-F. Handel; Prelude “Afternoon of a Faun” by C. Debussy; “Hungarian Rhapsody” No. 2 by F. Liszt; “Bright Holiday” (“Sunday Overture”), op. 36 and symphonic suite “Scheherazade”, op. 35 N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov; the play “Dance of Death” and a fragment of the opera “Samson and Delilah” by C. Saint-Saens; Symphonic poem "Finland", op. 26 No. 7 J. Sibelius; "Poem of Ecstasy", op. 54 A.N. Scriabin; complete recording of the ballet by I.F. Stravinsky "The Rite of Spring"; Symphony No. 4 in F minor, op. 36, Symphony No. 5 in E minor, op. 64 and “Waltz of the Flowers” ​​from the Nutcracker Suite, op. 71A P.I. Tchaikovsky; Symphony No. 8 (“Unfinished”) in B minor by F. Schubert.

Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by S.A. Koussevitzky performs Symphony No. 6 in G major “Surprise” by J. Haydn, “Bolero” by M. Ravel, the play “Gymnopédie” by E. Satie and C. Debussy, Symphony No. 6 in E minor, op. 74 P.I. Tchaikovsky.

The London Symphony Orchestra, under his baton, performs Symphony No. 5 in C minor, op. 67 L.-V. Beethoven and Symphony No. 88 in G major by J. Haydn.

The New York Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by A. Toscanini performs the overture from the opera “Travita” by G. Verdi, Symphony No. 101 “The Hours” in D major by J. Haydn, Overture by F. Mendelssohn “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, Symphony No. 35 in D major B .-A. Mozart, overture from the opera “The Barber of Seville” by G. Rossini.

An interesting selection is presented by recordings of works by the English composer E. Elgar performed by various orchestras conducted by the author himself. This is how the London Symphony Orchestra performs Symphony No. 2 in E flat major, op. 63; Coronation March No. 3 in D minor; Coronation March No. 4 in G major; Suite “The Wand of Youth”; suite "Crown of India", "Children's Suite". The new symphony orchestra performs the "May Song". The BBC Symphony Orchestra performs the Cockney Overture, op. 40. The Albert Hall Orchestra performs the play “Evening Song”, op. 15 No. 1; play "Morning Song", op. 15 No. 2; Variations "Enigma", op. 36, variations 1-14; oratorio “Light of Life”, op. 29.
The orchestra of the Royal Opera Covent Garden, conducted by J. Goossens, will perform the following works: Suite in G major by J.S. Bach; “Hungarian March” by G. Berlioz; fragment of E. Grieg's suite "Peer Gynt"; fragment from the ballet “The Shop of Miracles” by O. Respighi; symphonic poem “Cursed Hunter” by S. Frank; "Military March" by F. Schubert.

Performed by the London Symphony Orchestra under his own direction, the “Ballet Suite” in A major, op. 52 A.K. Glazunov; Spanish Dance No. 1 by E. Granados; Csardas and Mazurka from L. Delibes' ballet “Coppelia”.

The new symphony orchestra, also under his direction, performs A. Bax's symphonic poem "Tentagil" and E. Granados' Spanish Dance No. 3.

M. Mashkovsky's Suite "From All Countries" and Waltz from E. Humperdinck's opera "Handel and Gretel" are performed by the orchestra of the Berlin State Opera under the direction of K. Schmalstich.

The symphony orchestra under his direction performs the overture from the opera by F.A. Boualdier “The Caliph of Baghdad”, variations on themes from the ballet “Copelli” by L. Delibes, overture from the opera by V.-A. Mozart's "Don Giovanni" and a fantasy on the theme of B. Smetana's opera "The Bartered Bride".

The Orchestra of the Royal Opera Covent Garden, conducted by G. Barbirolli, will perform P. Mascagni's Intermezzo and the overture from W. Walle's opera Maritana.

The symphony orchestra under his direction performs the symphonic rhapsody “May-Dun” by J. Ireland, Symphony No. 3 by A. Bax, the overture from the opera “The Bohemian Girl” by M. Balfe, the fantasy “Song before Sunrise” by F. Dilius, symphony No. 5 by D. major by W. Williams.

Performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra under the direction of A. Boult, Suite No. 3 in C major by J.-S. Bach, Symphony No. 8 in F major, op. 93 L.V. Beethoven, "Music for string orchestra"A. Bliss, F. Mendelssohn's overture "A Midsummer Night's Dream", op. 61, overture from the opera “This is what all women do” by V.-A. Mozart, "Portsmouth Overture" by W.T. Walton, Suite "Planets", op. 32 G. Holst, Symphony No. 7 in G Major by F. Schubert, Manfred Overture, op. 115 R. Schumann.

The symphony orchestra conducted by P. Coppola performs “Nocturne” from the “Clouds” cycle by C. Debussy, a number of works by M. Ravel - a fragment from the opera-ballet “The Child and the Magic”, the play “Reflection” from the “Alborada” cycle and the play “Pavane” to the Death of the Infanta”, as well as “Spanish Dance” from the opera “Life is Short” and a fragment of the ballet “Love Enchantress” by M. de Falla.

Performed by the London Symphony Orchestra under the baton of M. Sargent are “Minuet” by L. Boccherini, “Little Concert Suite” and the suite “The Wedding Feast of Hiawatha” based on the poem by G. Longfellow S. Coleridge-Taylor, Prelude in B minor, op. 3 S.V. Rachmaninov, J. Sibelius’s symphonic poem “Finland”, M. de Falla’s suite “The Tricorne”, music for the play “Rosalind of Cyprus” by F. Schubert.

The orchestra of the Berlin State Opera under the direction of L. Blech performs the “Ballet Suite” by H.W. Gluck and overtures from operas by V.A. Mozart's "The Magic Flute", "The Marriage of Figaro" and "That's What All Women Do."

