Brownian Motion Posted January 31, 2012 Report Share Posted January 31, 2012 By RON COWEN Tucked away for decades in a cabinet in Thomas Edison’s laboratory, just behind the cot in which the great inventor napped, a trove of wax cylinder phonograph records has been brought back to life after more than a century of silence. The cylinders, from 1889 and 1890, include the only known recording of the voice of the powerful chancellor Otto von Bismarck. Two preserve the voice of Helmuth von Moltke, a venerable German military strategist, reciting lines from Shakespeare and from Goethe’s “Faust” into a phonograph horn. (Moltke was 89 when he made the recordings — the only ones known to survive from someone born as early as 1800.) Other records found in the collection hold musical treasures — lieder and rhapsodies performed by German and Hungarian singers and pianists at the apex of the Romantic era, including what is thought to be the first recording of a work by Chopin. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/31/science/bismarcks-voice-among-restored-edison-recordings.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cih Posted January 31, 2012 Report Share Posted January 31, 2012 i love these things - the 'Firstsounds' website linked from that article has Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville's 'Phonautograms' from c1860 - the earliest recordings of the human voice, fascinating and spooky sounds. link Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bichos Posted February 1, 2012 Report Share Posted February 1, 2012 great links! like a journey into another time! wow! keep boppin´ marcel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Beat Steve Posted February 1, 2012 Report Share Posted February 1, 2012 great links! like a journey into another time! wow! keep boppin´ marcel The (obvious) lo-fi quality prevents close listening (at least via my PC speakers) but General Moltke's voice is amazing insofar as it quite exactly matches the tyical Prussian voices commonly heard by actors portraying those historic personas in old movies set in the 18th/19th century that were common fare in Germany in the 30s (and even later) and should be quite familiar to most Germans. Seems like the way many actors spoke (or were made to speak and enunciate) for historical roles in the 30s really IS the way typical Prussians sounded way back ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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