St. Louis Blues; Special Arrangements of Handy's Famous Blues for Brass Quartette with Piano Accompaniment.

New York: Alfred & Company, 1928. Presumed First Edition, First printing thus (with arrangement). Sheet Music in cover/folio. Format is approximately 7 inches by 10.5 inches Cover illustrated by Barbelle!. Cover has music laid in, not attached. After decorative cover, the next three panels are filled with music advertisements. Some wear, tears and soiling to sheets. The music for St. Louis Blues is in several parts: 1st Part Trumpet, one sheet printed on one side only; 2nd Part, Trumpet, one sheet printed on one side only; 3d Part Trombone or Baritone, one sheet printed on one side only; 4th Part Trombone or Baritone, one sheet printed on one side only, and Piano Accompaniment, Trifold with music printed on three panels and blank on the three back panels. Pencil marks noted on the Piano accompaniment. William Christopher Handy (November 16, 1873 – March 28, 1958) was a composer and musician who referred to himself as the Father of the Blues. Handy was one of the most influential songwriters in the United States. One of many musicians who played the distinctively American blues music, Handy did not create the blues genre but was the first to publish music in the blues form, thereby taking the blues from a regional music style (Delta blues) with a limited audience to a new level of popularity. Handy was an educated musician who used elements of folk music in his compositions. He was scrupulous in documenting the sources of his works, which frequently combined stylistic influences from various performers. Handy also took influence from the square dances held by Mississippi blacks, which typically had music in the G major key. In particular, he picked the same key for his 1914 hit, "Saint Louis Blues" A trombonist, music publisher, arranger, and military man, George F. Briegel perhaps provided a musical answer for the inquiry voiced in a much later soul protest song, the one with the chorus that goes "War! What is it good for?" Briegel would have answered "Writing songs, obviously," putting his munitions where his mouth is with song publishing activities during both of the world wars. Briegel set up Triangle Music in New York City in 1915 with partner Joe Davis; this was one of the first, and most famous, of the Tin Pan Alley song pluggers that dominated the intermingling jazz, blues, and ragtime scene for decades. Davis and Briegel formed a songwriting partnership as well, coming up with the depressing "There's Many a Smiling Face That Covers an Aching Heart" in their first year of business together. When the first World War broke out in 1917, both Davis and Briegel wound up in the Navy, with apparently very little effect on their musical ventures. While Davis continued scribbling songs such as "If You Can't Enlist, Buy a Victory Bond," Briegel was leading the Pelham Navy Band, writing arrangements and arranging for his pal Davis to get in the band as a French horn player. In 1919, Triangle had big hits with the longwinded "I've Done My Bit for Uncle Sam" and "Some Mother's Daughter Is Lonesome (For Some Mother's Son in France)," but Davis and Briegel also turned aside from patriotic themes to explore pure instrumental invention, another dominant theme in Briegel's composing and arranging career. In the '20s, Briegel became the bandmaster for the New York Fire Department but still dabbled in recording, including a session for Gennet in 1922. In the coming years he would continue arranging and composing an array of material. Alfred Music is an American music publishing company. Founded in New York in 1922. In New York City's Tin Pan Alley in 1922, Sam Manus, a violinist and importer of mood music for silent films, started a music publishing company and named it Manus Music. The company published primarily popular sheet music. In 1930, Sam acquired the music publisher, Alfred & Company, founded by Alfred Haase. Sam decided to combine the names and shortened it to Alfred Music, which the company is still known as today. Alfred Music was now more than just a sheet music publisher; the company was taking its first steps to becoming the leader in music education. Albert Wilfred Barbelle (1887–1957) was an American artist known well for his work in advertising, particularly cover art for sheet music of Tin Pan Alley. Condition: Good.

Keywords: Blues, Piano accompaniment, Instrumentation, Sheet Music, Barbelle, Trombone, Trumpet, Baritone, Brass Quartet

[Book #83120]

Price: $85.00