Finding Lost Recording From the 1880s 128
An anonymous reader writes "The NY Times recently ran a story on the discovery of a cache of wax cylinder records, recorded in Europe in the 1880s, of Otto von Bismarck, Helmuth von Moltke, and various musicians. 'In June 1889, Edison sent Wangemann to Europe, initially to ensure that the phonograph at the Paris World’s Fair remained in working order. After Paris, Wangemann toured his native Germany, recording musical artists and often visiting the homes of prominent members of society who were fascinated with the talking machine. Until now, the only available recording from Wangemann’s European trip has been a well-known and well-worn cylinder of Brahms playing an excerpt from his first Hungarian Dance. That recording is so damaged "that many listeners can scarcely discern the sound of a piano, which has in turn tarnished the reputations of both Wangemann and the Edison phonograph of the late 1880s," Dr. Feaster said. "These newly unearthed examples vindicate both."'"
Just ten years later, there are better recordings (Score:3, Insightful)
At the turn of the 19th century, magnetic wire recordings become very popular in Northern Europe (except perhaps in Britain). It was the first widely distributed recording technology of N. Europe and in the 1910's, even relatively poor musicians could afford a machine (they usually started clubs for the purpose of buying and using one). There are lots of Northern European magnetic wire recordings from the late 1890's well into the 1950's. Compared to wax rolls, they have the advantage that the sound quality is good enough that you can actually hear how something sounded, so if you want to get a feeling of how Bismarks voice sounded, listen to one of the electric wire recordings of him, not this crappy recording.
Re:Bismarck Copyright Term Extension Act (Score:5, Insightful)
I would dare say that anyone who can be considered to have even passing knowledge of Western history would know who Bismarck is, and why he is famous.