Fantasies on themes from the operas by G. Verdi “Aida”, “Rigoletto”, “La Traviata”, “Il Trovatore”, R. Leoncavallo “Pagliacci”, P. Mascagni “Rural Honor” and G. Puccini “Cio-Cio-San” are heard performed by an orchestra conducted by M. Weber.

The orchestra of the Royal Opera Covent Garden, conducted by L. Collingwood, performs P. Granger's plays "Molly on the Shore" and "The Shepherd's Call", as well as "Evensong", op. 15 No. 1 and “Morning Song”, op. 15 No. 2 E. Elgar.

The London Symphony Orchestra conducted by E. Coates performs Symphony No. 19 in D minor, op. 125 L.-V. Beethoven, E. Coates's suite "Summer Days" and the symphonic fantasy "Francesca da Rimini", op. 32 P.I. Tchaikovsky.

“Welsh Rhapsody” by B. Hermann and “Lyric Suite”, op. 54 by E. Grieg are performed by the same orchestra under the direction of L. Ronald.

The same orchestra, conducted by G. Abendroth, performs Symphony No. 1 in C minor, op. 68 and Symphony No. 4 in E minor, op. 98 J. Brahms.

Under the direction of J. Tiley, this orchestra performs the fantasy of F. Dilius “In the Summer Garden”.

Symphony “Siesta” and suite “Façade” by W.T. Walton are performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of the author.

The Orchestra of the Royal Opera Covent Garden, conducted by V. Bellezzo, performs the overture from P. Mascagni's opera "Masques".

“Spanish Rhapsody” by E. Chabrier is performed by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra under the direction of O. Gabrilovich.

The orchestra of the Berlin State Opera under the direction of E. Kleiber performs Symphony No. 39 in E flat major by V.-A. Mozart. The same orchestra, conducted by E. Fiebig, performs the overture from F. Flotov’s opera “Martha”.

The Barcelona Symphony Orchestra conducted by P. Casals will perform the African Ruins Overture and Symphony No. 4 in B flat major, op. 60 L.-V. Beethoven.
The Budapest Chamber Orchestra under the direction of V. Komora performs a fantasy on the theme of F. Erkel's opera “Bank-Ban”.

The Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by T. Jensen performs Symphony No. 2, op. 16 “The Four Temperaments” by K. Nielsen. The same orchestra, conducted by L. Grendal, will perform a fragment of the ballet “Naples” and the overture “Echoes of Ossian” by N. Gade.

The Danish Symphony Orchestra under the direction of E. Tuxen performs the Prelude to Act 2 of the opera “Masquerade” and Symphony No. 5, op. 50 K. Nielsen.

Performed by the La Scala Theater Orchestra of Milan under the direction of E.P. Milon plays the overture from G. Rossini's opera "William Tell", and the same orchestra conducted by G. Santini plays the overture from G. Donizetti's opera "La Daughter of the Regiment".

The Czech Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by V. Talich performs Symphony No. 4 in G major, op. 88 A. Dvorak.

The collection also contains many recordings of small symphony orchestras, which are an excellent illustration of the work of famous conducting stars.

For example, the orchestra under the direction of K. Alvin performs a fragment from the music to Kotzebue’s play “The Ruins of Athens” by L.-V. Beethoven and “Turkish March” by V.-A. Mozart. “Sea Overture” by J. Ansel is performed by a symphony orchestra conducted by the author. Suite "Pastoral", op. 34 by K. Atterber is performed by a chamber orchestra conducted by K. Atterber himself. The orchestra under the direction of T. Bisham performs the symphonic poem by A. Bax “The Garden of Miracles”. The symphony orchestra conducted by E. Bloch performs the overture from R. Heiberger's opera "The Adventure of New Year's Eve." Concerto for double string orchestra by M. Tippett is performed by the Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by W. Goher. The orchestra under the direction of De Groot performs R. Wagner's play "Dreams", a fragment of R. Drigo's ballet "Harlequin's Millions", L. Aubert's play "Spanish Song" and S. Chaminade's play "Autumn". The orchestra under the baton of T. Joyce performs J. McCaffer's "Holiday Mood" and Prelude No. 2 in C sharp minor, op. 3 S.V.Rachmaninov. “Serenade” by M. Mashkovsky and “Siciliana” by K. Schmalstikh are performed by an orchestra conducted by F. Kaufman.
Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G major J.-S. Bach is performed by the A. Corto chamber orchestra. The Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of K. Lambert performs a fragment of the opera “Koanga” by F. Dilius and the overture “Street Corner” by A. Rawsthorne. The symphony orchestra conducted by J. Lewis will perform H. Wood's play "An Unforgettable Melody" and E. Coates' suite "London". Coleridge's "Four Characteristic Waltzes" are performed by the New Symphony Orchestra conducted by J. A. Murray. “Romanian Fantasy” by G. Stefanescu is performed by A. Rode’s orchestra. The orchestra under the direction of R. Heger performs the piece by K.M. Weber "Abu Hasan" and the overture in D major by J. Haydn. Symphony in G minor by E.J. Moran is performed by a symphony orchestra conducted by L. Hayward.

The collection contains several recordings of musical works performed by different orchestras, accompanied by individual instruments. For example, V. Horowitz (piano) and the NBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by A. Toscanini perform Concerto No. 1 in B flat major, op. 23 P.I. Tchaikovsky. S.V. Rachmaninov (piano) accompanied by the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra conducted by L. Stokowski perform Concerto No. 2 in C minor, op. 18 S.V. Rachmaninov. A. Schnabel (piano) accompanied by the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by G. Barbirolli perform the Concerto in B flat major, Concerto 595 by V.A. Mozart. Concerto in E minor, op. 64 by F. Mendelssohn is performed by F. Kreisler (violin) and the Berlin State Opera Orchestra conducted by L. Blech. I. Menuhin (violin), accompanied by a symphony orchestra conducted by G. Enescu, performs the Concerto in E minor, op. 64 F. Mendelssohn. With the Paris Symphony Orchestra conducted by P. Montet he performs Concerto No. 1 in D major, op. 6 N. Paganini. With the same orchestra, in a duet with G. Enesko (violin), he performs the Concerto for 2 violins and orchestra in D minor by J.-S. Bach.

