Scan 22
Musical Courier 1897-01-13: Vol 34 Iss 880, 1897
122 lines. Read by computer on 23 September 2026, twice; the two readings disagreed in places. Printed page 23. See the scan on archive.org.
A town on its own line is one of the directory's headings. That is where the town on a maker's page comes from.
1Evan Williams.
2A ROMANCE IN FIVE ACTS.
3ACT I.
41888.
5Age 20. Married.
6ACT II.
71890.
8Employed in Akron, Ohio.
9Madame Louise von Feilitzsch, then of Cleveland, Ohio, vocal teacher, hears him; urges him to study. Begins lessons.
10ACT III.
111892.
12Living in Cleveland, Ohio. Continues his vocal lessons with Madame von Feilitzsch.
13ACT IV.
141894.
15Comes to New York, secures position as tenor All Angels' choir. Studies with Mr. James Sauvage.
16ACT V.
171896.
18$00000 worth of engagements booked. Solo tenor Marble Collegiate Church, $2,000 yearly salary. Soloist concerts in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Buffalo, Chicago, St. Louis, &c.
20Above are the bare facts of Evan Williams' life. What a change has eight, yes, two years wrought in it! A Welshman by birth, the boy was always singing, and in Akron, Ohio, was a member of a male octet club. Here it was that the woman who pictured to him what his future might be, Madame von Feilitzsch (the vocal teacher, now established here at the Grand Hotel, Broadway and Thirty-first street), and who awoke in him an ambition to shine in music, first heard him. He was then singing in church, married to an equally ambitious woman. By a chance he heard of the vacancy here at All Angels', sang for the committee and was at once engaged, condescendingly accepting the salary of $800 a year, when that sum was in reality much more than he hoped to get.
22Of the various trials and hindrances which lay in the way to his present prominent and enviable position nothing can here be said. His has been a life full of work, more than the reader can ever know, and of constant study, beyond that of the ordinary successful singer. For two years past he has studied with Mr. James Sauvage, who counts him as one of his best pupils.
24He has engagements to sing either in concert or oratorio in Baltimore (three times), St. Louis (twice), Washington (twice), Toronto, Canada; Milwaukee, Albany, Cincinnati, Boston, Providence, Worcester, and many towns in this immediate vicinity.
26The other day I met a man just in from Buffalo, where Williams had sung the night before (with the Symphony Orchestra, John Lund conductor). Said he: "You should have seen those Buffalo folks; they stood on their heads with enthusiasm!" Apropos, this reminds one of the man who was found standing on his head, and who said that he had a rush of blood to his head when he stood on his feet, so he thought he would reverse it, and see if he would have a rush of blood to his feet when he stood on his head! Similia Similibus!
28This sketch of that fine singer and manly man Williams would be incomplete without the following press notices:
30WORCESTER FESTIVAL, SEPTEMBER, 1896.
32The performance of the glorious Stabat Mater was in many ways one of uncommon merit. The chief feature was the remarkable delivery of the Cujus Animam by Mr. Evan Williams. I have never heard this famous air sung as well as it was sung to-night. Mr. Williams' performance was characterized by a breadth that removed all suspicion of the vulgarity which some think intrinsic. The kangaroo leaps were not in evidence. The phrases were beautifully sustained. There was tenderness that was always virile. There was power that was always musical. The climax, sung with full voice, was overwhelming. I know of no tenor who has been heard in this country of late years, in opera or in concert, who could equal or even approach Mr. Williams' performance of this air.—Philip Hale, Boston Journal.
34Mr. Williams strengthened and increased the fine impression he made on his first appearance by his rendering of the Cujus Animam. No such superb tenor singing has been heard in this region for years. The frank honesty of his work, its certainty, its tunefulness, and the innate artistic power which delightfully characterizes it, render it impossible to write about it except with unstinted enthusiasm. The plaudits that followed when the effort was over were deafening. An encore was stubbornly demanded, but the artist contented himself with bowing.—Ben Woolf, Boston Herald.
