John McCormack (14 June 1884 – 16 September 1945), was a world-famous Irish tenor and recording artist, celebrated for his perfomances of the operatic and popular song repertoires, and renowned for his flawless diction and superb breath control. Events 1276 - While taking exile in Fuzhou in southern China, away from the advancing Mongol invaders, the remnants of the Year 1884 ( MDCCCLXXXIV) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year Events 1400 - Owain Glyndŵr is declared Prince of Wales by his followers Year 1945 ( MCMXLV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar Ireland (pronounced /ˈaɾlənd/ Éire) is the third largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world The tenor is the highest male voice within the Modal register, just above the Baritone voice Opera is an art form in which Singers and Musicians perform a Dramatic work (called an opera which combines a text (called a Libretto Popular music is Music belonging to any of a number of musical styles that are accessible to the general public and are disseminated by one or more [1]
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Early life
John Francis McCormack was born in Athlone, Ireland, the fourth of eleven children of Andrew McCormack and Hannah Watson[2] on 14 June 1884, and was baptised in St. Athlone ( is a town that lies on the River Shannon near the southern extremity of Lough Ree, Ireland. Events 1276 - While taking exile in Fuzhou in southern China, away from the advancing Mongol invaders, the remnants of the Year 1884 ( MDCCCLXXXIV) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year Mary's Church, Athlone on 23 June 1884. Events 1180 - First Battle of Uji, starting the Genpei War in Japan 1305 - The Flemish His parents were employed at the Athlone Woollen Mills.
John received his early education from the Marist Brothers in Athlone, and later attended Summerhill College, Sligo. The Marist Brothers, or Little Brothers of Mary a Roman Catholic Marian Society, are a Catholic Religious order of brothers and affiliated lay people Summerhill College (aka The College of the Immaculate Conception) is a Roman Catholic Voluntary secondary school for boys in Sligo, Sligo (disambiguation Sligo ( (ˈslaɪɡoʊ "sly-go" Irish ˈɕlʲɪɟəx is the County town of County Sligo in Ireland. In 1903 he won the coveted gold medal in the Dublin Feis Ceoil and it was this event which set him on his climb to success. Feis Ceoil ( English: Festival of Music) is an annual Irish cultural festival of music and dance John married Lily Foley in 1906 and the couple had two children, Cyril and Gwen.
Career
Fundraising enabled his voice to be trained under Sabbatini in Italy. Sabbatini, with its variations Sabbatino (plural form thereof Sabbadin, Sabbadino and Sabbadini, is a family name of Italian origin In 1906 he made his operatic début at the Teatro Chiabrera, Savona. This article is about the Italian city For the small town of Savona Canada please see Savona British Columbia, or the village in the USA, see Savona In 1907 John McCormack made his first important operatic appearance at Covent Garden in Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana, as its youngest principal tenor. WikipediaWikiProject Opera --> The Royal Opera House is an Opera house and major performing WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> Pietro Mascagni ( December 7, 1863 &ndash August 2, Cavalleria rusticana ( Rustic Chivalry) is an Opera in one act by Pietro Mascagni to an Italian Libretto by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti In 1909 he launched his career in America. Michael Scott ("The Record of Singing" 1978) notes that at this stage of his career he should be considered a tenor of the Italian style - and he sang (and recorded) French operatic arias in the Italian language. Steane ("The Grand Tradition" 1971) stress that, for all his later devotion to the concert platform (and his Irish identity), he was for albeit a relatively brief period in essence an Italian operatic tenor.
In 1911, McCormack toured Australia after Nellie Melba engaged him, then at the height of his operatic career aged 27, as a star tenor for the Melba Grand Opera Season. WikipediaWikiProject Opera#Infoboxes --> Dame Nellie Melba GBE (19 May 1861 &ndash 23 February 1931 born Helen Porter He returned for concert tours in subsequent years.
