Episode 433. Lois Marshall Revisited
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Yesterday, January 29th, was the 101st anniversary of the birth of the Canadian soprano (later mezzo) Lois Marshall. Marshall was in so many ways a unique and treasurable artist. Afflicted with polio as a young child, she spent much of her early life hospitalized. It was there that she discovered the expressive power of her singing voice. Following her training at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, Marshall won two prestigious vocal competitions, including the Naumburg, she was taken on by such early mentors as Arturo Toscanini and Thomas Beecham and others. Audiences were captivated by both the spontaneity and directness of her artistry. Though she made occasional appearances in opera (and in particular televised opera, where her mobility issues could be more easily managed), she was primarily known as a concert singer. Recommended by the young Glenn Gould, she quickly became a favorite with Russian audiences and created the Canadian premieres of works by Poulenc and Britten, among others. This, the third Countermelody episode devoted to this artist, features her in a wide range of material, including in particular work by contemporary Canadian composers including Harry Somers, Oskar Morawetz, Srul Anthony Glick, Godfrey Ridout, Harry Freedman, and Jean Coulthard. The episode also emphasizes the purity and expressiveness of her singing in Baroque music, including Handel, Bach, Purcell, and Schütz as well as her unique way on the concert platform with both art song and folk song arrangements. Collaborating artists include Leopold Stokowski, Maureen Forrester, Glenn Gould, Seiji Ozawa, John Alexander, and Thomas Beecham. Once heard, Lois Marshall will never be forgotten.
RECORDINGS HEARD IN THIS EPISODE
Traditional Scottish, arr. Healey Willan, Robert Burns: Ae fond kiss. Lois Marshall, Stuart Hamilton [live Toronto 10.XII.1982]
Godfrey Ridout, John Donne: At the Round Earth’s Imagined Corners [Sonnet VII] (Cantiones Mysticae). Lois Marshall, Leopold Stokowski, New York Philharmonic [live Carnegie Hall 16.X.1953]
George Frideric Handel, unknown librettist [attribted Newburgh Hamilton, but likely Moses Mendes]: With thee th’unsheltered moor I’d tred (Solomon). Lois Marshall, Anthony Bernard, London Symphony Orchestra [1957]
Manuel de Falla, Traditional Spanish: Canción (Siete canciones populares españolas, No. 6). Lois Marshall, Weldon Kilburn [CBC Recording, ca. 1970]
Henry Purcell, John Dryden: I attempt from Love’s sickness to fly (The Indian Queen). Lois Marshall, Weldon Killburn [CBC recording, ca. 1970]
Johann Sebastian Bach: Ich will dir mein Herze schenken (St. Matthew Passion, BWV 244) [sung in English]. Lois Marshall, Ernest MacMillan, Toronto Symphony Orchestra [1953]
Heinrich Schütz: Herr, ich hoffe darauf (Kleine gestliche Konzerte II), SWV 312. Lois Marshall, Maureen Forrester, Yehudi Wyner [live Mont Orford, Québec 21.IX.1972]
Richard Strauss, William Shakespeare [translated Karl Joseph Simrock]: Guten Morgen, ‘s ist Sankt Valentinstag (Ophelia-Lieder, Op. 67/2). Lois Marshall, Glenn Gould [originally telecast CBC 15.X.1962]
Claude Debussy, Pierre Louÿs: La Flûte de Pan (Chansons de Bilitis, L.97/1). Lois Marshall, Weldon Kilburn [CBC ca. 1969]
Maurice Ravel, Tristan Klingsor: La Flûte enchantée (Shéhérazade, M. 41-2). Lois Marshall, Seiji Ozawa, Toronto Symphony Orchestra [live London, unknown date]
Hector Berlioz [after Johann Wolfgang von Goethe]: Grand Dieu! Que vois-je… Ange adoré dont la céleste image (La damnation de Faust). Lois Marshall, John Alexander, Ezio Flagello, Seiji Ozawa, Boston Symphony Orchestra [live Tanglewood 22.VIII.1971]
Francis Poulenc: Domine Deus (Gloria, FP 177/3). Lois Marshall, Elmer Iseler, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Toronto Mendelssohn Choir [live Canadian premiere, 20.X.1965]
Roger Quilter, Anonymous text: Over the mountains. Lois Marshall, Weldon Kilburn [1958]
John Ireland, Traditional English text: I have twelve oxen. Lois Marshall, Weldon Kilburn [Melodiya recording 1958]
Harry Somers, anonymous text: The Barmaid from Crale (Limericks). Lois Marshall, Stratford Ensemble, Elmer Iseler Singers [world premiere, Guelph Spring Festival Ontario 1980]
Jean Coulthard, William Shakespeare: Sonnet 116 [Let me not to the marriage of true minds admit impediments] (Three Sonnets of Shakespeare, No. 3). Lois Marshall, Gabora String Quartet [Taras Gabora, Edward Kudlak, Robert Verebes, Michael Carpenter] [CBC broadcast 07.I.1969]
A.E. Housman: Bredon Hill (A Shropshire Lad). Lois Marshall [unknown date and venue]
Harry Freedman [Henryk Frydmann], Traditional Inuit [translated Knud Rasmussen] Song of a Hostess (Anerca). Lois Marshall, Wendell Kilburn [live 1967]
Oskar Morawetz, Anne Wilkinson: I am so tired. Lois Marshall, Weldon Kilburn [live II.1967]
Srul Anthony Glick, anonymous children’s poems from Terezin: V. Narrative (I Never Saw Another Butterfly). Lois Marshall, Ruben Gurevich, Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra [broadcast premiere January 1981]
Samuel Barber, James Joyce: I hear an army (Three Songs, Op. 10/3). Lois Marshall, Weldon Kilburn [ca 1968]
Robert Schumann, Emanuel von Geibel [after Luís de Camões]: Tief im Herzen trag’ ich Pein (Spanische Liebeslieder, Op. 138/2). Lois Marshall, Arthur Gold, Robert Fizdale [1963]
Hugo Wolf, Eduard Mörike: Abschied (Mörike-Lieder). Lois Marshall, Greta Kraus [live Toronto 15.III.1981]
George Frideric Handel, unknown librettist [attributed Newburgh Hamilton, but likely Moses Mendes]: Will the sun forget to streak (Solomon). Lois Marshall, Thomas Beecham, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra [1955]
