Lucy Isabelle Marsh
Encyclopedia
Lucy Isabelle Marsh was an American
lyric soprano
who made her career as a professional recording artist for the Victor Talking Machine Company
. She was an anonymous mainstay of the regular recording program of the company from 1909 into the late 1920s. At the same time, she quickly won popular and critical recognition under her own name as a major artist on Victor recordings.
under Baldelli, and under Trabadelo
, who also taught Mary Garden
. She studied under John Walter Hall in New York.
. As a Flower Maiden in the opera “Parsifal
” she is known to have given nine performances at the Metropolitan Opera
between November 1904 and March 1905. In 1908 she recorded three sides for Columbia Records.
In 1909 Marsh was engaged by The Victor Talking Machine Company, beginning a dual career as a “recording artist” and as a technically and artistically accomplished singer. Although she occasionally appeared on stage, she was known mostly through her recordings.
The “recording artist” was essential to the commercial success of recording companies such as Victor in the days of acoustic recording technology, roughly from 1903 through 1924. Singers were required whose sound quality registered well through a mechanical diaphragm, who were reliable workers, and who were quick studies at learning the latest song or an arrangement prepared for a recording. Such singers had to master the techniques of singing into a horn, which included knowing the best distance from the horn to stand for their voice, how to back off to avoid blasting and move forward for soft passages, how to adopt a position to blend with a partner or change positions to maintain the best balance when alternating lead passages with a partner or accompanist. Marsh herself left a description of the situation.
The Victor Talking Machine Company employed several fine singers as recording artists in the two decades preceding the introduction of electrical recording in 1925. The Encyclopedic Discography of Victor Records, a project of researchers based at the University of California, Santa Barbara
, has now published the information contained in the session ledgers of Victor through 1922, supplemented with other sources. Examination of the database, made available on line, shows that Victor used these singers as anonymous members of ensembles such as the Trinity Choir, and the Lyric Quartet, to produce recordings of “standards” and selections from current shows. Victor also afforded these artists occasional solo and ensemble recordings under their own names, some more and some less.
A popular specialty of the Victor company was the production of “Gems from” operas, operettas and shows. These were attributed not to individual singers but to the Victor Opera Company, or Victor Light Opera Company. “Gems” were arrangements of fragments of selected numbers. A purchaser could expect to hear snatches of the most popular tunes and choruses, usually ending with an upbeat number. Production required seven or 8 singers to collaborate by stepping forward at the proper time to sing solos into the horn and back for choral numbers. “Gems” averaged four and a half minutes, with the exception of those shows or operas containing enough material to merit two sides of a 12” 78rpm record. Over twenty-five percent of the Marsh matrixes made between 1909 and 1922 were “Gems”. Another thirty-eight percent (38%)were as a member of the Trinity Choir or Lyric Quartet, performing religious numbers or standards, and were also unattributed.
Marsh did stand out, however, in the number and quality of her solo recordings. About a quarter of the matrixes, in the production of which Marsh participated, were solo recordings attributed to her on the label. At her first session for Victor, Marsh recorded “Angels ever bright and fair” from Handel’s
Theodora
, an aria
which is a test for the most accomplished soprano. Soon thereafter, Marsh solo recordings were moved from the Victor black label series, to the purple label series, an exclusive position mid-way between black labels and the highly promoted “Red Label” series. She also recorded a few titles for Victor under the name of Anna Howard.
Favia-Artsay’s evaluation of several of her acoustic records provides detail for this assessment. A few selected quotations follow: Nightingale (Alabieff) “Exquisite timbre, individual voice – of virginal purity, round and equal. Precise chromatic scale, also the trill. Judicious phrasing and breath distribution.” Spring’s Awakening (Sanderson) “…Flowing, smooth coloratura. Phrasing fine:” O for the wings of a dove (Mendelssohn
) “sings with subtle feeling. Not showy, but very artistic. Really an amazingly polished singer. Can hold her own with some of our best recording artists; and even top a few in some cases.” Italian street song (Herbert) “Indeed, a brilliant piece of vocalization.”
A generation later Michael Scott
opined, “she was a particularly fine duet singer; with McCormack in ‘Parle-moi de ma mère’ from Carmen, she contrives a ravishing effect with her sweet and steady tones.” Some of her later records made with a microphone were also held in high regard. Kutsch-Riemens speaks of “…masterly conceived recordings of arias from the Messiah and the oratorios of Mendelssohn and Rossini.”.
