Typewriter Music

This is one of my favorite pieces! Leroy Anderson writes some really inventive things, and my father exposed us kids to his ingenuity pretty early on.

Thanks for sharing the link! I haven't heard this in years, and I've never seen a film of it in performance.

Shakespeare, you need to watch this "performance", it's a true classic, Jerry Lewis in "Who's Minding The Store": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7ySmnxy29Q

Nice to see a percussionist take the forefront.

They'd better hang onto that typewriter, though. In about 50 years you won't be able to find any of these and this piece will be lost to the ages : )

A minute into the piece, my attuned sense of hearing noticed a typo.

We did this piece back in high school, with a not-so-great orchestra. It sounded bizarre.

What does the typed letter look like when he is done?

Very cool piece but I can't help but be reminded that there is an entire generation coming up that has likely never used a real typewriter. I think alot of the coolness of this piece stems from our familiarity with the sound of a typewriter. What happens when that familiarity is lost?

He could type faster if he used more than two fingers.

I've always liked this piece. Leroy Anderson captured a whole era with his music.

I'm sure that different makes and models of typewriters would make for interesting variations. Perhaps a variety in an ensemble would be fun...

Talk about playing against type.

And then of course there is the Animaniacs version:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cUufpefawE

I've played that! Its really a fun piece. I can't wait to get home so I can hear the recording. When we played it, we had the guy dress like a very prim 1950s secretary. It was awesome.

Sweet! We performed that either in high school or junior high back in the late seventies or early eighties. Trinity High School in Euless, Texas or Central Junior High. It's sad I can't recall which it was!

That was so much fun to play! A very pretty clarinet player was our typist. She did a phenomenal job with acting out the part. Coincidentally, she was the junior high school principle's daughter. She was cool in that she never took advantage of who her dad was. Those were some great days! :)

I can only echo what the others have said. Never seen it actually performed either.

Alex, go sit in the corner and hang your head. Now!
Take Kalel with you.