Capturing the Mood

Watch an old black and white movie and you'll often see folks gathered around the piano player enjoying the music and singing along. In the early 1900s it was commonplace to have a phonograph and a radio which would carry the sound waves of new and popular songs to eager ears. It was also typical for most middle-class families to have a piano in their parlor. Those were the days when there was very little entertainment to occupy time and the piano soon became the music machine of the home. It was common to see sheet music displayed on the piano and often a pile hidden in the piano bench or stored in a sheet music cabinet. Entertaining in the home was something most looked forward to when hosting or attending and music was a big part of that entertainment. Often guests would walk up to the piano and request a song to be played by choosing from the colorful and captivating sheet music covers. Songs became hits during this time, not because they were heard over the radio, but because so many people played them, and everyone sang along. Someone once wrote, "the song was the steak, but the colorful cover of sheet music was the sizzle that sold it." By the beginning of the 20th century, there were many music producers, lyricists, music publishers and commercial illustrators who all played a part in the success of marketing sheet music. A music publishing company would advertise seeking to hire artists who could produce creative and compelling covers of their scores to help sell them. Sheet music illustration and publishing was a big business. Sometimes the performer who had made the song famous, on radio or in film, would be featured. Other times it would be creative ink drawings then produced into layers of color. It was the illustrators who had the task of capturing the mood of the song. The sheet music covers were used to attract buyers by reeling in their emotional side. It might be a song about yearning, love, happiness or loneliness and the illustrator's artwork was key to marketing it. In addition to the eye-catching illustrations, the sheet music covers also featured the vocal artist, the lyricist, the music producer and the sheet music publisher. I have not found any pieces yet that name the illustrator. Sydney Leff was one of the last surviving cover illustrators before his passing in 2005 at the age of 104. In a 2005 New York Times article by Margalit Fox, she wrote, "In the 1920s and 30s, Mr. Leff designed and drew the covers for nearly 2,000 songs, from enduring standards like "Stormy Weather" and "Sweet Georgia Brown" to more ephemeral numbers like "Rock Me in a Cradle of Kalua" and "Baby Feet Go Pitter Patter Across My Floor." Associated in particular with Irving Berlin, Mr. Leff also illustrated the work of Harold Arlen, Duke Ellington and many others." Graphic drama, patriotism, beauty, glamour and sophistication. These are some of the words which described and sold sheet music. At that time, you could purchase them in most department stores, drug stores and music stores. It was easy to find and inexpensive to buy. Today, vintage sheet music is collectible and not for the music, but for those amazing covers. Many are considered valuable pieces and collectors are willing to pay $45 to $75 for the most treasured ones. I started a collection of sheet music several years ago when I began listening to the amazing harmonies of the Andrews Sisters and was reeled in by those attractive covers. In 1995 when we were looking for used furniture to fill our home, I found a beautiful tall stand with wide shelves that would be great to file papers. Little did I know it was an antique sheet music cabinet. Mine is missing the door, but you can see the peg holes where the door was once hinged. The shelves are wide and designed to have held the large 11x14 pieces that were once produced. I use my cabinet to store paper, supplies for my printer and my sheet music collection. I recently picked up a few pieces of old sheet music for free at a local antique store and added them to my stash. A collection of sheet music can be obtained for very little money, and most are available for just a few dollars. You may want to focus a collection on a certain time period or type of music because there is so much, or you may just want to pick them for the covers that delight you! Frame and display your favorites, learn to play the music or store them in your sheet music cabinet. Ruth Blais Thompson is a lifelong resident of the Monadnock Region, a Realtor for Blais & Assoc. Realtors in Keene and a volunteer CASA. Her pastimes are writing short stories, ancestry research and playing, writing and performing music. She lives in Dublin with her husband and can be reached at rblaisthompson@gmail.com.