By 1912 he began to turn his attention increasingly to the concert stage, where his voice quality and charisma ensured that he became the greatest lyric tenor of his day. He did not however retire from the operatic stage until 1923 in Monte Carlo (see biography below). Famous for his breath control, he could sing 64 notes on one breath in Mozart's Il Mio Tesoro.
He made numerous recordings, the first on phonograph cylinder in 1904. The earliest method of recording and reproducing sound was on phonograph cylinders. His most commercially successful series of records were those for the Victor Talking Machine Company in the 1910s and 1920s. Victrola redirects here For other uses see Victrola (disambiguation The Victor Talking Machine Company ( 1901 – 1929 He also regularly broadcast on the radio and appeared in a number of sound films. Radio is the transmission of signals by Modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible Light. A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image as opposed to a Silent film.
McCormack was the first artist to record the World War I hit song It's a Long Way to Tipperary, in 1914. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All " It's a Long Way to Tipperary " is a British Music hall and marching Song written by Jack Judge and Harry Williams (Henry In addition to deeply felt sentimental airs, he presented an openly political face: his recording of The Wearing of the Green, a song about the Irish rebellion of 1798, gave encouragement to the 20th century movement for Irish Home Rule Bill and endorsed the Irish Nationalist estrangement from England. "The Wearing of the Green" is an anonymously-penned Irish street ballad dating to 1798 Home rule refers to a demand that constituent parts of a state be given greater self-government within the greater administrative purview of the central government England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland McCormack was particularly associated with the songs of Thomas Moore, notably The Harp That Once Through Tara’s Halls, The Minstrel Boy, Believe Me If All (Those Endearing Young Charms), and The Last Rose of Summer. Thomas Moore (28 May 1779 &ndash 25 February 1852 was an Irish poet singer songwriter and Entertainer, now best remembered for the lyrics of The Minstrel This article is about the song For the novel by A J Cronin, see The Minstrel Boy (novel. The Last Rose of Summer is a poem by Irish poet Thomas Moore, who was a friend of Byron and Shelley.
In 1917 McCormack became a naturalized citizen of the United States. Naturalization is the acquisition of Citizenship or Nationality by somebody who was not a citizen or national of that country when he or she was born The United States of America —commonly referred to as the In June 1918 he donated $11,458 towards the USA's war effort in the First World War. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All By now his career was a huge financial success, earning millions in his lifetime from record sales and appearances, though he never was invited to sing at La Scala in Milan. The Teatro alla Scala (or La Scala, as it is known in Milan, Italy, is one of the world's most famous Opera houses The theatre was Milan (Milano Milan (listen) is one of the largest cities in Italy, located in the plains of Lombardy.
In 1927 McCormack moved into Moore Abbey, Monasterevan, County Kildare and lived an opulent life by Irish standards. Monasterevin ( Mainistir Eimhín in Irish) is a Town in County Kildare in the Ireland. County Kildare (Contae Chill Dara is an Irish County located to the southwest of Dublin in the province of Leinster. He had central apartments in London and New York. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. New York ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous He hoped that one of his racehorses, such as Golden Lullaby, would win the Epsom Derby, but was unlucky. The Derby Stakes, known colloquially as The Derby or internationally as the Epsom Derby, is considered one of the most prestigious flat Thoroughbred horse races
McCormack also bought Runyon Canyon in Hollywood in 1930 from Carman Runyon. McCormack fell in love with the estate while there filming Song 0' My Heart (1930)[3], an early all-talking, all-singing picture. McCormack's used his salary for this movie to purchase the estate and built a mansion he called 'San Patrizio', after Saint Patrick. Saint Patrick (Patricius Irish: Naomh Pádraig) was a Roman Britain -born Christian Missionary and is the Patron saint McCormack and his wife lived in the mansion until they returned to England in 1938.
