Probably a bit cheeky of me putting up yet another version of Beethoven's Leonora No. 3 but as it may well be the first attempt at an extended piece of Beethoven, in anything like a complete version, I think it needs an outing.
Beethoven : Leonora Overture No.3, Op.72b.
H.M. Band of the Coldstream Guards
conducted by John Mackenzie-Rogan
G&T GC 2-262, 2-264, 2-265, 2-266
[6881e, 6882e, 6883e, 6884e]
Recorded: Nov/Dec 1907
John Mackenzie-Rogan and the Coldstream Guards recorded extensively for the Gramophone & Typewriter Co. and later HMV. Most of the output were marches popular hits and arrangements - true deckchair and bandstand stuff - that usually fitted onto one sided records but here the work had to be accommodated on four 10 inch sides.
The recordings are a bit of an oddity as who exactly was the intended audience - was G&T trying to break into the high brow market, but then would any self respecting person with 'musical taste' a) buy a band arrangement and b) even own a gramophone. The records in the UK were never doubled or indeed re-issued on the cheaper HMV 'B' & 'C' series that most band music was moved to from 1912. Real orchestral work remained on Black Label single-sided issues until 1918, that is they still cost real money.
I believe the records were withdrawn soon after the three NSO/Ronald discs had been issued so some demarcation lines were being drawn. The Gramophone Company was not about to keep records in the catalogues which either failed to attract an audience or failed to sell. Further, the price of these four discs came out at 5s each, while the three NSO Landon Ronald discs were 7s 6d each, so a band performance would set you back £1 and the orchestral version £1 3s 6d - for a bob & half a crown I think your average punter would go for the orchestra and so the band arrangement was doomed for deletion.
I have pitched the recording at A = 452Hz which was then the standard pitch for military bands, this means the original disc play at 75 rpm
Band records always seem to suffer more wear than most but I have cleaned it up as much as I really want to.