Review your 78 rpm records (military music)

[Ivan Ž.]

I am the Lucky owner of this record; does anyone know anything on the Standarten-Kapelle 1 that is credited on the label ? Since the SS-Standarte 1 was located in Munich, I assume it was more the band of SA-Standarte 1 from Berlin that was here conducted by Müller-John, maybe just before the Musikkorps der LAH was formed. What do you think ?

As you can see in the info I've added to your post, it is the band of SA-Standarte 1, which was led by Müller-John before he was transferred to LAH. They made 4 recordings for Clangor in 1933. Müller-John continued recording for Clangor with LAH as well. Record you have contains the earliest known Müller-John's recordings.

Kapelle der SA-Standarte 1
Tono 2047 Wir singen und marschieren (Kühn) I
Tono 2048 Wir singen und marschieren (Kühn) II
Tono 2049 Das braune Heer (Hevekerl)
Tono 2050 Der Ritter ohne Furcht und Tadel (Kühn)

Musikkorps der Leibstandarte des Führers
Tono 2051 Badonviller-Marsch (Fürst)
Tono 2052 Argonner-Marsch (Männecke)
Tono 2053 Märkische Heide (Lincke)
Tono 2054 Als die gold'ne Abendsonne (Zander)
Tono 2055 Uns're Fahne flattert uns voran! (Borgmann)
Tono 2056 Reiterlust (Schröder)
Tono 2057 Preußen-Marsch (Golde/Grawert)
Tono 2058 Zum Städtel hinaus! (Meissner)
Tono 2059 Marsch Infanterie-Regiment „Großherzog Friedrich von Baden“ (Haefele)
Tono 2060 Deutscher Föhn (Hanfstaengl)
Tono 2061 Deutschlands Erwachen (Kochmann) I
Tono 2062 Deutschlands Erwachen (Kochmann) II
Tono 2063 Wir SS sind lust'ge Brüder (Kutsch)
Tono 2064 Düppeler-Schanzen-Sturmmarsch (Piefke)

I recently have come across a copy of a song that I never knew to be herms Niel's recording, Its not his writing, but I never knew he recorded it. The song is very commonly known as "Es dämmert schon im Osten" but is really titled "Wir fahren gegen Osten". I was lucky enough to snag it up for my own collection and it is now on its way here from Germany. Do you have this record, Ivan? Know anything about it?

Hello and

I am very much familiar with this recording, but unfortunately don't have the original record in my collection yet. Congratulations, this is not a common record. You can find additional info on it in my edit of your post. Almost nothing seems to be known on the authors of "Wir fahren gegen Osten". Seeger is best known as the lyricist of one of the last military hits of the III Reich, "Das Lied der Panzergrenadiere" (music by Norbert Schultze). He wrote a couple more lesser known songs composed by Schultze (for example "Gute Nacht, mein lieber Junge"). "Es dämmert schon im Osten" is of course just the opening line and not the title; the title is, as we can see, "Wir fahren gegen Osten", Lied der Kraftfahrer (or, as they wrote it on the record, Das Lied der Kraftfahrer-Kompanien) - "We're heading (driving) against East", Song of the vehicle drivers. It was published by Bote & Bock in Berlin 1942. Arrangement for a brass/military band [Harmoniemusik] was made by Prof. Hans Felix Husadel and published in 1943. It is interesting that although it is a song against the Soviet Union, they are also mentioning their main enemy England in lyrics (notice also that in the Balkans campaign song none of the Balkans countries was mentioned - only England).

Ivan,

Hoping you are still around some years after the final post in this thread. You may have seen me in some other obscure places on this forum, as I have been scouring for information and trying to complement what I already know as I try to get a better grasp on the topic. First of all thank you for the digital sample, and second I was hoping there may be somebody out there who knows where to find some kind of digital archive of these musical pieces so that I could listen to some more variety and a little more than 40 seconds. Thank you so much to anybody who may have a link or two to share!

Hello, General Jack, and thanks very much for the kind words. Several links to the full recordings have been added now.

Also, posts dealing with the "Badenweiler-Marsch" were split off and merged with an older thread: http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?f=81&t=26871

Cheers,
Ivan

[Maikowski]

Thank you Ivan !
I must say your knowledge is really impressive !

Note that SA-Standarte 1 also had members singing with Carl Woitschach's grosses Blasorchester for Telefunken, but this is another story...

