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ROBERT WILLIAMS BUCHANAN (1841-1901) |
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REVIEWS OF POETRY READINGS
1. Robert Buchanan’s Poetry Readings 2. Other Performances of Buchanan’s Poems: ii. Nell iii. Fra Giacomo iv. Tiger Bay v. The Ballad of Judas Iscariot
1. Robert Buchanan’s Poetry Readings
In Chapter XV of her biography of Robert Buchanan, Harriett Jay gives the reasons why Buchanan embarked on a series of Public Readings and why he then abandoned the practice: “ Up to this time (1868) five years had elapsed since the publication of his first volume of poems, and during those five years he had published many more, yet in spite of the large sums which he received from these volumes, and in spite of much ignoble pot-boiling, he found himself at the close of the year 1868 in such monetary difficulties that he was compelled to face the situation and cast about in his mind for some kind of work which would be more lucrative than that of literature, with the result that after a good deal of deliberation he determined to follow in the footsteps of Dickens—to emerge from his solitude and give readings from his own works on the public platform. This he did, on January 25, 1869, appearing at the Queen’s Concert Rooms, Hanover Square. His appearance in public created no little stir, and the audience which he drew was an exceptional one. “In front of him sat Lord Houghton, on his right was Robert Browning, near him Dr. Westland Marston and the Rev. Newman Hall. The body of the room was full of literary men, critics, editors, publishers, but he was not afraid of his critical audience; he faced them boldly, read manfully and well, and wrung from them for his best passages the tribute of enthusiastic applause.” There cannot be a doubt that he was in every way well fitted to succeed in the path which he had elected to tread; “he had a pleasing and distinct delivery, a voice of compass and power, and a prepossessing appearance.” “ If all our writers” (said the Examiner) “were as capable as he of doing histrionic justice to their works, we should consider them not only unwise but positively culpable in not treading the same path as that so manfully traversed by Charles Dickens and Robert Buchanan.” Harriett Jay does not mention the first reading in Glasgow on December 10th, 1868, or the second on January 5th, 1869. Buchanan was living in Scotland at the time, so these were presumably rehearsals for the main event in London. Although she gives Buchanan’s ill health as the reason for abandoning the money-making scheme, the mention in the review of the first London reading in The Era that “The audience was not large”, might give another clue as to why Buchanan, despite the complimentary reviews, did not continue to perform his own work. |
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[Advert in the Glasgow Herald (10 December, 1868)]
Glasgow Herald (12 December, 1868 - Issue 9031) MR ROBERT BUCHANAN’S READINGS.—On Thursday night, Mr Robert Buchanan, of London, rehearsed, in presence of a numerous and appreciative audience, selections from his poetical works, in the hall of the Watt Institute, Greenock. The pieces chosen were well suited for testing the histrionic powers of the poet, and in some degree it may be stated he passed the ordeal satisfactorily. The audience frequently testified heir appreciation of the subject matter, and the manner in which Mr Buchanan interpreted the thoughts of the characters represented. At the close, on the motion of the Rev. Dr. Gunion, a cordial vote of thanks was voted to Mr Buchanan. We understand that Mr Buchanan purposes giving a series of readings from his own works in London on an early day. ___
The Guardian (22 December, 1868 - p.7) The Scotch papers announce that Mr. Robert Buchanan has made a successful first appearance as a reader of his own poems. ___
Glasgow Herald (7 January, 1869 - Issue 9053) MR BUCHANAN’S READINGS.—On Tuesday evening Mr Robert Buchanan, of London, rehearsed selections from his works in the hall of the Watt Institute, in presence of a numerous audience. Provost Morton presided. The readings were favouably received, and at the close the usual complimentary votes terminated the proceedings. ___
