Track Listing

CD 1 (71:00)

Session 1

September 1906

1.A Nation Once Again (Traditional)3:03
 (Lx 1565-1) 44364 
2.God Save Ireland (Root)2:59
 (Lx 1566-1) 44363 
3.The Boys of Wexford (Darley)3:11
 (Lx 1567-1) 44366 
4.The Croppy Boy (Traditional)2:56
 (Lx 1568-1) 44367 
5.The Dear Little Shamrock (Cherry)2:58
 (Lx 1569-1) 44368 
6.The Snowy Breasted Pearl (Traditional)3:04
 (Lx 1570-1) 44369 

Session 2

September 1906

7.The Green Isle of Erin (Roeckel)3:05
 (Lx 1576-1) 44374 
8.Kathleen Mavourneen (Crouch)3:12
 (Lx 1577-1) 44375 
9.Come Back to Erin (Claribel)2:58
 (Lx 1579-1) 44376 
10.Come Back to Erin (Claribel)2:03
 (L 1580-1) 2895 
11.The Dear Little Shamrock (Cherry)2:04
 (L 1581-1) 2896 
12.Killarney (Balfe)3:13
 (Lx 1582-1) 44377 

Session 3

February or March 1907

13.My Dark Rosaleen (Needham-Morgan)2:58
 (Lx 2132-1) 44889 
14.Savourneen Deelish (Traditional)3:06
 (Lx 2133-1) 44852 
15.Terence’s Farewell to Kathleen (Traditional)2:36
 (Lx 2134-1) 44853 
16.Oft in the Stilly Night (Traditional)3:20
 (Lx 2135-1) 44854 

Session 4

September 1907

17.Absent (Metcalf )2:09
 (Lx 2430-1) 57511 
18.A Farewell (Liddle)2:39
 (Lx 2431-1) 57548 
19.A Farewell (Liddle)2:39
 (Lx 2431-2) 57548 
20.Love’s Golden Treasury (Capel)3:18
 (Lx 2432-1) 57549 

Session 5

September 1907

21.Like Stars Above (Squire)3:30
 (Lx 2487-1) 57507 
22.CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA: O Lola ch’ai di latti [Siciliana] (O Lola, pretty one, white as the May, love) (Mascagni)1:58
 (Lx 2488-1) 57523 transposed down a semitone to E Minor 
23.PAGLIACCI: Recitar! Mentre preso dal delirio ... Vesti la giubba (To act! With my heart bowed down with sorrow ... On with the motley) (Leoncavallo)2:27
 (Lx 2489-1) 57524 transposed down a semitone to E-flat Minor 
24.The Awakening of a Perfect Spring (Simpson)3:35
 (Lx 2490-1) 57504 
25.RIGOLETTO: La donna è mobile (Verdi)2:00
 (Lx 2491-1) 57508 transposed down a semitone to B-flat 

CD 2 (77:17)

Session 6

September 1907

1.Thora (Adams)3:12
 (Lx 2500-1) 66190 
2.TOSCA: E lucevan le stelle (Puccini)2:30
 (Lx 2501-1) 57525 
3.A Child’s Song (Marshall)2:41
 (Lx 2502-1) 57503 

Session 7

November 1907

4.I Sent My Love Two Roses (Simpson)2:37
 (Lx 2545-1) 57506 

Session 8

November 1907

5.The Lord is My Light (Allitsen)3:31
 (Lx 2558-1) 57505 
6.RIGOLETTO: Questa o quella (Verdi)2:02
 (Lx 2559-1) unpublished on 78 rpm 

Session 9

November 1907

7.THE BOHEMIAN GIRL: When other lips (Then you’ll remember me) (Balfe)3:08
 (Lx 2619-1) 57522 

Session 10

August or September 1908

8.LA BOHÈME: Che gelida manina (Puccini)4:30
 (Lxx 2791-1) 84205 
9.Mattinata (Leoncavallo)2:06
 (Lx 2793-1) unpublished on 78 rpm 
10.CARMEN: La fleur que tu m’avais jetée (See here the flower) (Bizet)3:48
 (Lx 2795-1) 57582 
11.I’ll Sing Thee Songs of Araby (Clay)3:17
 (Lx 2796-2) 57583 
12.MIGNON: Elle ne croyait pas (In her simplicity) (Thomas)4:30
 (Lx 2797-1) 57581 
13.Roses (Adams)3:16
 (Lx 2798-1) 57580 
14.Pianto del Core (Pinsuti)4:56
 (Lxx 2799-1) 84206 

