A Lost Chord
Further information about the 1877 setting made by Sir Arthur Sullivan (1842-1900) will appear on this page.
Further information about the 1877 setting made by Sir Arthur Sullivan (1842-1900) will appear on this page.
Sullivan is, of course, best known as the composing half of the duo who created the Savoy Operas. He and WS Gilbert (1836-1911) created 14 stage works between 1871 and 1896, most of which are still regularly performed.
The Graphic
Saturday 3 February 1877
LONDON BALLAD CONCERTS.—On Wednesday evening, a new song, entitled "The Lost Chord," by Mr. Arthur Sullivan, was sung by Madame Antoinette Stirling, accompanied on the harmonium by Mr. J. W. Elliot, and was very favourably received.
The Graphic
The Illustrated London News
Saturday 10 February 1877
ARTHUR SULLIVAN.—THE LOST CHORD. New Song. Sung by Madame Antoinette Sterling at the Ballad Concerts. Price 2s. This day. BOOSEY and CO., 295, Regent Street.
The Graphic, Saturday 10 February 1877
Sullivan's "Lost Chord," albeit the melody recals [sic] Mrs J.W.Bliss's* well-known "Bridge," gains on repetition, and was rapturously re demanded from Madame Antoinette Sterling. The late Miss Procter's really poetical words to which the air is wedded have probably something to do with its evident popularity.
*Mrs J.W.Bliss published songs, including a setting of Longfellow's "The Bridge" and a setting of another of Adelaide Procter's poems "Cradle Song of the Poor" under the name Miss M.Lindsay.
Saturday 3 February 1877
LONDON BALLAD CONCERTS.—On Wednesday evening, a new song, entitled "The Lost Chord," by Mr. Arthur Sullivan, was sung by Madame Antoinette Stirling, accompanied on the harmonium by Mr. J. W. Elliot, and was very favourably received.
The Graphic
The Illustrated London News
Saturday 10 February 1877
ARTHUR SULLIVAN.—THE LOST CHORD. New Song. Sung by Madame Antoinette Sterling at the Ballad Concerts. Price 2s. This day. BOOSEY and CO., 295, Regent Street.
The Graphic, Saturday 10 February 1877
Sullivan's "Lost Chord," albeit the melody recals [sic] Mrs J.W.Bliss's* well-known "Bridge," gains on repetition, and was rapturously re demanded from Madame Antoinette Sterling. The late Miss Procter's really poetical words to which the air is wedded have probably something to do with its evident popularity.
*Mrs J.W.Bliss published songs, including a setting of Longfellow's "The Bridge" and a setting of another of Adelaide Procter's poems "Cradle Song of the Poor" under the name Miss M.Lindsay.
Sullivan's changes to Adelaide Procter's text are as follows (he was not the first to make any of these alterations):
1. Title
changed from "A Lost Chord" to "The Lost Chord"
2. Verse 2, line 1
Original: I do not know what I was playing
Changed to: I know not what I was playing
3. Verse 6, line 1
Original: I have sought and I seek it vainly
Changed to: I have sought but I seek it vainly
4. Verse 6, line 2
Original: That one lost chord divine
Changed to: That long lost chord divine — by: Blockley
5. Verse 6, line 3
Original: That came from the soul of the organ
Changed to: Which came from the soul of the organ
6. Verse 7, line 3
Original: It may be that only in Heaven
Changed to: It may be that only in Heav'n
1. Title
changed from "A Lost Chord" to "The Lost Chord"
2. Verse 2, line 1
Original: I do not know what I was playing
Changed to: I know not what I was playing
3. Verse 6, line 1
Original: I have sought and I seek it vainly
Changed to: I have sought but I seek it vainly
4. Verse 6, line 2
Original: That one lost chord divine
Changed to: That long lost chord divine — by: Blockley
5. Verse 6, line 3
Original: That came from the soul of the organ
Changed to: Which came from the soul of the organ
6. Verse 7, line 3
Original: It may be that only in Heaven
Changed to: It may be that only in Heav'n
Sullivan's Lost Chord was published both with single keyboard accompaniment, and also arranged for piano and harmonium. The holograph manuscript (which misspells the poet's name as Proctor instead of Procter) is for one instrument. When I first sang it (at a school concert aged 17), I understood that it should be performed with piano and organ, but only had a single keyboard score. (I assumed that the piano was the intended instrument, but newspaper reports of the first performance imply that the singer was accompanied only by a harmonium.) I therefore made my own decisions about which parts should be played by each instrument - my school had a super organ as well as a grand piano in the hall. Actually, aside from having the instruments playing together for the last section, I now see that my decisions were actually the reverse of what happens in the score for both as actually published. I imagine that Sullivan must have approved that edition as it was published in his lifetime, but I don't know if he actually made the piano/harmonium arrangement himself.