Show and Tell

Yesterday I posted Dickinson’s poem “Tell as a Marksman – were forgotten,” six stanzas about the legend of William Tell, Switzerland’s folk hero who had to shoot the apple off his son’s head; info about Tell is HERE.

Dickinson’s poem made me wonder if she ever heard the William Tell Overture?  It is possible, as Rossini’s “William Tell” premiered in 1829, and Dickinson was born in 1830.  

Dickinson did attend various concerts, though I doubt she ever attended a production of the opera.  Dickinson did play the piano, and there were piano transcriptions of the overture, though extant sheet music in Dickinson’s collection does not include any Rossini works.

Above:  Tell is arrested for not saluting Gessler's hat (mosaic at the Swiss National Museum,.

Above:  Jenny Lind, the Swedish Nightingale

But check this out:

“As a young musician, Dickinson also enjoyed attending concerts. The most significant and best-documented professional performance that Dickinson witnessed was by the Swedish soprano Jenny Lind (1820–87). On 3 July 1851, Emily (age twenty) along with her father and sister attended Lind’s concert in Northampton.”

That info and more can be found in this article, HERE.

In a letter to her brother Austin, Dickinson wrote, “How we all loved Jenny Lind, but not accustomed oft to her manner of singing did'nt [sic] fancy that so well as we did her – no doubt it was very fine – but take some notes from her ‘Echo’ – the Bird songs from the ‘Bird Song’ and some of her curious trills, and I'd rather have a Yankee. 
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Herself, and not her music, was what we seemed to love – she has an air of exile in her mild blue eyes, and a something sweet and touching in her native accent which charms her many friends.”

The complete letter is HERE.

By the way, if the name “Jenny Lind” rings a bell but you’re not exactly sure who she was, did you see the movie “The Greatest Showman”? Jenny Lind was the singer (played by Rebecca Fergusson) who was brought to America by P. T. Barnum (played by Hugh Jackman).  In the movie, Lind (Fergusson) sings the ballad “Never Enough” (dubbed by singer Loren Allred).  Info about the song is HERE.

Click the image below to hear the song.

In addition to Lind, Dickinson did hear other singers and bands.  For example, she attended a concert of another popular ensemble, the Germania Serenade Band. 

Pictured at the right:  The Germania Music Society.

She wrote later, “The Germanians gave a concert here the evening of Exhibition day [at Amherst College]. Vinnie and I went with [cousin] John [Graves]. I never heard [such] sounds before. They seemed like brazen Robins, all wearing broadcloth wings, and I think they were, for they all flew away as soon as the concert was over.”
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The complete letter is HERE.