Title and statement of responsibility area
Title proper
Silent Film Music Collection
General material designation
- Textual records
Parallel title
Other title information
Title statements of responsibility
Title notes
Level of description
Collection
Reference code
CA ON0034 30-012
Edition area
Edition statement
Edition statement of responsibility
Class of material specific details area
Statement of scale (cartographic)
Statement of projection (cartographic)
Statement of coordinates (cartographic)
Statement of scale (architectural)
Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)
Dates of creation area
Date(s)
-
[c.1893-1946] ; 2014 (Publication)
Physical description area
Physical description
2.734 m of textual records
Publisher's series area
Title proper of publisher's series
Parallel titles of publisher's series
Other title information of publisher's series
Statement of responsibility relating to publisher's series
Numbering within publisher's series
Note on publisher's series
Archival description area
Custodial history
Little is known about the original compilation of this collection. Originally held at Library and Archives Canada (LAC), professor and musicologist Paul Merkley consulted, in 2012, several boxes of uncatalogued, un-inventoried music of unknown provenance but known to have been used for the accompaniment of silent films in central Canada. Many sheets are stamped with A. E. Witham, A. E. Witham Quebec and A. E. Witham Violinist Toronto, a musician who lived and worked in Quebec and Toronto. LAC staff member, Gilles Leclerc, asked if the University of Ottawa Music Library at the time would be interested in taking the boxes off their hands. The music librarian, Debra Begg, and Paul Merkley agreed immediately.
In the Winter 2014, Paul Merkley gave a seminar course at the School of Music, built around the collection. This resulted in the initial cataloguing of the titles, two interviews with descendants of silent film musicians, and a screening of the 1927 silent film The Cat and the Canary with small orchestra made up of students. With the assistance of the Library and Audiovisual Support Specialist, Roxanne Lafleur, and use of RefWorks, a citation management tool, students were tasked with generating the metadata in a concocted schema using the MLA citation style supplemented with 14 new fields to capture such information as handwritten inscriptions, stamps, musical genre, etc.
In 2015, the collection was donated to Archives and Special Collections at the University of Ottawa Library, where students Elsa Marshall, Tessa Bangs, and Chanel Jacinthe, hired with funding provided by Paul Merkley, began to review and digitize the collection under the supervision of Roxanne Lafleur. Between 2023-2025, Roxanne Lafleur (Digital Humanities and Support Specialist) supervised the scanning of further music sheets from the collection, with aid from high school co-op students working at the Archives and Special Collections, and completed the cataloguing process.
In the Winter 2014, Paul Merkley gave a seminar course at the School of Music, built around the collection. This resulted in the initial cataloguing of the titles, two interviews with descendants of silent film musicians, and a screening of the 1927 silent film The Cat and the Canary with small orchestra made up of students. With the assistance of the Library and Audiovisual Support Specialist, Roxanne Lafleur, and use of RefWorks, a citation management tool, students were tasked with generating the metadata in a concocted schema using the MLA citation style supplemented with 14 new fields to capture such information as handwritten inscriptions, stamps, musical genre, etc.
In 2015, the collection was donated to Archives and Special Collections at the University of Ottawa Library, where students Elsa Marshall, Tessa Bangs, and Chanel Jacinthe, hired with funding provided by Paul Merkley, began to review and digitize the collection under the supervision of Roxanne Lafleur. Between 2023-2025, Roxanne Lafleur (Digital Humanities and Support Specialist) supervised the scanning of further music sheets from the collection, with aid from high school co-op students working at the Archives and Special Collections, and completed the cataloguing process.
Scope and content
The bulk of the collection is comprised of sheet music for mostly piano or orchestra, published between 1883 and 1946 (approximately a third of which was published in the 1920s) for the purposes of performance during the screening of silent films. Handwritten notes and cues, as well as stamps are found on many sheets, which have been identified. Some of the items are of collections of music specifically written and published for the purpose of motion pictures. Also included are cue sheets and instruction manuals, folders with advertisements, letters from editors, as well as a program for the 2014 screening of “The Cat and the Canary” with small orchestra at the University of Ottawa School of Music, sums up the Silent Film Music collection.
Notes area
Physical condition
Immediate source of acquisition
Arrangement
This collection used original number which now corresponds to reference codes, e.g., UO-SFM-0005 = 30-012-F5; UO-SFM-0100 = 30-012-F100. Except for bound collections of music written for motion pictures, identifiers are added for each title; for example, if a sheet music contains two titles, a file is created for each (e.g., UO-SFM-0004 = 30-012-F4). When two titles are printed together, this is noted under 'Accompanying Material' with its identifier and title (e.g., Printed with UO-SFM-0045: Me and the Boy Friend).
Language of material
- English
- French
- German
- Italian
- Spanish
Script of material
Location of originals
Availability of other formats
This collection has been partially digitized for access [from UO-SFM-0001 to UO-SFM-0523]. Digital copies of PDFs are available by request; please contact arcs@uottawa.ca
Restrictions on access
Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication
Some of the collection exists in the public domain, but copyright may apply. See the individual item level for creators to determine potential copyright restrictions.
Finding aids
Associated materials
Anderson, Shana. "Ideal Performance Practice for Silent Film: An Overview of How-to Manuals and Cue Sheet Music Accompaniment from the 1910s – 1920s." Master's thesis - Masters of Arts music, University of Ottawa, 2013. [Note: the identifiers provided in this thesis have since been modified]
Marshall, Elsa. "Silent Film Music Research as Local Musicology: A Case Study of Musical Practices and Networks in Ottawa Theatres from 1897 to 1929." Master's thesis - Masters of Arts music, University of Ottawa, 2017
Silent Film Music in Canada - https://omeka.uottawa.ca/silentfilmmusiccanada/ - hosted by the uOttawa Library [This platform was first used by Elsa Marshall in 2017 (thesis) to showcase the work produced; see Ottawa section].
Accruals
Alternative identifier(s)
Standard number area
Standard number
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
Genre access points
Control area
Description record identifier
CA
Institution identifier
ON0034
Rules or conventions
Status
Final
Level of detail
Full
Dates of creation, revision and deletion
Collection described by Roxanne Lafleur, 2024-2025.
Language of description
- English