William Paull (c. 1872 – 5 February 1903) was a British

baritone A baritone is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice-types. The term originates from the Greek (), meaning "heavy sounding". Composers typically write music for this voice in the r ...

at the turn of the 20th century. He was born in Cornwall, UK, in c. 1872. He had a wide repertoire ranging from opera and oratorio to the popular ballads of his day and was becoming well regarded as a soloist, when in 1903 at about the age of 30, his life was cut short by an accident whilst on tour in the US.

Professional career

His earliest known professional connection was with the Carl Rosa Opera Company in England. From 1898 to 1899 he toured

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 ...

with a concert company headed by Dame Emma Albani – his first appearance there being on 16 March 1898. Secured by the Australian actor and theatre manager

J.C. Williamson James Cassius Williamson (26 August 1845 – 6 July 1913) was an American actor and later Australia's foremost impresario, founding the J. C. Williamson's theatrical and production company. Born in Pennsylvania, Williamson moved with his fami ...

as principal baritone of his Royal Comic Opera Company (formed in 1880), Paull made his first appearance as King Henri in Paul Lacôme's

opéra comique ''Opéra comique'' (; plural: ''opéras comiques'') is a genre of French opera that contains spoken dialogue and arias. It emerged from the popular '' opéras comiques en vaudevilles'' of the Fair Theatres of St Germain and St Laurent (and to a l ...

, ''

Ma mie Rosette ''Ma mie Rosette'' ("My Dear Rosette") is an opéra comique in four acts with music by Paul Lacôme and words by Jules Prével and Armand Liorat. It is set in 16th-century Navarre, ruled by the young and famously amorous Henry IV of France, Henri ...

''. He played a number of different parts with this company. Also on this tour he met his wife-to-be, Ethel Gordon, in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

. In Adelaide he then severed his connection with Williamson's company. His first US appearance was in c.1900 as Wolfram in Wagner's '' Tannhäuser'' with the Metropolitan English Opera Company which was managed by Henry Wilson Savage and Maurice Grau. This company had been set up to perform operas in English. However, after its failure he returned to England, where he continued to work for Savage. In 1901 he joined the Castle Square Opera Company as leading baritone and toured the US again. Ethel Gordon travelled 15,000 miles to marry him there. In 1902 he performed in two concerts conducted by Henry Wood at the Queen's Hall in London – Wolfram's Tournament Song from Wagner's ''Tannhäuser'', "Blick ich umher" (When I cast my eye around), Act 2, Scene 4 (13 January) and the cavatina from Gounod's '' Faust'', "Avant de quitter ces lieux" (Even bravest heart may swell) Act 2 (31 January). He returned to the US in 1903 and gave a number of concerts with the Castle Square Opera Company at the Century Theatre in St Louis. It was there on 5 February while staying at the Southern Hotel that he fell from his sixth floor window, and although his fall was broken by telegraph wires opposite the second floor, he never regained consciousness after hitting the ground. It was presumed that he had lost his balance while leaning from the window and so this was considered to have been an accident.

Recordings

In 1901 and 1902 he recorded approximately 70 single-sided records for the Gramophone & Typewriter Ltd (the forerunner of HMV) at their studio in 31 Maiden Lane, London WC2. Below is a selection which shows the variety of his recorded repertoire: * "Bedouin Love Song", Ciro Pinsuti, recorded 1901 * "O Star of Eve", ''Tannhauser'', Wagner, recorded 1901 * "In Happy Moments", '' Maritana'',

William Vincent Wallace William Vincent Wallace (11 March 1812 – 12 October 1865) was an Irish composer and pianist. In his day, he was famous on three continents as a double virtuoso on violin and piano. Nowadays, he is mainly remembered as an opera composer of n ...

, recorded 1901 * "The Mikado's Song", '' The Mikado'',

Gilbert & Sullivan Gilbert and Sullivan was a 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 '' H.M.S. ...

, recorded 1901 * "The Deathless Army", Henry Trotere, recorded 1902 * "Why do the Nations so Furiously Rage Together" ''

The Messiah In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; , ; , ; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of ''mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach'' ...

'',

Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concertos. Handel received his training i ...

, recorded 1902 * "For the mountains Shall Depart", '' Elijah'',

Felix Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include sy ...

, recorded 1902 * "Excelsior" (with Wills-Page – tenor), Michael William Balfe, recorded 1902

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paull, William English operatic baritones 1870s births 1903 deaths 19th-century British male singers Musicians from Cornwall