A friend commented the other day of how fortunate he was to purchase several pieces of old sheet music. He has played the piano for many years & always prefers to play with vintage sheet music. When I had a look at what he had purchased for $20 I was shocked! Most of the paper was torn, scribbled on, yellowed, & very tattered! Yet he just smiled & said that was the way he liked it!
And that's the way many musicians feel, young or old, novice or accomplished. Some music just wasn't produced enough & is almost impossible to find. Other music has been updated with more recent versions. It takes an enormous quantity of sheet music to satisfy the needs of our hungry musicians.
The need for an endless supply of original paper, paper that will allow a person to magically create wonderful music has never been greater!
The demand for early pieces by Tschaikowsky, Hammerstein, Verdi, or one of Irving Berlin's classics, & many others has risen substantially in the past 5-10 years.
Many of the very early pieces of Sheet Music were so beautifully designed with extensive Artwork on the covers, that people are collecting the covers & framing them. Many well known Artists have been known to produce these covers & some are worth a considerable amount of money!
Back in the late 1800's & early 1900's, makers of Pianos & other instruments as well, were trying to encourage people to buy their products. They began printing sheet music to sell. However this sales campaign did not work & the people did not buy the sheet music. Then they decided to employ Artists to create beautiful covers. That is why much of the vintage sheet music that we find is so well decorated, with all those Art Nouveau & Art Deco covers. Still the sales were down. They, then began giving the sheets for free! Then it started. Gradually they put very low prices on the paper & the people started to buy it. And the pianos & the instruments too!
Nowadays, the demand for this vintage sheet music is incredibly high. Paper, being what it is, is always in a state of decomposing. In other words, it is very fragile. I have seen people ecstatic because they have found a long lost friend...a particular piece of sheet music.
For those of you who are hungering for fresh paper, paper that makes music, shop around a little. Check out the thrift shops, the garage sales, church sales, flea markets, & even the newspapers. That very special piece of magic paper is waiting for you somewhere & it's up to you to find it!
Happy hunting to all!