The Examiner (30 January, 1869 - Issue 3183) MR ROBERT BUCHANAN’S READINGS. The custom of authors becoming the readers of their own works seems to be gaining ground, and the usage may be safely considered of public advantage, provided there be no positive physical hindrance on the side of the writer to prevent him from giving due dramatic effect to his ideas. Obviously there is a wide distinction between the kindred arts of poetry and declamation, and a man may be a grand thinker, and yet a very bad actor; at the same time no one can be so thoroughly capable of deeply feeling his own fancies as a writer himself. The latest author who has appeared before the public as a reader of his own creations is Mr Robert Buchanan, who, on Monday last, gave his first public reading at the Queen’s Concert Rooms, Hanover Square. Mr Buchanan is well known in literary circles, and is very generally appreciated by the public as a domestic poet of considerable merit, and his appearance as an interpreter of his own poems is by o means calculated to lessen the respect in which he has been held. After a very brief preamble, in which he referred to those critics who considered the appearance of Mr Charles Dickens in the lecture hall as an undignified innovation, and announced his own belief that it was as dignified to speak as to print, Mr Buchanan commenced his programme by reciting his poem of “Tom Dunstan, or the Politician,” and soon succeeded in thoroughly engaging the attention of his audience by his natural and unassuming style. Mr Buchanan has a pleasing and distinct delivery, a voice of some compass and power, and a prepossessing presence; he recites rather than reads, since it is very rarely that he refers to the book, but he nearly altogether abstains from any action or pose. As may have been anticipated, the slight acquaintance one makes with him on the platform sufficiently demonstrates that he is a man of fine susceptibilities, and in some instances he grapples most successfully with the deeply pathetic, as, for example, in his rendering of “Willie Baird,” a poem that appeared in the Cornhill Magazine some time since, in which he succeeded in fairly drawing tears from many of his hearers—no inconsiderable compliment to a reader. In his delivery of his powerfully realistic poem of “Nell” he caused a genuine thrill of sympathy to run through the room at the gloomy horror of the situation in which the miserable woman finds herself when she hears the bell of St Paul’s sounding the hour, and near at hand the dull murmur of the crowd waiting for her wretched paramour to appear upon the scaffold. In his humorous sketches Mr Buchanan was not less effective, and in that quietly funny and natural little rhyme entitled “Widow Mysie” he evoked hearty and spontaneous outbursts of laughter. Without descending to fulsome flattery and calling Mr Buchanan a declaimer sans pareil, we may yet say that he is far above the average public reader, and we warmly congratulate him on the step he has taken. If all our writers were as capable as he of doing histrionic justice to their works, we should consider them not only unwise but positively culpable in not treading the same path as that so manfully traversed by Mr Charles Dickens and Mr Robert Buchanan. A great many literary and artistic celebrities assembled to greet the poet, and the applause was frequent and hearty. We sincerely trust the venture may prove successful in every point of view. ___
The Penny Illustrated Paper (30 January 1869 - p. 71)
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The Era (31 January, 1869 - Issue 1584) Mr. Robert Buchanan’s Readings. Mr. Robert Buchanan, author of “London Poems,” “Undertones,” &c., gave a Reading at the Hanover-square Rooms on Monday evening last. The ice is broken, and it is just possible that, in a little time, a poet reading his own compositions in public may cease to be regarded as occupying any strange or novel position. Before commencing, Mr. Buchanan made a few remarks relative to his appearance in this new character, and seemed to have arrived at the conclusion that a poet forfeits nothing, but gains much, by becoming the illustrator, as it were, of his own thoughts. The reader’s first selection was not judiciously made, but it sufficed to show that he possesses a rich voice, capable of being modulated to almost any extent, that he brings much dramatic instinct to bear upon his work, and that he is by no means deficient in the highly necessary spirit of self-reliance. “Tom Dunstan; or, The Politician,” was the first attempt, and “Attorney Sneak” the second. “Willie Baird; or, The Dominie’s Story,” came next in the programme, and was the great hit of the evening. Mr. Buchanan’s command of the Scotch dialect is, of course, perfect. It will not be necessary to follow the simple, affecting story of the little laddie who finds a grave in the snow. The love of the Dominie for the child is brought vividly before the mind, and the poem is recited most impressively by Mr. Buchanan, who is certainly at home in all pathetic passages. The audience