The Lost Chord
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The Lost Chord is a song composed by Arthur Sullivan in 1877 at the bedside of his brother Fred during Fred's last illness. The manuscript is dated 13 January 1877, and Fred Sullivan died five days later. The lyric was written as a poem by Adelaide Anne Procter called "A Lost Chord," published in 1858 in The English Woman's Journal.
"The Lost Chord" was immediately successful and became particularly associated with Sullivan's close friend and sometime mistress, Fanny Ronalds,[1] who often sang it at society functions.[2] Sullivan was proud of the song and later noted: "I have composed much music since then, but have never written a second Lost Chord."[3]
Many singers have recorded the song, including Enrico Caruso, who sang it at the Metropolitan Opera House on 29 April 1912 at a benefit concert for families of victims of the Titanic disaster.[4] The song has endured as one of Sullivan's best-known songs, and the setting is still performed today.[1]
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[edit] Background
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In 1877, Arthur Sullivan was already Britain's foremost composer, having composed such critically-praised pieces as his Irish Symphony, his Overture di Ballo, many hymns and songs, such as "Onward, Christian Soldiers", and the popular short operas Cox and Box and Trial by Jury. At the same time, Adelaide Procter was an extremely popular poet in Britain, second in fame only to Alfred Lord Tennyson.[1] Sullivan's father's death had inspired him to write his Overture In C (In Memoriam) over a dozen years earlier. During Fred's final illness, Arthur visited his brother frequently at his home on King's Road in Fulham, London. Again in grieving, he was inspired to compose, and at his bedside, he sketched out the music to The Lost Chord.[4]
Fred Sullivan was engaged as an actor in several of the operas that Arthur Sullivan had written, up to that time. In addition, as F. C. Burnand, Arthur Sullivan's collaborator, wrote: "Fred Sullivan... was a first-rate practical musician, and Arthur always found him employment in any orchestra that he had to conduct. As he was the most absurd person, so was he the very kindliest. The brothers were devoted to each other, but Arthur went up, and poor little Fred went under."[5] Fred had created the roles of Apollo in Gilbert and Sullivan's Thespis, and the Learned Judge in their Trial by Jury, and he had also appeared in revivals of Arthur Sullivan's Cox and Box and The Contrabandista. Fred most likely would have played a leading role in Gilbert and Sullivan's next work, The Sorcerer, but he fell ill in 1876 and died before that work could be produced.
[edit] 1888 recording for Edison
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In 1888, Thomas Edison sent his "Perfected" Phonograph to Mr. George Gouraud in London, England, and on August 14, 1888, Gouraud introduced the phonograph to London in a press conference, including the playing of a piano and cornet recording of Sullivan's "The Lost Chord," one of the first recordings of music ever made.[6]
A series of parties followed, introducing the phonograph to members of society at the so-called "Little Menlo" in London. Sullivan was invited to one of these on October 5, 1888. After dinner, he recorded a speech to be sent to Thomas Edison, saying, in part:
| “ | I can only say that I am astonished and somewhat terrified at the result of this evening's experiments: astonished at the wonderful power you have developed, and terrified at the thought that so much hideous and bad music may be put on record forever. But all the same I think it is the most wonderful thing that I have ever experienced, and I congratulate you with all my heart on this wonderful discovery.[6] | ” |
These recordings were discovered in the Edison Library in New Jersey in the 1950s.[6]
[edit] Text
Seated one day at the organ,
I was weary and ill at ease,
And my fingers wandered idly
Over the noisy keys.
I know not what I was playing,
Or what I was dreaming then;
But I struck one chord of music,
Like the sound of a great Amen.
It flooded the crimson twilight,
Like the close of an angel's psalm,
And it lay on my fevered spirit
With a touch of infinite calm.
It quieted pain and sorrow,
Like love overcoming strife;
It seemed the harmonious echo
From our discordant life.
It linked all perplexèd meanings
Into one perfect peace,
And trembled away into silence
As if it were loth to cease.
I have sought, but I seek it vainly,
That one lost chord divine,
Which came from the soul of the organ,
And entered into mine.
It may be that death's bright angel
Will speak in that chord again,
It may be that only in Heav'n
I shall hear that grand Amen.
[edit] Cultural influence
- There have been at least six films titled The Lost Chord, as well as one titled The Trail of the Lost Chord.[7]
- Jimmy Durante recorded a song called "The Guy Who Found the Lost Chord," which he also sings in the film This Time for Keeps.
- Michael Flanders and Donald Swann's song, "The Reluctant Cannibal" has the opening line, "Seated one day at the tom-tom", a reference to the first line of "The Lost Chord."
- The Moody Blues produced an album called In Search of the Lost Chord in 1968.
- The Strangers TV series had an episode called "The Lost Chord."[8]
- An organization called The Lost Chord[9] describes itself as "a collaborative effort to nurture young talent from underprivileged communities and to foster a commitment to music and arts education accessibility in the New England community."
- Caryl Brahms wrote a book called Gilbert and Sullivan: Lost Chords and Discords (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1975).
- Edith Wharton's novel Ethan Frome contains references to the song.
- In Isaac Asimov's Black Widowers story "The Quiet Place" (Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, March 1988), the traditional "Guest" of The Black Widowers hums this tune all through a dinner.
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b c "The Lost Chord, song for voice & piano", All Music Guide, ClassicalArchives.net, 2008
- ^ Ainger, pp. 128–29
- ^ "The Lost Chord" at The Gilbert and Sullivan Archive
- ^ a b Caruso recording
- ^ Quoted, in Ayer, p. 408
- ^ a b c Historic Sullivan Recordings, The Gilbert and Sullivan Archive. Access date: 30 June 2007
- ^ The Internet Movie Database listing of films called The Lost Chord
- ^ Information abou the TV episode called "The Lost Chord"
- ^ Website of a New England organization called The Lost Chord
[edit] References
- Ainger, Michael (2002). Gilbert and Sullivan – A Dual Biography. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195147693.
- Ayre, Leslie (1972, 1974). The Gilbert & Sullivan Companion. London: W.H. Allen & Co Ltd. Introduction by Martyn Green.
- Information about Procter and the song
[edit] External links
- "The Lost Chord" a video of the song being sung by English treble Peter Auty, at YouTube
- "The Lost Chord" links to free sound file of the song being sung by Caruso
- "The Lost Chord" at The Cyber Hymnal
- "The Lost Chord" at Project Gutenberg
- Sound file of Derek B. Scott singing the song and information about it
