Sheet Music: "Jenny Lind's Greeting to America"
1850 (Date manufactured/created)
Sheet music with title cover for Jenny Lind's "Greeting to America," dating to 1850. The pages of musical notation associated with the title song have been lost, though other pages, for a song called "The Skylark: A Morning Song" are included. (It is unclear if "The Skylark" was originally bound together with this cover.)
"Greetings to America" is the title of a song that was chosen through a competition organized by P. T. Barnum in advance of Lind's arrival. The winner was Bayard Taylor, a well-known writer. According to a variety of sources, Jenny Lind did not think highly of the winning entry so it was not always included in her performances. The decorative cover illustration is printed in black and white with a light grey green background that adds a look of dimension. Jenny Lind is featured in the center of the image, with twelve classical figures around her. Liberty is at the top center holding a pole with a liberty cap, while a broken crown lies below her feet. Other figures include Justice holding a pair of scales, a woman playing a harp or lyre, and a man playing the flute. The depiction of Lind wearing this particular gown and in this pose can be seen in many print images of her; it was liberally copied though sometimes reversed. The cover is a lithograph print produced by the firm Sarony of New York City. The sheet music was published by Firth, Pond, and Co, 1 Franklin Square and S.C. Jollie, 300 Broadway.
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, Lind married her 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.
"Greetings to America" is the title of a song that was chosen through a competition organized by P. T. Barnum in advance of Lind's arrival. The winner was Bayard Taylor, a well-known writer. According to a variety of sources, Jenny Lind did not think highly of the winning entry so it was not always included in her performances. The decorative cover illustration is printed in black and white with a light grey green background that adds a look of dimension. Jenny Lind is featured in the center of the image, with twelve classical figures around her. Liberty is at the top center holding a pole with a liberty cap, while a broken crown lies below her feet. Other figures include Justice holding a pair of scales, a woman playing a harp or lyre, and a man playing the flute. The depiction of Lind wearing this particular gown and in this pose can be seen in many print images of her; it was liberally copied though sometimes reversed. The cover is a lithograph print produced by the firm Sarony of New York City. The sheet music was published by Firth, Pond, and Co, 1 Franklin Square and S.C. Jollie, 300 Broadway.
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, Lind married her 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 2016.054.001