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 Henry
Russell (December 24, 1812 Sheerness, Kent, UK – December 8, 1900
London) was a popular English pianist, baritone singer and composer. He
studied composition with Gioachino Antonio Rossini (1792-1868), Vincenzo
Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini (1801-1835) and Dominico Gaetano
Maria Donizetti (1797-1848), and singing with Michael William Balfe
(1808-1870). During 1833-1841 he was an organist at the 1st Presbyterian
Church of Rochester, NY. During 1837-1841, he toured, as a piano
accompanist, for the singer William Vincent Wallace (1812-1860). In an
eventful life on both sides of the Atlantic, Russell wrote the songs
A Life on the Ocean Wave and the tune to George Morris' poem
Woodman, Spare that Tree while living in the United States of
America from 1833 to 1841, before settling in London to produce musical
extravaganzas until he retired in 1857. Many of his songs championed
social causes like abolition, temperance, and reform of mental asylums.
He began his career as a child singer in Elliston’s Children’s Opera
company. While playing the organ at the Presbyterian church in
Rochester, New York he discovered that sacred music, played quickly,
"makes the best kind of secular music". The "Old Hundredth", played very fast,
became the music for "Get out of de way, Ol' Dan Tucker".
In 1841, he returned to England in company with Charles Mackay, who
subsequently wrote many of the lyrics for his songs. He performed at the
Hanover Square Rooms in London, and caused an instant sensation. At the
time, his most popular songs, written with Mackay, were There's a
Good Time Coming, Cheer, boys, Cheer, and To The West.
His portrait was painted by the British painter Walter Goodman and
displayed at The Grafton Gallery in London in 1897. After retirement he
lived partly in France, partly in England.
The
Song may be heard at this link:
http://www.pdmusic.org/russell/hr43tnd.mid
Lyrics of Music:
"The
Newfoundland Dog" (1843) - A Descriptive Ballad
Words by F. W. N. Bailey, Esq. - Composed and sung with enthusiastic
applause
by Henry Russell, 1812-1900
Life saver! Wave stemmer!
Deep diver! away!
Night's shadows are closing
The portals of day;
On the breast of the billow
We hear his low wail,
We have put up the rudder,
And furl'd up the sail.
No signal from Heaven
Will show where, he be;
And where e'er he be driven,
We men cannot see.
Ho! Carlo! Newfoundland!
Go follow his cry,
As it gaspingly answers
The sea moaners sigh;
The boat shall be lower'd,
The men shall belay,
Life saver! Wave stemmer!
Deep diver, away!
[Interlude]
Away! fetch him out!
fetch him up! seize him! ho!
Mount the wave dog! mount the wave dog!
Ha! down, down below!
Hark! watch! bear a hand,
bring a light
not a sound
bring a light
Hark! there's a moan.
[Bridge]
Yes the waves moaning over the drown'd
God's spirit preserve him,
Amen and amen.
Hist! a flash and a motion---
Ha! Carlo, Ha! Carlo, again,
Good dog, then, good dog, then
Bear a hand, then, pull tight,---
A boat hook a boat hook,
He's in and all's right;
Come, Carlo, quick, follow,
Fine fellow hard strife,
Wave stemmer!
Deep diver! we owe you a life.
Document Specifications:
This is original sheet music,
first edition of Henry Russell's Descriptive Ballad, "The Newfoundland
Dog" to be "Sung with Enthusiastic Applause". This was a style of song
and performance popular in the 1840's with the audience often clapping
in unison and making supportive yells and sound effects to heighten the
interactive experience; a motif that was to be reintroduced in the
1970's in the cinema with the advent of the "Rocky Horror Picture Show".
The Folio has been taped in the binding at some point in the past and
which is now brittle and should be removed. While the front cover has
foxing (brown age spotting) the internal pages of the sheet music are
all in very good condition. There is a one inch tear on the left margin.
There is a provenance library docketing notation of "BCL". A note is
that the copyright was entered by J. L. Hewitt & Co. Hewitt was,
in his own right, a well known composer and had a music store in New
York where he encountered Russell.
Offered
by Berryhill & Sturgeon, Ltd.
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