J. Heifetz (violin), accompanied by a symphony orchestra, performs “Jewish Melody” by I. Achron, Concerto No. 2 in D minor, op. 22 G. Wieniawski and Serenade, op. 48 P.I. Tchaikovsky. Together with the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by G. Barbirolli, he performs the Concerto in A minor, op. 82 A.K. Glazunov, Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, op. 28 K. Saint-Saens. Together with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra under the direction of J. Goossens, he performs the Violin Concerto by W.T. Walton.

M. Elman (violin), accompanied by an orchestra conducted by N. Shilkret, performs “Melancholic Serenade”, op. 26 P.I. Tchaikovsky.

B. Mason (organ), accompanied by the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by A. Boult, performs “Crown of the Empire” (“Coronation March” 1937) by W.T. Walton.

This collection contains two recordings of vocal and symphonic music. This is a recording of an oratorio by W.T. Walton's "Belshazzar's Feast" performed by the choir and the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of the author, as well as a recording of P.E. Lange-Müller's "It Was Once" performed by the Royal Chapel under the direction of I.M. Knudsen.

The same large section in the fund as symphonic music is the section of instrumental music. It clearly shows several headings - recordings of pianists, violinists, performers on other instruments, recordings of instrumental duets, trios, quartets and various ensembles.

Let's start the review with the work of pianists. Thus, the fund contains several recordings by V. Backhaus, who performed works by F. Chopin - Prelude and Etude in C major, op. 10 No. 1; “Revolutionary Etude” in F major, op. 10 No. 12; Etudes in F minor No. 9, A flat major No. 10, E flat major No. 11, op. 10.

The plays of S. Chaminade are performed by U. Bournet - “Waltz-Arabesque”, “Creole Dance”, “Pierrette”, “Morning Song”.

Symphonic Etudes, op. 13 (posthumous opus) by R. Schumann is performed by A. Cortot.
“Four Rich Men for piano” (1938) by A. Rawsthorne is performed by D. Matthews.
AND I. Paderewski performs Campanella, op. 7, N. Paganini-F. Liszt; Waltz in C sharp minor, op. 64 No. 2; Nocturne No. 5 in F sharp major, op. 15; Etude in E major, op. 10 No. 13 F. Chopin; impromptu in A flat major, op. 142 No. 2 by F. Schubert; the play “Why” from the cycle “Fantastic Pieces”, op. 12 No. 3 and Symphonic Etudes, op. 13 (posthumous opus) by R. Schumann.

Performed by S.V. Rachmaninov's prelude in G minor, op. 32 No. 5 of S.V. himself Rachmaninov, Waltz in B flat minor, op. 69 No. 2 by F. Chopin, Waltz in A flat major, op. 40 No. 8 P.I. Tchaikovsky.

A. Rubinstein performs Capriccio in B flat minor, op. 76 J. Brahms, Prelude No. 10 (“The Sunken Cathedral”) by C. Debussy, Mazurka in C minor by F. Chopin.

K. Horely performed “Six Preludes for Piano” by L. Berkeley; performed by I. Sharer - “Gavotte” by W. Beuys and “Arabesque” by C. Debussy; performed by A. Schnabel - Sonata No. 11 in B flat major, op. 22.

Records are played in the fund famous violinists. The section related to the work of F. Kreisler is especially rich, performed by “Minuet” by J.-S. Bach, Gavotte in F major L.-V. Beethoven, Waltz in A major, op. 39 No. 15 J. Brahms, “Indian Canzonetta” and “Humoresque”, op. 101 No. 7 by A. Dvořák, the play “Memoirs” by F. Drdl, “The Viennese Caprice” and the play “The Chinese Tambourine”, op. 3 F. Kreisler, “Andantino” by G. Martini, intermezzo “Meditation” by J. Massenet, “Variations” by G. Tartini, “Song without Words”, op. 2 No. 3 and “Humoresque”, op. 10 No. 2 P.I. Tchaikovsky, Mazurkas in A minor, op. 67 No. 4 and D minor, op. 33 No. 2 F. Chopin, “Musical Moment” by F. Schubert.

J. Kubelik performs the mazurka “The Piper” and concerto No. 2 for violin and orchestra in D minor, op. 22 G. Wieniawski, capriccio “Pierrot’s Serenade”, op. 28 A. Gandenera, “Tsapatadeo” from the “Spanish Suite”, op. 23 No. 2 P. Sarasate.

I. Menukhin performs “Caprice” No. 24 in A minor by N. Paganini, “Flight of the Bumblebee” by N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov, “Capriccioso” by F. Rees, “Spanish Dance” from the opera “Life is Short” by M. de Falla, “Alegro” by J.-E. Flocco.
J. Heifetz performed “Jewish Melody” by I. Achron, “Scherzo-Tarantella”, op. 16 G. Wieniawski, waltz from the ballet A.K. Glazunov "Raymonda", op. 57 No. 6, “Lullaby”, op. 28 No. 3 P. Juona, Largo in G major P. Clerambault, “Gypsy Tunes”, op. 20 No. 1 P. Sarasate.

E.A. Zimbalist performs Minuet in G major by L.-V. Beethoven, the play “Swan” from the fantasy of C. Saint-Saens “Carnival of the Animals”, Waltz, op. 64 F. Chopin.

M. Elman performs a fantasy on the theme of the opera “Faust” by C. Gounod, “Humoresque”, op. 101 No. 7 by A. Dvořák, “Serenade” by R. Drigo, play by E. Ysaye “Children’s Dreams”, op. 14, “Gypsy Tunes”, op. 20 P. Sarasate, “Dreams” by R. Schumann, “Gypsy Songs” by S. Espejo.

