Historic Delius Recordings from Sammons, Moiseiwitsch and Harrison, Plus Bonuses

The composer Frederick Delius (1862-1934) benefited from the impassioned advocacy of conductor Sir Thomas Beecham during his lifetime and until Beecham's own demise in 1961.

So pervasive were the conductor's efforts that it almost seems like he was Delius' only champion. But that is far from the truth. Notable early recordings of the composer's music included those by violinist Albert Sammons, cellist Beatrice Harrison, pianist Benno Moiseiwitsch and conductors Eric Fenby and Constant Lambert, none of which involved Sir Tommy. These form today's post, which is centered on a World Records Club LP from 1975, with the addition of several transfers from the original 78 issues.

Also today, we also have a bonus in the form of one of David Federman's much appreciated compilations, this one called "When Tourists Trod the Earth - A Farewell to Summer." Details below.

LP cover

The Violin Concerto with Albert Sammons and Malcolm Sargent

Albert Sammons by Alexander Akerbladh

Delius' concertos are not usually considered among his best or most characteristic compositions, although it is difficult not to enjoy these works in good performances. Here the Violin Concerto of 1916 is performed by its dedicatee, the eminent English instrumentalist Albert Sammons (1886-1957), who is also particularly associated with the Elgar concerto.

Malcolm Sargent

Sammons' was the first commercial issue of the Delius concerto. He, the Liverpool Philharmonic and its then-conductor Malcolm Sargent recorded the work in early July 1944 in Philharmonic Hall. Beecham followed up a few years later with his own version, done with violinist Jean Pougnet.

Sargent has been featured on this blog many times, including my transfer of his first Dream of Gerontius recording, with the Liverpool Philharmonic. Sammons has only appeared in a brief recording, that of Grainger's Molly on the Shore, which can be found in this compilation.

The Piano Concerto with Benno Moiseiwitsch and Constant Lambert

Benno Moiseiwitsch

The Russian-born British pianist Benno Moiseiwitsch was an ideal choice for Delius' Piano Concerto, which is more extroverted than much of the composer's oeuvre. It's been compared the Liszt's concertos; conductor Constant Lambert may have been an apt choice for the recording because of his affinity for the Abbé's music.

Moiseiwitsch was strongly associated with the Romantic repertoire, particularly Rachmaninoff and Schumann. To me, the Delius concerto is temperamentally more similar to the ruminative qualities of those masters than to Liszt's concoctions. The opening of Delius' work, for example, is directly indebted to Rachmaninoff. Moiseiwitsch is ideal in this music.

Constant Lambert

To record the work, the pianist, Lambert and the Philharmonia assembled in Abbey Road Studio No. 1 in August 1946. Depending on how you look at it, this was either the concerto's first or second recording. Beecham and his then-wife, pianist Betty Humby, had recorded it in late 1945, but that version was never issued. They remade the concerto in October-December 1946, and that was the one that HMV sent to market.

In 1946, Beecham sponsored a Delius Festival in London, recording a good number of the composer's works at the same time, including  the violin and piano concerto recordings mentioned above. I transferred these pieces for my own listening several years ago and can post them here if there is interest.

Delius also wrote a Double Concerto for violin and cello, which did not receive a recording until 1965, per the Delius Society discography. I also have that LP is anyone is interested.

The Caprice and Elegy with Beatrice Harrison and Eric Fenby

Beatrice Harrison

Today, perhaps the least known soloist in this set is the cellist Beatrice Harrison (1892-1965), another musician closely associated with Delius. Harrison and her sister May premiered the Double Concerto, which Delius wrote for them in 1915. Here she performs two works that the composer also wrote for her, the Caprice and Elegy, charming pieces that are lovingly played here.

The Caprice and Elegy recordings come from 1930, and are performed with small orchestra as scored and conducted by Eric Fenby. The latter was closely associated with Delius in the composer's last years, and is generally called his "amanuensis." That's a fancy term for scribe, but Fenby was far more than that. To my knowledge, he had only this one opportunity to conduct a Delius recording until many years later, when he produced a superb set for the Unicorn label.

Frederick Delius with Eric Fenby and Beatrice Harrison

The transfers of the Caprice and Elegy included here come from the original 78s, which have more immediate sound that the LP I used for the concerto transfers.

Bonus: Additional Delius Recordings from Constant Lambert

In addition to the Piano Concerto above, Constant Lambert also recorded Delius' On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring, the Intermezzo and Serenade from Hassan, and La Calinda from Koanga. They have appeared here before, but I am including them in this package as well.

Bonus: When Tourists Trod the Earth - A Farewell to Summer

David takes us on a tour of the past in his latest 30-song compilation, "When Tourists Trod the Earth - A Farewell to Summer." As he says in his notes, "As befits escapist fare, this medley is heavily enriched with Hawaiian music and music played through the lens it provided musicians everywhere to gaze at the songs of their own homelands." But it also continues into the 70s, "as it makes room for the Brazilian paradise that replaced the Hawaiian one."

