The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-12-12

MADAME GWENFIL DAVIS.
bass voice, under perfect control. great
ly pleased the audience in the splendid
rendering of his solos and had to re-
spond to an encore each time. Mr.. Jo-
siah Johns, q tenor singer of high re-
pute sang in excellent voice several
difficult solos with great effect and was
loudly encored. The classical duet. Elk
c2lsior," sung by those two talented
gentlemen was a meritorious rendition
The cornet solo, "tlbmabum, per-
formed by Mr.. David w. Reese was
exceedingly well executed and so
pleased the audience that he had to APP
pear the second time. The great at
traction of the evening was Madame
Gwentii Davis, of the CarnarvOn Acad-
emy of Music, who was given rous-
ing reception when she appeared on
the platform. Her fame as a pleasing
and cultured vocalist had preceded her
and she fully sustained all that had
been said, and far exceeded all eXpecta-
tions. Her excellent rendering of the
ballad. Beloved Again." was heartily
re-demanded and she kindly substi-
tuted that beautiful song. Gyda'r
Mawr." which she sang in the Welsh
language i'm Il most impressive man
ner, but it was in the exquisite render
ing of that highly classical s6~gg. Tell
Me, My Heart" by Bishop. that her
charming voice. though not powerful,
but birdlike in its sweetness, was
heard in its purity, at the conclusion
of which she received quite an ovation,
and responded with that quaint Welsh
air, Jenny Jones"
a theatrical man has undertaken to
set the public right on the identity of
the MaDleSonS of operate fame. In
an Omaha dispatch to the Chicago
Times Herald he states that Colonel
Mapleson's recent failure in Boston has
caused a revival of the stories con-
cerning the many marriages of his son,
Colonel Henry Mapleson. The result
has been a confusion in the minds of
many of the two men. Colonel j. II.
MaplesOn is an old man. He has been
for many years widower and has
suffered some ANNOYANCE on account
of the similarity between his profess
sion and name and those of his son.
Colonel II. j. Mapleson. In justice to
the father it should be explained that
he is not responsible for the sons mar
ital affairs. Colonel Henry Mapleson
last appeared i'm operate ventures in
this country as the husband of Laura
Schriner, who died about three years
ago. Colonel Mapleson visited Scran
ION louf years ago Will IL CoHipdiiy
headed by his wife which appeared in
the opera "Fadette," which was her.
aided as a French success. "Fadette,"
however is a composition of the med
iocre class and was fiat failure. The
company was stranded in the south
and Mr.. and Mrs. Mapleson returned
to New York. where the latter sang in
light opera until death closed her bril-
liant career.
The March of the Men of Harlech'
did duty during the recent presidential
struggle as a campaign song. and, it
is said. this world-renowned chorus
was palmed off on the New York World
as an original composition, and was
awarded a portion of the prize. Says
the New York Sun: The World pub
lished on November l the Prize Cam
paign Song" which made its appear
ance two days before the election. 1t
was bold and little disguised plagiar
ism Of the old March of the Men of
Harlech,' adapted from Sir Joseph
Barnby's arrangement of the old Welsh
air. The resemblance is so striking
throughout that it is difficult to see
how anybody could have been misled
by it, and in one instance the identical
notes of the song are repeated. The
World commenced by Offering $500 for
the best prize song, then split that
amount up and divided ii among jokes,
arguments and verses, so the man
who took some little trouble to change
the March of the Men of Harech''
only got One-quarter of what he eX-
pected. But that was good pay-if he
got it-fOr few alterations that any
fakir in music is able to make. The
composer wrote his words to the
song. The verses of William Duthie
could not have deceived even the
Worlds judges into believing that they
had any reference to the present cam
paign. But even some of Duthies
lines We're retained, and throughout his
metre was slavshly followed. The
verse closes as follows:
Onward! it's our country needs us.
He is brave and true who leads us,
Honor bright herself now heads us,
Victory be our cry.
That has a healthy. sturdy sound, which
is probably due to the fact that Will
lam Duthie wrote it years ago i'm this
form:
onward! tits our country needs us.
He is bravest he who leads us,
Honor's self now proudly heads us,
Cambria. God and Right!
If only that last line had been left as
1t stands in the original somebody i'm
the World office might have smelt a
rat.
\ Il Il
The concert to be given by Mrs. Clar-
ence Ballentine and pupils at Young
Mems Christian association hall on
Tuesday evening next will no doubt at
tract a large number of our music
lovers. The piano conversations by
Miss Amy Fay will he important fea-
lures of the event. OF this artists abil-
ity the Chicago Inter- Ocean speaks as
follows: Miss Amy Fay. lady of
whose musical accomplishments Chi
cago may well be proud, has been CIV
ing series of Saturday afternoon
piano conversations that have proved