The organists' recordings are represented by the following names: W.J. Alcock (performs the chorale “Behold the Lord, we are before you” by J.-S. Bach), E. Bullock (performs the Prelude and Fugue in A minor by J.-S. Bach), F. Widero (performs the Prelude and Fugue by D. Buxtehude) , R. Goss (performs fragments of the “Gothic Suite” by K. M. Bellmann, E. McDowell’s play “Wild Rose”, “Funeral March” by F. Chopin); J.D. Cunningham (performing the finale of Symphony No. 8 by S.M. Widor); A. Mal (performs the intermezzo from P. Mascagni’s opera “Honor Rusticana”, Barcarolle from J. Offenbach’s opera “The Tales of Hoffmann” and “Military March” by F. Schubert); R. Furth (performs Tadilla’s plays “Valencia” and “Flowers of Love”); A.M. Henderson performs works of his own composition - the play “Forest Flowers” ​​and a fantasy to three old Scottish melodies. We also note a large record of organist D. Lepin, on which he performs a number of organ works by J.-S. Bach, D. Buxtehude, F. Liszt, F. Peters, D. Scarlatti and others.

Among the recordings of other instruments, we can mention the recording of V.G. Wodehouse (harpsichord), performing the “Italian Concerto” by J.-S. Bach, and A. Segovia (guitar), performing the Courant from the French Suite by J.S. Bach, “Brilliant Etude” by F. Tárrega, a fragment of the Sonatina in A major by F. Torroba and “Fandangillo” by J. Turin.

This collection contains many recordings of instrumental chamber groups and ensembles.

There are especially many recordings of various duets. For example, the duet of E. Bartlett (piano) and R. Robertson (piano) performs a waltz from Suite No. 1 by A.S. Arensky and “Slavic Dance” No. 15 by A. Dvorak. The duet of P. Casals (violin) and N. Mednikov (piano) performs “Spanish Dance” in E minor, op. 37 No. 5 E. Granados, “Spanish Dance”, op. 54 No. 5 D. Popper, Melody in F major, op. 3 No. 1 A.G. Rubinstein, “Dreams” from the cycle “Children’s Scenes” by R. Schumann. The duet of A. Cortot (piano) and J. Thibault (violin) performs the Sonata in A major, op. 47 No. 9 L.-V. Beethoven.

F. Kreisler (violin) in a duet with G. Kreisler (cello) performs the play “Syncops” by F. Kreisler, in a duet with M. Raucheisen (piano) - “Vienna Miniature March”, in a duet with S.V. Rachmaninov (piano ) - Sonata in C minor, op. 45 E. Grieg.

I. Menuhin (violin) and A. Balza (piano) perform “Scherzo-Tarantella”, op. 16 G. Wieniawski and “Ave Maria” by F. Schubert.

The duet of J. Heifetz (violin) and I. Achron (piano) performs “The Jewish Dance” by I. Achron, Prelude No. 8 “The Girl with Flaxen Hair” by C. Debussy, F. Mendelssohn’s play “On the Wings of Song”, several works by P. Sarasate - Spanish dances “Malagueña”, op. 21 No. 1, "Habanera", op. 21 No. 2, “Zapateado”, op. 23 No. 6, Introduction and Tarantella, op. 43.

Works by E. Dohnanyi “Hungarian Rural Suite for Violin and Piano”, op. 32 No. 2 and the piece “Seville” from the “Spanish Suite” by I. Albeniz are performed by the duet J. Heifetz (violin) and A. Sandor (piano).

Sonata No. 2 for violin and piano, op. 31 E. Robbra is performed by A. Sammons (violin) and J. Moore (piano).

M. Elman (violin) and P.B. Kan (piano) perform “Aria” by I.S. Bach.

Among the famous trios, one can name the recordings of A. Cortot (piano), J. Thibault (violin) and P. Casals (cello) performing the trio in G major by J. Haydn. Trio W. Davis (piano), M. Hayward (violin), S. Sharp (cello) performs trio No. 31, op. 1 and Trio No. 4 op. 11 L.-V. Beethoven and Suite on the themes of the operas “Alcina”, “Alexander” and “Ottone” by G.-F. Handel.

There are many recordings of various quartets in the collection. For example: F. Kreisler (violin) with a string quartet perform a fragment from String Quartet No. 1, op. 11 P.I. Tchaikovsky. F. Kreisler (violin), E. Zimbalist (violin) with a string quartet perform the Concerto in D minor by J.-S. Bach. The Flonfal Quartet performs several works by L.-V. Beethoven - Quartet in G major, op. 18 No. 2, Quartet in C minor, op. 18 No. 4, Quartet in F major, op. 135. The virtuoso string quartet performs the Quartet in G minor, op. 10 C. Debussy and Quartet in E flat major, op. 44 No. 3 F. Mendelssohn. String Quartet: G. Stratton, K. Taylor, W. Forbes and J. Moore perform the Quartet in E minor, op. 83 E. Elgar.

In this section we can also mention recordings of a piano octet conducted by F. Fink, which performed the Prelude in C sharp minor, op. 3 No. 2 S.V.Rachmaninova and Polonaise in A major, op. 40 No. 1 by F. Chopin, as well as a recording of the International String Octet performing the Octet in E flat major, op. 20 F. Mendelssohn.

There are many recordings of operetta in this collection.

Let us note, first of all, the complete recordings of two operettas by the English composer A. Sullivan. This is the operetta “Iolanta”, which is performed by G. Baker, W. Lauson, B. Lewis, D. Oldham, L. Rands, D. Fancourt and others, a choir and a symphony orchestra conducted by M. Sargent. Another recording is a recording of the operetta "The Mikado" performed by E. Griffin, G.A. Lytton, D. Oldham and others, choir and orchestra conducted by D. Carte.

