A Clean Copy of Pensacola Polka March, Parke Hunter

[Joel Hooks]

The copy generally available is pretty terrible, a photocopy of a photocopy of a mimeograph or something. 

Here is a scan of a clean original.  Itis public domain so do whatever you want with it. 

https://archive.org/details/pensacola-polka-march-parke-hunter

[Jody Stecher]

Thanks. Which of the many download options do you recommend for printing?

This is interesting. I learned Pensacola from the sheet music Eli Kaufman sent me long ago. Now I see that the 2nd banjo part he sent me is a copy of this Dallas #242 version. It was easily readable but this archive scan is cleaner.  The first part he sent me was clean and different. I think it must be the Charles Mansel arrangement (it's in the library here) although it is not marked as such.

I've never seen the cover page before. It promises parts for 1st and 2nd "mandolines" but I don't see them. Are these missing?  I sure would love to see those pages.

[Joel Hooks]

Just the PDF should work for most people. 

The single page clean version was a BMG supplement.  This is the original print with title sheet (which is nice to see-- at least for me).

[Jody Stecher]

Yes the title page is very nice to see. Is the mention on that page of two mandolin(e) parts an error or false promise? Do these mandolin pages exist?

Joel Hooks said:

Just the PDF should work for most people. 

The single page clean version was a BMG supplement.  This is the original print with title sheet (which is nice to see-- at least for me).

[Jody Stecher]

On the title page below the reminder of the availability of scores for The Cornflower Jig and Wanderer's March is announcement that 1st and 2nd mandolin(e) parts cost 6 pence extra. I wonder if that applied to Pensacola.

Jody Stecher said:

Yes the title page is very nice to see. Is the mention on that page of two mandolin(e) parts an error or false promise? Do these mandolin pages exist?

Joel Hooks said:

Just the PDF should work for most people. 

The single page clean version was a BMG supplement.  This is the original print with title sheet (which is nice to see-- at least for me).

[Joel Hooks]

You might have to write J. E. Dallas to get answers.  A Ouija board might help.

[Jody Stecher]

Ah. So Elias didn't have the mando pages.  I'm so curious as to what Parke Hunter would compose for mandolin. Especially the second mandolin part. Would it include tremolo?  Counter melodies?  Oompah chords or just the pah part?

Joel Hooks said:

You might have to write J. E. Dallas to get answers.  A Ouija board might help.

[Joel Hooks]

I scanned all the pages of this piece I had, I don't gate keep. 

[Richard William Ineson]

I don't think that Hunter would have written the mandolin parts for his compositions although he would have been well qualified to do so. It's far more likely that somebody on the staff at Dallas's office/shop/studio would have done the job to cater for the thousands of mandolin players in the UK, at the turn of the 19th century. I suspect that there would have been a financial incentive involved, £1.00 in 1900 was worth the equivalent  of around £150.00  now so, sixpence (old, pre 1971, non decimal, UK money) being 1/40 of £1.00 would be £3.75 now, not to be sneezed at, as they say, for a sheet of paper. I may have some of the mandolin parts published by Dallas, I'll have a look in the archive, when I've got an hour to spare from my busy schedule.

Jody Stecher said:

Ah. So Elias didn't have the mando pages.  I'm so curious as to what Parke Hunter would compose for mandolin. Especially the second mandolin part. Would it include tremolo?  Counter melodies?  Oompah chords or just the pah part?

Joel Hooks said:

You might have to write J. E. Dallas to get answers.  A Ouija board might help.

[Jody Stecher]

Thanks for shedding light on this, Richard.

Richard William Ineson said:

I don't think that Hunter would have written the mandolin parts for his compositions although he would have been well qualified to do so. It's far more likely that somebody on the staff at Dallas's office/shop/studio would have done the job to cater for the thousands of mandolin players in the UK, at the turn of the 19th century. I suspect that there would have been a financial incentive involved, £1.00 in 1900 was worth the equivalent  of around £150.00  now so, sixpence (old, pre 1971, non decimal, UK money) being 1/40 of £1.00 would be £3.75 now, not to be sneezed at, as they say, for a sheet of paper. I may have some of the mandolin parts published by Dallas, I'll have a look in the archive, when I've got an hour to spare from my busy schedule.

Jody Stecher said:

Ah. So Elias didn't have the mando pages.  I'm so curious as to what Parke Hunter would compose for mandolin. Especially the second mandolin part. Would it include tremolo?  Counter melodies?  Oompah chords or just the pah part?

