I occasionally scan Wikipedia for articles on past pianists/ composers. One article really grabbed my attention. It was sourced from books written at the turn of the 20th century.

This pianist/composer was apparently so good that crowds clamored to learn piano.


He has a lot of compositions listed, but none are on the IMSLP library or anywhere on the internet.

Did this guy really exist? Did the event portrayed in the lithograph actually occur?

I think it is safe assume that the guy really existed.

It is probably also safe to assume that the lithograph "slightly exaggerated" the enthusiasm of the crowds at the 1867 Paris Exposition. Either that, or the early New York Steinways had some very mysterious attributes that the current models lack.

Check out the figure with his arm on the piano facing the surging crowd. Honestly he looks like a caricature of racist Jewish stereotypes - like Shylock. I hope that wasn't intentional, but what *were* they thinking?

I would have guessed he didn't exist but looks like he did:

Wiki bio

And if anyone wants to get some sheet music, looks like it's possible.

Forgot to post the link to the article on Désiré Magnus
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C3%A9sir%C3%A9_Magnus

@ pianomie - Do you think it is possible the great pianist was scrubbed from history because he was ethnic?

The figure facing the surging crowd is actually a "caricature" of Magnus himself - as can clearly be seen from the lithograph portrait of Magnus (by Hermann Raunheim) in the Wiki article. Per the lithograph portrait, Magnus was a handsome gentleman.

If anyone buys the music, be sure to post it to IMSLP, it is an historical treasure.

There are sad and disconcerting lacunae in the published works of artists. Joseph Lamb is not in print, at least not in the form of a book of Collected Works. There are some collections from the period that have one or two pieces. But at least many are available online.

The Carousel Waltz in piano reduction is out of print. I am hunting the used music stores for a survivor.

Not, I suppose, of the magnitude of the life work of a Magnus, but it can happen even to worthy music of much more recent provenance.

Carousel Waltz. It is also available as the overture in the score.