36The scene at the conclusion of the air was unusual for Worcester. Audiences at the festival are generous if not always discriminating in applause, but enthusiasm is seldom general, and rarely amounts to a furor. It was distinctly the latter last evening, and the glory was the tenor's. He had finished the piece with a cadenza that took his voice up to high D flat, an exciting feat in itself. It should be said in passing that a high note does not necessarily arouse an audience anywhere. Many singers strain for the top-notch in the belief that the listeners will be excited thereby, but the fact is, all satire to the contrary notwithstanding, that it is not the pitch, but the manner of attaining it that stirs the blood. A few years ago a well-known tenor sang the Cujus Animam at a festival concert, taking the D flat with perfect ease and purity, and his reward was a few scattering handclaps. Mr. Williams soared up to the note and held it as if all the sentiment and emotion of the music centred there, as, properly speaking, it did, and he took the great audience with him. The applause was a sudden roar of approval. Mr. Williams bowed gravely and sat down. The roar continued. He stood up and bowed again, his serious face utterly unmoved. The noise in the audience and from the chorus seats swelled louder. Mr. Williams again bowed his acknowledgments and the insistence of the listeners increased. Mr. Zerrahn energetically commanded the choristers to keep quiet. The command, conveyed by gesture, for no voice could have been heard above that tempest, was unheeded until the soloist had stood up two or three times more.
38At last the chorus quieted down, and Mr. Zerrahn held up his baton to start the orchestra upon the next number. He reckoned without the audience, which kept on applauding uproariously. It was only after Mr. Williams had bowed several times more that Mr. Zerrahn managed to get the music going, and the demonstration came unwillingly to an end. It was one of the best won and most frankly accorded triumphs that it has been the privilege of the writer to witness.—Worcester Telegraph.
40Mr. Williams, soloist, had undoubtedly drawn most of the large audience which grew so enthusiastic over his magnificent voice. He is a young singer, on the threshold of what promises to be a fine career. His high A and B flat rang out clear as the tones of a clarion with pure tenor character. The audience went simply wild. Not since Melba was recalled ten times in the same hall has an audience here shown such enthusiasm.—Pittsburg Leader, December, 1896.
42Mr. Evan Williams held the audience from first to last. His legato singing of the florid Every Valley was exceedingly well done, while his sympathetic rendering of the Passion music evoked great applause; he put real tears in it. In fact his singing was altogether in accord with the prediction made some time ago in the Herald, that he is one of the best oratorio singers in America.—New York Herald, December, 1896.
44Mr. Evan Williams, the tenor soloist of the concert, made his first appearance before a Springfield audience, and to say that he captivated his hearers would but faintly express it. Mr. Williams has a phenomenal tenor voice, of the robust quality, large in breadth and feeling, pure, with an intonation and enunciation which was most gratifying to all his listeners, his every word being understood in the rear of the large hall. He sang Deeper and Deeper Still, from Handel's Japhtha, and for the encore, which was insisted upon by the audience, I'll Sing Thee Songs of Arabia, from Lalla Rookh, by Frederick Clay, &c.—Springfield Republican, December, 1896. F. W. R.
46Hall-Meyn Song Recital.—Miss Marguerite Hall and Mr. Heinrich Meyn will give a song recital in the new ball room at the Waldorf on Wednesday afternoon, January 13, under the patronage of Miss Callender, Miss de Forest, Mr. and Mrs. Walter Damrosch, Miss Annie Leary, Miss Laura J. Post, Rev. Bishop and Mrs. Potter, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Worthington, and many others.
48Great Success in Cincinnati.—One of the great successes achieved in recent years in Cincinnati was that which met the Misses Hilke and Clary and Messrs. McKinley and Dufft on their appearance in that city in a Messiah concert on January 3. The following are among many laudatory notices:
50Perhaps never before in the history of the "Pops" was there such a memorable occasion and remarkable program as the one presented at yesterday's concert in Music Hall. It was a Messiah program with a quartet of soloists worthy of the oratorio. These were Kathrin Hilke, soprano; Mary Louise Clary, contralto; J. H. McKinley, tenor, and Dr. Carl Dufft, baritone. While all of these made an excellent impression, particular success crowned the efforts of Dr. Carl Dufft and Mary Louise Clary. Carl Dufft sang Why Do the Nations in dramatic, spirited style, with a magnificent voice; as an encore he sang the number The People That Walketh in Darkness.
