Ida Heydt & Elizabeth Lennox - Whispering Hope

Recorded 1/1920

Elizabeth Lennox was born in Iona, Michigan, on 16 March 1894, one of seven children. Both parents were Canadian. Their father was a Methodist minister in Michigan where church authorities required those in such positions to change parishes every year or two. She lived in Ontario, Canada, in 1911 and 1912.

After finishing college she went directly to New York as a singer and sang for Enrico Caruso.
She chose the aria 'O don fatale' from Verdi's Don Carlos, a difficult piece even for experienced singers.

She became alto soloist at the New York Church of the Ascension, a high-church Anglican congregation noted for its wealthy parishioners and its elaborate music. The tenor soloist was George P. Hughes, whom she married in 1922. A son was born in 1926.

She hoped to establish a career in on-stage opera, but did not reach this goal. Instead, she succeeded in concert work (including performances at both Carnegie and Aeolian Halls), as a recording artist, and on radio. Her first records were made for Brunswick in 1919 and she continued with this company, as a solist, in duets, and as part of choral groups until 1928, when she appeared, uncredited, on a number of "Gems" from Gilbert and Sullivan operettas. In 1920 she recorded several sides for Victor, issued as by Louise Terrell, an adaptation of a family name. (Her uncle was Joseph Tyrrell, an explorer of Northern Canada and well-known in circles familiar with such activities.) She also recorded for Edison during the 1920s (sometimes using the Terrell nom-de-disque) until they ceased operations in 1929. There were also recording sessions at other companies under pseudonyms she could not recall in later life.

Through The New York Times one can trace a career of over 400 radio broadcasts beginning in 1922 and ending in 1942. These performances often brought her together with conductor Gustave Haenschen (known as Carl Fenton on Brunswick discs). Her son depicts these programs as the sort that "mixed sentimental semi-dramas with traditional songs." She appeared on "The Palmolive Hour", "The American Album of Familiar Music" (sponsored by Bayer Aspirin), "For America We Sing", and on unsponsored musical programs on she was permitted her to select her repertoire.




She stopped singing professionally in the early 1940s when she observed that her voice was giving her problems. Results of attempts to rectify them, with the assistance of vocal coaches, did not please her. She did, though, continue singing informally for friends, sometimes with her husband, accompanied by her son.




Music-related activities continued for decades. She guided Connecticut's South Shore Music Society which engaged artists (usually young and unknown) to present full scale performances in private homes, sometimes to an audience of fifty or more. An article in The New York Times published in 1978 identified her as the program committee chair and credits her with bringing soprano Martina Arroyo, harpsichordist Igor Kipnes, and the Tokyo String Quartet to the club. Later she was one of the founders of what was first called the Connecticut Symphony Orchestra.

She died in Connecticut on 3 May 1992 at the age of 98.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• 1900s
• opera
• classical
• soprano
• contralto
• 78rpm
• hymn
• duet
• Homer
• Gluck

[MrPlattsmouth]

A lovely rendition of one of my all time favorite songs. Thank you for posting it and for the biographical notes.

[pax41]

@MrPlattsmouth The notes are a generous gift from a viewer acquainted with Ms Lennox.

[bsgs98]

This duet is very similar to the Olive Kline/Elsie Baker posting that I have on my channel. An all-time inspirational favorite. It never gets old.

[pax41]

@bsgs98 It's great to hear all the different versions too.

[CurzonRoad]

Fine, lovely version of a beautiful, often performed and recorded song! Many thanks, Bob!

[pax41]

@CurzonRoad  I think I like this one as much as Alma's.

[1920sbuff]

A lovely song, and thank you for the very interesting liner notes!

[EBI1of76]

Beautiful song. Thank You for the Bio on Elizabeth Lennox. Also, I thnk traditional values are making a comeback. We have seen the abyss, it is not to our liking, we will turn back to a more sane way of thinking, and doing. There is a new wind blowing in the land. Ronald Reagan's vision is being restored.

[olderngod]

Thanks for sending me the lovely clip, Bob. I could use a little hope right now!!!

[pax41]

@HD7100 Gary it is my pleasure and I enjoy hearing comments such as these.