Making Music

When Mr Flum was at our old church today, he found a box of sheet music that had not been transferred with the rest of the choir library.

Browsing through them one thing caught my eye - most copies are stamped with the name of the shop where they were bought. None of these retailers exist now. A web search revealed a little information. From the top:-

Methven Simpson, 83 Princes Street, already well established in 1888 and in 1947 staff responsible for retuning the instruments in the Usher Hall, during Edinburgh Festival recitals. They sold pianos, sheet music and radios.

Henry McIntosh, 130 George Street, Edinburgh: no information.

Townsend & Thomson, 79 George Street, Edinburgh, 1883-20th Century.

T.W. Wright, Music Seller, 124 Ferry Road, Leith, operated gramophone concerts in Starbank Public Park in the summer of 1904.

James Stephen, 59 Lothian Road, Edinburgh- no information found.

R W Pentland, 24 Frederick Sreet, Edinburgh, music retailer appeared around 1890, was at Frederick Street by 1894, gone by 1938.

Handel Garth & Co, 25 Shandwick Place, pianoforte, organ and music sellers, sequestration notice in Edinburgh Gazette 11 April 1916 (also noted in the London Gazette).

It is clear that some (or all) the music is at least 70 years old. Whether we will actually sing any of it remains to be seen.