Möller Master Rolls

The massive collection of Möller Master Organ Player Rolls, circa 1920, under the care and preservation of the American Organ Institute Archives and Library in the OU School of Music, is one of Oklahoma’s top 10 endangered artifacts, as identified by a subcommittee of the Oklahoma Cultural Heritage Trust, from nominations made by 25 organizations from across the state. The Oklahoma Cultural Heritage Trust’s Top 10 Most Endangered Artifacts program was created to raise awareness and support for proper collections care and preservation for historical items within Oklahoma’s archives, libraries and museums. Weighing in at nearly 12 tons, each roll was created by the M.P. Möller Organ Company in the early 20th century as part of an extremely sophisticated and lucrative system that allowed pipe organs to be played automatically via perforated paper rolls, much like player pianos that operated on the same principle. The complete collection includes more than 700 rolls, containing music of every genre. Often, the rolls recorded live performances by famed musicians of the era. With the advent of high-fidelity recordings, the demand for player organs subsided, and the rolls, as well as the equipment used to create copies, ended up in a barn in northern Michigan for many years. In extremely fragile condition, they must be examined closely by conservators and a plan to stabilize and preserve them must be developed, as well as a method of recording the data they contain so that if their physical condition makes them unusable, they can be recreated. “When we play these rolls for the public, as we expect to in the near future, we will hear a perfect reproduction of the original performance, given some 90 years ago,” said John Schwandt, director of the American Organ Institute. “The music will be performed as though the long-dead artist was actually sitting at the instrument.” He added, “This collection is particularly important because there are no audio recordings of organs from the early days of recorded sound, when the technology could not cope with the extreme sonic range and power of the instrument. These rolls tell us how people played and heard music nearly a century ago.” The American Organ Institute Official Website – http://aoi.ou.edu/ Like us on Facebook!   / ouaoi   The mission of the University of Oklahoma’s American Organ Institute is to invigorate and reinvent the time-honored and deeply-linked studies of pipe organ building, playing, and improvisation, through preparing and equipping students for successful careers as performers, teachers, organ builders, scholars, and technicians. We seek to inspire students and audiences with learning and exposure to this ancient and ever-evolving instrument by offering innovative and informed approaches to the pipe organ and its music. Our students cultivate excellence and mastery of performance in both the traditional classical and sacred repertoire, focusing on historical performance practice as well as playing for today's audiences and congregations. The AOI also offers students the singular opportunity to undertake focused study of the American traditions of improvisation, scoring, and accompaniment of silent films and theatrical pipe organ performance. This cultivates opportunities for insight as well as the preservation of a unique aspect of the United States’ rich musical heritage. It likewise opens the doors to musical skills and techniques which have great relevance to the wider aspects of today’s organ profession, where all musicians are called upon to be broadly based in many disciplines as well as entrepreneurial in their visions of the organist's role in an ever-changing culture. “This Institute… will be of great benefit to organ builders in the United States by providing a stable source of young people dedicated to organ building and with enough training to get a good start on a career.” - Jack M. Bethards, President and Tonal Director, Schoenstein & Co. Organ Builders AOI Faculty and Staff: Mary Margaret Holt - Interim Dean, College of Fine Arts Dr. Lawrence R. Mallett - Director, School of Music Dr. John Schwandt - Director, American Organ Institute Jeremy Wance Associate Director, American Organ Institute Dr. Damin Spritzer - Assistant Professor of Organ Dr. Adam Pajan - Instructor of Organ/AOI Shop Technician Dr. Clark Kelly - Professor of Music, Emeritus John M. Riester - AOI Projects Manager Daniel Sliger - AOI Shop Manager Mayu Hashigaya Allen - AOI Shop Technician Student Shop Assistants: Nathan Rau Cristiano Rizzotto Samantha Koch Kaitlynn Eaton Jesse Oddis Stephen Wurst AOI Archive and Library: Stephanie Barth Catherine Dean Video production: Cristiano Rizzotto | DMA Student & AOI Shop Assistant