Music recorded in September 1898
In September 1898, a battle broke out in Omdurman, Sudan, where the British and Egyptian forces defeated the Mahdist forces and consolidated their military dominance. That same month, a British fleet arrived at a French garrison in Fashoda on the White Nile, escalating tensions between the two countries into a diplomatic crisis. In Europe, Empress Elisabeth of Austria (1837–1898) was assassinated in Geneva, raising concerns about anarchist movements across the region. In East Asia, reforms in the Qing Dynasty were thwarted by political upheaval, putting a sudden halt to modernization efforts. On the scientific front, William Ramsay (1852–1916) published his discovery of the noble gases in September 1898, marking a turning point in the development of elemental research that led to the development of 20th-century industry and culture.
Confirmed recordings this month: 0
Summary of information on recordings made in September 1898
September 1898 marks a time when, coupled with the expansion of home phonograph sales, the market for purchasing and listening to commercial recordings (primarily wax cylinders) at home was becoming increasingly robust. Primary sources include the September 1898 issue of the industry magazine The Phonoscope, which traces the business and distribution trends of the time, and cylinder recordings from the late 1890s can be found individually in the University of California, Santa Barbara Library's cylinder archives. However, at present, we are unable to find any primary sources specifically for September 1898 that systematically determine the "recording date (year, month, and day)" and that are compiled in a format that can be directly referenced for this month's page.
The spread of home phonographs in the United States and the market centered on "cylinder recordings"
A magazine advertisement for the "Edison New Standard Phonograph" from September 1898 shows the expanding sales of home recording machines. At the time, commercial recordings still relied on cylindrical (wax cylinder) media, and the spread of home recording machines directly led to an expansion in demand for cylindrical records.