gave their whole attention to this graphic description of Highland life and character, and the applause at the end was of a nature that could not be mistaken. The second part began with the intensely dramatic poem entitled “Nell.” This was another unquestionable triumph for the reader. The devotion of the woman to the red-handed murderer she loves, and her wanderings through the London streets the night before her companion’s execution, are pictured with a force that we do not often see equalled in the present day. “The Wake of Tim O’Hara” was introduced as a relief to the more serious interest, and the entertainment closed with “Widow Mysie; an Idyl of Love and Whisky.” The audience was not large, but this first Reading of Mr. Buchanan may be pronounced a success. From first to last the above selections were made from the “Idyls and Legends of Inverburn” and the “London Idyls.” Mr. Buchanan came before the London public for the first time on Monday night, after having given several Readings in Scotland. |
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[Advert from The Times (28 March, 1878 - p.8)]
The Graphic (6 April, 1878 - Issue 436) On Saturday Messrs. Turquand and Pelham inaugurated their “Dramatic and Mimetic Recitals” in the Drawing Room, EGYPTIAN HALL. The former gentleman exhibits considerable artistic power in the delineation of character, in selections from Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, &c.; and there is a rugged force in his recitation of “Phil Blood’s Leap” which is very effective. But his talent shines most conspicuously in a really fine rendering of E. A. Poe’s “Bells,” the last stanza being given with rare pathos and expression. Mr. Pelham, whose mimetic powers, both of face and voice, are of no mean order, gives some amusing character sketches with much humour. A young lady, whose name is not mentioned, plays some selections on the pianoforte with pleasing taste—a thing we have very seldom met with on such occasions. ___
Brooklyn Eagle (2 December, 1884 - p.2) AIDING THE REBEKAHS. The Amaranth’s Entertainment at the The Academy was well filled last evening with the friends of Olive Branch Lodge, No. 19, Daughters of Rebekah, and a faint sprinkle of society people, gathered to enjoy the benefit tendered the lodge by the Amaranth Society. ... ___
Brooklyn Eagle (1 June, 1889 - p.1) THE MONTAUK CLUB. A Welcome to president Charles A. The members of the Montauk Club gathered in full force in the parlors of the club house, 34 Eighth avenue, last evening, to welcome their president, Mr. Charles A. Moore, upon his return from a prolonged trip to the Pacific Coast. ... |
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[A programme featuring a performance of ‘Phil Blood’s Leap’ at a meeting of the
2. Nell
The Era (22 June, 1879 - Issue 2126) THE SWANBOROUGH BENEFIT. This interesting event “came off” at the Haymarket Theatre on the morning of Thursday last, and was attended by an amount of success—both financial and artistic—that must have proved eminently gratifying, not only to the beneficiaire but to the members of the Committee, with Lord Londesborough at their head, who have worked so assiduously to bring about the result and to ensure that the intended token of esteem should be complete in every respect. The benefit, as we may have already stated, was in honour of the completion of twenty-one years of the Swanborough management of the popular little Strand Theatre. ... ___
The Era (7 March, 1880 - Issue 2163) Miss Cowen’s Dramatic Recitals. A large and fashionable audience assembled at Steinway Hall, Lower Seymour-street, on the evening of Tuesday last, and evidently, if we may judge by the repeated outbursts of applause derived considerable enjoyment from the dramatic recitals of Miss Cowen and from the musical doings of her companions—Mr Frederic H. Cowen, who presided at the pianoforte; Miss Damian, whose beautiful contralto voice was heard to great advantage in Madame Sainton-Dolby’s “I cannot forget” and Hullah’s “Three Fishers;” and Mr Walter Clifford, who sang N. Ferri’s new song “Gladys” and the old and popular “Friar of Orders Grey.” Miss Cowen made a start with an anonymous composition called “As Old Giles Saw It,” which was followed by Oliver Wendell Holmes’s “The Old Man Dreams.” In Mr Robert Buchanan’s “Nell,” one of the “London Poems” published originally in the Fortnightly, Miss Cowen showed great dramatic intensity, and fairly conjured up before the mental vision of the listener the squalid room which formed Nell’s Home; the startling appearance of the husband driven to crime by drink, and bearing the murderer’s brand on his hands and in his face; the