Music recorded in December 1893
December 1893 was a month when imperialist military conflicts and major urban cultural events occurred side by side around the world. In southern Africa, the First Matabele War saw the annihilation of the British South Africa Company's troops near the Shangani River in the "Shangani Patrol" (3–4 December 1893). Meanwhile, in New York, USA, Antonín Dvořák's (1841–1904) Symphony No. 9 premiered at Carnegie Hall on December 16, 1893, and on the 23rd of the same month, Engelbert Humperdinck's (1854–1921) opera Hansel and Gretel premiered at the Großherzogliches Hoftheater, Weimar, Germany, conducted by Richard Strauss (1864–1949).
Confirmed recordings this month: 0
Summary of information on recordings made in December 1893
The "recordings" made in December 1893 do not all have neatly recorded dates and editions, as was the case with later commercial records, but are instead confirmed fragmentarily in the form of private recordings and promotional materials. In particular, attempts to preserve the voices of famous people and catalogs supporting the distribution and sales of the phonograph business give concrete form to the activities of that month.
Celebrity Recordings
It is said that in December 1893, a cylinder recording was made in Gianni Bettini's (1860–1938) studio, in which Mark Twain (1835–1910) interjected words into the vocals of singer Nellie Melba (1861–1931). Documents indicate that this recording was never commercially released, indicating that the idea of collecting "famous people's voices" was already taking shape in the private recording scene in the 1890s.
- https://blogs.loc.gov/now-see-hear/2014/10/mark-twain-sort-of-speaks-to-us/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gianni_Bettini
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Twain
Catalogues and promotional materials
Publications from the North American Phonograph Company (catalogs, price lists, and promotional materials) dated December 1, 1893, can be found in "The Thomas A. Edison Papers Digital Edition." While the contents themselves require individual viewing of the collection, the fact that printed materials supporting the distribution and sale of phonograph-related products were being updated at least as of the end of 1893 confirms that the sound recording business was not just about "recording" but was also integrally linked to a system of "distribution."
The intersection of performance culture and recording culture
December 1893 was also a month marked by a string of major premieres in music history. Antonín Dvořák's (1841–1904) Symphony No. 9 premiered at Carnegie Hall on December 16, 1893, and Engelbert Humperdinck's (1854–1921) opera Hansel and Gretel premiered at the Weimar Court Theatre on the 23rd of the same month. While the documents here do not allow us to determine whether these recordings existed at the same time, the events of that month demonstrate the prerequisites for recordings in the 1890s to develop in tandem with urban performance culture (theater, opera, and symphony trends).
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symphony_No._9_(Dvo%C5%99%C3%A1k)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hansel_and_Gretel_(opera)
- https://www.narodni-divadlo.cz/en/show/hansel-und-gretel-1873824?s=304
