For five years we have presented you with a monthly sampling of the American popular music that was played in the parlors of virtually every home in America during the period when the home piano was king of the hill. There is no doubt that the music we feature was played in millions of homes day in and day out for many, years. Home based music was the primary form of entertainment in the days before the Victrola and the radio. Not only were many homes blessed with an accomplished pianist, but often other instruments prevailed also allowing many families to play ensemble pieces as a family event.

For those whose skills exceeded the ordinary, there were many arrangements of classical works by the musical masters of the past (and present) and though popular music was probably the rule, classical works found their way into many homes and added a dimension of musical exposition that went beyond the fun of the "pops." In some cases, the works were reduced to simple arrangements, however in most cases, the works required a high level of skill.

This month ParlorSongs brings a little class to you with a sampling of some of the popular classical works that graced the parlors of America during the late 19th and early 20th century. Most of the works presented this month are complex works that would have required great skill. If you follow along using the scorch player, you will be able to see the complexity and skill required.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Sibelius have created an Active-X Scorch player that works with MSIE. In March we implemented the Active-X version and MSIE users who click on a scorch link or cover are automatically directed to a download and registration. Once done, you will not have to go through the download again and all MSIE users will have Scorch functionality. It will only take a minute and you'll be glad you did it! We hope you don't find it to be annoying.

Netscape and Opera users may continue to use the Scorch 2 plug-in player available from Sibelius at the Sibelius download site The Scorch player allows you to fully experience the music at our site. Scorch is a plug in for your browser (or an Active-x player) that will allow you to not only listen to our songs but to view the playing, real time on sheet music WITH LYRICS! Though we often find plug-ins to be annoying, this is one that we guarantee will be well worth the time to download and install. If you are not automatically directed to the Active-x version, download the Scorch player from Sibelius right now, then enjoy an astounding musical experience! The player is available for Mac and PC. Just click on the button below to go to the Sibelius site and get your free plug-in.

WEB-TV USERS! We know that the Scorch player will not work with WEB-TV and will continue to provide midi versions of our songs for you. For your added enjoyment we have now added viewable lyrics to our feature. Simply click the "Lyrics" link to see the full lyrics for the song you are listening to.

As with most of our features, this month's is covered on two separate pages to speed your downloads and to avoid a mile-long page. Be sure to see them BOTH to fully enjoy all of this month's music!