Tim Sullivan

What have I been up to over the last few months, you ask? Spending time with family, mostly, and I wouldn’t change that for the world. Blogging hardly crosses my mind anymore. Still, I have half a dozen or so “projects” and their corresponding posts in various stages of completion, so here’s one that I’ve been able to make some decent progress on.

So here’s the hypothesis I’m working to establish:

Charles Grobe may have kept track of his own opus list and collaborated with publishers to keep it consistent.

Since I’ve been unable to track down a bibliography, the best I can do is put my prodigious research skills to work. I was able to proceed based on some observations:

1. The first known publication with an opus number is L’Amitie (op. 21, George Willig, 1844)
2. Grobe appears to have exclusively published through George Willig in Philadelphia for his early works. That is to say, no known Grobe publication for the first several years is published by anyone other than Willig.

The Library of Congress happens to have digitized all the copyright ledgers for the Eastern Pennsylvania district. Tracking back through them, we find that L’Amitie is exactly the 21st copyrighted work attributed to Grobe.

This is a good piece of evidence. Of course, it doesn’t establish anything until the pattern is shown to extend. And after Grobe begins using multiple publishers, it’s possible I’ll have to comb through multiple copyright districts. But since I’m making an exhaustive survey of the ledgers, I’ve decided to record all of the musical compositions registered during the time period.

So what have I got to show for all this? A tentative opus list of the first 21 published works by Grobe, with receipts to back it up. And since the copyright office required a copy to be filed with the registration, the Library of Congress has digitized nearly all of this sheet music. I’ve been able to successfully track down a copy of all of these works.

Opus	Title	Publisher	Copyright Date	Based On
[1]	Marche pour le piano-forte	Philadelphia, George Willig	1841-11-16	Bellini, I Capuleti e i Montecchi
[2]	Souvenir de Cape May, Valse	Philadelphia, George Willig	1842-01-06	Bellini, I Capuleti e i Montecchi
[3]	Night and Morning, Valse	Philadelphia, George Willig	1842-01-15
[4]	Les Larmes de l’Aurore, Valse	Philadelphia, George Willig	1842-02-12	Donizetti, Anna Bolena
[5]	Sans Souci, Valse Brillante	Philadelphia, George Willig	1842-02-18	Donizetti, Lucia di Lammermoor
[6]	Le plus beau de mes jours en Amerique, Galop Brillant	Philadelphia, George Willig	1842-03-29
[7]	El Sinsonte del Camagüey, Rondino	Philadelphia, George Willig	1842-03-29	Auber, ?
[8]	Diane, Rondino de Chasse	Philadelphia, George Willig	1842-05-06
[9]	Marche d’Amazones	Philadelphia, George Willig	1842-05-06	Donizetti, Lucia di Lammermoor
[10]	L’Etoile du Matin, Valse	Philadelphia, George Willig	1842-06-04
[11]	La Tendresse, Rondoletto Facile	Philadelphia, George Willig	1842-06-30
[12]	Mnemosyne, Valse Brillante	Philadelphia, George Willig	1842-06-30
[13]	Les Nymphes, Quadrilles de Contre Danses	Philadelphia, George Willig	1842-07-30	Offenbach, La Chatte Métamorphosée en Femme
[14]	Cuba March	Philadelphia, George Willig	1843-03-08	“A favorite Cuba air” (?)
[15]	Ice Cream Galop	Philadelphia, George Willig	1843-04-25	“Favorite motives” (?)
[16]	Cologne Water Waltz	Philadelphia, George Willig	1843-04-25	“Favorite motives” (?)
[17]	Pine Apple Galop	Philadelphia, George Willig	1843-05-18	“Favorite motives” (?)
[18]	El Caballero, The Gentleman, A Spanish Waltz	Philadelphia, George Willig	1843-07-14
[19]	The Heart, The Heart, Oh Let It Be	Philadelphia, George Willig	1843-07-14
[20]	Adieu et Retour	Philadelphia, George Willig	1844-03-07	Donizetti, Lucia di Lammermoor
[21]	L’Amitie, Variations Brillantes	Philadelphia, George Willig	1844-08-09	Donizetti, La Fille du Regiment

I hope to keep following this line of investigation. In the meantime, here’s a synthesized recording of Opus 1, Marche pour le piano-forte, composée sur des Motifs de l’Opera ‘E Capuletti i Montecchi’²

1. I believe A. M. Kane’s The Piano Music of Charles Grobe (1973) may be an extensive work list and bibliography, but I haven’t been able to confirm that. ↩︎
2. Sic. As stated in the table, the actual title of Bellini’s opera is I Capuleti e i Montecchi. ↩︎