Ellen Beach Yaw (September 14, 1869 – September 9, 1947) was an American coloratura soprano, best known for her concert singing career. She had an extraordinary vocal range and could produce unusually high notes. Known as "Lark Ellen" or "The California Nightingale," she was reportedly the only known soprano of her era who could sing and sustain the D above the high D. She was also able to trill in major thirds or fifths (trills usually involve rapidly alternating notes over an interval of a minor or major second).^[1] September 14 is the 257th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (258th in leap years). ... 1869 (MDCCCLXIX) is a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Sunday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar. ... September 9 is the 252nd day of the year (253rd in leap years). ... Year 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1947 calendar). ... Coloratura is an ornate, flowery style in classical singing. ... Human voices may be classified according to their vocal range — the highest and lowest pitches that they can produce. ... The trill is a musical ornament consisting of a rapid alternation between two adjacent notes of a scale (compare tremolo). ... A major third is the larger of two commonly occuring musical intervals that span three diatonic scale degrees. ... The musical interval of a perfect fifth is the relationship between the first note (the root or tonic) and the fifth note in a major scale. ... A minor second is the smallest of three commonly occuring musical intervals that span two diatonic scale degrees; the others being the major second and the augmented second, which are larger by one and two semitones respectively. ... A major second is one of three commonly occuring musical intervals that span two diatonic scale degrees; the others being the minor second, which is one semitone smaller, and the augmented second, which is one semitone larger. ...

Life and career

Yaw was born in the small town of Boston, New York (not Boston, Massachusetts, as is often stated).^[2] After studying music in America, Yaw made her concert debut in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1894. Tours of the southern United States, England, Switzerland, and Germany followed, and on her return to America she gave a concert in Carnegie Hall in 1896. Yaw raised enough money through these concerts to study in Paris with Mathilde Marchesi. State capitol building in Saint Paul Saint Paul is the capital and second-largest city of the state of Minnesota in the United States of America. ... Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City located at 881 7th Avenue, occupying the east stretch of 7th Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street. ... Mathilde Marchesi (born: Mathilde Graumann; March 24, 1821 – November 17, 1913) was a mezzo-soprano, teacher of singing, and exponent of the bel canto technique. ...

In 1899, Yaw so impressed Sir Arthur Sullivan that he prevailed upon the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company to cast her as the Sultana Zubedyah in his comic opera The Rose of Persia, which opened on November 29th of that year at the Savoy Theatre in London. Sullivan went so far as to write a special cadenza for her song "'Neath My Lattice," a cadenza that only she could sing. Yaw's first few nights were shaky, though the reviews were mixed, and Mrs. Carte advocated for her replacement. Sullivan at first agreed, but by December 10th he wrote in his diary that she was "improving rapidly" and "sang the song really superbly: brilliant." It was too late, however, and the next day he learned that Yaw had been dismissed by Mrs. Carte and replaced by Isabel Jay. Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan (May 13, 1842–November 22, 1900) was a British composer best known for his operatic collaborations with librettist William S. Gilbert. ... The DOyly Carte Opera Company staged performances of Gilbert and Sullivans Savoy operas in the UK, Europe, America, South Africa and elsewhere from the nineteenth century to the twenty first. ... The Rose of Persia; or, The Story-Teller and the Slave, is a two-act comic opera, with music by Arthur Sullivan and a libretto by Basil Hood. ... Savoy Theatre London, December 2003 The Savoy Theatre, which opened on 10 October 1881, was built by Richard DOyly Carte (1844 - 1901) on the site of the old Savoy Palace in London as a showcase for the works of Gilbert and Sullivan, which became known as the Savoy Operas... A cadenza is usually now taken to mean a portion of a concerto in which the orchestra stops playing, leaving the soloist to play alone in free time (without a strict, regular pulse) and can be written or improvised, depending on what the composer specifies. ... Helen DOyly Carte Helen DOyly Carte or Helen Lenoir (May 12, 1852 – May 5, 1913) was the second wife of impresario and hotelier Richard DOyly Carte. ... Isabel Jay was born in Wandsworth, London, on October 17, 1879. ...