arrest; and her sad, sad journey on the morning of the execution; Waterloo-bridge and the dark cold river beneath; the falling rain, the passers by; the coffee stall and its keeper’s curious stare; the gathering crowds; the whispers of the coming dreadful scene; the sound of the hammers and the booking of the bell which announced that the fatal hour had come; and that Nell’s loved one was about to be ushered into eternity, and that she was alone in the world. In all this Miss Cowen had firm hold of the interest and the sympathies of her hearers, and at the end she was most cordially and most deservedly applauded. With the recital of Mr Knight Summers’s little story, written expressly for Miss Cowen, and called “My First and Last Proposal,” the entertainer displayed comedy powers of no mean order. Mr Summers, before writing the story, had, we presume, heard or read of Captain Absolute and Lydia Languish and Mrs Malaprop; but Miss Cowen must not be held responsible for anything in the shape of plagiarism. She told the story—or rather, we should say she impersonated its heroine—in most diverting fashion, and much merriment was the result. In “The Convict’s Escape,” by Re Henry, there was shown more dramatic power, but we may just hint a fault in the occasional misplacing of emphasis, and in a persistence in dropping the voice at the end of every line when the delivery became at all rapid. Mr Sydney M. Samuel’s story of the Neapolitan flower girl, “Nina”—who took the life of her English betrayer—was well told, and Austin Dobson’s “Cupid’s Alley” was given in a style to exact further appreciation, Miss Cowen’s concluding recital being Re Henry’s “Simple-Minded Tabitha.” Altogether, as we have hinted, the entertainment was of a very enjoyable nature, and Miss Cowen may be said to have fully deserved the many and hearty compliments awarded by those present. ___
The Era (29 October, 1887 - Issue 2562) MR. W. H. PENNINGTON’S MATINEE. It was quite in accordance with the eternal fitness of things that Mr Pennington, an able actor, and one of the surviving heroes of the famous Balaclava Charge, should have a complimentary benefit on Tuesday, the anniversary of the said charge; but it was quite out of accord with any fitness at all that the public announcement should have given two o’clock as the time of commencement, while the programmes put it at a quarter past that hour. Time nowadays is precious, and he who is led by misrepresentation into wasting fifteen minutes has some reason to grumble. The theatre had been kindly lent for the occasion by Mr J. F. Sheridan, and there was a fair attendance. ... _____
3. Fra Giacomo
The Stage (13 April, 1883 - p.9) GAIETY On Monday afternoon, April 9, 1883, was produced a dramatic sketch in three tableaux, by Edward Rose, entitled:— Vice Versâ; or, a Lesson to Fathers. ..... The first piece on the programme was Mr. Sydney Grundy’s excellent one-act play, In Honour Bound. This was represented by Mr. Edgar Bruce, Mr. Philip Beck, Miss Myra Holme, and Miss Stella Brereton. Mr. George Grossmith then gave an entertainment, Mr. H. Beerbohm-Tree recited a ghastly poem by Mr. Robert Buchanan, entitled “Friar Giachomo,” and Miss E. Farren sang, in costume, several verses of the popular song, “My Boy,” from Mr. Burnand’s burlesque of Blue-Beard. ___ The New York Times (2 February, 1888) MR. HILL’S MATINEE. Mr. J. M. Hill invited the Nineteenth Century Club and other friends of his to a pleasant entertainment at the Union-Square Theatre yesterday afternoon. The house was crowded; many popular actors were there, as well as manu prominent members of the club. Mr. Courtlandt Palmer made a speech; Mr. Courtlandt Palmer, Jr., made his début as a pianist; Mr. Joseph Haworth and Miss Lillie Eldridge did the closet scene of “Hamlet;” Mr. Marshall wilder told how people make love in Newark, and was recalled to give his famous imitation of a telephone. There was vocal music provided by Miss Mary Dunn and Mr. George C. Hall; Miss Bertha Behrens played the violin and Mrs. Alice J. Shaw whistled. Miss Lelia Wolstran presented, in her inimitable way, that quaint combination of dance and speech called “the minuet.” To crown it all, there was Mr. Robert C. Hilliard as a Spanish nobleman in white silk tights to recite Mr. Robert Buchanan’s characteristic verses entitled “Fra Giacamo.” This was the most striking feature of the entertainment, for not only did Mr. Hilliard render the poem with fervor, but he was allowed to exhibit his ability as an actor as well, the characters of the murdered Countess, the false priest and the page being represented in dumb show by Miss Lulu Darling, Mr. Charles Kent, and Miss Marion Lee. Mr. Hilliard also read a Texas romance by Frank Duprez called “Lasca,” and this selection also had a unique charm of its own, for a musical accompaniment was furnished to the verses by Mr. C. P. Flockton, who played the zither as skillfully as he acts Daniel Robins in “Heart of Hearts” at the Madison-Square Theatre. Mr. Hill’s entertainment, therefore, was very successful. ___
