Titanic benefit: Caruso sings "The Lost Chord"

Two weeks after the Titanic sank off Newfoundland Caruso sang "The Lost Chord" at a benefit concert on the evening of 29th April 1912 at the MET to raise money for the victims' families. Caruso had just recorded the song in the afternoon....


The song is composed by Arthur Sullivan in 1877 at the bedside of his brother Fred during Fred's last illness. The manuscript is dated 13 January 1877; Fred Sullivan died five days later. The lyric was written as a poem by Adelaide Anne Procter called "A Lost Chord," published in 1858 in The English Woman's Journal.


TEXT

Seated one day at the organ,
I was weary and ill at ease,
And my fingers wandered idly
Over the noisy keys.

I know not what I was playing,
Or what I was dreaming then;
But I struck one chord of music,
Like the sound of a great Amen.

It flooded the crimson twilight,
Like the close of an angel's psalm,
And it lay on my fevered spirit
With a touch of infinite calm.

It quieted pain and sorrow,
Like love overcoming strife;
It seemed the harmonious echo
From our discordant life.

It linked all perplexèd meanings
Into one perfect peace,
And trembled away into silence
As if it were loth to cease.

I have sought, but I seek it vainly,
That one lost chord divine,
Which came from the soul of the organ,
And entered into mine.

It may be that death's bright angel
Will speak in that chord again,
It may be that only in Heav'n
I shall hear that grand Amen.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Titanic
• shipwreck
• enrico
• caruso
• popular
• songs

[Hirvassalo]

Arthur Sullivan? Hang on, wasn't that the guy who also composed the "Propior Deo" version of "Nearer, My God, To Thee?" Considering bandleader Wallace Hartley's (and cellist John Woodward's) Methodist background this song seems appropriate to the extreme.

[tomfroekjaer]

@Hirvassalo Yes, you are right. Arthur Sullivan also composed the "Propior Deo" version of "Nearer, My God, To Thee."

Don't know if Caruso was aware of any Methodist connection - (if so he wouldn't have minded anyway).... Good historical account. Thanks.

[MsRuthes]

Dear tom froekjaer: Again, thanks so much. I just love this, Caruso was one in a billion.

[tomfroekjaer]

@MsRuthes You are very welcome. Yes, Caruso was indeed an unsually great spirit with an unparalled empathetic voice.

[MsRuthes]

I love hearing Caruso singing "Over There" for the war effort. It is priceless. If someone could post, would be most appreciative.

[tomfroekjaer]

@MsRuthes Yes, "Over There" is a good one. Just search YouTube for "Enrico Caruso Over There".

Several users have uploaded it.

[tomfroekjaer]

@justinbieberforking: no, he certainly is not comparable to Justin Bieber.

[ShawDAMAN]

Heh heh maybe so. I've always thought that people who didn't appreciate opera and classical were nuts, but maybe we're the nutty ones. :D

It's fun though, thinking about what great musical events you could have attended had you been alive then ;-D

[marktenor227]

@MsRuthes And George M. Cohan is conducting too. Talk about getting it straight from the horse's mouth!

[fromthesidelines]

An electrically "re-recorded" version (with new accompaniment) was issued in 1934.

[ThePlanetchild]

@drpenning good point

[drpenning]

We might not do so well singing in Italian either. :)