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9 TREBLES Featured Boy Sopranos | All Trebles | Boy Altos | Soloist Recordings | Chorister of the Year | 78 RPM | Pop Singles

  Frederick (John) Firth    (b. 29 September 1913) Boy Soprano Soloist 
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Frederick (John) Firth "The boy with the Golden Voice (of B.B.C. fame)" was the description given to Master Freddy Firth, as he topped the bill at the Baths Assembly Hall, Coventry on Thursday, 15th November, 1928.

Freddy Firth was trained by his uncle, and had a remarkable career as a boy soprano. His success followed the huge interest in boys' voices created by Ernest Lough's famous recording. In fact, Lough was still principal soloist at the Temple Church when Freddy made his last record.

This Lancashire boy came to prominence through the Morecambe and Blackpool Music Festivals, which were at that time two of the main festivals in the country. It was at Morecambe that he came to the attention of Sir Edward Elgar. One of his first public appearances was at the age of twelve-and-a-half, when he sang the anthem Jesu my Lord by Haddock at S. Barnabas's Church, Morecambe.

-- bio and pic from Betterland.boychoirs.org

Frederick Firth died in 2000.
Related Sites
The Better Land

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Featured Recordings Compact | Full
Frederick (John) Firth - Bach: My heart ever faithful / Handel: O Lord, whose mercies numberless
Bach: My heart ever faithful / Handel: O Lord, whose mercies numberless (Brunswick (Black Label) 20074 (12-inch), 78 RPM) February 1929
Featuring Frederick (John) Firth  
A: My heart ever faithful (J.S. Bach (1685-1750) from Cantata No. 68 (1725))
B: O Lord, whose mercies numberless (G.F. Handel (1685-1759) from oratorio "Saul" (1738) with wds from Bible selected by Charles Jennens)
Both rec. c. Sept. 1928 with organ accomp. by Gerald Saxby. Retail price 4/6.
Review by C.M. Crabtree in The Gramophone (Feb. 1929, p. 404): "healthy and natural, yet with a distinct sense of style." Gramophone and Talking Machine News (London, Feb. 1929, p. 67) commented "He has the most admired flute-like quality of tone, and has evidently been well taught in the manner of phrasing. The Handel and Bach arias he has been set to accomplish on [this] record are certainly rather a big mouthful, but he tackles them valiantly and comes off with flying colours. The record is one which, in certain circles, is likely to be in demand.