The Stage (7 February, 1890 - p.11) GLASGOW. GRAND—The pantomime of Sinbad has now entered upon its last week, and Monday evening was devoted to the benefit of the Misses Alice and Harriett Brookes, respectively the Sinbad and Haidee of the cast. ..... Several special attractions were provided for the occasion. Miss Eva Bell sang, “Why don’t the girls propose?” with great success. Mr. Charles Hildesley, late principal tenor in the D’Oyly Carte Opera Co. was warmly encored for his spirited singing of “Let me like a soldier fall. “Mr. J. C. Macdonald was excruciatingly funny, and the audience would not rest satisfied until he had sung a second song. Miss Hettie Lund sang “The Garden of Sleep,” with admirable taste and expression, and was vary warmly applauded. The most remarkable performance was that given by Mr. Dickson Moffat, who did one of these exceptionally risky things, which are only excused by complete success. To hold a pantomime audience in the middle of the pantomime, spellbound for the space of twelve minutes, while he recited a poem so solemn and tragic as Robert Buchanan’s “Fra Giacomo,” is a tour de force which could only be attempted by an elocutionist of rare ability. The piece was entirely unannounced, and the audience were totally unprepared for it, but their attention was quickly riveted, and the splendid reading was followed with close attention to the close, when Mr. Moffat received an enthusiastic burst of applause, and an insistent encore, which, however, he did not take. ___
The Stage (30 May, 1890 - p.13) PRINCE’S HALL.—On Tuesday afternoon last, May 27, Miss Amy Roselle and Mr. Arthur Dacre gave the second of their recitals at Prince’s Hall. We should have mentioned last week that for these recitals the hall is placed in semi-darkness—that is to say, the lights are turned down and the blinds and curtains pulled to, a footlight arrangement in front of the platform and two clusters of gas lights at the back concentrating all the rays upon the faces of the performers. ..... Mr. Dacre was, if anything, a little too vehement in Bret Harte’s “Caldwell of Springfield,” a thrilling episode taken from the “American War of Independence,” but played with biting irony and concentrated force as the husband, whose seeming saintly wife has been seduced by the wiles of Robert Buchanan’s “Fra Giacomo.” Mr. Cuthbert Clark, as before, acted as accompanist. ___
The Stage (9 March, 1893 - p.13) STEINWAY HALL. Mr. Valentine Osborne’s fifth annual dramatic and musical recital, held here last Thursday evening, proved most successful, and was well attended. ..... During the evening Mr. Osborne gave a powerful recital of Robert Buchanan’s “Fra Giacomo,” and was heard to considerable advantage in “One More” (Overton), in which the varied phrases of the old salt’s narrative were cleverly contrasted. At the conclusion of this piece, in response to a determined demand for an encore, the reciter obliged with Tennyson’s “The Revenge,” delivered in excellent style. ___
The New York Times (31 October, 1893) “The Nominee” at the Bijou Theatre. Perhaps Robert Hilliard and Paul Arthur think “The Nominee” is too funny, and that the edge should be taken off by something serious. Therefore it was preceded at the Bijou Theatre last night by an adaptation by Mr. Hilliard of Robert Buchanan’s poem, “Fra Giacomo,” in which Mr. Hilliard acts and recites the poem, Theodore Babcock is the Friar, Olive May Pietro, and Emily Craig the poisoned Countess. “The Nominee,” Leander Richardson’s successful adaptation of “Le Depute de Bornbignac,” has all the “go” in it that it had when Mr. N. C. Goodwin drew crowds to laugh at, perhaps, more because Mr. Hilliard does not know the value of restraint. But if he is a boisterous Jack Medford, “wot’s the odds as long as we’re ’appy?” Everybody was happy last night, and it was a cordial audience Mr. Hilliard and Mr. Arthur faced. Associated with them are Mr. Babcock as Col. Murray; Walter B. Woodall as Vane, Miss May as Mrs. Medford, Jeanette Ferrill as her sister, Rose; Miss Estelle Mortimer as the mother-in-law, and Miss Ida Bell as the adventuress. ___
