Hiss
& Boo would like to acknowledge the enormous amount of
research which Michael Kilgarriff has put in to locating Music
Hall Songs / Artistes. The following information is used with
Michael’s kind permission and I urge you to seek out and buy his excellent books!
When asked where copies of Music Hall songs may be found I always give the same answer: in the first instance search the British Library Music Catalogue. If your title is listed in the on-line catalogue you can go to the BL at St Pancras, London, on the corner of Euston Road and Midland Road, obtain a Reader’s Ticket, order the sheet music through the computerised system and copy it out by hand (items may not be taken off the premises and copying must be done in pencil). Subject to copyright considerations single sheets may be photocopied on the premises by Readers but bound song sheets may only be photographed by BL staff. A quick route into the relevant catalogue is:
- http://catalogue.bl.uk
- Search the Integrated Catalogue
- Advanced Search.
- Scroll down and click on Format, then select Music option. Do not enter definite or indefinite articles at the start of a song title.
Having found your title make a careful note of the shelf-mark as it is essential to quote this when ordering. Note that these shelf marks are case sensitive, i.e. Harry Wincott’s How’s Your Father is H.3992. k. (40.) and not h.3992. K. (40.). Note also that all punctuation (i.e. the full-stops) must be keyed in. If London is too far from home an order form may be obtained by ringing ((020) 7412 7737) or faxing ((020) 7412 7511) British Library Reproductions. The minimum cost is £12.60 + VAT for up to ten pages—enough for a Music Hall song—and you need to allow up to twenty-five working days for delivery.
Another important collection of Music Hall songs is kept in the Bodleian Library in Oxford where you may copy items out by hand and also photocopy, or you may prefer to take advantage of the postal service whose charges are similar to the BL’s. Ring 01865 277000 and ask for the Music Section where you will find Robert J. Bruce most helpful. The catalogue is now on-line and offers a detailed description of each song sheet in the collection, including first lines of choruses. Again make a note of the cataloguing details (Location and Call Number) before ordering. The way in is:
- http://library.ox.ac.uk
- Connect to OLIS
- Both Oxford OLIS and Bodleian Pre-1920 Catalogues.
- These are not exclusively music catalogues but are extremely useful. The drop-down menu in the right box should be set as required to ti for titles or au for authors (i.e. composers and lyricists). au can also be used to search for individual artistes, lithographers, etc.
Information about songs, though not actual copies, may be gleaned from The Music Alliance (originally k.a. The Performing Right Society) which lists titles under their current copyright holders and may be contacted on (020) 7580 5544.
EMI songs in print may be ordered from IMP (International Music Publishers) on 0800 3769101; out of print songs may be located at The Music Vault on (020) 8222 9210. This archive, now situated at Hammersmith, includes the outputs of Francis Day & Hunter, Feldman’s, Keith Prowse and many other music publishers. The Music Vault may also be faxed on (020) 8222 9270 and (020) 8222 9265.
The National Operatic and Dramatic Association (NODA) has a large collection of Music Hall songs, pantomime songs, musical comedy songs, and sheet music of all kinds. They are always willing to send copies; phone 08707 702480.
The British Music Hall Society’s affable historian Max Tyler is always willing, on payment of a voluntary donation to the Society’s funds, to share the secrets of his vast private collection with enquirers on max@maxtyler.orangehome.co.uk.
A user-friendly site which claims access to 52,000 titles is http://www.sheetmusicwarehouse.co.uk; they charge around £8 - £9 per song.
Dinosaur Discs have an immense collection of old 78s and will send you copies, or make up a compilation on CD. See their website or phone 01692 631 540. Another useful website for Music Hall CDs is Windyrush; their URL is http://www.musichallcds.com/index.html.
PS: Thousands of American songs can be downloaded in audio from www.parlorsongs.com. Another enormous collection of US songs from the 18th century to the 1960s from which sheet music, including covers, can be downloaded is on http://levysheetmusic.mse.jhu.edu/