The rest of this section of the fund consists of recordings of fragments of various operettas. For example, a fantasy on the theme of I. Kalman’s operetta “Maritsa” is performed by a gypsy orchestra conducted by A. Rode. Fragments of the operettas by F. Lehár “The Merry Widow” and “The Count of Luxembourg” are performed by an orchestra conducted by M. Weber and the International Concert Orchestra. M. Weber's orchestra also performs a medley from J. Offenbach's operetta “The Beautiful Helen”. The London Orchestra of the Palladium Theater under the direction of K. Greenwood performs a fragment of the operetta Z. Romberg “The Student Prince”. Many recordings from A. Sullivan’s operettas: fragments from the operettas “The Guardsmen” and “The Gondoliers” are performed by an orchestra conducted by J. Evans and an orchestra conducted by D. Carte; the overture from the operetta “The Mikado” was performed by a symphony orchestra conducted by J. Godfrey, and a fantasy on a theme by an orchestra conducted by M. Weber; overture from the operetta “Princess Ida” - performed by a symphony orchestra conducted by M. Sargent, and J. Baker and R. Watson perform several arias from it; fragments from the operetta “Ruddigor” are performed by A. Moxom, a choir and a symphony orchestra conducted by M. Sargent.

The orchestra conducted by M. Weber performs waltzes from L. Fall's operettas “The Dollar Princess” and “The Divorced Wife.” Tenor S. Coltham performs an aria from R. Friml's operetta "Rose Marie".
Fragments from the operetta Die Fledermaus by J. Strauss are performed by the orchestra of the Covent Garden Theater conducted by G. Barbirolli and the orchestra of the Berlin State Opera conducted by E. Fiebig.

A significant section of the fund consists of recordings of folk music.

The Russian section is represented by Russian folk songs performed by F.I. Shalyapin (bass) (“Along along Piterskaya”, “Down along Mother’s Volga”, “Dubinushka”, “Made noisy, went wild”, “From under the oak”, “Not a fine autumn rain”, “Night”, “Song of the Wretched” wanderer”, “You rise, the red sun”, “Hey, let’s whoop” and the Ukrainian folk song “Oh, at the luzi ta izey pri birch”); Russian choir under the direction of I. Stepanov (“Wicket”, “Not White Snows”). D. Masha (soprano) performs gypsy songs “Gaida, Gaida” and “There is a tambourine ringing.”

The section is based on recordings of Irish and Scottish music. For example, the Irish marches “God Bless Ireland”, “The Boys from Wexford”, “The Girl I Left” are performed by an instrumental group conducted by D. Sullivan; L. Dawson and his instrumental group perform a number of Irish tunes (“Miss Monaghan”, etc.); S. Sharp's folk dance group performs Irish folk dances (“Bobbing Joe”, “Village Gardens”, etc.); Irish Military Group No. 1 under the direction of F. Brosse performs Irish popular tunes and military bugle calls (“Dawn”, “Sunset”, etc.).

The Scottish Folk Dance Ensemble under the direction of J. Robertson performs a number of Scottish folk dances arranged by J. Robertson (“The White Sultan”, “The Duke of Perth”, “The Glasgow Highlanders”, “The Ladies’ Favorite”, “Hamilton’s House”, “She” too young to marry”, “Prince Charles of Edinburgh”, “Prosper Glasgow”, “Flowers of Edinburgh”, etc.). The folk dance orchestra under the direction of A. Foster performs Scottish village melodies and dances (“Lady in Dark”, “Boatman”, “Confession”, “Scottish Captain”, etc.). Scottish Folk Dance Orchestra conducted by J.M. Diaka performs folk dances (“Willow Branch”, “Glasgow Highlanders”, etc.).

We also note two very interesting collections - “Music of the Lands of Upper Scotland” and “Songs of the Hybrid Islands”, on which many Scottish folk melodies and songs were recorded performed by the Glasgow choir under the direction of J. Robertson.

Among other European folk music, we note the recordings of a Swedish dance ensemble, which performs Scandinavian dances (“Mountain March”, “Swedish Masquerade”, “The Joy of a Girl”, etc.) and an orchestra conducted by T. Mann, performing Swedish dances in the arrangement of Swedish composers A. Lindblad, A. Sederman and others.

We also note the recordings of S. Grauzinis (tenor), performing Lithuanian folk songs (“Young Girl”, “Oh, Don’t Cuckoo”, “What the Winds Are Rushing About”, etc.).

Eastern music is represented by recordings of Iranian folk melodies performed by folk performers - Banana (“Bitterness of Separation”, “Sadness of Love”, “Dashti”, “Song addressed to God”, “Oppression”); B. Delkasha (“Friend”, “Passion”, “Shahnaz”, etc.); B. Zade (“Meadow Butterfly”, “Autumn of Love”, etc.); B. Zarobi (“Eternal Mysteries”, “The Hopeful”, etc.); B. Parvaneh (“Soul friend”, “You are beautiful as the moon”, “Joking look”, etc.); B. Ruhangiza (“Darling”, “Leila’s Leg”, “Nightingale Sadness”, etc.); A. Khunsari (“Blood of the Heart”, “Segah”, “You are my Lord”) and others.

A significant section is made up of light contemporary music performed by various orchestras. The "British Grenadiers" march and the English anthems "God Save the King" and "Rule Britannia!" performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by A. Boult. Military regimental marches are also performed by the Royal Guards Band conducted by W.K. Windram, Republican Guards Band conducted by M.G. Balai, a military brass band conducted by A.O. Pierce (“Regimental March,” “Stars and Stripes”), a military band conducted by R.G. Evans (“Liberty Bell”, “Forest Nymphs”, “Bear Picnic”, “Going South”, “Parade of the Toy Soldiers”), an orchestra conducted by A. Pryor (“The Orderly”) and others.

