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Ragtime
Music in Canada
Chapter 3: Canadian
Ragtime Publishers and Record Producers
By Ted Tjaden
[return to
Table of Contents] [go to Chapter 4]
One indication of the popularity of the piano and parlour entertainment during the early 1900's in Canada is the relatively large number
of Canadian sheet music publishers and the variety of sheet music they
published. Canada and Canadians also played a leading role in producing
early recorded music, some of which included ragtime. Set out below on
this page is more information divided into the following three topics:
3.1) Canadian Sheet Music Publishers during the Ragtime Era
3.2)
Canadian Record Producers during the Ragtime Era
3.3)
Sampling of Ragtime Era Recordings
3.1) Canadian Sheet Music Publishers during the Ragtime Era [top]
For the period from 1900 to 1920, the market for sheet music in
Canada was particularly strong:
Most works were either songs with piano accompaniment or short
character pieces for solo piano. Music at this time was one of the favourite parlour activities, and such songs and piano pieces provided
many hours of happy entertainment for performers and listeners alike . .
. . The reason behind the remarkable quantity of music publishing was
simply that in this period it made money, since musical scores of the
type described were extremely marketable. So also were pianos: there
were approximately thirty pianos manufacturers in Canada prior to 1914,
compared with fewer than half a dozen sixty years later. (Proctor 1980:3)
Melhuish (1996:33) reports that Geoffrey O'Hara's
"K-K-K-Katy (The
Stammering Song)" (see the sheet music
for this song), which was written in Kingston, Ontario, sold over one
million copies in sheet music form.
Since there were relatively few "pure" rags written and published
in Canada, there was no single publisher of ragtime music per se;
instead, we can observe that there were a number of Canadian
publishers who appear to have published the bulk of ragtime and
similar syncopated marches and two steps and other ragtime-related
music during this period:
- Anglo-Canadian Music Company: According to the
Encyclopedia of Music in Canada,
the Anglo-Canadian Music
Company was established in London in 1885 with a branch set up in
Toronto for the purpose of printing and selling British music
copyrights in Canada. By doing so, due to arcane provisions in the
Canadian Copyright Act at that time, the company could stop
U.S. publishers from trying to import pirated copies of music into
Canada. Although most composers of sheet music published by the
company were by British or European composers, the company did
start to publish songs by Canadian composers in the late 1890's.
- Delmar Music Co.: According to
the
Encyclopedia of Music in Canada, Delmar
Music Co., based in Montreal, published sheet music from around 1907 to 1919
that covered a range of popular music, including ragtime and
marches. Some of the composers who published their music with
Delmar include J. B. Lafrenière and
Willie Eckstein.
- H.H. Sparks: One of the main
publishers of ragtime and ragtime-related music in Canada was H.H.
Sparks Music Co., established in Toronto in 1900 by H.H. Sparks. In
the decade or so it remained in business, it issued over 200
pieces of music (according to the
Encyclopedia of Music in Canada).
Joseph F. Lamb was a major
composer as was Arthur Wellesley Hughes.
Image source:
Collections Canada |
Left: Sample advertisement from 1904 for sheet
music published by H.H. Sparks (with, presumably, a picture of H.H.
Sparks in the lower left corner). Although there are no ragtime
pieces advertised, there are several two-steps and marches, in
addition to the standard, likely maudlin, fare of ballads and
sacred songs. Note that this advertisement includes the Celestine Waltzes
by Joseph Lamb (click
here for more on
this piece).
Source:
Advertising page from the back of
The Elephant Trot by Karl Kahn (Toronto : H.H. Sparks,
1904) (right). |
Image source:
Collections Canada |
- Le Passe-Temps:
Le Passe-Temps was a periodical
published in Montreal from 1895 to 1949 and, according to the
Encyclopedia of Music in Canada, covered
stories relating to music, literature, theatre, fashion, and
sports. Many of the ragtime music and marches and waltzes of
J. B. Lafrenière
were published in Le Passe-Temps.
