100 years old, exactly today...
Exactly one hundred years ago today, on the 2nd of August 1926, the first ever Esperanto music records were released – a set of two shellac 78rpm gramophone records, one containing two versions of “La Espero” (an instrumental by the band of the Honourable Artillery Company and a sung version by Gladys Cosmetto), and the other containing “La Tagiĝo (one of the most important songs in the early Esperanto movement) and “Al la Fratoj” (another song based on a Zamenhof poem), both sung by Maurits Boeren.
The records were released by the Esperanto Institute of Welwyn Garden City, UK. They weren't the first ever Esperanto records of any type – several spoken-word records had been released previously –, but they were the first ever recorded music in Esperanto.
More information about these records can be found on Thomas Preece's blog Esperanto Music History, in two posts:
1. About the production and content of these records (written in 2023):- https://eomuziko.com/en/posts/esperinst/.
2. Research into other early Esperanto records, and how it was confirmed that these records are indeed the earliest: https://eomuziko.com/en/posts/100-years-of-esperanto-music/.