A large selection is made up in this section of the waltz recording fund. Especially many of them were recorded performed by the orchestra under the direction of M. Weber (waltzes by E. Waldteufel “Blonde or Brunette”, “Golden Rain”, “The Magic of the Siren”, “My Dream”, “Tales of Autumn”); I. Ivanovichi “Danube Waves”; F. Legara “Gold or Silver”; I. Strauss “Wine, Woman, Song”, “Blue Danube”, “Barn Swallows”, “Life of an Artist”, “Southern Roses”), as well as a series of records “Fantasy” on the tunes of I. Strauss.

Waltzes are also performed by the London Palladium Theater Orchestra under the direction of E. Peters (waltzes by G. Gilbert “Katya the Dancer”, Dawson “The Druid Priest”, Joyce “Dream”, Fraser “The Girl from the Mountains”); orchestra conducted by J. Nilton (potpourri of Viennese waltzes “Blue Danube”, “Love will find you”, “One hour”, “With all my heart”, “Morning”, etc.); orchestra conducted by W. Prentice (selection of waltzes by I. Novello “Waltz of my heart”, “ Leap year", "Wings of Dreams", "Primrose"); orchestra conducted by N. Shilkret (waltz by E. Waldteufel “Love and Spring”); orchestra conducted by F. Kaufman (waltz by J. Strauss “Voices of Spring”); brass band conducted by J. Evans (waltz by R. Drigo “Waltz of the Flowers”); International Concert Orchestra (waltzes by I. Kalman “Sari”, O. Strauss “Dreams”).

Waltzes “Marilyn” and “Saxema” are performed by R. Widoft (saxophone) accompanied by piano.
The orchestra under the direction of R. Noble performs several foxtrots (“All Thoughts About You,” “Little Dutch Mill”). Foxtrots are also performed by an orchestra conducted by P. Whiteman (“What are you doing on Sunday, Mary?”, etc.).

In the section of the fund there are many recordings of dance pieces performed by various orchestras - the orchestra conducted by R. Crean (“Siesta”, “Dance of the Grasshoppers”), the orchestra conducted by F. Kaufman (“Jolly Bear”, “Doll and the Snowman”), the orchestra under conducted by O. Kermbon (“Pan and the Forest Goblins”, “Dwarf Patrol”), orchestra conducted by J. Becker (“In the Shadow of the Palms”, “Star of My Soul”), orchestra conducted by T. Jones (“In the Shadows”, " Fairy tale"), Folk Dance Orchestra ("29 May", "Triumph"), Vocal Jazz Group ("Tea for Two").

The collection contains several recordings of Hawaiian music performed by the Hawaiian dance orchestra (waltzes “Aloma”, “Hawaiian Nights”), guitarists H. Louis, F. Ferrera, J. Paaluhi (waltzes “Hawaiian Slow Waltz”, “Pearl of Hawaii”).

The section of foreign songs is represented by a few but extremely interesting recordings. These are recordings of songs by J. Ibert from the film “Don Quixote” performed by F.I. Chaliapin (bass); songs from the movie “Don't Forget Me” performed by B. Gigli (tenor); pieces from the movie “City Lights” performed by an orchestra conducted by De Groot and a large selection of black blues and spirituals performed by the famous American singer P. Robson (bass) (“Poor Old Joe”, “Wagon Wheels”, “Good Night Lady” , "Lullaby", "Mama", "My Boy", "My Old Kentucky Home", "Don't Cry, My Darling", "Night", "Oh, Suzanne", "Take Me Back to Old Virginia", " Early in the morning”, “Witness”, “I found refuge at this rock”, etc.).

The first section of the fund is completed by several records with recordings of the voices of animals and birds: a recording of nightingale singing, birdsong accompanied by a choir and organ, the waltz “Hawaiian Memories” performed by birds and a Hawaiian orchestra, a recording of the morning singing of forest birds and a recording of the voices of barnyard animals and birds. .

The second part of the fund consists of records produced at HMV branches in various countries.
Greek records are presented first. They feature Greek folk songs, dances and melodies performed by folk singers and folk instrument orchestras. Of the most famous performers should be named N. Anastasiou, N. Kyriakidou, V. Maliaros, G. Papasidoris, G. Sitellakis, A. Skerdalos, G. Trakis, P. Tsaousakis and others. They perform songs and melodies “In Athens”, “In Livadia”, “On a May day I liked you”, “Here in our garden”, “I swear to you”, “On rose bush", "Oh you mountains, Karchi", "Bird of May", etc.

In the Indian section of the fund, two types of music are played - Indian folk songs, dances and melodies and songs for films. In the first case, Bengali and Punjabi folk songs and melodies performed by D. Sindh, V.N. Setha, A.S. Gunta, S. Kaura, R. Shankara, S. Mitra, K.A. Thirakhava, N. Kunwara, A.A. Hadara, Ali Akbar Khana, A.A. Kumari and other performers.

In the second section there are songs from the films “Brother and Sister”, “Mistress”, “Mr. 420”, “Dhaka”, “Two Pieces of Bread”, “Detail”, “Mother India”, “Nagin”, “New Round”, " Night club"", "Midnight", "Criminal", "Traveler", "Raj Hath", "Robber", "Sima", "Mother's Words", "Your Look", "Third Lane", "Craftsman", "Prank", “Blackmailer” and others performed by S. Badayani, A. Bhosli, D. Begum, Sh.D. Gupta, G. Dutt, M. Dey, H. Kumara, L. Mangeshkara, T. Manmood, I. Mitro, M. Rafi, S. Hemaji and other famous performers.

HMV's Italian section ("La voce del padrone") is more varied. There are two recordings of opera music here. This is a recording of T. Ruffo (baritone), performing arias from G. Verdi's operas "Rigoletto" and "La Traviata", as well as a recording of A. Granforte (baritone), performing an aria from "Rigoletto".

The orchestra of Milan's La Scala Theater conducted by Cione will perform the Prelude from the opera Fedora by U. Giordano and the Intermezzo from the opera Andrienne Lecouvreur by F. Cilea.

