[Sheet music] The rosary : Le rosarie

Accession Number AWM2018.42.5
Collection number Sheet Music Collection 1034
Collection type Published Collection
Record type Item
Item count 1
Measurement Overall: 32 cm x 25 cm
Object type Sheet Music
Maker Nevin, Ethelbert
Rogers, Robert Cameron
Place made Australia: Victoria, Melbourne
Date made c 1912
Conflict First World War, 1914-1918
Copying Provisions Copyright restrictions apply. Only personal, non-commercial, research and study use permitted. Permission of copyright holder required for any commercial use and/or reproduction.
Description

Sheet music for the song titled 'The Rosary', with music composed by Ethelbert Nevin and lyrics written by Robert Cameron Rogers. This copy, published about 1912, features an intricate design on the front cover that has been set into a decorative window frame. Inside the panes, appear the names of the composer and lyricist while other panes show the different keys and editions of the song for voice and instrumental arrangements. In the middle of the bottom of the front cover appears a sticker that indicates this copy was sold by W C Daniel, proprietor of the Music and Fancy Goods House in Goulburn, New South Wales. Inside the front cover of this copy is an advertising preview of the song titled 'Morning', with lyrics written by Frank Lebby Stanton and music composed by Oley Speaks. The back cover features an advertising preview of the song titled 'Spring's a lovable ladye', with lyrics and music written by W Keith Elliott.

While the lyrics appear to be written addressing an absent sweet heart, they are somewhat ambiguous, likely intentionally, and could also be interpreted as being sung to the rosary itself. Originally published in 1898, 'The Rosary' became one of the most popular songs of the early 20th century. The song was translated from the original English into French, German, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Danish, and even Esperanto. By the end of 1928, over 2.6 million copies had been sold. The song was performed by the baritone singer Frances Rogers at the Madison Square Garden Concert Hall on 23 February 1898. It was described in the papers the next day as "the hit of the afternoon".

Enthelbert Woodbridge Nevin was an American composer and concert performer who published over five hundred compositions during the course of his career. He was born into a musical family with his mother, a pianist, responsible for bringing the first grand piano over the Allegheny Mountains, part of the Appalachian Mountains, on the east coast of America. His father wrote music as a hobby and was a published composer. Nevin himself was a child prodigy who gave his first public concert performance at age 11 and his professional debut on 10 December 1886.

Robert Cameron Rogers was an American poet who wrote the lyrics for the poem 'The Rosary'. He was also the founding stockholder of the Central Bank of Santa Barbara and was known for his stone house set on a private lake in Mission Canyon, California. Another account reveals that the poem was published anonymously in the Washington Post newspaper and was actually written by Father Thomas Whalen. Whalen was a Catholic priest from Chicago who is reported to have written the poem after the death of his sister from tuberculosis.

Towards the bottom of this page is a sound recording of this sheet music, or a parody, that was created as part of the Music and the First World War project. More information about this recording, including names of the performers, can be found on the catalogue record for the sound recording. A link to the catalogue record for the sound recording can be found at the bottom of this page, under the heading ‘Related objects’ where it can be identified with the prefix [sound recording].