Session 11

October 1908

15.Has Sorrow Thy Young Days Shaded (Traditional)3:31
 (Lx 2840-1) 57587 
16.Avenging and Bright (Traditional)3:00
 (Lx 2841-1) 57590 
17.The Foggy Dew (Traditional)3:06
 (Lx 2842-1) 57593 
18.Trottin’ to the Fair (Traditional)1:31
 (Lx 2843-1) 57594 
19.MARITANA: There is a flower that bloometh (Wallace)2:59
 (Lx 2844-1) 57588 
20.SONGS OF THE TURKISH HILLS: I Know of Two Bright Eyes (Clutsam)2:49
 (Lx 2845-1) 57591 

Session 12

October 1908

21.Mary of Allendale (Hook)3:06
 (Lx 2850-1) 57602 
22.I Hear You Calling Me (Marshall)3:48
 (Lxx 2852-1) 84207 
23.When Shadows Gather (Marshall)3:20
 (Lxx 2853-1) 84210 
24.I Hear You Calling Me (Marshall)4:03
 (Lxx 2854-1) 84208 

CD 3 (71:55)

Session 13

November or December 1908

1.Lolita (Serenata Espagnol) (Buzzi-Peccia)3:18
 (Lxx 2962-1) 84217 
2.Parted (Scott)3:12
 (Lx 2963-1) 57608 
3.The Philosophy of Love (Larchet)2:36
 Lx 2965-1) 57704 

Session 14

August 1909

4.A Southern Song (Batten)4:11
 (Lxx 3134-2) 84233 
5.Mountain Lovers (Squire)4:07
 (Lxx 3135-1) 84226 
6.When Shadows Gather (Squire)3:43
 (Lx 3136-2) 57632 
7.Take, Oh Take Those Lips Away (Bennett)3:00
 (Lx 3137-1) 57630 
8.CARMEN: La fleur que tu m’avais jetée (Il fior che avevi a me) (Bizet)3:53
 (Lxx 3138-1) 84225; X 75 

Session 15

September 1909, with orchestra

9.Lolita (Serenata Espagnol) (Buzzi-Peccia)3:16
 (Lx 3150-2) 57640 
10.My Dark Rosaleen (Needham-Morgan)3:50
 (Lxx 3151-2) 84240 
11.LA FAVORITA: Spirto gentil (Donizetti)3:37
 (Lxx 3152-2) 84230 transposed down a semitone to B 
12.Voi Dormite, Signora! (Tosti)3:29
 (Lxx 3153-2) 57643 

Session 16

September 1909

13.The Fairy Glen (Marshall)3:20
 (Lx 3155-1) 57644 
14.Eileen Aroon (Traditional)3:20
 (Lx 3156-1) 57641 
15.Ideale (Tosti)3:36
 (Lx 3157-1) 57642 
16.O Lovely Night (Ronald)4:03
 (Lxx 3158-1) 84229 

Session 17

September 1909

17.The Green Isle of Erin (Roeckel)4:06
 (Lxx 3160-1) 84234 
18.L’Ultima Canzone (Tosti)2:48
 (Lx 3162-1) 57645 transposed down a semi-tone to B 
19.My Queen (Blumenthal)4:15
 (Lxx 3163-1) 84231 
20.The Last Watch (Pinsuti)4:15
 (Lxx 3164-1) 8 

CD 4 (61:00)

Session 18

September 1909

1.Oft in the Stilly Night (Traditional)2:31
 (Lx 3166-1) 57646 
2.The Ould Plaid Shawl (Traditional)2:45
 (Lx 3167-1) 57647 
3.SPANISH DOLLARS: The Bay of Biscay (Davy)2:15
 (Lx 3168-1) 57648 
4.Goodbye, Sweetheart, Goodbye (Hatton)3:21
 (Lx 3169-1) 57705 

Session 19

September 1909

5.AIDA: Celeste Aida (Verdi)3:40
 (Lxx 3173-1) 84236 

Appendix 1:

Alternative takes: Recording dates uncertain

6.Savourneen Deelish (Traditional)3:19
 (Lx 2133-2) 57550 
7.Love’s Golden Treasury (Capel)3:15
 (Lx 2432-2) 57549 
8.RIGOLETTO: La donna è mobile (Verdi)2:42
 (Lx 2491-3) unpublished on 78 rpm 
9.RIGOLETTO: La donna è mobile (Verdi)2:43
 (Lx 2491-4) 57508 
10.TOSCA: E lucevan le stelle (Puccini)2:51
 (Lx 2501-2) 57525, see note on page 65 
11.RIGOLETTO: Questa o quella (Verdi)2:13
 (Lx 2559-3) 57631 
12.LA BOHÈME: Che gelida manina (Puccini)4:23
 (Lxx 2791-2) 84205 
13.Mattinata (Leoncavallo)2:02
 (Lx 2793-2) 57633 

