Italian waltz: "Toreador" (L. Oricchio, c. 1920)

[Martin Jonas]

L. Oricchio: Toreador - Waltz
Published by P. Tesio and by A. Paolilli, New York, c. 1920

This is another Italian waltz, written by an unknown (to me) composer writing for the Italian-American community in New York. As is typical for these dance tunes, the original music was published as trio with two mandolin parts plus guitar accompaniment. I have played the original three parts, and have added a mandocello part extracted from the guitar bass line.

For some reason, this waltz was published identically (including a prominent mistake in the second mandolin part -- the B part should resolve to either D or F, but not E as written) by two separate publishers, P. Tesio and A. Paolilli, with Tesio claiming an arranging credit which is not mentioned on the Paolilli edition. It's in Sheri's Dropbox folders for both Tesio and Paolilli (although the Paolilli edition still has Tesio's guitar part). No date from either publisher. I'm attaching the Paolilli version for easy reference.

Despite the title, this waltz has nothing to do with Bizet's Carmen, and doesn't sound in the least Spanish. It's pretty straightforward to play -- not a single note shorter than a quarter in the entire score.

1890s Umberto Ceccherini mandolin
Mid-Missouri M-0W mandolin
Vintage Viaten tenor guitar
Suzuki MC-815 mandocello



Martin

[Christopher Stetson]

Thanks for this, Martin. I love these old waltzes. As for the title, my theory is that they were just given in an attempt to get attention in the music bins. A band-mate of mine swears she can hear the sound of cars going up a hill in Sartori's "Automobile Polka", but I tell
her that it has to sound like a 1902 car: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jET3oU10O1c&t=297s

[Martin Jonas]

Many thanks, Christopher! I agree the names of these tunes are generally rather fanciful and intended more for marketing purposes than for being descriptive of the character of the music. It's a pet theory of mine that towards the end of his life, Onofrio Di Bella named his tunes after whatever he saw around him in his living room, giving us the tune titles "Mandolin", "Radio" and "Michael" (the latter being the name of his son). All very fine tunes, incidentally!

One tune that actually does imitate the sound of the modern invention it's named after is "Telefono", a 1903 waltz written by G. Silvestri and published by Tesio as well as Di Bella -- you can hear the telephone ringing.

Martin

[Christopher Stetson]

Is "Telefono" in Sheri Mignano's Dropbox?

[Martin Jonas]

Is "Telefono" in Sheri Mignano's Dropbox?

Yes -- both versions, Tesio as well as Di Bella.

Martin

[Sherry Cadenhead]

Martin, I love playing this piece. Struggling some with the high notes in the trio part, but tonight was my first attempt, after all.

[minuteman]

Thanks for this post and the mention of the Telephone Waltz. Enjoying them both!