The Stage (28 March, 1895 - p.9) LADBROKE HALL.—At the fourth of the Bayswater Subscription Concerts, which was given here on Thursday evening, March 21, in the presence of a large audience, there was a disappointment of some magnitude. Miss Esther Palliser, who was the most distinguished of the performers advertised, had so bad a cold that she was “quite unable to sing,” although she listened to the concert from the hall. ..... In his recital of Robert Buchanan’s rather hackneyed “Fra Giacomo,” Mr. Norman V. Norman acted dramatically, but took the piece in very slow time, and broke up the delivery of the verse far too much. ___
The Stage (18 May, 1899 - p.17) POLYTECHNIC SCHOOL OF ELOCUTION. Mr. and Mrs. Hasluck’s pupils have given as many as a hundred public recitals, and this circumstance was celebrated in a very agreeable manner at the Institute on Wednesday evening of last week. ..... Mr. Charles E. Mooney was dramatically effective in Robert Buchanan’s “Fra Giacomo.” ___
The Brooklyn Eagle (10 December, 1901 - p.12) VAUDEVILLE HOUSES Robert Hilliard essayed a new role last night at the Orpheum in his own dramatization of Robert Buchanan’s tragic poem, “Fra Giacomo,” and he scored a handsome success, in which he was materially assisted by the fine stage setting prepared by Manager Williams. The pith of the poem’s story is told in practically the poet’s own words and, if any criticism can be offered in their shortening by Mr. Hilliard, it can only be that the scene is too short; but it still remains in the mind as a beautiful picture. With every incentive and opportunity for overdrawing the role of D’Arco, Mr. Hilliard cleverly refrains and paints the tragic scene wherein he reveals to the monk his knowledge of his relations to his wife and takes his vengeance with an intenseness that is as natural as dramatic art will permit. His elocution is clear and effective and his acting reveals the man torn between his love for his dead wife and his torment of his victim, who is dramatically, if silently, impersonated by Brandon Hurst. The scene of the short act is fine and the tableaux is beautiful. Mr. Hilliard deserved the curtain call which was insisted upon by his many friends. ___
The Stage (21 August, 1902 - p.17) Mr. Philip Yorke has in preparation a new sketch based on Robert Buchanan’s “Fra Giacomo,” in which Mr. Bransby Williams will appear. A young lady represents a corpse in this. ___
The Times (28 August, 1902 - p.8): THE TIVOLI.—Though a music-hall can reckon on a large selection of performers to choose from in this interval between the season of summer provincial “starring” and the Christmas pantomimes, and can command a large number of patrons, the management of the Tivoli have been enterprising enough to make a new departure this week in the sketch “Fra Giacomo.” This is a genuine attempt to provide something of a higher dramatic and literary character than is usually offered, or to be candid demanded. Mr. Robert Buchanan’s poem serves this purpose excellently, being short, well knit, and full of dramatic inspiration. Poetic merit is less conspicuous, nor in the circumstances is it so necessary, but several monologues and ballads, such as those of Rossetti, suggest themselves, which might be effectively dramatized in this way. Mr. Bransby Williams as the husband, though tending at times to err on the side of treating his lines as a mere recitation, gives a well-considered representation. If not quite rising to the purple patches of emotion, he prevents the more solid groundwork from being uninteresting. Mr. Charles Raymond, on the other hand, who plays the silent part of the monk, errs on the side of exaggeration, lacking the true touch of the pantomimist. As already suggested, there is no lack of material with which to follow up this innovation, and provided the pieces selected show emotional grip there is no reason why Mr. Williams should not make these artistic trifles as popular as he has already done his sketches from Dickens and Shakespeare. Other “turns” include Happy Fanny Fields, Miss Ray Wallace, a mimic of no mean ability, Little Tich, Mdlle. Diane de Fontenoy in a series of graceful tableaux entitled “Bijouterie Moderne,” Miss Vesta Tilley, and Mr. R. G. Knowles. ___
The Stage (4 December, 1924 - p.18) Mr. Owen Nares on Acting. _____
4. Tiger Bay
The Brooklyn Eagle (10 February,1884 - p.12) AT THE ADELPHI ACADEMY An Evening of Musical and Literary The semi annual entertainment of the pupils of the Adelphi Academy occurred last evening in the chapel on St. James place. The programme consisted of musical and literary selections. There was a large attendance of the friends of the pupils who greeted the various selections with well deserved applause. ... ___ The Graphic (23 June, 1894 - Issue 1282) A DRAMATIC RECITAL.—On Monday evening, at the little theatre in QUEEN’S HALL, Langham Place, Miss Bass gave a dramatic recital before a large and appreciative audience. The programme embraced a wide field of subjects, and Miss Bass showed herself equally effective in sentimental as in comic recitation. Among the principal selections were Mr. Buchanan’s “Tiger Bay,” Alfred Austin’s “In the Month when Sings the Cuckoo,” Christina Rossetti’s “A Royal Princess,” Mr. Anstey’s “Picture Sunday,” and Mrs. Gaskell’s “Sally’s Sweethearts.” _____
