"Danny Boy"
Scarborough Bluffs - Scarborough, Ontario, Canada
Danny Boy is a challenging but very beautiful tune to sing properly! - Mike
*****
"'Danny Boy' is a ballad written by Frederick Weatherly and usually set to the tune of the Londonderry Air; it is most closely associated with Irish communities.
'Danny Boy' was written by Frederick Weatherly in 1910. Although the lyrics were originally written for a different tune, Weatherly's sister modified them to fit 'Londonderry Air' in 1913 when Weatherly sent her copy. Ernestine Schumann-Heink made the first recording in 1915. Weatherly gave the song to the vocalist Elsie Griffin, who in turn made it one of the most popular songs in the new century. In 1928, Weatherly suggested that the second verse would provide a fitting requiem for the actress Ellen Terry.
'Danny Boy' was intended as a message from a woman to a man, and Weatherly provided the alternative 'Eily dear' for male singers in his 1918 authorised lyrics. However, the song is actually sung by men as much as, or possibly more than, women. The song has been interpreted by some listeners as a message from a parent to a son going off to war or leaving as part of the Irish diaspora. Some interpret it differently, such a dying father speaking to his leaving Danny. The phrase, 'the pipes, the pipes are calling', in this interpretation, could refer to the traditional funeral instrument.
The song is widely considered an Irish anthem, although ironically, Weatherly was an Englishman and was living in America at the time he composed it. Nonetheless, 'Danny Boy' is considered by many Irish Americans and Irish Canadians to be their unofficial signature song." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danny_Boy
Oh Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling
From glen to glen, and down the mountain side
The summer's gone, and all the flowers are dying
'Tis you, 'tis you must go and I must bide.
But come ye back when summer's in the meadow
Or when the valley's hushed and white with snow
'Tis I'll be here in sunshine or in shadow
Oh Danny boy, oh Danny boy, I love you so.
And if you come, when all the flowers are dying
And I am dead, as dead I well may be
You'll come and find the place where I am lying
And kneel and say an "Ave" there for me.
And I shall hear, tho' soft you tread above me
And all my dreams will warm and sweeter be
If you'll not fail to tell me that you love me
I'll simply sleep in peace until you come to me.
*****
"Mario Lanza was an Italian American tenor and Hollywood movie star who enjoyed success in the late 1940s and 1950s.
His lirico spinto tenor voice was considered by his admirers to rival that of Enrico Caruso, whom Lanza portrayed in the 1951 film The Great Caruso. Compared with Caruso, however, his operatic career was negligible. Lanza sang a wide variety of music throughout his career, ranging from operatic arias to the popular songs of the day. While his highly emotional style was not universally praised by critics, he was immensely popular and his many recordings are still prized today. He died of a pulmonary embolism at the age of 38.
Born Alfred Arnold Cocozza in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he was exposed to opera and singing at a young age by his Abruzzese-Molisan Italian immigrant parents, and by the age of 16 his vocal talent had become apparent. Starting out in local operatic productions in Philadelphia for the YMCA Opera Company while still in his teens, he later came to the attention of conductor Serge Koussevitzky, who in 1942 provided young Cocozza with a full student scholarship to the Berkshire Music Center at Tanglewood in Massachusetts. Koussevitzky would later tell him that, 'Yours is a voice such as is heard once in a hundred years.'
His operatic debut, as Fenton in an English translation of Otto Nicolai's Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor, was at the Berkshire Music Festival in Tanglewood on August 7, 1942, after studying with conductors Boris Goldovsky and Leonard Bernstein. It was here that Cocozza adopted the stage name Mario Lanza, which was the masculine version of his mother’s maiden name, Maria Lanza. His performances at Tanglewood won him critical acclaim, with Noel Straus of The New York Times hailing the 21-year-old tenor as having 'few equals among tenors of the day in terms of quality, warmth, and power.' Herbert Graf subsequently wrote in the Opera News of October 5, 1942 that, 'A real find of the season was Mario Lanza He would have no difficulty one day being asked to join the Metropolitan Opera.' Lanza performed the role of Fenton twice at Tanglewood, in addition to appearing there in a one-off presentation of Act III of Puccini's La Bohème with the noted Mexican soprano Irma González, baritone James Pease, and mezzo-soprano Laura Castellano. Music critic Jay C. Rosenfeld wrote in The New York Times of August 9, 1942 that, 'Miss González as Mimì and Mario Lanza as Rodolfo were conspicuous by the beauty of their voices and the vividness of their characterizations.' In an interview shortly before her death in 2008, Ms. González recalled that Lanza was 'very correct, likeable, [and] with a powerful and beautiful voice.'" en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mario_Lanza
*****
"Born Edna Mae Durbin at Grace Hospital in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, she adopted the professional name Deanna at the commencement of her career. Her parents, James and Ada Durbin, were immigrants from Lancashire, England, and she had an older sister named Edith. Beginning her career as a teenager in Hollywood films, Durbin achieved her greatest popularity during the 1930s and 1940s. She won an Academy Juvenile Award in 1938, and appeared in several musical films, however her efforts to progress into more mature, dramatic roles was not well received by audiences, and she retired in the late 1940s." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deanna_Durbin
"Danny Boy"
Scarborough Bluffs - Scarborough, Ontario, Canada
Danny Boy is a challenging but very beautiful tune to sing properly! - Mike
*****
"'Danny Boy' is a ballad written by Frederick Weatherly and usually set to the tune of the Londonderry Air; it is most closely associated with Irish communities.