Appendix 2:

Cylinder recordings, 1906

Edison Bell Consolidated Phonograph Company

14.Home to Athlone (Greene)2:29
 Edison Bell two-minute cylinder 10085C 

Russell Hunting Company

15.God Save Ireland (Root)2:39
 Sterling three-minute cylinder 612 
16.The Boys of Wexford (Darley)2:38
 Sterling three-minute cylinder 613 
17.A Nation Once Again (Davis)2:41
 Sterling three-minute cylinder 614 
18.The Croppy Boy (Traditional)2:31
 Sterling three-minute cylinder 615 
19.Come Back to Erin (Claribel)2:33
 Sterling three-minute cylinder 682 
20.The Dear Little Shamrock (Cherry)2:36
 Sterling three-minute cylinder 683 
21.Come Back to Erin (Claribel)2:26
 Alternative take of Sterling three-minute cylinder 682 transferred to Pathé disc 77686 
22.The Dear Little Shamrock (Cherry)2:28
 Alternative take of Sterling three-minute cylinder 683 transferred to Pathé disc 77687 
 

CD 1:

Accompaniment: All tracks with orchestral accompaniment
Language:Tracks [1-24] sung in English; Track [25] sung in Italian
Recording location: All tracks recorded at 14 Hamsell Street, London

CD 2:
Accompaniment: Tracks [1-21, 24] with orchestral accompaniment; Tracks [22-23] accompanied by Charles Marshall, piano
Language: Tracks [1, 3-5, 7, 10-13, 15-24] sung in English; Tracks [2, 6, 8-9, 14] sung in Italian
Recording location: All tracks recorded at 14 Hamsell Street, London

CD 3:
Accompaniment: Tracks [1-3] with piano accompaniment; Tracks [4-20] with orchestral accompaniment
Language: Tracks [1, 8-9, 11-12, 18] sung in Italian; Tracks [2-7, 10, 13-17, 19-20] sung in English
Recording location: All tracks recorded at 14 Hamsell Street, London

CD 4:
Accompaniment: All tracks with orchestral accompaniment
Language: Tracks [1-4, 6-7, 14-22] sung in English; Tracks [5, 8-13] sung in Italian
Recording location: Tracks 1-13 recorded at 14 Hamsell Street, London; Track 14 recorded at 39 Charing Cross Road, London; Tracks 15-22 recorded at 81 City Road, London

 

Producers: Ward Marston and Scott Kessler

Project coordinator: Jeremy Meehan

Audio Conservation: Ward Marston

Audio Assistance: J. Richard Harris

Photographs: Gordon T. Ledbetter, Elizabeth O’Brien, John Scarry, John Ward, and the estate of Paul Worth

Booklet notes: John Scarry and John Ward

Booklet Design: Takeshi Takahashi

 

This set is dedicated to the memory of Paul Worth, whose knowledge, passion, and research is the foundation for any McCormack project.

 

Marston extends a special note of gratitude to Jeremy Meehan, whose tireless work and good humor made this set a reality.

 

Recordings: Producing this set would not have been possible without the generosity of many John McCormack record collectors, who made their Odeon collections available to Marston. These are: Gregor Benko, John Bolig, the British Library Sound Archives, Harry Butler, Dominic C. H. Comb, Richard Copeman, John Keveny, Paul Steinson, and the estate of Paul Worth

 

The following selections are re-recorded from copies in the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Laurence C. Witten II in the Yale Collection of Historical Sound Recordings, Yale University Library:
CD 1: Tracks [10-11]
CD 2: Tracks [12, 15-16, 19]

 

Marston would like to thank: The Lord Mayor of Dublin, Councillor Oisín Quinn; Staff of the Lord Mayor’s Office; John Count McCormack and the McCormack Family; Members and Committee of the John McCormack Society of Ireland; Mark Bailey; Eddie Hogan; Andrew D. Jones; Gordon T. Ledbetter; Brigid Lucey; Donal MacNally; Robert Marston; David Mason; Michael and Doreen McFarlane; Senan and Simon Meehan; Elizabeth O’Brien; Tom Ruane; John Scarry; Michael and Jennifer Semple; Betty Stoutt; Jonathan Summers; John Ward; and Sandra Worth.