Joel Hooks said:

You might have to write J. E. Dallas to get answers.  A Ouija board might help.

[Richard William Ineson]

I donned the face mask and rubber gloves this morning before tackling the mouldering pile of Hunter stuff. I've got most of his pieces and thought that amongst all of it, some mandolin player would have left some trace, in the form of a 1st or 2nd mandolin part, but no luck. What I did find was that Tenor and Bass mandola parts were offered with IL Travatori and Mandola parts with Poet and Peasant. Another interesting thing for the banjo buff is that between Dallas leaving his Strand address and moving to High Holborn, the price of a copy of  1st and 2nd banjo with piano fell from 4/- (four shillings,  old UK,  pre 1971, pre decimal, coinage, currently 20p new UK, post 1971, decimal coinage) which was a lot of money c 1900 (£1.00 in 1900 was worth around £150. 00 now) to 1/6 (7.5 pence in new UK, post 1971, decimal coinage) but the mandolin/mandola/guitar parts  increased in price from 6d to 9d (2.5 p to around 7.5p ). 

Richard William Ineson said:

I don't think that Hunter would have written the mandolin parts for his compositions although he would have been well qualified to do so. It's far more likely that somebody on the staff at Dallas's office/shop/studio would have done the job to cater for the thousands of mandolin players in the UK, at the turn of the 19th century. I suspect that there would have been a financial incentive involved, £1.00 in 1900 was worth the equivalent  of around £150.00  now so, sixpence (old, pre 1971, non decimal, UK money) being 1/40 of £1.00 would be £3.75 now, not to be sneezed at, as they say, for a sheet of paper. I may have some of the mandolin parts published by Dallas, I'll have a look in the archive, when I've got an hour to spare from my busy schedule.

Jody Stecher said:

Ah. So Elias didn't have the mando pages.  I'm so curious as to what Parke Hunter would compose for mandolin. Especially the second mandolin part. Would it include tremolo?  Counter melodies?  Oompah chords or just the pah part?

Joel Hooks said:

You might have to write J. E. Dallas to get answers.  A Ouija board might help.

[Jody Stecher]

I don't think I've ever seen or heard an instrument called bass mandola. Maybe it is a term that pre-dates "mando-bass". It's curious that a distinction is made in this sheet music between mandola and tenor mandola. Both have been used as the name for the almond-shaped instrument tuned CGDA.  Maybe here "mandola" means a larger one tuned GDAE, an octave below mandolin.  Thanks for checking.

Richard William Ineson said:

I donned the face mask and rubber gloves this morning before tackling the mouldering pile of Hunter stuff. I've got most of his pieces and thought that amongst all of it, some mandolin player would have left some trace, in the form of a 1st or 2nd mandolin part, but no luck. What I did find was that Tenor and Bass mandola parts were offered with IL Travatori and Mandola parts with Poet and Peasant. Another interesting thing for the banjo buff is that between Dallas leaving his Strand address and moving to High Holborn, the price of a copy of  1st and 2nd banjo with piano fell from 4/- (four shillings,  old UK,  pre 1971, pre decimal, coinage, currently 20p new UK, post 1971, decimal coinage) which was a lot of money c 1900 (£1.00 in 1900 was worth around £150. 00 now) to 1/6 (7.5 pence in new UK, post 1971, decimal coinage) but the mandolin/mandola/guitar parts  increased in price from 6d to 9d (2.5 p to around 7.5p ). 

Richard William Ineson said:

I don't think that Hunter would have written the mandolin parts for his compositions although he would have been well qualified to do so. It's far more likely that somebody on the staff at Dallas's office/shop/studio would have done the job to cater for the thousands of mandolin players in the UK, at the turn of the 19th century. I suspect that there would have been a financial incentive involved, £1.00 in 1900 was worth the equivalent  of around £150.00  now so, sixpence (old, pre 1971, non decimal, UK money) being 1/40 of £1.00 would be £3.75 now, not to be sneezed at, as they say, for a sheet of paper. I may have some of the mandolin parts published by Dallas, I'll have a look in the archive, when I've got an hour to spare from my busy schedule.

Jody Stecher said:

Ah. So Elias didn't have the mando pages.  I'm so curious as to what Parke Hunter would compose for mandolin. Especially the second mandolin part. Would it include tremolo?  Counter melodies?  Oompah chords or just the pah part?

Joel Hooks said:

You might have to write J. E. Dallas to get answers.  A Ouija board might help.