Copyright 2013

Robert W. Taylor

Owning Opus 1280 and its large roll collection provides tremendous opportunities to explore music.  The manually registered 116 note rolls are difficult to play correctly.  This tends to diminishes the importance of these rolls.  Some are just boring to begin with, but others reflect enormous talent in bringing important works to the perforated roll.

Here is one of those selections.

Romeo & Juliet Overture

Tschaikowsky portrays the feuding clans, Capulets and Montagues, by alternating the theme between various orchestra sections.  This gave the Aeolian arranger license to switch back and forth between organ divisions.  Showing both strife early in the story, and later love, the wonderfully distinct chambers of Opus 1280 render this quite well.

Selecting the best imitative stops, the arranger further renders many of the orchestra voices.  Aeolian’s harp never disappoints.  Flutes balanced against strings and reeds continue the illusion of the symphony orchestra.  Finally, as the tympani drones in the conclusion, low manual pipes oppose the pedal flute to simulate the beating, but ringing tympani.

It took several weeks to convert this roll to fully automatic Duo Art status.