David makes note that, "One of my favorite songs of all-time, 'On a Little Street in Singapore,' is sung by Dick Stewart - an earnest voice who made only one album I know of." I have that album myself and may transfer it if I can find it.

Thanks, David, as always for your contributions!

Let's Sing a Quasi-Irish Song with Buster

And now, to mark the upcoming feast of St. Patrick, I present an Irish-themed compendium that has nothing to do with that good saint and very little to do with Ireland itself. While each selection is Irish-related in some way, it is usually the Irish or Irish music through the lens of American or English composers and performers - with the notable exception of the great Irish tenor John McCormack. Apropos of its varied ingredients, I am calling this collection "Buster's Irish Stew."

As usual, I'll present the 32 selections chronologically, reaching back to the early years of last century for the oldest specimens.

Peter Wyper

Our first number, an "Irish Jig," comes from 1909 and the Scottish accordionist Peter Wyper. He was supposedly the first accordionist to make records, so now you know who to blame.

The following year, two of the big stars of the early recording scene, the Americans Steve Porter and Billy Murray, combined for the vaudeville routine "Irish Wit," with a snappy tune sandwiching fast-paced ethnic repartee.

American banjo virtuoso Fred Van Eps is next with his 1911 record of "Irish Hearts." Van Eps was the father of jazz guitarist George Van Eps.

Fred Van Eps at the recording horn

Vaudevillian Ada Jones was last heard on this site in a German dialect number; on this 1911 record she has been transformed into an Irish lass, telling her "German dunce" boyfriend that "You Will Have to Sing an Irish Song" to have a chance with her. Albert Von Tilzer ("Take Me Out to the Ball Game") was the songwriter.

Billy Murray turns up again in 1912 with a tune called "If It Wasn't for the Irish and the Jews," reminding us that "without the Pats and Isidores you'd have no big department stores," among other benefits provided by these two ethnicities. Presumably the Victor company hoped to sell these platters in both Irish and Jewish neighborhoods, and the department stores run by Pat and Isidore.

Cigarette card from 1914

The great John McCormack makes the first of several appearances in this collection with the traditional song "Molly Brannigan." The recording dates from 1913, although this pressing comes from 1920.

Among his other accomplishments, the American songwriter and singer Chauncey Olcott wrote two enduring standards - "My Wild Irish Rose" and "When Irish Eyes are Smiling." In 1913, Olcott recorded the first named for Columbia.

Olcott was an polished vocalist but no John McCormack, who did his own version of "My Wild Irish Rose" for Victor in 1914. The song dates from 1899, when it was heard in the Broadway play A Romance of Athlone. Coincidentally, McCormack himself was from that Irish town.

One of Australian composer Percy Grainger's most famous compositions was his setting of the Irish reel "Molly on the Shore," dating from 1907. Originally for string quartet or string orchestra, Grainger later obligingly arranged it for orchestra, wind band, and violin and piano, missing an opportunity to capture the big kazoo-player market. In this 1916 recording, American violinist Maud Powell is heard with pianist Arthur Loesser, the half-brother of songwriter Frank Loesser.

Maud Powell in 1914

John McCormack returns with Chauncey Olcott's other big success, "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling," in a 1916 recording for Victrola. The orchestral accompaniment is led by the immensely prolific Victor staff conductor Rosario Bourdon.

Two years later, McCormack was in a New York studio with the less-familiar "My Irish Song of Songs," which name-checks all the familiar Irish tunes of the time. Josef Pasternack, another Victor music director, leads the band.

Arthur Pryor in 1920

We skip ahead to 1923 for a two-sided medley from Arthur Pryor's Band, "Reminiscences of Ireland." One of the tunes is "Irish Washerwoman," which will turn up twice more later in the playlist. The Pryor Band first became famous under the leadership of Arthur's father, Samuel. Arthur took over its leadership after his father's death. A trombone virtuoso, Arthur had been in Sousa's Band for 12 years, rising to become its assistant conductor.

Bartlett and Robertson

Ireland has been the source of inspiration for many composers, none more so than the English composer Sir Arnold Bax. Among his many works with an Irish theme is 1916's "Moy Mell (The Happy Plain)" for two pianos. Performing in this 1927 recording are the eminent wife and husband duo of Ethel Bartlett and Rae Robertson. The two were closely associated with Bax's music, although he did not compose this work for them - it was written for Myra Hess and Irene Scharrer.

One of the leading chamber ensembles of the day was the Flonzaley Quartet, who recorded an "Irish Reel" in 1927 for Victor. The arrangement is by second violinist Alfred Pochon. The other side of the record (not in the playlist) was Pochon's arrangement of the spiritual "Deep River" - much different from the Flonzaley's usual diet of Beethoven and Haydn.

The Flonzaley Quartet

Perhaps the best known (and most parodied) sentimental song in the repertory is "Mother Machree" by the well-known songwriters Chauncey Olcott, Ernest Ball and Rida Johnson Young. Again, this was an American song of theatrical origin, coming from the 1911 Broadway play Barry of Ballymore. John McCormack is heard in his second recording of the piece, dating from 1927.

