The Story of the Music Box

The music box, the first successful device that could play a musical tune, was probably invented in Switzerland around 1770. Early music boxes were designed to play music using flat metal prongs that were plucked by a revolving metal cylinder. Eventually music box makers developed a flat disc to play the music. Commercial music boxes were gradually replaced by player pianos and phonographs by the early 20th Century. In 1952, Emory Cook recorded an album of music made by American and European music boxes from the George and Madeleine Brown collection. Using his skill as an audio engineer, Cook was able to record a fuller sound frequency than had previously been available in sound recordings. The recording accompanied Brown’s book of the same name.

Track Listing

101	Jingle Bells (1) George and Madeleine Brown	00:59
102	Adeste Fideles George and Madeleine Brown	01:46
103	Skaters' Waltz George and Madeleine Brown	01:08
104	First Noel George and Madeleine Brown	01:12
105	Prayer from William Tell George and Madeleine Brown	01:09
106	Nightingale Song George and Madeleine Brown	01:05
107	Angel's Serenade George and Madeleine Brown	00:59
108	Stabat Mater George and Madeleine Brown	00:51
109	Jingle Bells (2) George and Madeleine Brown	01:00
110	Auld Lang Syne George and Madeleine Brown	01:27
111	Hark the Herald Angels George and Madeleine Brown	01:51
112	Ave Maria George and Madeleine Brown	01:08
113	Song of the Virgin Mary George and Madeleine Brown	00:53
114	Monastery Bells George and Madeleine Brown	00:57
115	O'Sanctissima George and Madeleine Brown	01:02
116	Cloister Bells George and Madeleine Brown	01:02
117	Holy City George and Madeleine Brown	01:25
118	Hunting Chorus George and Madeleine Brown	01:10
119	Bells of Cornville George and Madeleine Brown	01:08
120	Silent Night George and Madeleine Brown	02:09