"Come Into The Garden, Maud" Charles Harrison (1913) Lyrics by Tennyson & music by Michael Balfe

"Come Into The
Garden, Maud"
Charles Harrison
Victor 17498
1913
Lyrics by Tennyson
(1809-92)
Music by Michael Balfe
(1808-70)
Come into the garden, Maud,
For the black bat, Night, has flown.
Come into the garden, Maud,
I am here at the gate alone.
I am here at the gate alone.
And the woodbine spices are wafted abroad,
And the musk of the roses blown,
For a breeze of morning moves,
And the planet of love is on high,
Beginning to faint in the light that she loves,
On a bed of daffodil sky,
To faint in the light of the sun she loves,
To faint in his light and to die. Come!
Come into the garden, Maud,
For the black bat, Night, has flown.
Come into the garden, Maud.
She is coming, my own, my sweet.
Were it ever so airy a tread,
My heart would hear her and beat,
Were it earth in an earthy bed.
Charles Harrison lived from September 11, 1878, to February 2, 1965.
This tenor was one of the busiest recording artists of the acoustic era. Performances were issued on major labels, including Victor, Columbia, and Edison. He was also prominent on minor labels, such as Domino, Regal, Melotone, and other "dime-store" labels.
A Jersey City native, Charles William Harrison studied voice under Leo Koeffler and was tenor at various churches, including the New York Fifth Avenue Brick Presbyterian Church until 1920. He began his recording career on January 31, 1911, with the Columbia Phonograph Company. He sang "Cujus Animam," using the original Latin text from Rossini's Stabat Mater (A5275), and it was issued in May 1911.
The Rossini number also served as his first Edison selection, which was issued exactly one year later.
In the March 1952 issue of Hobbies, Jim Walsh quotes a letter in which Harrison recalls his recording debut: "The lead tenor of our quartet knew the manager of the Columbia laboratory, so we made some 'test' recordings. During the session he spoke about a test of his own solo voice, and I for once put on a bold front and said I would also like to make a test...the manager did not know me, but he said they were looking for a tenor who could sing a high D flat. The other fellow said that I could do it and that they need look no further...I was booked for a test of the 'Cujas [sic] Animam' from Rossini's 'Stabat Mater,' sung in English, with piano, as I did not know Latin! The test came out well enough for them to book me with orchestra for the same selection in Latin. I had a friend...whose brother was a priest, so he gave me the phonetic pronunciation, and I went to it. When this came through the processing I was handed a contract for six months.
"Right away, as my records began to come out, Victor and Edison got on my trail, but I was tied up, so could do nothing. Nearing the end of the six months, I demanded a raise in the fee or a new contract, but found that I had unwittingly signed for an additional year at the same rates. I at once refused to continue, as I apparently had been duped, so went to both Victor and Edison on a non-exclusive basis, designed to keep me at least with 'the big three.'...
"In 1919-1920, I was recording for 18 laboratories, working every day in New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Boston, Montreal, etc."
Some of his early Columbia discs identify him as Charles W. Harrison, but the simple name Charles Harrison soon became standard. Over a dozen pseudonyms were used for him on small labels. Most common are Hugh Donovan and Billy Burton. Others include Charles Hilton and Norman Terrell.
He made Edison records in 1912 and was even in an early experimental sound film made by Edison. He worked regularly for the company until 1916, cutting mostly "serious" music, then returned in the 1920s. Amberol 1003 featuring "Cujus Animam" was issued in May 1912, followed in June by a wax Amberol featuring an aria translated to English from Ambroise Thomas' Mignon, "Never the Maiden Dreamed" (1033). Later he recorded some waltz songs, including Albert Gumble's "When I Waltz With You" (Blue Amberol 1556), issued in December 1912.
In 1925 he married Beulah Gaylord Young. Born on March 13, 1873, this soprano started making Columbia records around the time the tenor began working for the company though she was far less prolific. One of her performances, "Run Home and Tell Your Mother" (A1042), cut on July 7, 1911, was issued under the pseudonym Molly Ames. The 1916 Pathé record of "Georgia Moon" (30427) features "Chas. Harrison and Beulah Gaylord" (no "Young").