The Nashville globe. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1906-193?, 1909-04-30
A HIGH TRIBUTE TO MADAM
BROWN BY PROF. j. w. WORK,
OF FISK UNIVERSITY.

VT TON OINiNEhOi l.
The coming of Madam A. Patti
Brown was of unusual interest to the
music lovers of Nashville because OF
the fact that it has been a long time
since singers of her type and that of
Madam Hackley have visited us. In
the distant past Madams Salika, Flo
ra Batson-Bergen and Sisseretta
Jones, among the best singers our
race has produced, used to come to
us, fill our large churches and de-
light us all. But somehow these Wis
i~tations have ceased, probably be-
cause Nashville has become self-suf-
%ficient in this line and hence has not
enthused much over strangers. At
Walden and Fisk there have been pro-
duced SO many really good singers
and so many first-class renditions of
high-class music that it has been
rather difficult for visiting musicians
to get a hearing. But Madame Brown
did get a hearing and was assuredly
complimented by the large audiences
that greeted her. Her first success in
gaining a large audience at st. Paul
A. M. E. Church was certainly due to
Mr.. Evans Tyree, Jr., who managed
her local campaign, but her successes
at Jackson Temple and Spruce Street
Baptist Church were just as certain
ly due to her own singing and her
own self.
After she sang her first concert. al
though under adverse circumstances,
her audience was satisfied that she
was an artist of high rank, and was
so satisfied with her that they sang
her praises over the city. Conse-
q%uently Jackson Temple was filed. as
well as Spruce Street Church.
AS to Madam Brown herself. she
is of such pleasing appearance and
winning grace that even if she could
not sing quite so well, she would still
be acceptable to almost any audience.
She has just enough vivacity to keep
Der from being stiff, and it is plain
that she gives herself fully to her art.
AS to her singing. there are several
things to say. In her coIoratura
songs and arias she shows that she
has worked and studied hard to gain
the mastery of her technique. which
is indeed good. The hexibility of her
voice is remarkable and her control
is quite out of the Ordinary-she
shows off her voice best in her
smooth and even trills. This charac.
ter of work. however, gives a kind OF
intellectual satisfaction, but the truth
is, it does not reach the emotions,
and after all the song that reaches
the heart is the song that has been
best sung. Madame Brown is not at
her best in this class of music. al
though in it she ranks high. Her
strongest point is her singing of those
soulful, tuneful songs, sprung from
some composers heart and not his
head, and which she ca nso unerring-
ly send straight to the hearts Of her
audience. Then, her voice grows
smoother, fuller and more melodious.
The quality of her voice, differs in
different registers. Her middle tones
are by far the purest and most pleas
ing. Her high tones in some places
lack a little more paint, which same
statement can be male of her lower
notes. She selects her songs with
good judgment, wherein lies her sue
cess with her audiences. Compared
with those who are considered our
best sopranos she ranks we'll, and
since she is young and still studying,
she is certain to rank much higher.