Symphonic music is represented by recordings of the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra conducted by L. Stokowski, performed by: Symphony No. 1 in C minor, op. 68 J. Brahms, Symphony No. 5 in E minor (“From the New World”), orchestra 95 A. Dvorak, symphonic suite on the theme of the opera by M.P. Mussorgsky "Boris Godunov", Symphonic Suite "Scheherazade", op. 35 N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov and fragments of the ballet “The Nutcracker” by P.I. Tchaikovsky.

The most extensive section is represented here by Italian folk music. We can mention the Lombardy Alpine Village Choir (songs “Bouquet of Flowers”, “Cuckoo”, “Hello to Spring”, “Violet”, etc.); Biel Alpine Choir under the direction of M. Maggi (songs “Alps”, “Calabriseda”, “When the Sun is Beautiful”, etc.); choir and orchestra of Etna under the direction of S. Riel (Sicilian folk songs “Merry Sicily”, “Volcano”, “You are still sleeping”, “Caustic ditties”, “Beauty from the Castle”, “Love Tarantella”, “Our Sicily” are heard, “Harvest Festival”, “Picking Lemons”); orchestra of folk instruments conducted by N. Spampinato (Sicilian songs “The Wicked Widow”, “Capricious Girl”, etc.); folk song ensemble under the direction of S. Faro (songs “The Feast of St. Agatha”, “You are my love”, “I remember you”).

There are several recordings of contemporary light music in the Italian section of the HMV fund. For example, the orchestra under the direction of D. Anenet performs dance tunes “Girl from a Boulevard Novel” and “Cha-cha-cha”; an ensemble of guitarists led by Luceri performs musical motifs from the Disney cartoon “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”; the orchestra conducted by D. Olivieri performs an instrumental arrangement of the song “Old Europe”, etc.

The section of the HMV fund produced in Pakistan includes recordings of folk songs, dances and melodies performed by such singers as: A. Ahmed, N. Begum, D. Bhatti, Z. Parveen, M. Sultan, Z. Khanum, M. Hussain and etc.
A fairly large section is a collection of HMV records made in Turkey (“Sahibinin Sesi”).

Here we can separately note the recordings of the orchestra conducted by M. Weber, which performed medleys on the themes of the operas by G. Bizet “Carmen”, G. Verdi “Rigoletto” and G. Puccini “Tosca”.

An interesting recording of “Mustafa Kemal Pasha’s Ghazi March” performed by the Presidential Orchestra of Turkey.
The bulk are recordings of folk music.

Several Turkish folk melodies and dances are performed by O. Pehlivan (tambour) and R. Efendi (clarinet).

Among the vocal performers, we will mention the names of the famous Turkish singer Z. Bilar (sings the songs “True, beloved”, “Go in love”, “My only mother”, “Song about gardens”, “Come to me slowly”, “Halva seller”, “ An old woman’s conversation with fate”, “You can’t go down from the cliffs”, “Pick an apple from a tree”, etc.); S. Yanar Rutkay (sings the songs “Flowers Bloomed in the Garden”, “A Star Has Rising”, “Caravan”, “Didn’t You Go to the River?”, “Don’t Blow, Wind”, “Sing the Nightingale”, “Separation”, “What”) you are doing?"); N. Mehmet (sings the songs “Go Beauty”, “On the Roads of Kevengin”, “What a Bride”); Z. Muren (sings the songs “Summer Rain”, “My Heart Sorrows”, “One Day You Will Come”); Trio K. Jamal, U. Mustafa and S. Rejen (performing “Ahmensar Dance”, “Izmir Dance”, “Edremit Dance”, “Manist Dance”). Other performers include A. Jan (songs “On the Golden Cup I Dried a Rose”, “Bride”), M. Yerim (song “Oh, If I Were a Flower in the Garden”), Z. Muren (song “Spring Blooms”) roses"), U. Kamil (song “There is a garden in front of the house”), M. Nekati (song “Wake up, Ali”), R. Sadyk (song “Pipe”), N.A. Fayzi (song “Mahmud found his bride”), H. Hussein (song “The Name I Love”), Z. Emin (songs “Met”, “Dance”).

The section of the Finnish production fund is a collection of records of the symphonic and vocal-symphonic genres. For example, the Finnish Radio Orchestra under the direction of N.E. Fongstadt performs instrumental works by Finnish composers T. Kuula, L. Mandetoi, O. Merikanto, J. Sibelius, A. Sonninen. The HMV Concert Orchestra, conducted by M. Simil, performs works by O. Mericanto and J. Sibelius.

Vocal-symphonic and choral works by E. Bergman, T. Kuul, L. Mandetoi, S. Palmgren and J. Sibelius are presented by the Academic Choir under the direction of E. Bergman and the choir state university Helsinki.

The section of the HMV fund made in Czechoslovakia is quite interesting. First of all, records with operatic repertoire stand out here, since they represent recordings not only of famous world performers, such as A. Galli-Curci (soprano) (sings arias from the operas C. Gounod “Faust”, L. Delibes “Lakmé”, G. Rossini “The Barber of Seville”, Solveig’s Song from E. Grieg’s suite “Peer Gynt”), B. Gigli (tenor) (sings arias from the operas G. Verdi “Rigolletto”, G. Puccini “Tosca”) and E. Caruso (tenor) (sings arias from the operas G. Verdi “Aida” and G. Puccini “Tosca”), but also recordings by Czech performers - A. Nordenova (soprano) (sings an aria from B. Smetana’s opera “The Bartered Bride”), E Pollerta (bass) (sings an aria from B. Smetana’s opera “The Kiss”). We also note the recording of a sextet from B. Smetana’s opera “The Bartered Bride” performed by H. Vavra, B. Kozlikova, M. Krasova, S. Muza, A. Nordenova and E. Pollert.
There are several recordings and symphonic music here. For example, the Berlin State Orchestra under the direction of L. Blech performs Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 1. The Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra conducted by L. Stokowski performs Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2. The overture from G. Rossini's opera “The Barber of Seville” is performed by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by A. Toscanini.

