In the Hall
- The Year’s at the SpringJohanna Gadski, soprano; Frank La Forge, piano · 14 January 19081:54
Beach’s setting of Browning, “The Year’s at the Spring”, is the second of two songs on one Victor side, recorded in January 1908. Johanna Gadski sang it after a song by her accompanist, Frank La Forge.
Listening notes
- Victor 87026, 14 January 1908
The label of Victor 87026 lists both songs on one side, La Forge’s first and Beach’s second. Gadski sings with La Forge at the piano. The take was made on 14 January 1908.
- Beach’s Browning songs, Op. 44
After a pause the Beach song begins, the first of her three Browning songs, Op. 44. A. P. Schmidt published them in 1900 with a dedication to the Browning Society of Boston. The piano plays repeated chords under the voice.
- Return of the opening lines
After “dew-pearled” the music slows, then returns a tempo, so “The year’s at the spring” is sung twice before the lark, the snail and “God’s in his heaven”. The song ends on “All’s right with the world”.
- The Year’s at the SpringEmma Eames, soprano, with piano · 16 March 19050:59
Emma Eames recorded Beach’s Browning song for Victor on 16 March 1905, in D♭ according to the label. She sings the whole song, including both of Beach’s settings of the opening lines, in under a minute.
Listening notes
- Victor 85057, 16 March 1905
Eames recorded the song in New York on 16 March 1905. The first take, made on 20 February, was destroyed. Victor issued take 2 as 85057, with Hahn’s L’Incrédule first and the Beach song second, its key given on the label as D♭. The May 1908 catalogue lists the same coupling as 88008.
- Second setting of the opening lines
Beach sets the first four lines of Browning’s poem twice. The first setting, on p. 3 of the 1900 edition, is marked mf and reaches f at “The hillside’s”. The second, on p. 4, restarts a tempo and p and goes on through the rest of the poem.
- The Year’s at the SpringEmma Eames, soprano, with piano · 18 May 19080:55
Emma Eames recorded Beach’s Browning song for Victor on 18 May 1908, a remake of her 1905 recording. She sings the whole song, including both of Beach’s settings of the opening lines, in under a minute.
Listening notes
- Victor 88008, 18 May 1908
Eames recorded the song with piano in New York on 18 May 1908. Victor issued it on a single-sided 12-inch disc, number 88008, where it followed Henschel’s Spring. The May 1908 catalogue lists the same number for her 1905 recording, coupled with Hahn’s L’Incrédule.