EXPLORING MUSIC: ABSOLUTELY ENCHANTING--Vaudeville Songs played on Music Boxes

It's truly a wonderful time for me when I receive a Rita Ford music box anthology for consideration. I get the recording going as soon as I can, and just sit while being bathed in a particular brand of luxury only afforded by the gentler era conjured by the floating sounds of these mechanical marvels. My children rush into the living room when they hear the music boxes begin so that they too can be captured by the magic. As the melodies breeze by I am overtaken by a frenzy of nostalgia-silhouette portraits, tatted antimacassars, horseless carriages, nickelodeons, vaudeville--all the things I have no right being nostalgic for. I'm nowhere near 90, and I believe that one can be nostalgic for only what is in one's own memory. But that's the magic. All of these non-memories fall upon me whenever I hear these 'enchanting machines.

Vaudeville is an era I would love to have seen. The comedy was harmless, the ballads throbbed the heart, the songs were singable and memorable. The term vaudeville has its roots in early 15thcentury Normandy with one Olivier Basselin of the Vire Valley. He was much renowned in his day for composing and performing songs which spoofed whatever there was available. Basselin's songs were the absolute rage and were known, in French, as "Chansons du Yau de Vire." Put the rest together for yourself.

Vaudeville shows were interfusions of several kinds of entertainment which, theoretically, date from ancient Egypt and ended with "The Ed Sullivan Show." Its genesis in this country was within the earliest minstrel shows; it was brought to the state of its art in the decades which surround the turn of the 20th century; and it boomed from World War I until 1930 when talking pictures finally became the established entertainment standard.

It's interesting to note how some of the songs fit into the historical scheme in reference to world happenings and musical advances. For instance: "Daisy Bell" ("Bicycle Built For Two") and "The Bowery" were written in 1892, the year Peary explored the Greenland coast and the year Leoncavallo's I Pagliacci made its debut. In 1895 ''The Band Played On" was introduced. So was Til Eulenspiegel. So was income tax.

1896 was the year of "A Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight"; also that year Utah was admitted as the 32nd state, Puccini's La boheme was performed for the first time, and Giordano's Andrea Chenier had its American premiere. 1902 brought "In the Good Old Summertime." With it came Debussy's Pelleas et Melisande and the first crossAtlantic radio transmission. When these historical factors are considered, the placement of the era becomes vivid for the benefit of one's imagination.

Rita Ford, the world's most prominent collector, exhibitor, and historian of mechanical music boxes, opens yet more of her magnificent collection to us here, beautifully recorded and hence authentically displayed. The musical arrangements are absolutely enchanting to the ear and most inventive and interesting. I'm sure you'll get the same charge I did when the music box strikes up a ragtime number-it certainly does swing! It's so easy to get caught up in these familiar melodies.

It's truly a wonderful time for me when I receive a Rita Ford music box anthology for consideration. I get the recording going as soon as I can, and just sit while being bathed in a particular brand of luxury only afforded by the gentler era conjured by the floating sounds of these mechanical marvels. My children rush into the living room when they hear the music boxes begin so that they too can be captured by the magic. As the melodies breeze by I am overtaken by a frenzy of nostalgia-silhouette portraits, tatted antimacassars, horseless carriages, nickelodeons, vaudeville--all the things I have no right being nostalgic for. I'm nowhere near 90, and I believe that one can be nostalgic for only what is in one's own memory. But that's the magic. All of these non-memories fall upon me whenever I hear these 'enchanting machines.

Vaudeville is an era I would love to have seen. The comedy was harmless, the ballads throbbed the heart, the songs were singable and memorable. The term vaudeville has its roots in early 15thcentury Normandy with one Olivier Basselin of the Vire Valley. He was much renowned in his day for composing and performing songs which spoofed whatever there was available. Basselin's songs were the absolute rage and were known, in French, as "Chansons du Yau de Vire." Put the rest together for yourself.

Vaudeville shows were interfusions of several kinds of entertainment which, theoretically, date from ancient Egypt and ended with "The Ed Sullivan Show." Its genesis in this country was within the earliest minstrel shows; it was brought to the state of its art in the decades which surround the turn of the 20th century; and it boomed from World War I until 1930 when talking pictures finally became the established entertainment standard.

It's interesting to note how some of the songs fit into the historical scheme in reference to world happenings and musical advances. For instance: "Daisy Bell" ("Bicycle Built For Two") and "The Bowery" were written in 1892, the year Peary explored the Greenland coast and the year Leoncavallo's I Pagliacci made its debut. In 1895 ''The Band Played On" was introduced. So was Til Eulenspiegel. So was income tax.

1896 was the year of "A Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight"; also that year Utah was admitted as the 32nd state, Puccini's La boheme was performed for the first time, and Giordano's Andrea Chenier had its American premiere. 1902 brought "In the Good Old Summertime." With it came Debussy's Pelleas et Melisande and the first crossAtlantic radio transmission. When these historical factors are considered, the placement of the era becomes vivid for the benefit of one's imagination.

Rita Ford, the world's most prominent collector, exhibitor, and historian of mechanical music boxes, opens yet more of her magnificent collection to us here, beautifully recorded and hence authentically displayed. The musical arrangements are absolutely enchanting to the ear and most inventive and interesting. I'm sure you'll get the same charge I did when the music box strikes up a ragtime number-it certainly does swing! It's so easy to get caught up in these familiar melodies.