Now I find it remarkable that there is not a single gap between all these matrix numbers, from the lowest (Tono 2047) to the highest (Tono 2064).
Correct me if I am wrong, but matrix numbers were attributed chronologically, no ? Here it is as if they had recorded all those titles in one or two sessions only. As if Müller-John had come to the studio one day with the band of SA-Standarte 1, and had come back the day after with the Musikkorps der LAH !...
Or maybe I am completely wrong and the "Tono" numbers had nothing to do with matrix numbers ???...
Maiko

[Ivan Ž.]

Hello again

Now I find it remarkable that there is not a single gap between all these matrix numbers, from the lowest (Tono 2047) to the highest (Tono 2064). Correct me if I am wrong, but matrix numbers were attributed chronologically, no ? Here it is as if they had recorded all those titles in one or two sessions only. As if Müller-John had come to the studio one day with the band of SA-Standarte 1, and had come back the day after with the Musikkorps der LAH !...

Matrix numbers were mostly attributed chronologically (not always, but generally they were), but that doesn't mean that all of them (those listed above) were made on the same day or soon afterwards. For example: the first 4 could have been made in one day and the next 4-6 could have been made days, weeks or perhaps months later, and so on. But it also wasn't strange for 10 tracks to be recorded in one session. There's not many information on Clangor tracks, I had many difficulties figuring out some years of recordings, especially since some discographers/researchers have previously made the wrong conclusions (they thought 1933 was 1936) and thus led the further research in the wrong direction. I've already written on Clangor matrix numbers (unfortunately this text isn't available online at the moment), so I will try to keep it short for now. Clangor had several series of matrix numbers, based on the musical genre. The 2000 series was reserved only for military marches. This is why for example Tono 2064 was made in 1933 and already Tono 2069 in 1938 (Clangor did produce much more than 5 recordings in the meantime, but not in this series). So, you see, there could be a significant time difference between Müller-John's SA and SS recordings. But the year is 1933 in any case. Hope I've managed to be clear enough, in such a short text.

Cheers,
Ivan

[Maikowski]

Perfectly clear... as you always are.
Thanks a lot Ivan.
Cheers
Maiko

[Alexander B.]

@Ivan Ž.
Another question from a new collector. I recently got this record one side has a song by Herms Niel that I've never personally heard myself before, the other side by Mr. Franz Breuer. Any chance you've got a source for the music on it? Its probably going to be a good month before I have the record in hand. Being an American (Let the boo's begin) I have a friend that collects up the records I buy for me and ships them off in one big shipment for me once I have a full box, works very well. Only ever had one broken so far!

Also. Is there any complete list of your collection? I'd love to see it. Pictures or just lists

Thanks in advance
Alex

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Immer wenn Soldaten singen [Marsch und Lied]
Composer: Franz Größmann; Franz Josef Breuer
Lyricist: Franz Josef Breuer
Vocal Group: Die vier lustigen Jungens, Berlin
Instrumental Group: Musikkorps des Luftnachrichten-Regiments des Oberbefehlshabers der Luftwaffe, Potsdam-Eiche
Conductor: Musikmeister Erich Kiesant
Recording Date: 1939
Recording Location: Berlin
Record Company: Carl Lindström AG, Berlin

Wir sind Kameraden [Marsch und Lied]
Composer/Lyricist: Herms Niel
Arranger: Gustav Skibbe
Vocal Group: Die vier lustigen Jungens, Berlin
Instrumental Group: Musikkorps des Luftnachrichten-Regiments des Oberbefehlshabers der Luftwaffe, Potsdam-Eiche
Conductor: Musikmeister Erich Kiesant
Recording Date: 1939
Recording Location: Berlin
Record Company: Carl Lindström AG, Berlin

[Discographical info added by the host.]

[Ivan Ž.]

Hello, Alex, and thanks for posting. I took the liberty of moving your post to the record review section, I believe it's more suitable. As you can see, I've also added the info for the recordings. FYI, Breuer's song was composed in 1937 and Niel's in 1939. Both were recorded in 1939, but before the war broke out. This is an interesting detail, especially because Niel's song has lyrics a bit strange for peacetime - about fighting further, year after year, loyal to the Leader; like a real war-song. See also my record with this song: Tempo 707.

The same as many of my collector friends, I had most of my records displayed on SCF, but it is unfortunately still offline. I don't have any lists anymore and my files are in a chaotic state. I'm working on sorting out. On the bright side, I've managed to update the AHF music section in the meantime with loads of reliable information and you might find the new info and documents useful as well. More to come!