52Mary Louise Clary sang He Was Despised with a great deal of sentiment, good inflection and pathos. Hers is easily the best American contralto voice on the American concerto stage to-day. Mr. McKinley was in splendid voice, and his singing of Comfort Ye, My People, and Every Valley Shall Be Exalted, which he gave as an encore, was in artistic lines. Kathrin Hilke gave a beautiful rendering of I Know That My Redeemer Liveth. The enthusiasm of the audience knew no bounds after the singing of the quartet Sancta Mater from Stabat Mater, in which the four soloists were heard in splendid ensemble. The orchestra under the direction of Michael Brand did some concise and genial work.—Cincinnati Enquirer, January 4, 1897.
54Dr. Carl Dufft, basso, proved himself altogether the strongest artist of the strictly legitimate oratorio school. Seldom, indeed, is the air, Why Do the Nations, better given than his rendering of it—dramatic, stirring, soul-inspiring. His phrasing was excellent and his accents were well placed. As an encore he gave The People That Walketh in Darkness.
56Mary Louise Clary sang He Was Despised with fine simplicity and genuine pathos. Her voice material in roundness and strength, is positively grand, and it is gaining in musical quality. She gave the air da capo.
58Mr. McKinley was in good voice, and his clear, vibrating tenor notes asserted themselves to their full dignity.
60Kathrin Hilke sang I Know That My Redeemer Liveth with musical spirit and splendid conception.
62But the triumph of the concert came in the quartet Sancta Mater from the Stabat Mater, sung with striking ensemble and artistic result by the four soloists. The orchestra, under the direction of Michael Brand, was in splendid spirit and under excellent control.—Commercial Tribune, January 4.
64HEINRICH MEYN,
65BARITONE.
66CONCERT, ORATORIO, OPERA.
67Address PHIPPS & ALPUENTE,
6821 East 20th Street, NEW YORK.
70ANTONIA H.
71SAWYER,
72CONTRALTO.
73Address:
74218 West 44th Street,
75NEW YORK.
77LAST RECITAL
78BY
79Mr. PERRY AVERILL, Baritone,
80Mr. ORTON BRADLEY, Pianist.
81Mendelssohn Glee Club Hall,
82Thursday Afternoon, Feb. 4,
83AT 3.30 P. M.
84Concert Direction H. M. HIRSCHBERG.
86CARL
87"His performance was sympathetic, musical and vigorous. He registers with a fine color sense, and was recalled most heartily."—James Huneker, in the Morning Advertiser, New York.
89"Standing room was at a premium at the organ concert given by William C. Carl yesterday. Mr. Carl has a thorough knowledge of the resources of the organ, and his playing was marked by much brilliancy."—Martinez, in the New York World.
91"Mr. Carl at the organ proved himself one of the foremost manipulators of this difficult instrument. His playing of the Guilmant 'Caprice' was entrancing"—The New York Times.
93"His playing was the finest thing heard here for many a day."—Cincinnati Post.
95ADDRESS
969 West 22d Street,
97NEW YORK.
99BOHEMIAN STRING QUARTET
100Acknowledged to be the Finest Organization of its kind in the World.
101MARCH, APRIL, MAY.
102Address …
103WOLFSOHN MUSICAL BUREAU, one of two readings
104WOLFSON MUSICAL BUREAU, one of two readings
105131 East 17th Street, NEW YORK.
107SCHARWENKA CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC,
10835 East 62d Street, NEW YORK.
109Formerly 37 East 68th Street. Near Madison Avenue.
110Under the Management of EMIL GRAMM.
111Prof. XAVER SCHARWENKA, – Musical Director.
112All grades of musical students, from beginners upward to the most advanced, receive a uniform, excellent and systematic instruction in all branches of music. Eminent artists of both European and American fame are among the faculty. Fall Term begins Monday, September. Write for Catalogue and particulars. Students can enter at any time.
113N. B.—For the accommodation of students residing in the lower part of the city, Professor Scherwenka will instruct same at his private studio at Steinway Hall. Applicants please address EMIL GRAMM, 35 East 62d Street, New York.
115MRS. REGINA WATSON,
116Lecture Recitals on Mediaeval Music of France and Italy
117and Folk Songs of European Nations
118Will accept engagements for these Lecture Recitals.
119Mrs. Watson will use for her illustrations a very rare and fine specimen of a harpsichord two hundred years old. Musical Programs for the Recitals will be furnished on application.
120Address all communications
121297 INDIANA STREET, CHICAGO, ILL.
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