Chamber instrumental music is represented in this section by recordings by V. Backhaus (piano) (performs a fragment of the suite “Iberia” by I. Albéniz, Waltz in A flat major by F. Chopin, “Military March” in E major and Espromt in A flat major, op. 90 No. 4 by F. Schubert) and M. Elman (violin) (performs “Humoresque”, op. 101 No. 7 by A. Wilhelmi and “Cavatina” by I. Rafor).

Light dance melodies are performed by the orchestra conducted by J. Harvat.

The final section of the HMV collection is a collection of records produced in Sweden. They depict the Student Choir under the direction of J. Heder, performing several vocal works by Swedish composers, including J. Heder himself, as well as a trio of bassoonists - T. Rennebäcki, E. Strömbland and S. Sundin - performing works G. Adolf “Peasant Dance for Three Bassoons” and E. Rolf “Little Fugue for Three Bassoons”.

Last September, 2012, marked the 112th anniversary of the most famous and recognizable trademark in the history of the global music industry (and one of the oldest trademarks in the world).

This sign is inextricably linked with the history of the phonograph and with the history of one painting that I want to talk about. Perhaps some of you have seen a picture in galleries in which a dog carefully listens to the sounds flying from a gramophone pipe. This painting is called “His Master’s Voice”, painted by the artist Francis James Barro.

In 1884, Herbert (Mark) Barro, who lived in Bristol, picked up a stray fox terrier dog and named it Nipper, which can be translated as biter or claw. The dog was so named for its tendency to bite the legs of visitors. The Fox Terrier became Barro's faithful friend.

Shortly before his death, Herbert purchased a phonograph and recorded his voice on it. Nipper often listened to this voice and wondered how it was - the owner was sitting next to him, and his voice was coming from a black pipe.
When Herbert died in 1895, the dog and the phonograph went to his younger brother, Francis, as he agreed to look after the dog. Nipper was transported to Liverpool.
Days and nights the fox terrier sat at the phonograph pipe, yearning for his owner and hoping that his voice, which had previously so often come from this pipe, would sound from there.
Francis Barro recalled that he often noticed how the dog was puzzled to understand where the voice was that should sound from the trumpet. Three years later, in September 1898, Nipper died (they write from melancholy). The scene of waiting for the owner's voice at the gramophone was indelibly imprinted on Barrault's brain, and he decided to transfer it to canvas.

In those years they listened to - Pour Toi, Rio-Rita

In its original form, the painting was completed on February 11, 1899 and was titled “Dog looking at and listening to a phonograph.” I would like to immediately note that it is from this painting that art lovers know the name of the artist.

"Adventures" paintings

Barrault tried to present the painting at an exhibition at the Royal Academy, but the work was rejected by the jury. The artist decided to place his work in several magazines, but again failed. The argument put forward as the reason for the refusal was that “the title of the picture makes it unclear what the dog is doing and why.”
Barro even offered his work to the Edison Bell Company (a leading manufacturer of phonograph cylinders), but again without success. The company's response read: "Dogs don't listen to gramophones!"
One of Barrault's friends suggested that Francis replace the black gramophone trumpet with a more modern brass model and come up with a shorter name. This could provide a better opportunity to sell it.
Barro visited one of the newly formed gramophone companies (The Gramophone Company) and asked to hire a brass trumpet to use as a model.
Company manager Gary Owen, a great lover of painting, offered to buy the painting if Barro replaced the Berliner gramophone depicted on the canvas with the Edison cylinder machine brand, produced by the Edison plant exclusively for the British market.
Barrot took into account all the wishes, and on October 17, 1899, a new version of the painting was ready under the new title “His Master's Voice”. By the way, I should note right away that Gary Owen bought the painting from the artist for only 100 pounds. And one more thing interesting fact - the gramophone company that bought Barrault's painting was the ancestor of the famous Electronic and Musical Industries corporation, known as E.M.I.
But the “adventures” of the film did not end there.
In May 1900, during his visit to London, the inventor of flat-plate recording and the gramophone, Emile Berliner, a German by birth living in the United States, saw a painting by Barrault on the wall in Owen's office. Berliner immediately contacted Barro and asked him to make a copy of the painting, but with a model of his company's gramophone.
The businessman brought the painting to the USA and on July 10, 1900, registered it with the patent office as a trademark of his company.

Berliner offered this trademark to his partner Eldridge R. Johnson, with whom he worked on improving the gramophone. Johnson's company distributed Barro's painting as the logo of the gramophone corporation in Central and South America, the Far East and Japan.
Nipper appeared in advertisements for gramophones already in 1900. In addition, Nipper at the gramophone was placed on official letters and company documents, sales catalogs and disc labels.

Later, Barrault's painting became the logo of the Gramophone Company in England, whose manager was the first to buy the artist's painting, although the company already had its own corporate icon - "Guardian Angel". In Germany, the company DGG (Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft) also used Barrault's masterpiece as a label, only in the German translation - “Die Stimme des Herrn”.

As a result of the 1929 merger of the companies into the International Corporation, the Nipper label was popular until around the end of World War II.

Afterword

The artist died on August 29, 1924, at the age of sixty-nine. He wrote about 24 copies of his most famous work for gramophone company subsidiaries around the world. At the same time, Barro wrote another version of the picture, in which the phonograph was replaced by a gramophone, and for this work he received only two payments of 50 pounds sterling each. In addition, the artist was denied the copyright to change the painting depicting Nipper (a paradox!).
At the same time, Barrault's painting became one of the most famous commercial trademarks in the world, which was used by such “monsters” of the music industry as HMV, RCA, and JVC.

And although today the EMI corporation uses this mark to identify its stores only in the UK and Europe, the “Voice of its Owner” brand is still recognizable and firmly takes its place in the top ten “Most Recognizable Brands of the 20th Century”.

Source news magazine