'Danny Boy' was written by Frederick Weatherly in 1910. Although the lyrics were originally written for a different tune, Weatherly's sister modified them to fit 'Londonderry Air' in 1913 when Weatherly sent her copy. Ernestine Schumann-Heink made the first recording in 1915. Weatherly gave the song to the vocalist Elsie Griffin, who in turn made it one of the most popular songs in the new century. In 1928, Weatherly suggested that the second verse would provide a fitting requiem for the actress Ellen Terry.
'Danny Boy' was intended as a message from a woman to a man, and Weatherly provided the alternative 'Eily dear' for male singers in his 1918 authorised lyrics. However, the song is actually sung by men as much as, or possibly more than, women. The song has been interpreted by some listeners as a message from a parent to a son going off to war or leaving as part of the Irish diaspora. Some interpret it differently, such a dying father speaking to his leaving Danny. The phrase, 'the pipes, the pipes are calling', in this interpretation, could refer to the traditional funeral instrument.
The song is widely considered an Irish anthem, although ironically, Weatherly was an Englishman and was living in America at the time he composed it. Nonetheless, 'Danny Boy' is considered by many Irish Americans and Irish Canadians to be their unofficial signature song." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danny_Boy
Oh Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling
From glen to glen, and down the mountain side
The summer's gone, and all the flowers are dying
'Tis you, 'tis you must go and I must bide.
But come ye back when summer's in the meadow
Or when the valley's hushed and white with snow
'Tis I'll be here in sunshine or in shadow
Oh Danny boy, oh Danny boy, I love you so.
And if you come, when all the flowers are dying
And I am dead, as dead I well may be
You'll come and find the place where I am lying
And kneel and say an "Ave" there for me.
And I shall hear, tho' soft you tread above me
And all my dreams will warm and sweeter be
If you'll not fail to tell me that you love me
I'll simply sleep in peace until you come to me.
*****
"Mario Lanza was an Italian American tenor and Hollywood movie star who enjoyed success in the late 1940s and 1950s.
His lirico spinto tenor voice was considered by his admirers to rival that of Enrico Caruso, whom Lanza portrayed in the 1951 film The Great Caruso. Compared with Caruso, however, his operatic career was negligible. Lanza sang a wide variety of music throughout his career, ranging from operatic arias to the popular songs of the day. While his highly emotional style was not universally praised by critics, he was immensely popular and his many recordings are still prized today. He died of a pulmonary embolism at the age of 38.
Born Alfred Arnold Cocozza in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he was exposed to opera and singing at a young age by his Abruzzese-Molisan Italian immigrant parents, and by the age of 16 his vocal talent had become apparent. Starting out in local operatic productions in Philadelphia for the YMCA Opera Company while still in his teens, he later came to the attention of conductor Serge Koussevitzky, who in 1942 provided young Cocozza with a full student scholarship to the Berkshire Music Center at Tanglewood in Massachusetts. Koussevitzky would later tell him that, 'Yours is a voice such as is heard once in a hundred years.'
His operatic debut, as Fenton in an English translation of Otto Nicolai's Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor, was at the Berkshire Music Festival in Tanglewood on August 7, 1942, after studying with conductors Boris Goldovsky and Leonard Bernstein. It was here that Cocozza adopted the stage name Mario Lanza, which was the masculine version of his mother’s maiden name, Maria Lanza. His performances at Tanglewood won him critical acclaim, with Noel Straus of The New York Times hailing the 21-year-old tenor as having 'few equals among tenors of the day in terms of quality, warmth, and power.' Herbert Graf subsequently wrote in the Opera News of October 5, 1942 that, 'A real find of the season was Mario Lanza He would have no difficulty one day being asked to join the Metropolitan Opera.' Lanza performed the role of Fenton twice at Tanglewood, in addition to appearing there in a one-off presentation of Act III of Puccini's La Bohème with the noted Mexican soprano Irma González, baritone James Pease, and mezzo-soprano Laura Castellano. Music critic Jay C. Rosenfeld wrote in The New York Times of August 9, 1942 that, 'Miss González as Mimì and Mario Lanza as Rodolfo were conspicuous by the beauty of their voices and the vividness of their characterizations.' In an interview shortly before her death in 2008, Ms. González recalled that Lanza was 'very correct, likeable, [and] with a powerful and beautiful voice.'" en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mario_Lanza
*****
"Born Edna Mae Durbin at Grace Hospital in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, she adopted the professional name Deanna at the commencement of her career. Her parents, James and Ada Durbin, were immigrants from Lancashire, England, and she had an older sister named Edith. Beginning her career as a teenager in Hollywood films, Durbin achieved her greatest popularity during the 1930s and 1940s. She won an Academy Juvenile Award in 1938, and appeared in several musical films, however her efforts to progress into more mature, dramatic roles was not well received by audiences, and she retired in the late 1940s." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deanna_Durbin