The Enchantress

A 1926 recording (and as far as I know, the only professional recording) of the first verse and refrain of J.L. Hatton's "The Enchantress", sung by British contralto Dame Clara Butt.

LYRICS:
By the lore of ages far
By the rites which cowards shun
I, from grave, and herb, and star
Have my wand of triumph won
Warriors I have brought to shame
Turning glory to disgrace
Kings have trembled when I came
Reading doom upon my face.
But for thee, but for thee
My wild hair shall braided be
With the rose of richest breath
With the jasmine, white as death
With the jasmine, white as death
And my voice, in music flow
And my eyes all gently glow
For believe me, love like ours
Is the pow'r of magic pow'rs
For believe me, for believe me
For believe me, love like ours
Is the pow'r, the pow'r of magic pow'rs
Of magic pow'rs
For believe me, love like ours
Is the pow'r of magic pow'rs

Category:

Music

Tags:

• TheEnchantress
• JLHatton
• ClaraButt
• The
• Enchantress
• JL
• Hatton
• Clara
• Butt

[Gfancy7]

Was the second verse added later?

[WynnFire]

@Gfancy7 I don't believe so. My guess is that there were time constraints on the recording, considering the technology of the time.

[guetary]

I wonder if you have ever heard her recording of "Three Fishers Went Sailing", by Hullah? It is truly magnificent.

[WynnFire]

Aside from the little blip that iTunes puts up as a preview, I haven't. I think as soon as I get the money (and the chance), I'll go out and get the entire Prima Voce album that they made of her. And since the recordings are public domain now, I'll see what I can do about getting some more up :D

[percussionprincess]

Omg! I sang this a solo my freshman year! Hehe... It's weird in this lol because this is the first time I've actually heard it other than myself. Hehe! Very nice

[WynnFire]

I know! I swear, this is the /only/ professional recording out there. It took me for-freaking-ever to find it, too. I was so happy when I typed it into Google for the five millionth time (it seemed like) and the recording popped up xD

Yeah, I did this song as the audition to the music school at my college...but I'm not too great at the whole keeping-up-nerve thing, so it ended up sounding really bad ^^;;

But it's so cool to find someone else who's heard of this song!!!!! ^^

[guetary]

I haven't heard this for many years. Dame Clara at her astonishing best. She covers the entire dynamic range. Brilliant. Thanks for posting.

[OLIVCHEN77]

BRAVA! This Song was dedicated to Pauline Viardot

[HM0880]

@meltzerboy

After the first half of this song, anyone who would believe Dame Clara's honeyed words of the second half is probably mad! She's pretty scary. :D Thanks for sharing, meltzerboy, and thank you, WynnFire, for posting!

[meltzerboy]

Joan Sutherland heard Clara Butt when Sutherland was only 6 years old and Butt was in her 60s, in a wheelchair, suffering from cancer. Sutherland says that even then Clara Butt had the most voluminous voice of any singer she ever heard after that time, including Flagstad. Clara Butt was a phenomenon, not only in regard to the power of her voice, but the beauty of tone, the phrasing, and the emotion. Thanks for posting!

[Zva26]

OMG - what an amazing instrument!!!!!! Have never heard ANY contralto sound like this.

[kfarm2001]

This is quite hard to sing! (For me) as a mezzo, jumping from one break to another (E to E).

[CurzonRoad]

Funny, was she? She'd show 'em! And pulling out all the stops, she fairly hurled her great voice at them -- 'Kings have trembled when I came, reading doom upon my face' -- letting out a low E like some tolling bell. 'I don't know about kings, she later remarked, but those examiners they certainly trembled.' When they asked her to sing something else, quieter, she chose the solo from ELIJAH, 'Woe unto them'. They got the message; she got the scholarship."

Fantastic.... THANK YOU!

[CurzonRoad]

The following story on Clara Butt & "The Enchantress" is from Michael Scott's THE RECORD OF SINGING, VOL I:

"At her audition for an open scholarship at the Royal College of Music her singing Hatton's song 'The Enchantress' created such a stir among the examiners that she mistook their genuine astonishment for amusement.

(more)

[paulostroff99]

Great and historically important! Brava! TY.