5. The Ballad of Judas Iscariot
The Stage (27 February, 1885 - p.13) I am glad to note that nearly £900 were subscribed in aid of the Dramatic and Musical Sick Fund at the dinner on Ash Wednesday. The “smoking concert” which followed the dinner was most enjoyable. The best feature of the entertainment was the recitation by Mr. E. S. Willard, of Robert Buchanan’s fine poem, “The Ballad of the Soul of Judas Iscariot.” It was a difficult task to attempt on such an occasion, but Mr. Willard thrilled his audience, and completely took the wind out of the sails of those who followed him on the platform. Mr. Hermann Vezin recited “The Spanish Mother;” Mr. Walter Speakman gave the Ingoldsby legend, “The Execution,” with ease and power; Mr. E. J. Odell delivered a quaint parody of “Eugene Aram;” and Mr. Brandon Thomas recited “Over the Hills from the Poorhouse.” Mr. Charles Warner, Mr. J. Maclean, Mr. Furneaux Cook, and Mr. H. Walsham were also heard to advantage in recitation and song. Songs were also furnished by Mr. George Grossmith, Mr. Walter Bolton, Mr. George Barrett, and Mr. Walter Clifford. During dinner Miss Constance Loseby charmed all hearers by her sympathetic singing. Miss Lucy Franklein and Miss Camille d’Arville also obliged with songs. Altogether, a most enjoyable evening was spent, but the questionable song given by the “Great” Vance was decidedly out of place, and had an unpleasant effect upon the hearers. Mr. Vance may be in his element in a music-hall, but that fact is no qualification for the introduction of his songs to a miscellaneous after-dinner audience. ___
The Brooklyn Eagle (18 May, 1897 - p.7) PROF. ROBERTS READS AGAIN Varied Programme Heard by a Large Professor Charles Roberts, jr., again showed himself the careful and pleasing artist that he is at a second appearance before the members of the Brooklyn institute last night. News of Mr. Roberts’ excellence had spread, and the result was that the spacious Art rooms were hardly large enough to hold the people that came. Professor Roberts opened the reading with Bret Harte’s “Selina Sedilia,” a bit of satire on the modern female novelist. This was followed by the “Ballad of Judas Iscariot,” in which Robert Buchanan has developed a story somewhat similar to that of the “Wandering Jew.” “Brer Fox and Brer Rabbit,” by Joel Chandler Harris, gave the reader good opportunities in negro dialect. The next number, rather incongruously, was Wordsworth’s beautiful “Ode on Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood.” Lovers of the poem must have felt that it lost something of its charm in recitation, sincere and helpful as Mr. Roberts was in his rendering. The humorous side of the reader’s art came out cleverly in a Holmes prologue (written by the breakfast table autocrat for a play given by his young friends) and the ridiculous “Ballad of Walham Green,” wherein fun is made of the microbe fad. The gem of the evening, from the reader’s standpoint was “Aux Italiens.” Mr. Roberts should not attempt to rival or even suggest Marlo, but otherwise this number was beyond praise. The hope that Professor Roberts will be heard in a course of readings before the institute next year will be general. _____
Aberdeen Weekly Journal (25 January,1890 - Issue 10912) ABERDEEN TONIC SOL-FA INSTITUTE CONCERT. Among the various modes of celebrating the natal day of Scotia’s noblest bard, perhaps none are more appropriate than the Burns concerts of the Tonic Sol-fa Institute. Certainly none are more enjoyable or more widely appreciated, and last night’s gathering in the Music Hall was equal in numbers and enthusiasm to those of former years. As a means of keeping green the memory of the poet, as well as of fostering that love for his legacy of song which is every year becoming more intense and widespread, nothing could be better conceived than these concerts, and the success which has attended them must be very gratifying to the members of the Institute. The programme was eminently attractive and varied, and although most of it was from the works of Burns, one or two selections were, in response to numerous requests, culled from other sources. ... _____
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