Andrew Black (15 January 1859, Glasgow – 15 September 1920) was a Scottish baritone who was primarily known for his performances in

oratorio An oratorio () is a large musical composition for orchestra, choir, and soloists. Like most operas, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias. However, opera is ...

s and other works from the concert repertoire. He was particularly admired for his performances of Felix Mendelssohn's ''

Elijah Elijah ( ; he, אֵלִיָּהוּ, ʾĒlīyyāhū, meaning "My El (deity), God is Yahweh/YHWH"; Greek form: Elias, ''Elías''; syr, ܐܸܠܝܼܵܐ, ''Elyāe''; Arabic language, Arabic: إلياس or إليا, ''Ilyās'' or ''Ilyā''. ) w ...

'' which he first performed at the

Birmingham Triennial Music Festival The Birmingham Triennial Musical Festival, in Birmingham, England, founded in 1784, was the longest-running classical music festival of its kind. It last took place in 1912. History The first music festival, over three days in September 1768 ...

in 1894. He made several recordings for

His Master's Voice His Master's Voice (HMV) was the name of a major British record label created in 1901 by The Gramophone Co. Ltd. The phrase was coined in the late 1890s from the title of a painting by English artist Francis Barraud, which depicted a Jack Russ ...

in London from 1901-1906 which are chronicled in volume one of ''

The Record of Singing ''The Record of Singing'' is a compilation of classical-music singing from the first half of the 20th century, the era of the 78-rpm record. It was issued on LP (with accompanying books) by EMI, successor to the British company His Master's Voi ...

''. Black began his career as a church organist with the United Presbyterian Church in Glasgow. He then studied singing with

Alberto Randegger Alberto Randegger (13 April 1832 – 18 December 1911) was an Italian-born composer, conductor and singing teacher, best known for promoting opera and new works of British music in England during the Victorian era and for his widely used textbook o ...

and John B. Welch in London, and later with Domenico Scafati in Milan. He began his career as a concert singer in Scotland, and had his first major critical success in 1887 at

The Crystal Palace The Crystal Palace was a cast iron and plate glass structure, originally built in Hyde Park, London, to house the Great Exhibition of 1851. The exhibition took place from 1 May to 15 October 1851, and more than 14,000 exhibitors from around th ...

in London. In 1892 he made his debut at the

Leeds Festival The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading and Leeds in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend. The Reading Festiv ...

as the Spectre in Antonín Dvořák's ''

The Spectre's Bride ''The Spectre's Bride'' ( cs, Svatební košile; literally "The Wedding Shirt") is a cantata for soloists, choir and orchestra op. 69 by Antonín Dvořák based on a literary model by Karel Jaromír Erben (1884). History of origins and perfor ...

''. In 1893 he was the tenor soloist in the world premiere of Dvořák's ''Mass in D major'', and in 1903 he sang the role of Judas in the world premiere of Edward Elgar's '' The Apostles''. He was appointed to the staff of the Royal Northern College of Music in 1893. Following the death of his wife, a sister of

Ivan Caryll Félix Marie Henri Tilkin (12 May 1861 – 29 November 1921), better known by his pen name Ivan Caryll, was a Belgian-born composer of operettas and Edwardian musical comedies in the English language, who made his career in London and later ...

, Black left for Australia on account of his health, and settled in Sydney. He subsequently toured Australia to great acclaim, and married the widow Mrs Lichtscheindel. He died on the morning of 15 September 1920 at his residence, the Cafe Français,

George Street, Sydney George Street is a street in the central business district of Sydney. It was Sydney's original high street, and remains one of the busiest streets in the city centre. It connects a number of the city's most important buildings and precincts. ...

. His remains were buried at the South Head Cemetery. Mrs Black was among those at the funeral.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Black, Andrew 1859 births 1920 deaths Scottish operatic baritones 20th-century Scottish male opera singers 19th-century Scottish male opera singers Academics of the Royal Northern College of Music