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Upstairs/Downstairs – March 16, 2003 | Walter Hall, Toronto
Upstairs/Downstairs – March 16, 2003 | Walter Hall, Toronto
The English musical scene from about 1900 to 1930, comparing and contrasting art music with popular music.
date: March 16, 2003
We repeated a programme first heard in March 1986, in which three talented and versatile singers presented three decades of English songs, from music-hall hits, drawing-room ballads and folksongs through to the triumph of American popular music in the 1930s. The atmosphere of entertainment “upstairs” and “downstairs” was contrasted with the aid of extracts from newpapers, diaries and memoirs of the period. Relevant performers were highlighted, including Dames Clara Butt and Nellie Melba, Marie Lloyd and Gertrude Lawrence.
| Song | Artist | Composer | Poet |
|---|---|---|---|
| Just a song at twilight | Whalen, Laura, soprano; Burgess, Norine, mezzo; Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Molloy, James | Bingham, Graham Clifton |
| Let’s all go down the Strand | Whalen, Laura, soprano; Burgess, Norine, mezzo; Clark, Jesse, baritone; Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Castling, Harry / Murphy, C.W. | anon. |
| In Haven: Capri, Op.37/2 (Sea Pictures) | Burgess, Norine, mezzo; Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Elgar, Sir Edward | Elgar, C.Alice |
| How sweet the moonlight sleeps upon this bank | Burgess, Norine, mezzo; Clark, Jesse, baritone; Ralls, Stephen, piano | Lehmann, Liza | Shakespeare, William |
| A fairy went a-marketing | Burgess, Norine, mezzo; Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Goodhart, Arthur M. | Fyleman, Rose |
| Goodbye! | Whalen, Laura, soprano; Ralls, Stephen, piano | Tosti, Sir Paolo | Whyte-Melville, George John |
| The Banks of Allan Water | Whalen, Laura, soprano; Ralls, Stephen, piano | Scottish folksong | anon. |
| Isobel | Clark, Jesse, baritone; Ralls, Stephen, piano | Bridge, Frank | Goddard-Fenwick, Digby |
| Josh-u-ah | Whalen, Laura, soprano; Ralls, Stephen, piano | Arthurs, George / Lee, Bert | Arthurs, George / Lee, Bert |
| A little of what you fancy does you good | Burgess, Norine, mezzo; Ralls, Stephen, piano | Leigh, Fred / Arthurs, George | Leigh, Fred / Arthurs, George |
| In summer time on Bredon (A Shropshire Lad) | Clark, Jesse, baritone; Ralls, Stephen, piano | Somervell, Sir Arthur | Housman, Alfred Edward |
| The street sounds to the soldiers’ tread (A Shropshire Lad) | Clark, Jesse, baritone; Ralls, Stephen, piano | Somervell, Sir Arthur | Housman, Alfred Edward |
| Keep the home fires burning | Whalen, Laura, soprano; Burgess, Norine, mezzo; Clark, Jesse, baritone; Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Novello, Ivor | Ford, Lena Guilbert |
| A Hymn for Aviators | Whalen, Laura, soprano; Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Parry, Sir Charles Hubert Hastings | Hamilton, Mary |
| Marching song of the Royal Flying Corps | Whalen, Laura, soprano; Burgess, Norine, mezzo; Clark, Jesse, baritone; Ralls, Stephen, bass | Converse, Charles | anon. |
| With rue my heart is laden (Bredon Hill and other songs) | Clark, Jesse, baritone; Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Butterworth, George | Housman, Alfred Edward |
| I do like to be beside the seaside | Whalen, Laura, soprano; Burgess, Norine, mezzo; Clark, Jesse, baritone; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Glover-Kind, John A. | Glover-Kind, John A. |
| Tango-Pasodoble (Façade) | Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Walton, Sir William, arr. Lambert, Constant | n/a |
| And her mother came too (A to Z) | Clark, Jesse, baritone; Ralls, Stephen, piano | Novello, Ivor | Titheradge, Dion |
| Willow, willow | Whalen, Laura, soprano; Ralls, Stephen, piano | English folksong, arr. Grainger, Percy | anon. |
| The British Waterside (or The Jolly Sailor) | Burgess, Norine, mezzo; Clark, Jesse, baritone; Ralls, Stephen, piano | Nottinghamshire folksong, arr. Grainger, Percy | anon. |
| Faeroe Island Dance-Folksong (Let’s dance gay in green meadow) | Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Faeroe Island folksong, arr. Grainger, Percy | n/a |
| The real American folk-song | Clark, Jesse, baritone; Ralls, Stephen, piano | Gershwin, George | Gershwin, Ira |
| Some day I’ll find you (Private Lives) | Whalen, Laura, soprano; Ralls, Stephen, piano | Coward, Sir Noël | Coward, Sir Noël |
| The Tale of the Oyster | Burgess, Norine, mezzo; Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Porter, Cole | Porter, Cole |
| Let’s do it (Paris) | Whalen, Laura, soprano; Burgess, Norine, mezzo; Clark, Jesse, baritone; Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Porter, Cole | Porter, Cole |
| Let’s do it (Paris) (reprise) – ENCORE | Whalen, Laura, soprano; Burgess, Norine, mezzo; Clark, Jesse, baritone; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Porter, Cole | Porter, Cole |