Wednesday, May 28, 2008


Inspired bythe 1903 Musical ExtravaganzaThe Wizard of OzMusic by Justus Ringleben Jr.This fascinating and little-known piece of music was clearly inspired by Fred Stone's performance in the 1903 Wizard of Oz musical. The cover illustration by Starmer features three different Scarecrows--all modeled on Fred Stone's charcter from the show.This song sheet was published by Carl Fischer in 1903. The music has no lyrics and it was never performed in the famous Broadway show. In several years of searching only one incomplete copy of the sheet music has been found. It included only the cover and first and last pages of music. The middle two pages have not been located. However, the song was recorded several times! It is known to survive as both a five-inch Edison Concert cylinder and also as a standard two-minute Edison cylinder. Both date from 1903. It was also recorded as a 10 inch disc as Columbia 1789. It is a Harmony Records A169 pressing of the Columbia master that is offered for your enjoyment here.

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