, Rhode Island
. She had two sons, Calvin and Walter; Calvin also became a doctor, and Walter was a sales manager for several national companies. Marsh had four grandchildren. She died at age seventy-seven.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
lyric soprano
Lyric soprano
A lyric soprano is a type of operatic soprano that has a warm quality with a bright, full timbre which can be heard over an orchestra. The lyric soprano voice generally has a higher tessitura than a soubrette and usually plays ingenues and other sympathetic characters in opera. Lyric sopranos have...
who made her career as a professional recording artist for the Victor Talking Machine Company
Victor Talking Machine Company
The Victor Talking Machine Company was an American corporation, the leading American producer of phonographs and phonograph records and one of the leading phonograph companies in the world at the time. It was headquartered in Camden, New Jersey....
. She was an anonymous mainstay of the regular recording program of the company from 1909 into the late 1920s. At the same time, she quickly won popular and critical recognition under her own name as a major artist on Victor recordings.
Training
Marsh obtained training in ParisParis
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
under Baldelli, and under Trabadelo
Trabadelo
Trabadelo is a village and municipality located in the region of El Bierzo . According to the 2004 census , the municipality has a population of 523 inhabitants....
, who also taught Mary Garden
Mary Garden
Mary Garden , was a Scottish operatic soprano with a substantial career in France and America in the first third of the 20th century...
. She studied under John Walter Hall in New York.
Career
Marsh sang in church choirs, and became lead soprano in important churches in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. As a Flower Maiden in the opera “Parsifal
Parsifal
Parsifal is an opera in three acts by Richard Wagner. It is loosely based on Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival, the 13th century epic poem of the Arthurian knight Parzival and his quest for the Holy Grail, and on Chrétien de Troyes' Perceval, the Story of the Grail.Wagner first conceived the work...
” she is known to have given nine performances at the Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
between November 1904 and March 1905. In 1908 she recorded three sides for Columbia Records.
In 1909 Marsh was engaged by The Victor Talking Machine Company, beginning a dual career as a “recording artist” and as a technically and artistically accomplished singer. Although she occasionally appeared on stage, she was known mostly through her recordings.
The “recording artist” was essential to the commercial success of recording companies such as Victor in the days of acoustic recording technology, roughly from 1903 through 1924. Singers were required whose sound quality registered well through a mechanical diaphragm, who were reliable workers, and who were quick studies at learning the latest song or an arrangement prepared for a recording. Such singers had to master the techniques of singing into a horn, which included knowing the best distance from the horn to stand for their voice, how to back off to avoid blasting and move forward for soft passages, how to adopt a position to blend with a partner or change positions to maintain the best balance when alternating lead passages with a partner or accompanist. Marsh herself left a description of the situation.
The Victor Talking Machine Company employed several fine singers as recording artists in the two decades preceding the introduction of electrical recording in 1925. The Encyclopedic Discography of Victor Records, a project of researchers based at the University of California, Santa Barbara
University of California, Santa Barbara
The University of California, Santa Barbara, commonly known as UCSB or UC Santa Barbara, is a public research university and one of the 10 general campuses of the University of California system. The main campus is located on a site in Goleta, California, from Santa Barbara and northwest of Los...
, has now published the information contained in the session ledgers of Victor through 1922, supplemented with other sources. Examination of the database, made available on line, shows that Victor used these singers as anonymous members of ensembles such as the Trinity Choir, and the Lyric Quartet, to produce recordings of “standards” and selections from current shows. Victor also afforded these artists occasional solo and ensemble recordings under their own names, some more and some less.
A popular specialty of the Victor company was the production of “Gems from” operas, operettas and shows. These were attributed not to individual singers but to the Victor Opera Company, or Victor Light Opera Company. “Gems” were arrangements of fragments of selected numbers. A purchaser could expect to hear snatches of the most popular tunes and choruses, usually ending with an upbeat number. Production required seven or 8 singers to collaborate by stepping forward at the proper time to sing solos into the horn and back for choral numbers. “Gems” averaged four and a half minutes, with the exception of those shows or operas containing enough material to merit two sides of a 12” 78rpm record. Over twenty-five percent of the Marsh matrixes made between 1909 and 1922 were “Gems”. Another thirty-eight percent (38%)were as a member of the Trinity Choir or Lyric Quartet, performing religious numbers or standards, and were also unattributed.
