Valentine Abt (1873-1942) was one of the major American mandolin soloists at the turn of the 20^th century. He had many published compositions, and also made five recordings as a soloist that were released by the Victor Talking Machine Company. This edition of the Artists Valse is based on two different sources: The sheet music, which was published in 1906 and his 1908 recording for Victor, made with Roy Butin (1877-1943) on harp-guitar.

The music, as published in 1906, was intended for students, and was not very long, or difficult. On the recording, Abt played an introduction with a cadenza that was not in the 1906 version, and then played the whole piece really fast. The biggest difference between the two versions is in the guitar part. The 1906 version can be played with the guitar in standard tuning, but Butin was playing a harp-guitar, and often called for a low D. His version may be played on a standard guitar by tuning the 6th string to D.