Cheers,
Ivan

[Alexander B.]

Hey!
As my first original post I'd like to show you my first record of this kind.
I have seen a few like it with different titles, unfortunately this one is rather uninteresting, a couple of old army marches and "Volk ans Gewehr" if it weren't for the unique label I don't think I would have wanted it.

As I stated, this is my first record like this even after collecting about 200 records. They aren't super rare, I don't think, but they are uncommon.

Just wanted to see if anyone else possibly has any with this label design or others from the NS-Schallplatten Industrie.

Thanks
Alex

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Volk, an’s Gewehr! (Siehst du im Osten das Morgenrot?) [Kampflied der SA-Standarte 7]
Dedication: Meinem verehrten Gauleiter Pg. Dr. Goebbels in dankbarer Erinnerung herzlich zugeeignet
Composer/Lyricist: SA-Sturmbannführer Arno Pardun
Vocal Group: Männerchor
Instrumental Group: Kapelle der SA-Gruppe Berlin-Brandenburg
Conductor: Musikzugführer Johannes Fuhsel
Recording Date: 1932
Recording Location: Berlin
Record Company: NS-Schallplatten-Industrie

Mollwitzer Marsch [AM I, 1e] [AM III, 1d]
Composer: Friedrich II. König von Preußen
Instrumental Group: Kapelle der SA-Gruppe Berlin-Brandenburg
Conductor: Musikzugführer Johannes Fuhsel
Recording Date: 1932
Recording Location: Berlin
Record Company: NS-Schallplatten-Industrie

Torgauer Marsch [AM II, 210] [AM III, 69]
Composer: Anonym
Instrumental Group: Kapelle der SA-Gruppe Berlin-Brandenburg
Conductor: Musikzugführer Johannes Fuhsel
Recording Date: 1932
Recording Location: Berlin
Record Company: NS-Schallplatten-Industrie
Intro: Lockmarsch [Anonym]

[Discographical info added by the host.]

[Alexander B.]

Another exciting record just entered my collection.
A beautiful copy of "Am Westwall blüht ein Rosenstrauch, Anna Katharin"
I'm very happy to have found a serviceable copy of it after all this time, and something new I learned from listening to it!
The only version that seems to be available online is incomplete! The available transcription is missing the final 15 or so seconds, it ends with the famous "In der Heimat, da gibt's ein Wiedersehen" As soon as my Dual 1019SK is back from repairs I shall make a reasonable transcription of it

Once again, I ask that Ivan come to the rescue with more information for me!
I'm still very new to this hobby, and only have about 150 or so records that I'm slowly cataloging and still adding to my small collection.

I'm really starting to love this hobby, its becoming an addiction, before this I collected gas masks of all things! The hobby itself was sound, but attracted quite a few "children" and people that were of low intelligence, the collector base for 78's really seems to be quite a bit more mature and very helpful.

Here are some pictures of the label for those interested. This particular copy is paired with "Wenn ich Urlaub hab'"

Please enjoy, any questions let me know, and of course if anyone else has more information let me know!

Alex

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Wenn ich Urlaub hab’! [Marschlied]
Composer: Gerhard Winkler
Lyricist: Ralph Maria Siegel
Arranger: Franz Stolzenwald
Vocal Group: Soldatenchor
Instrumental Group: Musikkorps der Fliegerhorst-Kommandantur Königsberg/Neumark
Conductor: Musikmeister Fred Fritzlar
Recording Date: 28.09.1940
Recording Location: Berlin, Central-Theater (Alte Jakobstraße 30-32)
Record Company: Deutsche Grammophon GmbH, Berlin

Westwall-Lied (Anna Katharin)
Composer/Lyricist: Rudi Roonthal
Arranger: Edgar Gernet
Vocal Group: Soldatenchor
Instrumental Group: Musikkorps der Fliegerhorst-Kommandantur Königsberg/Neumark
Conductor: Musikmeister Fred Fritzlar
Recording Date: 28.09.1940
Recording Location: Berlin, Central-Theater (Alte Jakobstraße 30-32)
Record Company: Deutsche Grammophon GmbH, Berlin

[Discographical info added by the host.]

[Ivan Ž.]