Both pieces now on Amphion CD "The Better Land" vol. 1, the Handel item apparently from a Columbia test pressing (WAX3303-1) of 10 March [or slightly earlier] 1928 with piano accomp. and not the original issue.
  Side A -   My heart ever faithful (Bach)   (from Cantata No. 68)
  Side B -   O Lord, whose mercies numberless (Handel)   (from "Saul")
no cover
Gounod: There is a green hill far away / Liddle: Abide with me (Brunswick 20073 (12-inch), 78 RPM) January 1929
Featuring Frederick (John) Firth  
A: There is a green hill far away (hymn: wds Mrs Cecil Frances Alexander (1818-95), publ. 1848 - music Charles Francois Gounod (1818-93), 1871)
B: Abide with me (hymn: wds Henry Francis Lyte (1793-1847), written 1847? after Luke 24:29 - music Samuel Liddle (1867-1951), 1896)
Both rec. c. Sept. 1928 with organ accomp.
Review by C.M. Crabtree in "The Gramophone" (Jan. 1929, p. 365): "he is practically free from priggish affectation, and from real vices and cheapness . . . it can also be said truly that his voice is as good as any, though as he does not slop over with insincere sentiment . . . there are sure to be some who will say he is not 'sweet'."
  Side A -   There is a green hill far away (Gounod)  
  Side B -   Abide with me (Liddle)  
no cover
Elgar: Land of Hope and Glory / Richards: God Bless the Prince of Wales (Brunswick 20081 (12-inch), 78 RPM)
Featuring Frederick (John) Firth  
A: Land of Hope and Glory (wds Arthur Christopher Benson (1862-1925) - music Edward (William) Elgar (1857-1934) from Pomp and Circumstance Military March No. 1 (1901), op. 39, no. 1 - first arr. with Benson's wds as section VII (Finale) of Coronation Ode (1902; revised 1911), op. 44 and then publ. separately in Apl. 1902 for voice & piano as song "Land of Hope and Glory", with many further arr., esp. by the organist & choral conductor Arthur Fagge (1864-1943))
B: God Bless the Prince of Wales (song publ. in 1862 with Engl. wds by George Linley (1798-1865) (incipit: Among our ancient mountains.) & Welsh wds by John "Ceiriog" Hughes (1832-87) (incipit: Ar D'wysog gwlad y bryniau.) - music Henry Brinley Richards (1819-85))
Both rec. c. May 1929, with male voice choir.
Released 1929?
  Side A -   Land of Hope and Glory (Elgar)  
  Side B -   God Bless the Prince of Wales (Richards)  
no cover
Ireland: If there were dreams to sell (Brunswick unissued on 78 rpm, 78 RPM)
Featuring Frederick (John) Firth  
If there were dreams to sell (song, 1918: wds Thomas Lovell Beddoes (1803-49), publ. posthumously in "Poems" (1851) under title "Dream-Pedlary" - music John Nicholson Ireland (1879-1962))
Rec. Sept. 1928 with piano accomp.
Issued from unpubl. Brunswick test pressing (B.A.347) on Amphion CD "The Better Land" vol. 1.
  Side A -   If there were dreams to sell (Ireland)  
no cover
Schubert: Serenade (Schwanengesang) (Columbia unissued on 78 rpm, 78 RPM)
Featuring Frederick (John) Firth  
Serenade (in Engl. - incipit: "Thou my lover thou should'st hear not all that I would sing" - F.P. Schubert (1797-1828): Ständchen "Leise flehen meine Lieder" from Schwanengesang (D957, no. 4, 1828; orig. Ger. wds Rellstab))
Rec. 10 March 1928 with piano accomp.
Issued on Amphion CD "The Better Land" vol. 1 from Columbia test pressing (WAX3304).
  Side A -   Serenade (Schubert)   (Ständchen from "Schwanengesang")
Other Recordings Compact | Full
Frederick (John) Firth - The Better Land - Great Boy Sopranos Recorded 1914-1944
The Better Land - Great Boy Sopranos Recorded 1914-1944 (Amphion PHI CD 158, CD) 1999
Featuring The Better Land Series   Denis Barthel   John Bonner   Master Gordon Carter   Master (Arthur) Iwan Davies   Master Leslie Day   Frederick (John) Firth   Robert Harris   Aled Jones   Derrick Jones   Walter Lawrence   Trevor Schofield   Morris Stevens   Thomas Tweedy   Denis Wright  
The celebrated series of CD albums featuring the boy sopranos of the past. This volume is now deleted but replaced by the double CD volume The Better Land Volumes 1 & 2. See above.
  1.   The Better Land (Hemans-Cowen) (L)   Denis Wright
  2.   I Hear You Calling Me (Harford-Marshall) (L)   Leslie Day
  3.   He was Despised (Handel) (L)   Denis Barthel
  4.   Who is Sylvia? (Schubert ­ arr. Geehl)   Robert Harris
  5.   O Lord Whose Mercies Numberless (Handel) (L)   Frederick Firth
  6.   Somewhere a Voice is Calling(Newton & Tate)   John Bonner
  7.   God Shall Wipe Away all Tears(Sullivan) (L)   Morris Stevens
  8.   O For the Wings of a Dove (Mendelssohn) (L)   Gordon Carter
  9.   Serenade (Schubert)   Frederick Firth
10.   Smilin' Through (Arthur A. Penn) (L)   Derrick Jones
11.   Spring Morning (Carey)   Walter Lawrence
12.   If there were dreams to sell (Ireland) (L)   Frederick Firth
13.   Christopher Robin is saying his prayers (Milne- Fraser-Simson) (L)   Denis Wright
14.   By an Old Abbey Door (Towers, Leon, Nicholls)   Thomas Tweedy
15.   Goodnight Said the Cuckoo (P.B. Harding)   Trevor Schofield
16.   O Little Town of Bethlehem (H. Walford Davies) (L)   Denis Barthel
17.   The Last Rose of Summer (Thomas Moore) (L)   Denis Wright
18.   My Heart Ever Faithful (Bach) (L)   Frederick Firth
19.   Nymphs & Shepherds (Purcell)   John Bonner
20.   Market Square (Fraser-Simpson) (L)   Denis Wright
21.   The Holy City (Adams Weatherley) (L)   Iwan Davies
22.   For you alone (P.J.O'Reilly-Henry Geehl) (L)   Leslie Day
Email   Purchase from Stephen Beet Individual CD's £10 each plus postage. The Better Land set of 6 CD's is available from StephenRBeet@gmail.com Price £55 plus postage. Included in this offer is a FREE copy of "The Better Land - In search of the Lost Boy Sopranos" (retail value £10) Paypal address: beetstphn@aol.com
Books Compact | Full
Frederick (John) Firth - Better Land, The: In Search of the Lost Boy Sopranos
Better Land, The: In Search of the Lost Boy Sopranos (Rectory Press , Book) April 2005
Featuring The Better Land Series   Temple Church Choir   Clifford Adams   Derek Barsham   Denis Barthel   John Bonner   Richard Bonsall   Alan Bradbrook   Master John Brookman   Richard Brown   Master Gordon Carter   Master (Arthur) Iwan Davies   Master Leslie Day   Robin Fairhurst   Frederick (John) Firth   Michael Ginn   John Gwilym Griffith(s)   Robert Harris   Michael Hartnett   Aled Jones   Beverley Jones   Raymond Kinsey   Harold Langston   Ernest Lough   Robin Lough   Thomas Meddings   Brian Moody   Billy Neely   Graham Payn   Robert Duncan Peel   Kenneth Purves   The Choir of the Queen's Chapel of the Savoy   Steffani and his Silver Songsters   Thomas Tweedy   Denis Wright  
By Stephen Beet. Features much newly-discovered material, telling the often very human stories of the boys behind the voices, at the height of their singing careers and in their later lives. Copiously illustrated with many previously-unpublished photographs and manuscript samples, with a Foreword by Peter Purves.

As well as chapters on Iwan Davies, Derek Barsham, and Denis Wright, amongst others there are also chapters under the following headings: The Temple Boys, The Manchester Boys, The Music Hall Boys, The Fleeting Boys, and The Broadcast Boys.

This book is available directly from the author: Contact StephenRBeet@gmail.com Price £10 plus postage

This book is available for the cost of postage and packing only if the set of six The Better Land CD albums is ordered.
Email   Stephen Beet The book costs £10 plus postage. Cheque or PayPal.
This page last modified on Sunday, June 05, 2011
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