Sonata No. 9 in A Major, Op. 47, For Violin and Piano (Kreutzer Sonata) (Beethoven)
Columbia Masterworks Series Album (M-53)
December 15, 1926
Albert Sammons - Violin William Murdoch - Piano
Since the beginning of the recording industry it had long been an elusive dream to record entire Classical works on single long-playing records. Seven-inch discs only gave two minutes of sound, ten-inchers three and twelve-inchers four at a speed in the upper 70s-80 RPM. Edison briefly marketed LPs in the late 1920s with very tiny grooves at 80 RPM but they proved a failure. RCA Victor tried a 33-1/3 RPM format in the early 1930's but that too didn't take off. That new speed, however, was used by Columbia to finally launch a lasting product in 1948.

In the meantime, the other answer was to record a long piece on several sides/discs and sell it together in an album. European record companies had already been doing this for awhile while American ones did so sporadically. However, the pre-1925 acoustic method of recording didn't provide the technical quality needed to capture such performances in the way they could be heard satisfactorily. The introduction of mainstream electrical recording in 1925 changed that. Interest in recording complete Classical works spiked and albums, introduced by Victor and Columbia in 1924, really took off in the late 1920s. However as mentioned, they weren't single long-playing records. These albums were usually in book form with each page being a sleeve for the appropriate disc. Printed descriptions were sometimes present too. If the symphony or opera was long enough, two or more "books" were used so a singular one wouldn't be so heavy and easily damaged by its own weight. This arrangement is why later on LPs and CDs were called "albums", even though most of them are singular discs. It was an inherited term.

Encoded Speed: 192 Kbps

To listen to all parts consecutively, click HERE.

Kreutzer Sonata: Part 1: Adagio sostenuto; Presto (commencement)	Kreutzer Sonata: Part 2: Presto (continuation)
Albert Sammons (Violin), William Murdoch (Piano)	Albert Sammons (Violin), William Murdoch (Piano)
Columbia 67261-D	Columbia 67261-D
Matrix# RAX2288 1-A-1, Take 1	Matrix# RAX2289 2-A-2, Take 2
December 15, 1926	December 15, 1926
Wigmore Hall, London	Wigmore Hall, London

Kreutzer Sonata: Part 3: Presto (continuation)	Kreutzer Sonata: Part 4: Presto (completion)
Albert Sammons (Violin), William Murdoch (Piano)	Albert Sammons (Violin), William Murdoch (Piano)
Columbia 67262-D	Columbia 67262-D
Matrix# RAX2290 2-A-1, Take 2	Matrix# RAX2291 2-A-1, Take 2
December 15, 1926	December 15, 1926
Wigmore Hall, London	Wigmore Hall, London

Kreutzer Sonata: Part 5: Andante con variazioni (commencement)	Kreutzer Sonata: Part 6: Andante con variazioni (continuation)
Albert Sammons (Violin), William Murdoch (Piano)	Albert Sammons (Violin), William Murdoch (Piano)
Columbia 67263-D	Columbia 67263-D
Matrix# RAX2292 2-A-3, Take 2	Matrix# RAX2293 2-A-C-4, Take 2
December 15, 1926	December 15, 1926
Wigmore Hall, London	Wigmore Hall, London

Kreutzer Sonata: Part 7: Andante con variazioni (continuation)	Kreutzer Sonata: Part 8: Andante con variazioni (completion)
Albert Sammons (Violin), William Murdoch (Piano)	Albert Sammons (Violin), William Murdoch (Piano)
Columbia 67264-D	Columbia 67264-D
Matrix# RAX2294 2-A-2, Take 2	Matrix# RAX2295 2-A-1, Take 2
December 15, 1926	December 15, 1926
Wigmore Hall, London	Wigmore Hall, London

Kreutzer Sonata: Part 9: Presto (first half)	Kreutzer Sonata: Part 10: Presto (completion)
Albert Sammons (Violin), William Murdoch (Piano)	Albert Sammons (Violin), William Murdoch (Piano)
Columbia 67265-D	Columbia 67265-D
Matrix# RAX2296 1-A-2, Take 1	Matrix# RAX2297 1-A-4, Take 1
December 15, 1926	December 15, 1926
Wigmore Hall, London	Wigmore Hall, London

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