The Victor/Victrola Record Company was in operation from 1901 to 1929, until the 1929 Stock Market crash, which decimating the non-essential commodities industry. They would revive their status by merging with RCA in the 1930's (giving birth to the company's iconic image of the dog listening to 'his master's voice' via the phonograph). But before then, the company had been world famous for their sound and for the performers who lent their voices to their medium of the phonograph.
Perhaps the most famous of all the performers included in this series the Italian tenor Enrico Caruso. Caruso had gained international renown for the ease of which his vocal tones transmitted across the medium of the phonograph. While many of his contemporaries disdained the idea of recording their voices on such a machine, Caruso saw an opportunity to reach a broader audience, regardless of the low fidelity of the sound produced on the albums. Another prominent singer to lend his voice to the Victor/Victrola Company was John McCormack, an Irish tenor, famous for his diction and breath control during his operas.
Other, smaller record companies that have products in the collection include the Harvard Phonograph Records, Student Records, Cameo Records, Parlophone Odeum Series, Decca Records, Radiex, as well as the prestigious Columbia Records.
Collection is open for research by appointment. Materials do not circulate. Some materials may be restricted, for further information contact the Archives and Special Collections, Phillips Memorial Library, Providence College.
Researchers are advised that express written permission to reproduce, quote, or otherwise publish any portion or extract from this collection must be obtained from the Phillips Memorial Library. Although Providence College has physical ownership of the collection and the materials contained therein, it does not claim literary rights. It is up to the researcher to determine the owners of the literary rights and to obtain any necessary permissions from them.
McDermott Record collection, Providence College, Phillips Memorial Library, Archives and Special Collections.
This collection consists exclusively of one-hundred and sixty-four 78 r.p.m. records, donated to Providence College by Edward J. McDermott. The series is arranged by performer or subject, depending on the variation. The two primary performers in this collection are Enrico Caruso, who is credited with being one of the first to lend his voice to the then-new medium of the phonograph, and thereby sky-rocketing the popularity of the new device, as well as John McCormack, a world-famous Irish tenor.
The other records involve lessons in learning the Latin language through the works of various ancient authors, including Virgil and Cicero. Also included are recordings of classical music, composed by Beethoven, Grieg, and others. Additional albums are recordings of a Solemn High Catholic Mass, and recordings of popular musical artists of the 1920's and 1930's.
The collection is arranged into five series.
The was collected by Edward J. McDermott of North Providence, Rhode Island and donated by him to Providence College in 1976-77.
Enrico Caruso was born on February 25, 1873, in Naples, Italy. One of seven children (and only one of three who made it to adolescence), he was a bright and precocious child who had a talent for singing. While his father believed Enrico would follow in his footsteps as a mechanic, his mother encouraged the boy to follow his natural talent in singing.
While Caruso enjoyed success as an opera singer, he would not record his voice until he was in his late twenties. In 1902, he began recording for the Gramophone & Typewriter Company of England, which would later become the well-known H.M.V., an affiliate of the Victor Company. Throughout his career, Caruso received many orders, decorations, testimonials and other kinds of honors from the monarchs, governments and cultural organizations of the various nations in which he sang. He would perform until 1920, when he was struck severely ill with a respiratory ailment from which he would never recover. He passed away in August 5, 1921.
This series consists of 25 78 r.p.m. albums containing forty-eight audio recordings of Enrico Caruso. The albums were produced by the Victor Talking Machine Co. of Camden, NJ. between 1908 and 1929. The date noted for each recording represents the date the song was first recorded by Caruso.
John McCormack was born on June 14, 1884, in Athlone, Ireland, the fourth of seven children. McCormack recorded his first songs at the age of twenty in 1904 for the Edison Company and the Gramophone & Typewriter Company. The following year McCormack traveled to Italy for further, more formal, vocal training.
Upon his return from Italy in 1906, McCormack made a number of recordings for the Odeon Company. The Odeon Company was later purchased by the Victor Talking Machine Company in 1910, which meant that the Victor Company also bought out McCormack's contract. For the rest of his career, McCormack recorded exclusively for the Victor Company, and its British affiliate, H.M.V.
From 1923 until his retirement in 1938, McCormack devoted himself to recording and performing on tour. During this time, he had become a singer of great renown all over the world, known for both his moving performances, as well as his masterful breath control. He also became an actor, lending his talents to the medium of film. At the outbreak of World War II, McCormack came out of retirement to tour for the Allied troops, just as he had during World War I. His constant touring would take a toll on his health in 1943, and he would pass away on September 16, 1945.
This series consists of 25 78 r.p.m. albums containing thirty-four audio recordings of John McCormack. The albums were produced by the Victor Talking Machine Co. of Camden, NJ. between 1910 and 1929.
(2 copies)
(2 copies)
The first set of lessons were recorded by the now defunct Student Educational Records, Inc. in Camden, New Jersey. The second set of lessons were recorded by the distinguished Harvard professor Edward Kennard Rand (1871-1945). He was an American classicist and medievalist, teaching at Harvard for over forty years. He founded the Medieval Academy of America in 1925 and the quarterly journal Speculum in 1926.
This series consists of five 78 r.p.m. albums containing ten audio recordings created by Student Educational Records, Inc., as well as eleven 78 r.p.m. albums containing twenty-one audio recordings created by the Harvard Phonograph Records Company, which was a subsidiary of Harvard University Press.
This series contains the recordings of a wide variety of individual artists on different record labels, such as Cameo, Decca, Columbia and Radiex. Artists in this series include world famous Austrian tenor Richard Tauber, and Irish singer Seamus O'Doherty. Additional recording are of the Berlin State Opera House Orchestra, and the Columbia Broadcasting Symphony.
his series contains the recordings of a wide variety of individual artists, such as the Austrian-born violinist and composer Fritz Kreisler, Reinald Werrenrath, who was famous for his Songs on The Great War, and Feodor Chaliapin, who was known at the time as the most famous Russian opera singer of the 20th century. The series also contains the recordings of many other well-known early 20th century musical artists.
Additional recording are of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Victor Military Band, and the International Novelty Orchestra. The discs contained in box five have recordings on both sides while the discs in box six are single-sided only.