The Land of Bottle

Musician and composer Robert Rohe worked with the New Orleans symphony for 25 years. His most famous composition was "The Land of Bottle," which he wrote in 1958. It was a piece for 8 Coca-Cola bottles.

As the musicians blew into the bottles, a narrator described "a rocket ship trip to the other side of the moon where all of the people are bottles."

The composition enjoyed a few years of popularity, but has since fallen into obscurity. You can find the sheet music for it at Boosey & Hawkes, and a brief bio of Rohe at legacy.com.

Dec 1962: Honolulu Symphony Orchestra performing Land of Bottle
Honolulu Star-Advertiser - Dec 1, 1962

April 1959: The "bottle section" of the Liverpool Music Group, Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool
The Guardian - Apr 15, 1959

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Alex Boese Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes. Paul Di Filippo Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over forty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. Contact Us

Posted By: Alex - Mon Jun 26, 2017
Category: Music

Comments

I think this is him:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njNL2x6atiQ&spfreload=10

Posted by S. Norman on 06/26/17 at 08:21 AM

That seems to be him. Great find!

Posted by Alex on 06/26/17 at 09:01 AM

Well, you know that I'd rather have a bottle in front of me.

Posted by KDP on 06/26/17 at 02:23 PM

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