Excerpts from the Burlington County Times feature article on NYSMS Vice President, Sandy Marrone

Wrapping up her research on the song "Rosie the Riveter" at 12:45 a.m., Sandy Lowe Marrone dialed the phone number of the People magazine contact, intending to leave a voice message with her findings. Instead, a wide-awake human voice greeted her, and the magazine employee jotted down the particulars, then launched into a conversation that kept the sheet music specialist glued to the earpiece for some time.

"We had this long conversation, and neither of us mentioned it was late at night," mused Marrone, whose extensive collection and knowledge of sheet music has turned her ...home into an archive and rendered her a leading resource for everyone from private collectors to movie producers.

"I like music -- I love music," said Marrone, who also can tap out the tunes in her collection on her Baldwin grand piano, a 1904 model.

A former photojournalist for Penn Mutual in Philadelphia, Marrone began collecting sheet music more than 30 years ago and has amassed a library of more than 200,000 sheets. She is contacted by schools, members of civic and choral groups and by individuals looking for specific pieces. Often, Marrone will provide not only the name of the song, but details about the composer or a bit of history behind the composition.

Marrone estimates that her oldest piece dates to the early 1800s, yet unlike many items with antique status, "older isn't better" when it comes to sheet music, said the collector.

"It's just as good to have (19)50s rock 'n' roll as to have 1850s Jenny Lind. A lot of people remember Elvis, but not Jenny Lind," said Marrone, whose hundreds of categories fill scores of boxes throughout her home. Categories include such diverse subjects as advertising themes, technology, cartoon music, newsmakers (such as Charles Lindbergh), disasters (such as the Titanic), World's Fair/expos, circus, animals, space and toys and games.

She said the categories most often requested are Ragtime, Movies, Shows, Transportation, Cartoon, Rock and Roll, Political and Ethnic.

A key difference between Marrone and most collectors is her practice of lending pieces to media outlets, institutions and such. Through her lending library, PBS found the information it needed for specials about Cole Porter, Bobby Darin, Glenn Miller and others. The PBS documentary, "Ken Burns' Jazz," which premiered in January 2001, included information gleaned from Marrone's library.

A&E Channel borrowed 100 sheets for its 1996 "Biographies" segment, "The Great Ziegfeld."

Recently, Warner Bros. paid Marrone...to borrow a copy of "A Bird in a Gilded Cage" for a movie it planned to make about outlaw Jesse James which will star actor Brad Pitt. The studio made a copy of the sheet music, which Marrone said it planned to burn during a scene, then returned the original.

Marrone's collection evolved through a variety of sources, including private collectors, private sheet music auctions, fela markets and travels throughout the United States, in Canada and Europe. Once or twice a year, she spends two weeks in London, buying sheet music..."I work on it before I go -- I have a schedule, I have a lot of contacts," Marrone said of her British treks, which included visits with friends and business associates she has met throughout the years.

Besides the endless sorting and filing, much of Marrone's time is spent on phone calls, letters and e-mails with people asking her advice about a particular piece of music, whether it's pinning down the title of a song, name of a composer or value of a piece.

"One of my favorite guidelines for valuing sheet music, is that 'If you can hum or sing it, it probably isn't worth much,'" wrote Marrone in an e-mail. "That's because it was issued in huge quantities and would be considered 'common.' Scarcity is what impacts on values."

One odd request for valuation came from someone who had found sheet music insulating their roof.

Many callers find her through Internet sites for music enthusiasts.

"I am a resource for sheet music all over the world. I am always doing for others," said Marrone, whose affiliations include membership in the National Sheet Music Society and the New York Sheet Music Society, where she serves as vice president. Marrone also writes for sheet music publications and serves as guest speaker at gatherings of sheet music enthusiasts and present programs about her work to churches, schools and civic groups.

Sandy Marrone may be emailed at smusandy@aol.com or call 856-829-6104

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