Aeolian issued eight rolls of music specifically written for its pipe organ.  In this podcast, we will hear three, from works of Edwin H. Lemare,  Caryl Florio, and Moritz Moszkowski,

Lemare, whose fame as an organist and composer, has recently enjoyed a resurgeance.   His composition for the Aeolian organ is titled, Two Symphonic Sketches, which are “In the Forest” and “In the Fairy Glen”.  These rolls were issued in both 116-note and the automatic Duo Art format.  The Duo Art roll, In the Forest is heard in this presentation.

All other commissioned works for the Aeolian were offered only in the 116-note format.  These are mostly unknown outside the circle of Aeolian organ owners.   Yet, they have been identified as being major works.  Most commissioned works are not playable without rearranging, as they are written to take full advantage of the Aeolian roll player system.  The 116-note rolls required the user to set stops and other controls as the printed instructions passed by the tracker bar of the player.  Great skill was required to render a good performance.    These 116 note rolls have been upgraded in my studio to operate as fully automatic rolls, (MIDI files) a task that often takes as many as 30 hours for a single roll.