Completed Unfinished Business

Now, I'm not a musician by any stretch. My musical knowledge extends to being able to play the radio and, possibly, the kazoo (@bliss11 has heard me 'play' a kazoo before, so she can attest to my limited skills, I'm sure). That notwithstanding, I love listening to music and have yet to find a genre of music that I actively dislike across the board.

Songs and music - even instrumentals - all have a story behind them. Simply browsing through songfacts.com will explain the stories behind many popular songs. These stories can be just as fascinating, if not more so, than the songs themselves. As I browse weekly through my extensive and ever growing library of 78rpm records to share on my Friday Night's Concert series, I try to find some of the history behind the music that I'm about to play.

Phonograph records were originally sold individually. It's worth noting that 78rpm records contain only one song per side; the technology was not yet available to create smaller grooves with a slower spin rate to hold more music. Further, most records originally only used one side, leaving the "B" side blank. These records are very old.

This week's Friday Night Concert is primarily focused on Schubert's unfinished Symphony in B Minor. This particular version, recorded in 1921 by the Orchestra of the German Opera House and conducted by Eduard Morike, is distinct for two reasons:

1. It was the first completed, unabridged version of this particular "unfinished" symphony to be recorded acoustically.
2. It was arguably the first proper "album" of music to be distributed in the United States. That is, instead of being sold as a single, individual record, these three records were recorded on both sides (6 sides total) and sold in a single book, or album (like a photo album) as a collected, complete work.

The term "album" continued to be used for 33rpm records, even though these records are sold individually, just like the original 78rpm records.

This is what I learned today.

Please listen in on my Friday Night Concert at 6:00pm EST tonight! https://victorwiebe.com/radio_wiebe

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(c) All images and photographs, unless otherwise specified, are created and owned by me.
(c) Victor Wiebe

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About Me

Sometimes photographer. Wannabe author. Game designer. Nerd. 
General all around problem-solver and creative type.

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Blind Skeleton

Online Radio: https://victorwiebe.com/radio_wiebe
Friday Night Concert: 6:00pm EST