Volkwein Brothers, also known as Volkwein's Music, is a music business in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Was continuously run by the same family for three generations until the early 2020s when the family sold their shares to the DiIanni family.[1] It was opened in 1905 by immigrants from Germany, brothers Jacob C. Volkwein (1880-1984) and Rudolph G. Volkwein (1882-1954).
Rudolph and J. C. Volkwein worked for F. Bechtel before acquiring his sheet music and small goods businesses.[2][3] Photographs of the storefront and center column were taken in 1915.[4][5] In 1923 the store's window was taken up with a display for an oriental foxtrot called "Fate".[6]
Volkwein acquired Joseph Erskine Agnew's music business in 1939.[7]
Vollwein Brothers published James V. Colonna's "America Forever" march after Pearl Harbor was attacked.[8] In 1960, they published Gertrude Rohrer’s state song “Pennsylvania.”[9]
The University of Maryland has a collection of their band music.[10] The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh has a box of Volkwein music books.[11]
The store sells sheet music, instruments,[12] and has offered lessons. One of its instructors was prominent pianist Charlotte Enty Catlin.[13] Billy Strayhorn was a customer[14] and took lessons from Catlin.
The Andy Warhol Museum took over the store's building.[15]
References edit
- ^ "Obituary: Carl W. Volkwein / Ran longtime family music store". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
- ^ "Volkwein Bros Music Established in Pittsburgh PA 1905". July 30, 1905. p. 2 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ "PTM". Piano Trade Publishing [etc.] June. July 11, 1967 – via Google Books.
- ^ "Volkwein Brothers Store Front | Historic Pittsburgh". historicpittsburgh.org.
- ^ "Volkwein Brothers Center Column | Historic Pittsburgh". historicpittsburgh.org.
- ^ "Music Trades". Music Trades Corporation. November 11, 1923 – via Google Books.
- ^ Walker, Diane Parr (1983). "From "Hawk-Eye March and Quick Step" to "Caprice Hongrois": Music Publishing in Iowa". American Music. 1 (4): 42–62. doi:10.2307/3051779. JSTOR 3051779 – via JSTOR.
- ^ Diane, Acerni; Society, Armstrong County Historical (November 2, 2009). Kittanning. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 9781439622162 – via Google Books.
- ^ "Pittsburgh Sheet Music Collection". Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. Retrieved 2024-04-04.
- ^ "Collection: Volkwein Bros. Band collection | Archival Collections". archives.lib.umd.edu.
- ^ "Pittsburgh Sheet Music Collection".
- ^ Margittai, Michele (July 17, 2008). Insiders' Guide® to Pittsburgh. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 9781461746867 – via Google Books.
- ^ Whitaker, Mark (January 30, 2018). Smoketown: The Untold Story of the Other Great Black Renaissance. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 9781501122439 – via Google Books.
- ^ Hajdu, David (June 28, 1996). Lush Life: A Biography of Billy Strayhorn. Macmillan. ISBN 9780374194383 – via Google Books.
- ^ Tribune, Tom Hundley, Chicago. "STEEL CITY TO OFFER BIGGEST PICTURE OF WARHOL'S ART". chicagotribune.com.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)