Yaw rarely appeared on the dramatic stage thereafter. Aside from a few grand opera appearances in Rome and Milan, and a single performance of Lucia di Lammermoor at New York's Metropolitan Opera on March 21, 1908, she devoted herself to the concert hall, where she had a successful career. In 1904, the Los Angeles Daily Times wrote, "Miss Yaw’s voice is high soprano of crystalline lightness and purity and of a range so extreme in altitude that... it was the wonder of the European continent."^[3] Lucia di Lammermoor is an opera in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. ... The Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, seen from Lincoln Center Plaza A full house at the old Metropolitan Opera House, seen from the rear of the stage, at the Metropolitan Opera House for a concert by pianist Józef Hofmann, November 28, 1937. ... March 21 is the 80th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (81st in leap years). ... 1908 (MCMVIII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Yaw was much in demand as a recording artist, and her first records were made in May 1899. She made many recordings for the Victor Talking Machine Company . In order to display her voice, she wrote several songs of her own with titles such as "The Skylark," "The Cuckoo," and "The Firefly." News dispatches from Paris in 1902 reported that the Shah of Persia had engaged Yaw to sing her repertoire into his phonograph. A few of her recordings are still available.^[4] Some of her rare KeenoPhone and unpublished Edison and Victor recordings are preserved on a recording that is narrated by her pupil, the tenor Antonio Altamirano. ^[5] Thomas Edison, inventor of the phonograph, recorded her voice for mechanical experiments on a visit to his Orange, NJ laboratories. She sang various songs throughout her range into several machines. Afterwards, Edison said of her voice, "I can see no defects of any kind in this voice. Sweet on lower notes, and mellow. Best high tones yet for the disc machine. She has an enormous range." Victor logo with the famous Nipper dog. ... In music, a tenor is a male singer with a high vocal range. ... Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847 – October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman who developed many devices which greatly influenced life in the 21st century. ...

Yaw resided in West Covina, California, for the last thirty years of her life. She taught singing, gave concerts (continuing her tours mostly in North America), and devoted herself to charitable pursuits -- often her concerts were in aid of these charities. She established the "Lark Ellen League" to give concerts in hospitals, homes, and jails; and the "Lark Ellen School for Boys," later taken over by the Lions Club. Yaw is memorialized in West Covina by Lark Ellen Elementary School and Lark Ellen Avenue, one of the main thoroughfares in the town. Location of West Covina in California and Los Angeles County Coordinates: Countries of the world United States State California County Los Angeles Incorporated February 17, 1923 City Council Steve Herfert (mayor) Mike Touhey Roger Hernandez Shelley Sanderson Sherri Lane Area    - City 41. ... Lions Clubs International is the worlds largest service club organisation with 46,000 clubs and 1. ...

She reportedly wrote her memoirs, The Song of the Lark, but they were never published.

Yaw died in Covina, California, just shy of her 78th birthday. Covina is a city in Los Angeles County, California about 22 miles east of downtown Los Angeles. ...

Notes

1. ^ The American Opera Singer (Ed. Peter G. Davis) 1999 Random House, p. 194. ISBN 978-0-385-42174-4
2. ^ Description from The Boston Historical Society website.
3. ^ Los Angeles Times article dated February 13, 1904
4. ^ Recordings available online
5. ^ The recording was available from Merritt Sound Recording, 223 Grimsby Road, Buffalo, N.Y. 14223. I don't know if it is still available.

Random House is a publishing division of the German media conglomerate Bertelsmann based in New York City. ...

External links

• Ellen Beach Yaw at Who Was Who in the D'Oyly Carte
• Profile of Yaw
• Review of a Yaw concert in 1896
• Information about Yaw's Home for Boys
• Recordings featuring Yaw
• Another recording featuring Yaw
• Offers another recording featuring Yaw
• Newspaper article on Yaw from 1904
• Information about Yaw's vocal range