Piano Rolls and Contemporary Player Pianos: The Catalogues, Technologies, Archiving and Accessibility Peter Phillips A Thesis submitted in fulfilment of requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Historical Performance Unit Sydney Conservatorium of Music University of Sydney 2016 i Peter Phillips – Piano Rolls and Contemporary Player Pianos Declaration I declare that the research presented in this thesis is my own original work and that it contains no material previously published or written by another person. This thesis contains no material that has been submitted to any other institution for the award of a higher degree. All illustrations, graphs, drawings and photographs are by the author, unless otherwise cited. Signed: _______________________ Date: 2___________nd July 2017 Peter Phillips © Peter Phillips 2017 Permanent email address:
[email protected] ii Peter Phillips – Piano Rolls and Contemporary Player Pianos Acknowledgements A pivotal person in this research project was Professor Neal Peres Da Costa, who encouraged me to undertake a doctorate, and as my main supervisor, provided considerable and insightful guidance while ensuring I presented this thesis in my own way. Professor Anna Reid, my other supervisor, also gave me significant help and support, sometimes just when I absolutely needed it. The guidance from both my supervisors has been invaluable, and I sincerely thank them. One of the greatest pleasures during the course of this research project has been the number of generous people who have provided indispensable help. From a musical point of view, my colleague Glenn Amer spent countless hours helping me record piano rolls, sharing his incredible knowledge and musical skills that often threw new light on a particular work or pianist.