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"The Lost Chord" is a song composed by Arthur Sullivan in 1877 at the bedside of his brother Fred during Fred's last illness. The manuscript is dated 13 January 1877; Fred Sullivan died five days later. The lyric was written as a poem by Adelaide Anne Procter called "A Lost Chord," published in 1858 in ''The English Woman's Journal''. The song was immediately successful〔Jacobs, p. 2〕 and became particularly associated with American contralto Antoinette Sterling, with Sullivan's close friend and mistress, Fanny Ronalds, and with British contralto Clara Butt. Sullivan was proud of the song and later noted: "I have composed much music since then, but have never written a second Lost Chord."〔("The Lost Chord" ), ''The Gilbert and Sullivan Archive'', accessed 13 August 2014〕 Many singers have recorded the song, including Enrico Caruso, who sang it at the Metropolitan Opera House on 29 April 1912 at a benefit concert for families of victims of the ''Titanic'' disaster.〔(1912 Caruso recording ), Encyclopedia-titanica.org, 2005, accessed 28 August 2014〕 The piece has endured as one of Sullivan's best-known songs, and the setting is still performed today.〔("The Lost Chord, song for voice & piano" ), All Music Guide, ClassicalArchives.net, 2008〕 ==Background== In 1877, Arthur Sullivan was already Britain's foremost composer, having produced such critically praised pieces as his ''Irish Symphony'', his ''Overture di Ballo'', many hymns and songs, such as "Onward, Christian Soldiers", and the popular short operas ''Cox and Box'' and ''Trial by Jury''. Adelaide Anne Procter was an extremely popular poet in Britain, second in fame only to Alfred Lord Tennyson.〔 On the early published sheet music for the song, Procter's name is written in larger letters than Sullivan's.〔Buckley, Jack. ("In Search of The Lost Chord" ). MusicWeb International, accessed 22 June 2014〕 Sullivan's father's death had inspired him to write his ''Overture In C (In Memoriam)'' over a dozen years earlier. The composer's brother, Fred Sullivan was an actor who appeared mostly in operettas and comic operas. The playwright F. C. Burnand wrote of Fred: "As he was the most absurd person, so was he the very kindliest. The brothers were devoted to each other, but Arthur went up, and poor little Fred went under."〔''Quoted'', in Ayer, p. 408〕 Fred played roles in several of his brother's operas: ''Cox and Box'', ''Thespis'', ''The Contrabandista'' and ''Trial by Jury''. He fell ill in 1876 and died in January 1877.〔Stone, David. (Fred Sullivan ), Who Was Who in the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, 21 July 2009, accessed 21 October 2015〕 During Fred's final illness, Arthur visited his brother frequently at his home on King's Road in Fulham, London. The composer had tried to set Procter's poem to music five years previously but had not been satisfied by the effort.〔Scott, Derek B. ("The Musical Soirée: Rational Amusement in the Home" ), ''The Victorian Web'', 2004, accessed 30 September 2009〕 As he had been inspired by his grief at the death of their father, he was again inspired to compose by his brother's decline. At Fred's bedside, he sketched out the music to ''The Lost Chord'', and the manuscript is dated 13 January 1877, five days before Fred's death.〔〔 Although not written for sale, the song became the biggest commercial success of any British or American song of the 1870s and 1880s. The American contralto Antoinette Sterling became one of its leading proponents,〔 as did Sullivan's close friend and sometime mistress, Fanny Ronalds,〔 who often sang it at society functions.〔Ainger, pp. 128–29.〕 Dame Clara Butt recorded the song several times, and many famous singers recorded it, including Enrico Caruso in 1912.〔〔 A copy of the music was buried with Ronalds, who bequeathed the manuscript to Butt in 1914. Butt's husband, baritone Kennerley Rumford, gave the manuscript to the Worshipful Company of Musicians in 1950.〔Mackie, David. ''Arthur Sullivan and The Royal Society of Musicians'', The Royal Society of Musicians of Great Britain, 2006, p.143 ISBN 0-9509481-3-6〕 Musicologist Derek B. Scott offers this analysis of the composition: 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Lost Chord」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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