Sheet Music: Ossian's Serenade as Sung by Ossian E. Dodge
Jenny Lind (associated with)
Ossian E. Dodge (associated with)
Oliver Ditson and Co. (published by)
P. T. Barnum (associated with)
Ossian E. Dodge (associated with)
Oliver Ditson and Co. (published by)
P. T. Barnum (associated with)
1850 (Date manufactured/created)
Sheet music titled Ossian's Serenade, featuring on its cover a picture of Ossian E. Dodge (left) with P. T. Barnum (center), and Swedish opera singer Jenny Lind. Dodge bought the first concert ticket for Jenny Lind's Boston, Massachusetts, performance which took place in September 1850, near the beginning of her tour of America.
Barnum famously arranged for auctions of the concert tickets, a promotional effort that was extremely successful in part because the highest bidder received widespread publicity and thus benefited in his own business or profession. John Genin, a businessman who operated a hat store next to Barnum's American Museum in New York was the first of the high bidders to be catapulted into the national spotlight; Ossian Dodge, in Boston, followed in the wake of Genin with a successful bid of $625. The dollar figure is both noted in the caption and illustrated on a money bag sticking out of Barnum's pocket. The caption reads: "P. T. Barnum introducing Mad'elle Jenny Lind to Ossian E. Dodge. The Boston vocalist & purchaser of the $625 Ticket for the first Concert of the Sweedish [sic] Nightingale in Boston." The music's subtitle beneath the caption reads: "As Sung by Ossian E. Dodge at Most of His Fashionable Entertainments throughout the Union." The sheet music includes three pages of musical notation. It was published by Oliver Ditson, 115 Washington Street, Boston, in 1850, and sold for 25 cents.
A shield-shaped embossed marking on the cover indicates this copy was sold at the Hartford [Conn.] Music Store. No artist is identified for the black and white lithograph cover illustration, which is a decidedly unflattering depiction of Jenny Lind, though Dodge and Barnum are shown as rather handsome gentleman. Barnum is wearing a frock coat and close-fitting pants, and Dodge is fashionably attired in a cutaway jacket with a floral vest or waistcoat, and striped trousers. Lind is shown in a gown the same as depicted in many other popular images of her. The white dress features a full skirt with a shorter overskirt split in the center, and the bodice has a low wide neckline decorated with a bertha collar of lace and a rose corsage in the center.
Jenny Lind (October 6, 1820 - November 2, 1887) was a Swedish opera singer, popularly known as The Swedish Nightingale. The exceptional quality of her voice was recognized when she was young, and she received training at the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Sweden, and the Royal Swedish Academy of Music. She reached high acclaim in Europe, and was especially popular with English audiences prior being engaged by P. T. Barnum to give a concert tour in North America in 1850-1851. Lind, previously unknown in the US, was heavily promoted by Barnum, creating an insatiable demand for concert tickets and the innumerable consumer products that were manufactured with her name or general likeness. "Lindmania" took hold of the popular imagination and continued for decades though Lind's time in America was relatively short. While in America and halfway through the concert tour, Lind married her replacement accompanist, Otto Goldschmidt. The couple later settled in England and raised three children. Lind became a professor of singing at the Royal College of Music in London. She is buried at the Great Malvern Cemetery in Malvern, Worcestershire, England.
Barnum famously arranged for auctions of the concert tickets, a promotional effort that was extremely successful in part because the highest bidder received widespread publicity and thus benefited in his own business or profession. John Genin, a businessman who operated a hat store next to Barnum's American Museum in New York was the first of the high bidders to be catapulted into the national spotlight; Ossian Dodge, in Boston, followed in the wake of Genin with a successful bid of $625. The dollar figure is both noted in the caption and illustrated on a money bag sticking out of Barnum's pocket. The caption reads: "P. T. Barnum introducing Mad'elle Jenny Lind to Ossian E. Dodge. The Boston vocalist & purchaser of the $625 Ticket for the first Concert of the Sweedish [sic] Nightingale in Boston." The music's subtitle beneath the caption reads: "As Sung by Ossian E. Dodge at Most of His Fashionable Entertainments throughout the Union." The sheet music includes three pages of musical notation. It was published by Oliver Ditson, 115 Washington Street, Boston, in 1850, and sold for 25 cents.
A shield-shaped embossed marking on the cover indicates this copy was sold at the Hartford [Conn.] Music Store. No artist is identified for the black and white lithograph cover illustration, which is a decidedly unflattering depiction of Jenny Lind, though Dodge and Barnum are shown as rather handsome gentleman. Barnum is wearing a frock coat and close-fitting pants, and Dodge is fashionably attired in a cutaway jacket with a floral vest or waistcoat, and striped trousers. Lind is shown in a gown the same as depicted in many other popular images of her. The white dress features a full skirt with a shorter overskirt split in the center, and the bodice has a low wide neckline decorated with a bertha collar of lace and a rose corsage in the center.
Jenny Lind (October 6, 1820 - November 2, 1887) was a Swedish opera singer, popularly known as The Swedish Nightingale. The exceptional quality of her voice was recognized when she was young, and she received training at the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Sweden, and the Royal Swedish Academy of Music. She reached high acclaim in Europe, and was especially popular with English audiences prior being engaged by P. T. Barnum to give a concert tour in North America in 1850-1851. Lind, previously unknown in the US, was heavily promoted by Barnum, creating an insatiable demand for concert tickets and the innumerable consumer products that were manufactured with her name or general likeness. "Lindmania" took hold of the popular imagination and continued for decades though Lind's time in America was relatively short. While in America and halfway through the concert tour, Lind married her replacement accompanist, Otto Goldschmidt. The couple later settled in England and raised three children. Lind became a professor of singing at the Royal College of Music in London. She is buried at the Great Malvern Cemetery in Malvern, Worcestershire, England.
T 2016.052.001