- Whaley & Royce: In addition
to manufacturing and selling musical instruments (including
pianos),
Whaley, Royce & Co. Ltd. also published and
sold music. The
Encyclopedia of Music in Canada suggests that their
advertising slogan of "Canada's Greatest Music House" was probably
justified due to their large inventory of music and musical
instruments. The company had its own engraving, lithographing and
printing facilities and also published music magazines. According
to the
Encyclopedia, the "first Whaley, Royce publications date from
1890. The catalogue grew quickly and during the next 30 years
surpassed that of any other Canadian publisher. The output
declined later and came to a halt about 1940, after which date
only reprints of earlier issues were undertaken, and a very few
new items."
- W.H. Hodgins & Co.: According to the
Encyclopedia of Music in Canada,
W.H. Hodgins & Co., based in Toronto, published around 100
sheet music titles of dance, march and popular song tunes. From 1897 to
1900, the pieces are published under the name "Amey & Hodgins", while
from 1900 to 1907, they are published by W.H. Hodgins & Co.
W.H. Hodgins
was a major composer for the company (see the sheet music for
his compositions in Chapter 8).
The names of other publishers of
ragtime-related music in Canada include The Northern Music Company,
Imperial Music Pub. House, J.E. Belair, but
unfortunately, not much information is available about these
companies.
3.2) Canadian Record Producers during the Ragtime Era
[top]
Canada was at the forefront of early record
producing during the ragtime era. Emile Berliner, who had
established the gramophone in the United States in 1893, established
a new Canadian company (E. Berliner) in Montreal in 1899 to produce
gramophones in Canada based on a patent for gramophones he filed in
Canada in 1897. Later, Herbert Berliner, eldest son of Emile
Berliner, established The Compo Company Ltd. in Lachine Quebec in
1918.
For a fascinating look at the history of both
companies, see "The
History of Recorded Music in Canada" from
The Virtual Gramophone (Collections
Canada). The site also has
a huge database of ragtime era recordings (in .MP3 format),
although most of them are not rags but instead represent a broad
spectrum of (Canadian) music recorded by these companies at the
time.
On a related note: Do you know the
connection between the name of
HMV (the
music store) and Emile Berliner? According to Melhuish (1996:30), Emile Berliner registered
a Canadian
trademark in 1900 of
Nipper, the fox terrier, looking down the horn of a phonograph.
This trademark was
later used by Victor Talking Machine Co. and inspired the naming of "His
Master's Voice" records, the initials to which are "HMV". Now you
know.
3.3) Sampling of
Ragtime Era Recordings
[top]
Set out below in chronological order are a selected example of
recordings by Canadian performers or producers from the ragtime era:
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Harry Thomas,
A Classical Spasm (.MP3) (Camden, NJ:
Victor, 1917)
Source:
Library and Archives Canada
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Geoffrey O'Hara singing the Canadian
wartime patriotic song
Doughboy Jack and Doughnut Jill (by Gitz Rice)
(.MP3), with
Willie Eckstein on piano (Montreal, QC: Berliner
Gram-O-Phone Co., 1919)
Source:
Library and Archives Canada
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Listen to: George L. Cobb's
Russian Rag (.MP3) played by the
Waldorf-Astoria Dance Orchestra (Montreal, QC: Berliner
Gramophone, 1920)
Source:
Library and Archives Canada
Download sheet music:
Indiana University Sheet Music Collections
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Willie
Eckstein,
Turkey in the Straw
(.MP3) (Lachine, QC:
Compo Company Limited, 1923)
Source:
Library and Archives Canada
Download sheet music:
The Lester S.
Levy Sheet Music Collection
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Listen to: The Dumbells,
The Photo of the Girl I Left Behind
(.MP3) (London, ON: Starr Company, 1924)
Source:
Library and Archives Canada
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Listen to: Vera Guilaroff,
Maple Leaf Rag
(.MP3)
(Lachine, QC:
Compo Company Limited, 1926)
Source:
Library and Archives Canada
Download sheet music:
Indiana University Sheet Music Collections
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In the next chapter, I
briefly discuss the history of piano manufacturing in Canada.
[return
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