Edison phonograph cylinders (1888): Handel - Israel in Egypt

On Friday 29th June 1888, from 2pm, a performance of Handel's oratorio Israel in Egypt was captured on a number of wax cylinder recordings. This performance was part of the trienniel Handel Festivals mounted in the UK. They were recorded from the press gallery in Crystal Palace by Edison-representative Colonel Gouraud, as a way to test and show off Edison's phonograph. Three of these cylinders still survive.

The conductor was Sir August Manns, conducting an orchestra of some 500 musicians and a choir of over 4,000 voices, in front of an audience of 23,722 people.

These are the earliest deliberate recordings of music known to exist (earlier recordings from the 1870s are considered lost). Fortunately these can be played back at a quite definite pitch, as we know the pitch of the Crystal Palace organ at this time.

Unfortunately, the recordings are in very poor shape, audibly speaking. You are going to have a very hard time grappling with the sound, and trying to make out anything. Each cylinder contains a number of tracks. This is what you are hearing:

Cylinder 1 (0:00 - 2:27) -

The first text is "[Mo]ses, and the children of Israel sung unto the Lord and spake saying", from the chorus at the opening of Part II (very hard to hear the orchestra in this).

Following this is "I will sing unto the Lord for he hath triumphed" from the next number in Part II (you should be able to hear the altos and tenors singing at the start of this). Near the end you might make out the word "gloriously" sung in Handelian semiquavers.

Cylinder 2 (2:30 - 5:10) -

The first track on this cylinder is effectively inaudible. We do not know what the music is on it.

The second track is no.24 from the Oratorio: "Thy right hand, O Lord, is become glorious in power". Unfortunately, the stylus sticks in this track.

The third track is from the same number at "Thy right hand, O Lord, hath dashed in pieces the enemy", also with some stylus sticking problems.

Track 4 is yet more of this movement, ending with "For He hath triumphed gloriously".

Cylinder 3 (5:14 - 7:45) -

The first track is the last part of movement 37: "...ever, the Lord shall reign for ever and ever".

The second track is a fragment of number 39: "For ever and ever"

The third track is a continuation of the previous one from "...shall reign for ever and ever", and continuing as far as "For He hath triumphed gloriously".

The last track is the very end of the oratorio, from "...horse and his rider, the horse and his rider hath He thrown into the sea".

Well, as I say, all very hard to make out. You can perceive a very slow tempo being employed at least.

Incidentally, Colonel Gourard was also present at the "phonograph party" in 1888 which captured Sullivan's voice (see my posting of this), and his voice too exists on wax cylinder.

I would be fascinated to hear what people make of these. For more info about these rolls, there is a fantastic website to read here: http://www.webrarian.co.uk/crystalpalace

Category:

Music

Tags:

• classical
• recording
• edison
• phonograph
• wax
• cylinder
• handel
• historic
• first
• crystal
• palace
• israel
• in
• egypt

[anavader9019]

This is just amazing. Yeah, the tempo is way toooo slow!!!,

was this originally recorded with this slow cadence?

did it sounded like this when the cylinders were played back then, or has it been degraded?

[d60944]

@anavader9019 This is the tempo of the actual performance. THe pitch of the Crystal Palace organ is known accurately, and these playbacks give the correct pitch (therefore they are at the right tempo)

No doubt the cylinders when fresh would have captured more sound..... but then again this was experimental, and we know that Gouraud had a hard time getting far enough away from the music to get a distortion-free recording at all.

[worldsno1drwhofan]

Being able to listen to this is an incredibly emotional and moving experience. To be able to sit and hear a living snapshot of people 120 years ago is just mindblowing.

[jgstargazer]

Like being connected through a time tunnel back to 1888.

[dxroadduke]

Amazing! As someone had said earlier, this old recording truly is mindblowing!

[ferociousgumby]

What if you had to go to the bathroom? It'd be worse than in a stadium and I'll bet there were hardly any washrooms for women. If you were in that choir, forget it!

[zamowner1]

Israel in Egypt? lol you wish.

[The1985Channel]

Fascinating. I'm a massive fan of old music, particularly the 1980s, so to actually hear music from the previous '80s is quite mindblowing!

[EmmetEarwax]

Gouraud never sang , just made speeches !

Also there seem to be blame few records from the 1880's ,let alone earlier !

[andronikosb]

Impressive, where are these cylinders kept now?

[mayatatyana1]

Thank you. To hear voices from 120 years ago gives one chills. Maya

[megnoggle]

this recording has such an ethereal vibe. i love it! the graininess reminds me of a fog shrouding a beautiful, long-lost city (like atlantic or el dorado) and this is represented by the faded voices. bellisima!!

[TrappedIn1968]

This 3-part recording ranks with my favorite recordings of all time. Close your eyes and your ears are in audience with Queen Victoria, William Gladstone, and thousands of others, hearing Handel's Masterwork "Isreal in Egypt". Every year on June 29, I play this for the wife and kids as we look at pictures of the Crystal Palace. LIsten to this with headphones on and you can hear the tenors and sopranos exchanging lines, the orchestra, and the organ. It's an incredible trip back in time !

[MRLOL785]

Maybe the first track on the second cylinder was just an unused section with nothing recorded at all. All I can hear is just some grinding and crunching noises.