I have a song to sing, O!

Elsie Maynard (Laureen Livingstone) and Jack Point (Tommy Steele) entertain the public with their lovely duet "The Merryman and His Maid" ("I Have a Song to Sing, O!").
Scene from "The Yeomen of the Guard" (Gilbert-Sullivan)

Category:

Music

Tags:

• merryman
• and
• his
• maid
• jack
• point
• 
• elsie
• maynard
• yeomen
• of
• the
• guard
• gilbert
• sullivan
• laureen
• livingstone
• tommy
• steele

[id4mytube]

Laureen Livingstone has a fantastic voice.

[Agnetich]

Absolutely fantastic)

[waterd0g100]

it was summer,1969.we came back to douglaston from jones beach, showered and made love.for a long time.

V..began to sing-I Have a Song to Sing,O!

i picked up the tune and we sang together, wrapped in each other's arms, cool body against warm body.i think it was the high point of my life.

now V. has Parkinson's and i very often think of that song and those moments that changed our world. j

[hebdag44]

You have obviously missed the point of the song in act one, jabberwock.

I suggest you go and see the full opera.

[badzillacouk]

@jonathanbirchley Hmm. Not sure about that opinion at all. Laureen's talent totally eclipses Tommy's, embarrassingly so. I can't imagine the late John Reed being so upstaged and his own Yeoman of the Guard is much crisper and more dominant than Thomas' effort. It is generally regarded as one of the greatest recordings of this opera. Him and Laureen together? Wow!

[Tenortalker]

That's Laureen singing . She had a distinguished career in opera. I heard both these performers in these roles live at the Tower of London. It was a great show.

[frantor1937]

We all, know when we are in the presence of pretencious gits.

[nirmz94]

Does anyone know if there's a recording of this song from the last act? :)

[jonathanbirchley]

@TheLastYogurt Interesting observation, and musically I'd completely agree. Tommy Steele's rendition is halting, but that is in the spirit of Jack's character, surely? Objectively Laureen's voice is too good alongside his, but perhaps that is the point, or should I say "Point"

[LadyAnneBoleyn1536]

@cuddlyable3 In all likelihood, it probably is her voice. This was obviously meant to be more "filmy" than "stagey" so they probably shot it using playback.

[MrStevefranks]

Beautiful performance of a beautiful duet. Englishness personified.

[cuddlyable3]

@id4mytube true her voice is lovely but only IF that is her voice. The video we see is obviously miming to a soundtrack.

[hippychik56]

agree, that's the whole point - dramatic irony!