THE FISK JOBILEE SINGERS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2650, 28 December 1904, Page 60

THE FISK JOBILEE SINGERS.

The Garrison Hall was well filled in every part by ,a "holiday audience on Monday, when the Fisk Jubilee Singers opened % short season with one of their bright and sparkling concerts. The audience was delightfully entertained with quaint plantation ditties, characteristic negro i jubilee choruses, coon songs, and ballads; f.ue>, j especially in the chorus work, the company j gave evidtence of perfected training, the inter- ! pretation of their beautiful phrases being most { pleasing. The even balance of the parts, the precision and the light ana shade work, the ! full, rich volume of tone, and clearness of j enunciation were prominent characteristics. | The /programme was an excellent one, and so j much were the numbers enjoyed that double I and triple encores were demanded. The concert ! was opened with the old favourite chorus : " Steal away to Jesus," which the company ; has made known throughout so many lands. : In this beautiful chorus the grand harmony J and peculiar poetry of the oldl folk-lore songs i are exemplified, and the company was quite up ! to its form in ensemble singing of the days of I yore. Following this was " The Lordfs Prayer," I and it was noticeable for sweet pianissimo parts j and rich harmony. The next number was " The j great camp meeting chorus," giving expr.^s- ' sion to the strong religious emotion of the days j when, notwithstanding all obstacles, the plauJ tation slaves ware ready to sacrifice so m-iali ! in order to attend divine worship. Mr Harry ! Newton, the new basso, sang Lohr's " Out ok j the deep " with splendid effect, and his magiifi- ! cent, well-trained voice was heard to perfection. j His cMighted audience emphatically demanded ian encore number. Miss Beatrice Mercer. I formerly a Dunedin girl, sang the contralto ) solo " Absent " (Metcalf), and she was also j encored. Miss Belle F. G-ibbons is always a\ J favourite, and it is scarcely necessary to say I that her rendering of Corliss's beautiful " Star ' of my life " in her peculiar voice, described by ! some as a baritone, met with most general ', favour. Her voice seems to have deepened, if . axiything, and her compass is almost from 1 B flau in the tenor clef to an octave below 1 middle C; in fact, she enters into the bass parts to the second space. In the first psrt the other jubilee choruses were "Turn back Pharaoh's army," " 'Tis Jordbn's Eiyer." ; " Shun old Satan," and "' My Lord's waiting: " : The second part was opened with a glee, " Thrs ! merry-makers," to Geihel's setting, and J .,L;s : was followed by the quaint ana be-autifa! I chorus " Walking in the light," in which the ! gradation of tone and rich volumes of sound I were most pleasing. Mr Clarence Tisdale, a | new member of the combination, has a sweec. j melodious tenor voice, well ctiltivated, and b» ; was at home in the song " There's nobody ;!ust j like you" (Perm), and he was not allowed to ,go without encore numbers. The quar"-afc i " They kissed." by Messrs Tis<sale, Collins, 1 "White, and Newton, was a number full of ( rollicking humour, and the singers were recalled ! twice. Mr H. H. Collins, the baritone, and ?ix j old favoxitite, was accorded a most warm recaption. He sang Piccolomini's " Come, beloved," • and as an encore " Good morning, Carrie, ar.tl ; also another number. In the jubilee chot.iS j "My way's cloudy" the company seemed to i fairly revel in the parts, and prolonged appla>:"=<i ( was the instant response on the part of Ihe ; audience. Other choruses veie '"He moves" i and "Hard' trials" (by request).