McCormack toured often, and in his absence the mansion was often rented out to celebrities such as Janet Gaynor and Charles Boyer. Janet Gaynor ( October 6, 1906 &ndash September 14, 1984) was an American actress. The McCormacks made many friends in Hollywood, among them Will Rogers, John Barrymore, Basil Rathbone, C. This page is about the humorist for others with similar names see William Rogers. John Sidney Blyth Barrymore ( February 15 1882 – May 29 1942) was an American Actor, frequently called the greatest Basil Rathbone, MC (13 June 1892 – 21 July 1967 was a South African-born English Actor most famous for his portrayal of Sherlock E. Toberman and the Dohenys. After his farewell tour of America in 1937, the McCormacks deeded the estate back to Carman Runyon expecting to return to the estate at a later date. World War II intervened and McCormack did not return.
McCormack ended his career at the Royal Albert Hall in London in 1938. The Royal Albert Hall is an Arts venue situated in the Knightsbridge area of the City of Westminster, London, England, best known Ill with emphysema, he bought a house near the sea, "Glena", Booterstown, Dublin. Emphysema is a chronic obstructive Pulmonary disease ( COPD) formerly termed a chronic obstructive Lung disease (COLD Booterstown ( Baile an Bhóthair in Irish) is a coastal Townland and civil parish situated in the Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council about Dublin (ˈdʌblɨn/ /ˈdʊblɨn or /ˈdʊbəlɪn/, bˠalʲə aːha klʲiəh or cliə(ɸ is both the largest city and capital of Ireland. [4] He is buried in Deansgrange Cemetery. Deansgrange ( Gráinseach an Déin in Irish) is a Suburban area of South Dublin, centered around a crossroads between Blackrock,
Honours
He was much honoured and decorated for his services to the world of music. His greatest honour came in 1928, when he received the title of Papal Count from Pope Pius XI in recognition of his work for Catholic charities. A count is a Nobleman in European countries The word count comes from French comte, itself from Latin Pope Pius XI ( Latin: Pius PP XI; Italian: Pio XI; May 31 1857 &ndash February 10 1939) born His title as count was formally recognised by the Holy See and the Kingdom of Italy (from 1929). The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Bishop of Rome, commonly known as the Pope, and is the preeminent Episcopal see of the Roman Catholic Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest The Lateran Treaty is one of the Lateran Pacts of 1929 or Lateran Accords, three agreements made in 1929 between the Kingdom of Italy and the Holy
To many people the highlight of McCormack's Irish career was his singing of César Franck's Panis Angelicus to the thousands who thronged Dublin's Phoenix Park for the 1932 Eucharistic Congress. César Franck (December 10 1822 – November 8 1890 a Composer, Organist and music teacher of Belgian and German origin who lived in France Panis angelicus is the penultimate Strophe of the hymn Sacris solemniis written by Saint Thomas Aquinas for the Feast of Corpus Christi Dublin (ˈdʌblɨn/ /ˈdʊblɨn or /ˈdʊbəlɪn/, bˠalʲə aːha klʲiəh or cliə(ɸ is both the largest city and capital of Ireland. The Phoenix Park (Páirc an Fhionn-Uisce is the largest enclosed urban public Park in Europe located 3 km to the north west of Dublin city centre in Ireland Eucharistic Congresses are gatherings of Clergy and Laymen for adoring and evangelising the Holy Eucharist.
Bibliography
The Great Irish Tenor: John McCormack, by Gordon T Ledbetter, Town House, 2003. ISBN 1-86059-178-7
"John McCormack, Icon Of An Age" DVD Box Set
Notes and references
- ^ Douglas, Nigel (1994). More Legendary Voices, pp 131-152
- ^ cf. biography at http://www.legacyrecordings.com/John-McCormack.aspx#
- ^ * Song o'My Heart at the Internet Movie Database
- ^ He also bought and owned a property in County Wicklow called the Old Conna, which later became a private hotel, a private property and subsequently Aravon school and golf course.
See also
External links
- The John McCormack Society
- John McCormack at the Internet Movie Database
- Public domain recordings of John McCormack at the Internet Archive.
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