Hello again, Alex

Regarding "Westwall-Lied" (Anna Katharin): as it is written, the song was created by Rudolf -Rudi Roonthal (pseudonym of Rudolf Rosenthal), creator of pop songs (Schlager) and also the author of "Das Lied der SA" (Denn wir sind die braunen Soldaten) - a 1933 song which was obviously planned to be the main song of the SA, as the title suggests; it was recorded by several big-shot military bands at the time, however, after the Night of the Long Knives, SA songs (the same as the SA itself) weren't as much popular, so the song never truly caught on. The complete sound file of "Westwall-Lied" can be found in the Documentary Series CD "Soldatenlieder" Vol. 2, together with "Wenn ich Urlaub hab’!". You will find the other details about both recordings in my edit of your post. A couple of brief notes on "Wenn ich Urlaub hab’!" and its authors can be found here.

Regarding your previous record (Hakenkreuz-Platte 2001): I can understand you finding it "uninteresting" without having much background info on it, but I personally couldn't agree less. A small book can be written about it actually, but I'll try to keep it short. It is only the 2nd "Hakenkreuz-Platte" made by the NS-Schallplatten-Industrie and the first one from the series with Fuhsel's name on it - the man whose band will become company's leading performer (not to mention that he was country's leading NS performer). This particular "Volk, an’s Gewehr!" recording is one of my most favourite performances of the song, mostly because of the vocal group, which sounds unusually enthusiastic and determined (note that it's only a small group of singers, likely a quartet). The 2nd track is even more interesting, but mainly because of its later use: when the WWII broke out, the German record industry naturally distributed many records with the Poland-campaign march, Prof. Schmidt's "Weichsel und Warthe". But a today unknown fact is that the "supporting" (additional) Poland-campaign march was the old "Marsch aus der Zeit Friedrichs des Großen" (newly arranged, also by Prof. Schmidt). It was a reminder to Germans of their Great King (Frederick II) and his actions in Poland (equalizing the new war with the old one and Hitler with Frederick II). Tempo record company (which held the copyright to the NS-Schallplatten-Industrie tracks) was one of the rare companies which didn't have a 1939 recording of "Marsch aus der Zeit Friedrichs des Großen", but instead re-used the 1932 track "Zwei Kampfmärsche Friedrichs des Großen". So, you see, the recording you might have initially found uninteresting, actually was one of The main & earliest propaganda campaign recordings of WWII.

I'm really starting to love this hobby, its becoming an addiction, before this I collected gas masks of all things! The hobby itself was sound, but attracted quite a few "children" and people that were of low intelligence, the collector base for 78's really seems to be quite a bit more mature and very helpful.

Dear Alex, I am sorry that I need to remind anyone of this, but it is also mature and polite when someone takes the time to reply to you and perhaps even provide you the requested information - to reply back with at least a "thanks", or in case you weren't satisfied with the reply, with a proper curse word, allowed by the forum rules of course Again, just a reminder. There are a lot of people here who take mine and others' free time for granted and forget that no one here is obliged to reply to anyone. So let's keep the discussion on at least a common courtesy level and show the appreciation if someone is helpful. Many experts have already left the forum because of the opposite (mis)behavior.

Cheers,
Ivan

[Alexander B.]

@Ivan

Thank you very much for all the new information, and for combining my photos onto one larger one!
I apologize for not understanding the code of conduct as far as responses go! As I stated previously, my past hobby was infected by some people that, to say the least, probably didn't belong anywhere near collectibles! Things were quite a bit looser within that, please give me time to learn the ropes here! I'm trying to please all my new friends!

I'll have some more things to share very soon!

Thanks everyone!

Alex

[Ivan Ž.]

Dear Alex, no problems, I understand; that is why I used the words "just a reminder" and not "a warning" or anything harsh. And there is no special code here, it's only human to be polite to others and especially to those who were polite to you; and the same as you would respond to someone's "Hi" on a street (unless it's a maniac of course) - it's only natural to respond with anything to a person addressing you online (and especially friendly replying to a question), isn't it? But I know, today it's the opposite: Hi - ignore. But that's not your fault of course. In any case: let's not be like that here.

Cheers,
Ivan

[Alexander B.]

One of my personal favorites from the purely political portion of music produced in the III Reich, I've always really enjoyed "In dem Kampfe um die Heimat" (also commonly known as "Hitlerleute" online, probably from its Refrain). An offshoot based almost entirely on the very popular Italian Fascist song "Giovinezza". Recorded both as an instrumental and with lyrics.

