Peter Dawson

Peter Dawson was born of Scottish parents in Adelaide, South Australia, on 31 January 1882. His father owned an ironmaking establishment, but they lived on a farm; as a child, Dawson performed the usual chores of a farm-boy. He 'turned professional' at age six at a party when his singing of "The Poor Little Sailor Boy" earned him threepence, a fortune to a boy of that age and time.

He received his first education at the East Adelaide public school and singing played an important part in the school curriculum. While in school, Dawson frequently sang in the monthly "Penny Concerts." His first public appearance was at the age of eight, when he sang (accompanied by his sister, Agnes) at a social in connection with the College Park Congregational Church. Unfortunately, he forgot his words and faded out.

He joined the choir of St. Andrew's Church at 17 and took singing lessons under C. J. Stevens. At 19, he won first prize for bass solo at the South Street competitions in the city of Ballarat. The concert engagements which followed interfered with his work in his father's establishment, which he had entered after school. His teacher, Stevens, persuaded Dawson's father to let the voice be trained by Sir Charles Santley, then one of England's greatest singers. In 1900, Peter began six months' studies with F. L. Bramford in Glasgow, preparatory to studying with Santley. Santley was very much taken with Dawson, and arranged that the lad join Emma Albani and Santley in a tour of the West of England for his first professional engagement.

Early in his career, Dawson realized that he had neither the desire nor the temperament to sing on the operatic stage; except for a few small roles at Covent Garden in 1907 and 1909, he never did. His domain was the concert stage and the recording studio, and later, radio. He also tried his hand at composition as seen in the Kipling songs on this disc under his pseudonym, "Cobb." Dawson made over 3000 recordings (not counting his contribution to the chorus on some of Chaliapin's British discs), probably one of the most prolific recordists of all times. His first sides were made in 1904; his last, after his seventieth birthday. Due to his recordings and concert and radio appearances, Dawson became one of the most beloved vocal artists of the British Empire. J. B. Steane, in his book, "The Grand Tradition," names him as the "best British baritone or bass within half-a-century." Dawson died at age 79 on 26 September 1961 in Sydney, Australia.

Adams Cartload o' Hay
Balfe Arrow and the Song, The
Balfe Siege of Rochelle: Travelers all of every station
Barri Boys of the Old Brigade, The (acoustic)
Barri Boys of the Old Brigade, The (electrical)
Bizet Carmen: Toreador Song
Calcott The Last Man
Clark Sincerity
Cobb Rudyard Kipling's Barrackroom Ballads
Dale Sir Dare
de Rance Journey's End
Dix Trumpeter
Elgar Caractacus: Song of the Sword
Elliott Hybrias the Cretan
German Yeomen of England, The
Glinka Midnight Review
Godard Traveler, The
Gounod Faust: Trio (with Yarrow and Pike)
Gounod Nazareth
Handel Acis and Galathea: O ruddier than the cherry
Handel Droop not, young lover
Handel Samson: Honour and arms
Harvey Friendship
Hay There's a big lot of sunshine
Haydn Creation: Rolling in the foaming billows
Hedgecock Road to Manadalay
Helmers/Krier Reve Passe - A Vision of Victory
Huhn Invictus
Kenward Paddy's Perplexity
Ketelby In a Persian Market
Ketelby Sanctuary of the Heart
Langstaff When the Sergeant-Major's on Parade
Leoncavallo Pagliacci: Prologue
Lohr Little Grey Home in the West, The
MacCarthy Oh! Mother Asthore
Malashkin Oh, could I but express in song
Molloy Kerry Dance, The
Mozart Don Giovanni: Give me thy hand (with Yarrow)
Norton Chu Chin Chow: Cobbler's Song
Parry Flow Gently, Deva (with Ruby Helder)
Petrie Asleep in the deep
PucciniBoheme: Ah! Mimi tu piu no torni (with Pike)
Purssord Molly, my own
Reiss Village Blacksmith, The
Rossini Stabat Mater: Pro peccatis
Shield Wolf, The
Solman Bells of the Sea
Squire Watchman, The
Stanford Devon, o Devon
Stanford Old Superb
Sullivan Ivanhoe: Woo thou thy snowflake
Tchaikovsky Don Juan's Serenade
Tchaikovsky To the Forest
traditional Down among the dead men
traditional Veteran's Song, The
Tours Beyond the Sunset
Trotere Deathless Army
Verdi Forza del Destino: Swear to me in this hour (with Pike)
Wallace Bell-Ringer, The
Watson Anchored
Weiss Village Blacksmith
Woodforde-Finden Lover in Damascus: If in the great bazaars
Woodforde-Finden Lover in Damascus: Where the Abana flows
Woodforde-Finden Lover in Damascus: Far across the desert sands
Woodforde-Finden Lover in Damascus: Beloved in your absence
Woodforde-Finden Lover in Damascus: Allah be with us
Woodforde-Finden Lover in Damascus: How many a lonely caravan
Woodforde-Finden On Jhelum River: Jhelum Boat Song
Woodforde-Finden On Jhelum River: Kingfisher Blue
Yon Gesu Bambino

Ruby Helder was born in Bristol, England in 1890 or 91. She was taught for five years by Sir Charles Santley and developed a two-octave range from C to high C; he declared her voice to be a "natural and pure tenor of great beauty and power." Physicians found her vocal equipment characteristic of a tenor, not of a contralto. She first appeared in the United States at a private concert in 1913. She returned for a nine-month tour, then opened in "Maid of America" at the Winter Garden (1915). She sang concerts, radio broadcasts and command performances and taught at Grinnell College before retiring in 1935. She had moved to Hollywood in 1933 with her husband, the illustrator Chesley Bonestell. Her death there was reported to have occurred on 21 November 1938.

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