Victor records represent a moment of inspired achievement in the life of some great artist. The skill, the art and the “atmosphere” of the Metropolitan Opera House and the concert halls of the world are brought into your home. They are no longer things to be enjoyed only at great intervals on rare occasions—they may become an integral part of your life and they are available at a moment’s notice.
Intimately associated as we are with the development of the Victrola, yet we are fully conscious of the wonder of it and we, no less than our customers, have learned that amid “the daily round of irritating concerns and duties” we have only to turn to the Victrola in order to be once more in love with life and its beautiful, blessed burdens. We believe, utterly, that no matter with what delight you may have anticipated the possession of a Victrola, you will still have fallen far short of complete realization of its possibilities—of the extent to which through the whole scale of human emotions its music may become woven into the fabric of your spiritual life and your physical well-being.
CARUSO
The keenest of all impressions are those we receive first, and so we would urge with all earnestness that your first selection of records should contain at least some of the world’s “big” music.
Art is art, no matter what form it may take, and those who are sincere in their musical opinions will no more despise the lighter and more popular music than they will despise good music which is the product of other kinds of feeling and other rhythms. In certain moods and at certain times there is as much “inspiration” to be derived from ragtime as there is from a Beethoven symphony or the thunderous emotions of a great opera. Each produces its effect in its own way and each supplies a very real human need; but because they are so different in the form of their appeal, they need to be treated somewhat differently.
The fact of the matter is that popular music is usually built up on one of a few well-recognized formulæ. It does what you expect it to do. Not consciously, but by association, we have learned to accept certain “patterns” in music as we have learned to expect certain patterns in clothes. Since there is nothing essentially different in any of them, they are easy to learn and so—easy to get tired of.
There is, however, a very real pleasure in “picking up the tune.” For a few days we are quite happy in whistling or singing the new song—but once the new popular song is learned—then what? Your own experience will tell you—and that is why we urge that in your first collection of records you secure a number of the classics or semi-classics with which you are familiar.
FARRAR