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There’s nothing like a song to take you back to a time and a place. The time for me is the sixties; the place, Chicago IL. My husband collected John McCormack records and would play them over and over again. I still have some of those old Victor red label 78s and even have a record player that will accommodate them, but I very seldom play them. Still the songs linger on.
For no apparent reason McCormack’s rendition of The Lost Chord recently came to mind and I wanted to hear it once more, to check out some of the words, to see if I still liked it as much. And, lo, YouTube was there for me. And for you.
For those who have had hints of the transcendent in the here and now, I offer this reflection with a prayer that they may experience joy, peace, love, and the glory of God without measure, unalloyed, in the great beyond.
And for readers who, alas, have no clue that John McCormack was also a great opera singer, on a par with Caruso, here is his Il mio tesoro from Don Giovanni — with a prayer of thanks to my husband.
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For now we see through a glass, darkly, but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. — 1 Corinthians 13:12
Thanks for expressing your fine sentiments about this great tenor.
He is my all-time favorite – and I was not born yet when he died!
I too own 78 rpm recordings of McCormack’s singing, as well as over one hundred cds featuring his songs.
Do you have “When You and I Were Young, Maggie”? Magic!
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Dorothy Vining reply on October 10th, 2010 9:17 am:
You prompted me to actually get out the old records and listen and I’m having a nostalgic time. My When You and I Were Young, Maggieis on a 33 and I found I could remember my shorthand well enough to copy some lines:
They don’t write songs like that anymore, do they?
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