At least some of the themes in the Colonel's Bequest are classic/ragtime themes. I'd like to have them all identified, but I don't know all of them.
UPDATE: Thanks to goatmeal1 and jaffa225man for early correct guesses, and most of all to Spikey for reaching out to Ken Allen - we now have complete answers!
Fifi's Victrola 1 - Gymnopédie No.1, by Erik Satie, 1888
Fifi's Victrola 2 - Original composition in French folk style, by Ken Allen, 1989
Fifi's Victrola 3 - Boléro, by Maurice Ravel, 1928 ... an anachronism in the game's set time of 1925
Player Piano 1 - Camptown Races, by Stephen Foster, 1850
Player Piano 2 - The Entertainer, by Scott Joplin, 1902
Player Piano 3 - Maple Leaf Rag, by Scott Joplin, 1899
Player Piano 4 - Bethena, by Scott Joplin, 1905
Player Piano 5 - A Breeze From Alabama, by Scott Joplin, 1902
Victrola Theme 1 - Original composition in Gershwin style, by Ken Allen, 1989
Victrola Theme 2 - Original composition based on flapper music and "Smile" by Count Basie, by Ken Allen, 1989
Victrola Theme 3 - Original composition in college fight song style, by Ken Allen, 1989
Victrola Theme 4 - Gymnopédie No.3, by Erik Satie, 1888
Last edited by Alderem on Wed Aug 05, 2020 11:27 pm, edited 2 times in total.
I would suggest Victrola Theme 1-4 are all originals by Ken Allen (messaged him to confirm, haven't heard back yet). My violinist girlfriend assures me Fifi Victrola #2 is Ken Allen and not classical, too. (In her words, it's "made up" classical.)
Funnily enough, a design document for CB was uncovered recently and I had been working on some CB music, that's a story for another time, though.
The document is interesting, although it was finished before any music was worked on. You can see Roberta has a few ideas for what might be included- classics Varsity Daze and Sugar Blues.
"Fifi's Victrola Theme 1 is one of the Gymnopédies by Satie
Fifi's Victrola Theme 2 is an original piece in a French folk style motif because Fifi is French
Fifi's Victrola Theme 3 is an abbreviated version of Ravel's Bolero
Billiard Room Victrola #1 is original and based on Gershwin's style (this game is set in an era where Gershwin was in his heyday)
Billiard Room Victrola #2 is original and based on flapper music but also on Count Basie's "Smile"
Billiard Room Victrola #3 is original and intended to be reminiscent of a college fight song
Billiard Room Victrola #4 is another of Satie's Gymnopedies pieces"