Marsh did stand out, however, in the number and quality of her solo recordings. About a quarter of the matrixes, in the production of which Marsh participated, were solo recordings attributed to her on the label. At her first session for Victor, Marsh recorded “Angels ever bright and fair” from Handel’s
George Frideric Handel
George Frideric Handel was a German-British Baroque composer, famous for his operas, oratorios, anthems and organ concertos. Handel was born in 1685, in a family indifferent to music...
Theodora
Theodora (Handel)
Theodora is an oratorio in three acts by George Frideric Handel, set to an English libretto by Thomas Morell. The oratorio concerns the Christian martyr Theodora and her Christian-converted Roman lover, Didymus....
, an aria
Aria
An aria in music was originally any expressive melody, usually, but not always, performed by a singer. The term is now used almost exclusively to describe a self-contained piece for one voice usually with orchestral accompaniment...
which is a test for the most accomplished soprano. Soon thereafter, Marsh solo recordings were moved from the Victor black label series, to the purple label series, an exclusive position mid-way between black labels and the highly promoted “Red Label” series. She also recorded a few titles for Victor under the name of Anna Howard.
Artistic Legacy
Collectors of recordings of vocal music who handle 78 rpm shellac records, particularly those made before 1925, can not escape repeated contact with the plentiful products of Lucy Isabelle Marsh. In particular, aficionados of the classical repertory find that her recordings of classical standards often compare very favorably to those made by singers who had substantial stage careers. In 1957 Aida Favia-Artsay, a perceptive critic of classical singing, gave this assessment.
After a few turns of a Marsh disc, it becomes apparent that…she could have had a brilliant operatic career. As far as voice goes, hers had all the requisites; and as for its production – a little more work in the chest register would have brought it up to par. Otherwise, she was musical, intelligent, resourceful, and obviously had a sound knowledge of the vocal technicalities. A pity that while her French was passable, her Italian left much to be desired.
Favia-Artsay’s evaluation of several of her acoustic records provides detail for this assessment. A few selected quotations follow: Nightingale (Alabieff) “Exquisite timbre, individual voice – of virginal purity, round and equal. Precise chromatic scale, also the trill. Judicious phrasing and breath distribution.” Spring’s Awakening (Sanderson) “…Flowing, smooth coloratura. Phrasing fine:” O for the wings of a dove (Mendelssohn
Felix Mendelssohn
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Barthóldy , use the form 'Mendelssohn' and not 'Mendelssohn Bartholdy'. The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians gives ' Felix Mendelssohn' as the entry, with 'Mendelssohn' used in the body text...
) “sings with subtle feeling. Not showy, but very artistic. Really an amazingly polished singer. Can hold her own with some of our best recording artists; and even top a few in some cases.” Italian street song (Herbert) “Indeed, a brilliant piece of vocalization.”
A generation later Michael Scott
Michael Scott (artistic director)
Michael Scott is the founder of the London Opera Society. In his role as the society's sole artistic director, he brought to London Marilyn Horne, Joan Sutherland, and Boris Christoff. He was also responsible for introducing Sherrill Milnes, Ruggero Raimondi, and Montserrat Caballe...
opined, “she was a particularly fine duet singer; with McCormack in ‘Parle-moi de ma mère’ from Carmen, she contrives a ravishing effect with her sweet and steady tones.” Some of her later records made with a microphone were also held in high regard. Kutsch-Riemens speaks of “…masterly conceived recordings of arias from the Messiah and the oratorios of Mendelssohn and Rossini.”.
Personal life
Marsh married Walter Colwell Gordon, a medical doctor, in 1910, and moved to ProvidenceProvidence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...
, Rhode Island
Rhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
. She had two sons, Calvin and Walter; Calvin also became a doctor, and Walter was a sales manager for several national companies. Marsh had four grandchildren. She died at age seventy-seven.
Books
- Tim Gracyk, with Frank Hoffmann, Popular American Recording Pioneers, 1895-1925 (Haworth Press, Binghamton, New York, 2000) (ISBN 1-56024-993-5), pp. 230–233.
External links
- Discography of Lucy Isabelle Marsh on Victor RecordsVictor Talking Machine CompanyThe Victor Talking Machine Company was an American corporation, the leading American producer of phonographs and phonograph records and one of the leading phonograph companies in the world at the time. It was headquartered in Camden, New Jersey....
from the Encyclopedic Discography of Victor Recordings (EDVR)