[Dixielandjazz] "If ever I cease to love"

[david richoux]

There is a 1871 version of the song credited to a "L. Hovey" (as sung  
by Gus Williams)

<http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=mussm&fileName=sm/sm1871/ 
05900/05946/mussm05946.db&recNum=0&itemLink=D?mussm:2:./temp/ 
~ammem_qXkf::&linkText=0>

(cut and paste if needed to get the URL)

BTW, this is a great reference site for all sorts of old music - you  
can view (and download) all the Public Domain items!

Dave Richoux


On Dec 24, 2003, at 5:57 PM, D and R Hardie wrote:

> Dear List,
> According to an article in the Second Line (Journal of the New Orleans  
> Jazz Club) the song played today  is an adaptation of one  written by  
> George Leybourne an English music hall comedian, otherwise known as  
> Champagne Charlie - a good example of the influence of outside sources  
> on the development of music in New Orleans - it was not all Creole  
> music. Apparently the Duke Alexis  wood Miss Thompson without success.
> regards
> Dan Hardie
> Check out the website:
> http://members.ozemail.com.au/~darnhard/EarlyJazzHistory.html
>
>
>  On Thursday, December 25, 2003, at 11:01  AM, david richoux wrote:
>
>> you can learn ANYTHING on the internet ;-)
>>
>> http://www.rexorganization.com/traditions.htm
>>
>> The Rex Anthem
>>
>> The official anthem of Rex is "If Ever I Cease to Love", a hit song  
>> of the early 1870's era from a musical comedy named "Bluebeard". The  
>> musical's leading lady, Lydia Thompson, was performing in New Orleans  
>> at the time of the first Rex parade. The visiting Grand Duke Alexis  
>> of Russia, who had seen "Bluebeard" during his national tour, was  
>> also familiar with the song and with Thompson, to whom he had once  
>> sent a gift bracelet.
>>
>> Bands in the first Rex parade serenaded the Grand Duke Alexis with  
>> the Russian national anthem as they marched past City Hall. When Rex,  
>> having dismounted at the Henry Clay statue on Canal Street, reviewed  
>> the parade, the bands played "If Ever I Cease To Love". Today, this  
>> song is played when Rex enters his Grand Ball and after the meeting  
>> of the Rex and Comus courts Mardi Gras night, signaling the end of  
>> the Mardi Gras celebration.
>>
>>
>> Dave Richoux
>> On Dec 24, 2003, at 2:14 PM, David W. Littlefield wrote:
>>
>>> How important, why, and most crucially, in what way, is the place of
>>>  "If ever I cease to love" in the NO Mardi Gras tradition?
>>>
>>> I'm considering the tune for "DixFBv2" and want to add a note  
>>> explaining
>>> why it's there. It's on a "Dukes of Dixieland" Audio Fidelity album,  
>>> one of
>>> those Mardi Gras compilations has it, and someone sent me music for  
>>> re a
>>> gig it 20 years ago.
>>>
>>> Thanks.
>>> --Sheik
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
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>>> Dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com
>>> http://ml.islandnet.com/mailman/listinfo/dixielandjazz
>>>
>>
>>
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