Music Box Hymnal

,
Rita Ford's Antique Music Boxes - Music Box Hymnal

LP format; no year given

Produced by Teo Macero

When you enter Rita Ford's music box emporium in New York, you discover another world. Outside is the crass Fifty-seventh-Street traffic. Inside all is quiet with the stillness broken only by the occasional dulcet notes from one of the hundreds of staggeringly beautiful music boxes.

At first you have the feeling that you have stumbled into the treasure house of some king. On shelf after shelf are arrayed the bejeweled toys that seem to beg you to turn the key and set them singing. There are those of pirouetting dancers and automated animals, birds in glistening cages, vintage automobiles in miniature that play "In My Merry Oldsmobile," hand-carved musical figurines, intricately wrought carousels - plus non-automated items that range from the rather conservative inlaid woods to those of silver encrusted with precious stones.

When you enter her salon, the charming Rita Ford will greet you, eyes a-twinkle, as if she can hardly wait to play one of her collection for you. This is her hobby, her business, indeed, a large part of her life. Unfortunately, the supply of antique music boxes is dwindling, and Rita Ford is developing something new - a custom-order tune service whereby she can provide a melody on a music box to order. She also has a music box repair service but bemoans the fact that the highly-skilled help needed for this archaic craftmanship is becoming almost non-existent.

Although the Rita Ford music boxes play everything from operatic overtures to the "Theme from Doctor Zhivago," this recording is of a special group that has been programmed for famous sacred compositions. The allusion to a king's treasure above is pertinent because, beginning with the early part of the nineteenth century, the royal courts of Europe proudly exhibited and enjoyed these gem-like objects d'art. They were their phonographs! In those days, to hear the twenty-seven selections in this album, the equipment you would have to own would cost a fortune. Now, with modern high-fidelity recording, you can savor them all for the price of a record. (Gil McKean)

Tracklisting:

Side 1

1. Sweet Spirit, Hear My Prayer [Large American Regina] {1:57}

2. Evening Star [American Regina] {0:58}

3. Jesus, Lover of My Soul [American Regina] {0:56}

4. Abide With Me [Swiss Stella] {0:52}

5. Abide With Me [Swiss Baker with bells] {2:37}

6. Lead Kindly Light [Amorette Organette-Vienna] {0:40}

7. When the Roll is Called Up Yonder [Swiss Nicole Freres] {0:48}

8. Come Into My Heart Lord Jesus [Swiss Nicole Freres] {0:49}

9. Safe In the Arms of Jesus [Swiss Nicole Freres] {1:00}

10. Nearer My God to Thee [Swiss Stella] {0:51}

11. Nearer My God to Thee [Swiss Baker with bells] {2:38}

12. Shall We Gather At the River [German Polyphon] {1:52}

13. Rock of Ages [Swiss Stella] {0:52}

14. Onward Christian Soldiers [American Regina] {1:00}

15. Onward Christian Soldiers [Amorette Organette] {0:40}

16. God Be With You [Swiss Stella] {0:52}

Side 2

1. Ave Maria [Large American Regina] {1:59}

2. Ave Maria [Paillard with bells and organ] {0:46}

3. The Holy City [Swiss Stella] {0:51}

4. The Lord is My Shepherd [American Regina] {0:56}

5. Sweet Bye and Bye [Swiss Stella] {0:53}

6. Retreat and Prayer [Polyphon-German] {1:48}

7. Consolation [American Regina] {0:57}

8. Consolation [Paillard with bells and organ] {0:46}

9. Choral de Luther [Swiss Stella] {0:52}

10. The Creation [Polyphon] {1:51}

11. Lead Thou Me [Amorette Organette] {0:35}

12. Pleasant Are Thy Courts Above [Swiss Baker with bells] {2:42}

13. Spiritual Song [American Regina] {0:57}

14. Hymn [American Regina] {0:58}

15. There's a Green Hill Far Away [Polyphon] {1:50}

16. Doxology [Swiss Baker with bells] {2:39}

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