Here in America at least, Germany's relationship with Fascist Italy is very downplayed in the history books, Italy is looked at only as "Hitler's little buddy", a country that had no business even having a diplomatic relationship with Germany. When in reality it was really the Italians and Mussolini in particular that made much of Hitler's very early success possible. There was even a point in time when the Duce thought of Hitler as a scrubby little man with crazy ideas and a crippling obsession with racial purity, and Hitler idolized Mussolini like we would a movie star, a feeling that seemed to, at least at a personal level, follow Hitler to the very end. In hindsight what a different war played out than Benito could have ever imagined!

Here are both my copies of "In dem Kampfe um die Heimat":

Telefunken A 1431

First my Instrumental which is paired with a so-so version of "Deutscher Weckruf", I do not care too much for the Instrumental version of "In dem Kampfe um die Heimat", without lyrics it is (in my opinion) simply a very sad and flimsy rendition of "Giovinezza", lacking the almost clownish and gaudy (but somehow very powerful) enthusiasm with which much Italian military music, especially Giovinezza, was usually played.

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Giovinezza [Inno trionfale del Partito Nazionale Fascista]
Dedication: Al Duce
Composer: Giuseppe Blanc
Lyricist: Salvator Gotta
Arranger: Carl Woitschach
Instrumental Group: Blasorchester Carl Woitschach, Berlin
Recording Date: 24.05.1933
Recording Location: Berlin, Sing-Akademie (Am Festungsgraben 2)
Record Company: Telefunken-Platte GmbH, Berlin

Deutscher Weckruf [Marsch]
Composer: Peter Kirsten
Instrumental Group: Kapelle der SA-Gruppe Berlin-Brandenburg
Conductor: Musikzugführer Johannes Fuhsel
Recording Date: 23.03.1933
Recording Location: Berlin, Sing-Akademie (Am Festungsgraben 2)
Record Company: Telefunken-Platte GmbH, Berlin

Telefunken A 1429

Here is my copy of of the non-instrumental version paired with "Gott sei mit unser'm Führer". This version I enjoy very well, and find myself listening to it on occasion. "Gott sei mit unser'm Führer" is also a very powerful piece, sung almost as one would sing a hymn in church (hence the "Hitler-Hymne" title). Just the music is very powerful on its own, I imagine if you were a true admirer of Hitler back in his "glory days" you would be moved to tears by it, many Germans saw him as more than a human at the time!

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In dem Kampfe um die Heimat (Faschistenmarsch)
Melody: Giovinezza/ Composer: Giuseppe Blanc
Lyricist: Edgar Poelchau
Arranger: Carl Woitschach
Vocal Group: Männerchor
Instrumental Group: Blasorchester Carl Woitschach, Berlin
Recording Date: 29.06.1933
Recording Location: Berlin, Sing-Akademie (Am Festungsgraben 2)
Record Company: Telefunken-Platte GmbH, Berlin

Hitler-Hymne (Gott sei mit unser'm Führer)
Composer/Lyricist: Leopold von Schenkendorf
Vocalist: Hans Schmitt
Organ: ?
Instrumental Group: Orchester Hans Bund, Berlin
Recording Date: 09.06.1933
Recording Location: Berlin, Sing-Akademie (Am Festungsgraben 2)
Record Company: Telefunken-Platte GmbH, Berlin

[Discographical info added by the host.]

[eliorossetti]

Hello,
all your posts are very intresting!
My question is, if it would be posible to get some samples of the music on these records?

MFG e.r.

[Ivan Ž.]

My question is, if it would be posible to get some samples of the music on these records?

Hello and

Please check the posts more carefully and you will find the links to many full recordings from the reviewed records.

...a very sad and flimsy rendition of "Giovinezza", lacking the almost clownish and gaudy (but somehow very powerful) enthusiasm with which much Italian military music, especially Giovinezza, was usually played.

Dear Alex, please try and restrain yourself from commenting that something is "sad", "clownish" or "gaudy", especially if your impression is based on just a couple of recordings. What you might find "sad" is just one of many, many different arrangements of the song (and that particular one was made by the legendary conductor Woitschach himself) and what you might consider to be "clownish" or "gaudy" was nothing related to Italian military music, but one of common performance styles used around the world at the time (which wasn't considered to be clownish nor gaudy).

Cheers,
Ivan

[Alexander B.]

That is why I wrote "In my opinion".
I never stated that my opinion was the correct or ultimate, that was simply my take on it.