Musical Selections

Occasionally sets of orchestra parts turn up for musical Selections from the 1903 Wizard of Oz. These were available for small or large orchestras, and performances of the music were probably common fare at public concerts of the time. The set on the left is for a small orchestra, and features parts for piano, 1st violin, 2nd violin, cello, bass, flute, 1st clarinet, 1st cornet, 2nd cornet, and drums/bells/triangle etc. The music runs through the various themes of the major songs from the show.

Hungry Tiger Press has released two CDs containing a great deal of original music from the stage Wizard, as well as other early Oz theater. The first compilation, called Before the Rainbow, presents new recordings of the vintage music, assembled by the late James Patrick Doyle. The other CD is a 2 disc set, featuring actual vintage recordings collected from old records, piano rolls, and music box discs. This set features a number of the interpolated songs which were not written specifically for the show, but were dropped into the score. Unfortunately, very few vocal recordings of the more "show-specific" songs, with L. Frank Baum's lyrics, were ever made. But there are recordings of the Selections featured above, both by orchestra and piano roll!

Below is a video clip of a performance of The Traveler and the Pie, a song written by Baum & Tietjans for the Scarecrow and chorus. It's presented here in last summer's re-creation of the 1903 Wizard by the Canton Comic Opera Company:

I'm sure this music would have pleased the listeners of Victor Columbia Edison - the living gramophone in The Patchwork Girl of Oz!