If individual popular songs made people sing or dance, medleys were also sure to do the trick. Music lovers could purchase several favorite tunes of the year on one piano roll, one record, one piece of sheet music. Bands and orchestras could entertain audiences and dancers with the same set of tunes. One man behind many popular medleys of Witmark tunes was Wm. Christopher O'Hare:
O'Hare specialized in medley arrangements of popular songs for orchestra and band. --Isidore Witmark and Isaac Goldberg, The Story of the House of Witmark (1939)
Medley overtures could be played as concert, theater, or dance pieces whereas medley lancers were for dancing, and lancers recordings included spoken dance calls. This popular quadrille style featured four couples performing a series of set steps/formations. Common in Europe and in early America through the Civil War era, the dance remained popular into the early twentieth century and is still performed by vintage dance groups.
When O'Hare selected a tune for inclusion in a medley overture, he generally chose from among those he had previously arranged for orchestra and/or band. Some of the individual song titles listed below appear on the previous Pop Songs page or on the later Miscellaneous Shows page.
When O'Hare selected a tune for inclusion in a medley overture, he generally chose from among those he had previously arranged for orchestra and/or band. Some of the individual song titles listed below appear on the previous Pop Songs page or on the later Miscellaneous Shows page.
The World Beater, Medley Overture (Witmark, 1902)
Witmark catalog listing
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Opening of 1st violin part; orchestra copyright March 31, 1902; military band copyright May 26, 1902
The Record Breaker, Medley Overture (Witmark, 1902)
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Washington, D. C., 1903
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Fifty-Fourth Regiment Band concert, Rochester, NY (1904)
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Record Breaker, song list; 1902 Walla Walla, WA band concert
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Swing Partners, Medley Lancers (Witmark, 1903)
The title derives from lancers steps in which partners swing each other.
Orchestration copyright
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Witmark catalog listing
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The Climax, Medley Overture (Witmark, 1903)
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Band copyright
Pianola piano roll catalog listing, Aeolian company
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Opening of cornet part for military band
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Popular Minstrel Medley (Jos. W. Stern, 1903)
Opening of violin part for orchestra
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He May Get Over It, But He'll Never Look the Same
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Bemidji, Minnesota (1907)
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Piano roll arrangement of Popular Minstrel Medley (Connorized 8238)
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The Leader, Medley Overture (Witmark, 1904)
Witmark catalog listing
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The Star, Medley Overture (Witmark, 1904)
Witmark orchestration advertisement
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O'Hare's piano roll arrangement of The Star
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Tacoma, WA (1908)
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The Chief, Medley Overture (Witmark, 1905)
Witmark advertisement
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Anaconda, MT (1906)
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Opening of The Chief
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Salt Lake City concert including O'Hare's medley overtures The Chief and The Record Breaker as well as his arrangement of the Three Twins Selection (1912)
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Advertisement for Connorized piano roll #8267.
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Balance Corners, Medley Lancers (Witmark, 1905)
Witmark catalog listing
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Victor recordings
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Forward and Salute, Medley Lancers (Witmark, 1905)
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This medley title refers to another standard lancers step in which couples step forward to salute each other, the men bowing and the women curtsying.
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The Monarch, Medley Overture (Witmark, 1906)
Opening of The Monarch
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O'Hare's arrangement of The Monarch as Connorized piano roll
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The Monarch in Indianapolis (1906}
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The Monarch in Anaconda, MT (1913)
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Form Sets, Medley Lancers (Witmark,1906)
This medley takes its name from the practice of forming a square (or "set") in preparation for the lancer/quadrille figures.
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Medley Selections
Only a Message from Home Sweet Home, When Love Is Young, Smile on Me, On the Rocky Road to Dublin, Take Me to Your Heart Again, Bill Simmons, and Moon Dear |
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Background graphic, top of page: Witmark building, c. 1903