Mother Machree song card, c1939

Albert Sammons by
Alexander Akerbladh

Grainger's "Molly on the Shore" was popular with violinists, but not all used his arrangement. In 1928, the superb English instrumentalist Albert Sammons recorded Fritz Kreisler's version, which Grainger reputedly hated. No accompanist is named on the label and I haven't able to discover who the pianist might be.

Also in 1928, John McCormack recorded the wrenching ballad "The Irish Emigrant," written in the mid-19th century by Lady Dufferin and George Barker. This is a remarkable record, surely the best of this group.

"The Irish Emigrant" cigarette card

Moving on to 1936, we have the lighter-hearted "Laughing Irish Eyes" from veteran American bandleader Johnny Johnson, with a pleasing vocal by Lee Johnson. The budget label Melotone records issued this disc.

English violist Watson Forbes recorded William Alwyn's "Two Folk Tunes" in 1940 with harpist Maria Korchinska. The composer contrasts a Norwegian tune with an Irish air. Forbes was a distinguished figure, but he is not note-perfect here.

Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears by Cecil Beaton

Last October I discussed John McCormack's recording of Yeats' "Down by the Salley Gardens" in the setting by Herbert Hughes. Benjamin Britten set the poem under the title "The Sally Gardens" in his first volume of Folk Song Arrangements. In this 1944 recording the composer accompanies Peter Pears.

Charlie Spivak

James Royce Shannon's "Too Ra Loo Ra Loo Ral" was written for a 1914 Chauncey Olcott show, Shameen Dhu. It did well at the time in Olcott's recording, and its popularity was renewed when it was included in Bing Crosby's 1944 film Going My Way. The playlist has a relatively unfamiliar instrumental version from big-toned trumpeter Charlie Spivak and his band.

In 1945, Boyd Neel took his orchestra into Decca's West Hampstead Studios for our final version of "Molly on the Shore," in Grainger's arrangement for strings.

The next year, comic Morey Amsterdam (last discussed here for not having written "Rum and Coca-Cola") decided to revive an old vaudeville song, "With His Wonderful Irish Brogue," which dates back to at least 1918. This was for the small Crown label.

Fred Lowery

"My Wild Irish Rose" returns in a version from Fred Lowery, probably the most recorded and popular whistler of all time. A big-band veteran, Lowery would achieve his greatest hit with "The High and the Mighty" theme in 1954. This one has the same eerie quality that helped make "The High and the Mighty" a success.

It wouldn't be an Irish-themed collection without hearing from Bing Crosby. I've included one of his lesser-known songs, "My Girl's an Irish Girl," the flip side of "Galway Bay," a 1948 coupling. Victor Young leads the band.

John McCormack died in 1944, and in 1948 another Irish tenor, Michael O'Higgins, put out the tribute song "When McCormack Sang Mother Machree" on the small American Beauty Recordings label. O'Higgins was a music professor at the University of Dublin.

Glamorous Freddy Morgan

In 1949, Spike Jones wreaked his usual havoc with "MacNamara's Band," featuring a decidedly inebriated sounding "I. W. Harper and The Four Fifths" on vocals. (I. W. Harper was a then-popular bourbon.) I believe "Harper" is actually Freddy Morgan. The conceit here is that MacNamara heard Spike's records and decided to imitate his sound, at which point the Irish deported him.

At long last, we come to our first version of "The Irish Washerwoman," a traditional tune played throughout the British Isles. Here we have Leroy Anderson's arrangement from his Irish Suite, written for the Boston Pops and Arthur Fiedler. This recording dates from 1950. You can hear Anderson's own version of the Irish Suite via this post. I've newly remastered the sound both of that recording and its companion, a Fiedler collection of Leroy Anderson compositions.

The Pinetoppers

"The Irish Washerwoman" returns disguised as an "Irish Polka" in our next selection, dating from 1952. The artists were the country group The Pinetoppers, who were led by songwriter Vaughn Horton, the author of "Mule Skinner Blues," "Sugar Foot Rag" and "Mockin' Bird Hill," not to mention Louis Jordan's classic "Choo-Choo Ch'Boogie." The "Irish Polka" is attributed to "Paddy Hogan." My guess is Hogan was Horton under another name.

Perhaps fittingly, we close our collection with a song that has nothing whatsoever to do with Ireland or Irish music, but does lend its name to this collection. "English Muffins and Irish Stew" was a pop song by the well-known writers Moose Charlap and Bob Hilliard, here recorded by Brooklyn's Sylvia Syms. Unaccountably, it turns out to be a mock calypso!

The Cash Box, July 28, 1956

As usual with these collections, the raw material came from lossless needle drops found on Internet Archive and refurbished by me. The sound is quite good - even for the records that are now 100+ years old.

A pleasant St. Patrick's Day to all from your one-quarter Irish blogger!