1877 Sir Arthur Sullivan - The Lost Chord

Year: 1877; Genre: Popular Music

I'm making another selection where my pick number coincides with the publishing date of a song. Actually, there was another very large event that happened that year that completely changed music forever: Thomas Edison's invention of the phonograph. It can be argued that the phonograph was the single most important invention in music; for the first time in history live music wasn't the only way to experience it. I decided to take the opportunity to essentially kill two birds with one stone by picking one of the first songs ever to be recorded, which was also publish in 1877.
Interestingly enough after hearing the recording of his song Sir Sullivan said: "I can only say that I am astonished and somewhat terrified at the result of this evening's experiments: astonished at the wonderful power you have developed, and terrified at the thought that so much hideous and bad music may be put on record forever. But all the same I think it is the most wonderful thing that I have ever experienced, and I congratulate you with all my heart on this wonderful discovery."
Anyway, if you hadn't realized it, Sir Arthur Sullivan comprised one half of the famous opera songwriting duo of Gilbert & Sullivan; he served as composer whilst Sir W. S. Gilbert wrote the lyrics. It's simply amazing how many songs of theirs today you'd recognize and how many of terms of theirs have made it into the popular English lexicon. I digress; I should get back to the song I'm picking.
From what I understand Sir Arthur Sullivan wrote this song while at the bedside of his dying brother, Fred Sullivan; five days after writing it his brother passed away. The lyrics, however, existed long before the music was written; they were from a poem titled A Lost Chord, penned by Adelaide Anne Porter, which was published in 1858.

Hear the original recording with the speech by Sir Arthur Sullivan on YouTube.
Watch a performance of the song by Barbara Hollinshead and Michael Hendronon on YouTube.



My song pick a year ago today: Jimi Hendrix - Machine Gun

My song pick two years ago today: Django Reinhardt & Stéphane Grappelli (Quintette du Hot Club de France) featuring Freddy Taylor - After You've Gone

My song pick three years ago today: The Beatles - Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)

My song pick four years ago today: Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR) - Commotion

My song pick five years ago today: Don Henley - Boys of Summer