Walter Malcolm Neil McEachern (1 April 1883 – 17 January 1945) was a noted

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n bass

singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

who enjoyed a successful career in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, both as a concert soloist and as one half of the comic musical duo

Flotsam and Jetsam In maritime law, flotsam'','' jetsam'','' lagan'','' and derelict are specific kinds of shipwreck. The words have specific nautical meanings, with legal consequences in the law of admiralty and marine salvage. A shipwreck is defined as the r ...

Personal life

McEachern was born in

Albury, New South Wales Albury () is a major regional city in New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the Hume Highway and the northern side of the Murray River. Albury is the seat of local government for the council area which also bears the city's name – the C ...

, the sixth of 13 children of Archibald Hector McEachern and his wife, Rebecca Mary. On 2 February 1916, McEachern married pianist Hazel Hogarth Doyle, who later became his accompanist and provided the musical direction for his career. Hazel came from a musical family: her mother Florence was a pianist and the violinist Bessie Doyle was a sister. He was a Freemason, and a member of the Savage Club Lodge in London.

Career and death

During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, McEachern went on a tour of Australia with the great Australian

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

Nellie Melba Dame Nellie Melba (born Helen Porter Mitchell; 19 May 186123 February 1931) was an Australian operatic dramatic coloratura soprano (three octaves). She became one of the most famous singers of the late Victorian era and the early 20th century, ...

. Also in the touring company were Ella Caspers,

Ada Crossley Ada Jemima Crossley (3 March 1871 – 17 October 1929) was an Australian contralto notable as the first RCA Victor Red Seal, Red Seal recording artist engaged in the US by the Victor Talking Machine Company in 1903. Born at Tarraville, Gippslan ...

and Marie Narelle. In 1921 McEachern went to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

with his wife, where he was hailed as one of the world's best bass vocalists. He was especially acclaimed as an

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 mus ...

singer although his voice was equally well suited to the demands of

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

; but unlike his finest contemporary rival among English-language basses,

Norman Allin Norman Allin (19 November 1884 – 27 October 1973) was a British bass singer of the early and mid twentieth century, and later a teacher of voice. Early studies Allin was born in Ashton-under-Lyne in 1884. He studied at the Royal Manchest ...

, he elected not to pursue a career in that particular art form. McEachern did appear, however, in an array of staged

Gilbert and Sullivan Gilbert and Sullivan was a Victorian era, Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the dramatist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and the composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900), who jointly created fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which ...

Savoy operettas under the batons of the famous conductors

Sir Henry Wood Sir Henry Joseph Wood (3 March 186919 August 1944) was an English conductor best known for his association with London's annual series of promenade concerts, known as the The Proms, Proms. He conducted them for nearly half a century, introd ...

and Sir

John Barbirolli Sir John Barbirolli ( Giovanni Battista Barbirolli; 2 December 189929 July 1970) was a British conductor and cellist. He is remembered above all as conductor of the Hallé Orchestra in Manchester, which he helped save from dissolution in 194 ...

. In early 1926, McEachern forged a light-entertainment collaboration with Bentley Collingwood Hilliam, a pianist from

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

. Their act proved to be a great success with British audiences and they became famous as Mr. Flotsam and Mr. Jetsam. McEachern was diagnosed with

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

of the

oesophagus The esophagus (American English) or oesophagus (British English; both ), non-technically known also as the food pipe or gullet, is an organ in vertebrates through which food passes, aided by peristaltic contractions, from the pharynx to the ...

and died after an operation in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

on 17 January 1945. His name is commemorated in Australia by McEachern Crescent in the

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

suburb of Melba.

Recordings

McEachern made a total of 187 studio recordings, including pieces of music from

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs, and dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, length of the work, and at face value, subject matter. Apart from its s ...

and

as well as a number of popular songs of the day. These records display the impressive depth, power and tonal richness of his voice and the excellence of his technique. One of his English-language 78-rpm discs, made with his countryman Harold Williams, of "The Gendarmes' Duet" from

Jacques Offenbach Jacques Offenbach (, also , , ; 20 June 18195 October 1880) was a German-born French composer, cellist and impresario of the Romantic period. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s to the 1870s, and his uncompleted opera '' ...

's ''

Geneviève de Brabant ''Geneviève de Brabant'' is an opéra bouffe, or operetta, by Jacques Offenbach, first performed in Paris in 1859. The plot is based on the medieval legend of Genevieve of Brabant. For the 1867 version two additional characters, men-at-arms, w ...

'', is considered to be a classic recording. Produced in 1933, it has been re-issued many times since and is available on CD. In 1983 EMI Records Australia together with The National Library of Australia released 49 of McEachern's recordings as a 3

LP record The LP (from "long playing" or "long play") is an analog sound storage medium, a phonograph record format characterized by: a speed of rpm; a 12- or 10-inch (30- or 25-cm) diameter; use of the "microgroove" groove specification; and a ...

compilation transferred from 78 rpm pressings manufactured in Australia."Malcolm McEachern Basso Supreme", Malcolm McEachern, 3 LP box set with 8 page set of notes released by EMI Records Australia and The National Library of Australia, Sydney, 1983, Music Publisher Numbers OXLP7677-9 http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/21748560?selectedversion=NBD2984435

Bibliographies

* B. and F. Mackenzie, Singers of Australia (Melb, 1967); 'Death of Mr. McEachern', Times (London), 18 Jan 1945, p 6; Sydney Morning Herald, 18 Jan 1945; 'Obituary', Times (London), 19 Jan 1945, p 8. * Print Publication Details: Peter Burgis, 'McEachern, Walter Malcolm Neil (1883 - 1945)', ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'', Volume 10, Melbourne University Press, 1986, pp 264–265.

References

External links

Malcolm McEachern‘s video recording
(Link broken.)

National Library of Australia digital recording listing for "The Changing of the Guard"

Sound recording of Flotsam & Jetsam presenting "Is 'e an Aussie, Lizzie, is 'e?"

1931 filmed recording of McEachern singing "In Cellar Cool"
{{DEFAULTSORT:McEachern, Malcolm 1883 births 1945 deaths 20th-century Australian male opera singers Operatic basses People from Albury, New South Wales