College Songs Lanciers / Frank Goede (1889)
The title "College Songs Lanciers," recorded on May 24, 1889, is deeply connected to the university culture of Europe and America in the late 19th century. "Lanciers" originally refers to "Lancers Quadrille," a square dance form that was popular in high society. This dance spread to England, Germany, and America from the mid-to-late 19th century, and was especially popular as a standard dance dance for young students and high society parties. Since it is called "College Songs," it is highly likely that it was a medley of popular songs and student songs among university students at the time, arranged in the Lancier format. Such arrangements were often performed at university graduation balls and student club parties, and were popular as a light-hearted repertoire that combined student culture and dance music.
Characteristics of the songs and background of the recording selection
"College Songs Lanciers" is a kind of festive dance for students. Lanciers are usually composed of several short passages, with dancers lining up in a square and dancing in pairs. Musically, they have a clear sense of rhythm, a relatively simple and catchy melody, and are generally repeated every few minutes. Considering the recording conditions at the time, lanciers are somewhat unconventional compared to marches and waltzes, but the festive rhythm of student songs is easy to carve into a wax cylinder, and the sound quality is relatively stable when played back, so they were probably chosen as recording material. A. Theo. E. Wangemann, a recording engineer at Edison Company, aimed to demonstrate the performance of the phonograph in a variety of ways by recording songs of various genres in a demonstration of recording equipment. The recordings from this day include a repertoire of marches and dances, such as Gilmore's 22nd Regiment March, Polish Dance, and Lilliput Polka Picc., and the student-oriented "College Songs Lanciers" was chosen as a genre that exudes festivity and dynamism.
Role and significance in the history of early recording
This recording was not intended for commercial sale, but was primarily intended as a performance test of recording equipment and a demonstration in Europe. The wax cylinders of the time were often reused for repeated experiments and reproductions rather than preserved after recording, so it is considered extremely unlikely that any of them still exist. However, the fact that the songs are clearly written in the recording book is an important clue to what genres were selected as experimental materials in the recording scene at the end of the 19th century. "College Songs Lanciers," which combines university student culture and ballroom dance culture, tells us how young people at the time enjoyed entertainment through music and how recording engineers tested their performance with a variety of repertoires. This selection of songs also became the basis for light music that later became popular on cylinder records and home phonographs, and can be said to be a small testimony of the process by which the phonograph developed from a simple voice recorder to a musical device for entertainment. Although the sound of this recording no longer exists, the titles and performers recorded in the recording book are valuable primary sources for studying the history of recording and the history of student culture at the end of the 19th century.
