Robert Browning Recites His Poem (1889 Edison Cylinder)
This is one of the most important historic recording from 19th century. This recording contains the voice of great English poet, Robert Browning (1812 - 1889). It was recorded in a dinner party given by Browning's friend the artist Rudolf Lehmann, on May 6th, 1889. Colonel Gouraud, the sales manager of Edison Talking machine, had brought with him a phonograph and each of the guests was invited to speak into it. Initially reluctant, Browning eventually relents and can be heard reciting from his poem 'How They Brought the Good News from Ghent to Aix'. Unfortunately, he forgets the words after a few lines, tries again and then gives up, but can be heard expressing his astonishment at this "wonderful invention". Although the recording is very inaudible, it is still worth to hear one of the greatest poet of Victorian era. I put the subtitle in this video to understand the words more clearly.
December 3rd, 2011 - 19:46
bla bla bla blubb bla blubb blabbedi blubb bla bla bla blubb bla blubb blabbedi blubb bla bla bla blubb bla blubb blabbedi blubb bla bla bla blubb bla blubb blabbedi blubb hip hip hooray hip hip hooray hip hip hooray
December 3rd, 2011 - 20:04
Robert Browning may have been failing in all ways, as he died the year he recorded this -or at least tried to, adlibbing at the end like a rowdy !
December 3rd, 2011 - 20:43
Before 1890, cylinder records were of bottom quality and were mostly home made or experiments. By 1900, they were approaching the qualiity of shellac disks that I have many of.
Robert Browning may have been failing when he cut these grooves….
December 3rd, 2011 - 21:25
@archer1949 I know what you mean, but then they didn’t identify as what we think of when we say ‘Victorian’. There’s so much crust on that word. Of course a moment’s logic would dispel the misnomer–most people have heard Bernard Shaw speak and his major influences were from that period. It’s a wonderful reminder that humanity is a continuity, and in my opinion we have DE-volved. The spirit in his voice is dead; the optimists will say ‘dormant’.
December 3rd, 2011 - 22:17
This is unspeakably awesome!
December 3rd, 2011 - 22:24
everybody got laid that night.
December 3rd, 2011 - 23:03
@Pmitxki I thought that too. It’s how a lot of working class British people talk even now, even I say that, e.g. “me shoes” etc. So did my parents at times and my grandparents definitely did.
December 3rd, 2011 - 23:15
@neymoura I think old Robert Browning might have been speaking to the wrong end of the mic!
December 3rd, 2011 - 23:55
I love the way he blurts, “hip hip hooray” as something to holler into the wonderful invention after forgetting his own lines…
December 4th, 2011 - 00:30
@creamyfilling102 It wouldn’t be useless at all. What do you mean useless? It’s history. It’s one of the oldest recordings and that makes it special. I have a recording of diapson scale made in 1850. I also have recordings from 1860 of a recital made by Edouard Scott de Martinville. The age of it is what makes it special and all these need to be taken care of, copied so that future generations can hear them 200 years from now.
December 4th, 2011 - 01:03
Robert Browning… ROBERT BROWNING.. ROBERTBRARARAAUWING…. RABRABRARARWARWARWR!!!!!!
December 4th, 2011 - 01:18
@mossfitz I think it’s used all over the place. “Has anyone seen me car keys?” etc. You could hear that usage almost anywhere.
December 4th, 2011 - 01:29
@myboomstick God’s in his heaven, all’s right with this world my friend
December 4th, 2011 - 01:54
@Menophanes
‘Me’ was the original pronunciation of ‘my’. ‘me’ used to sound like ‘may’ in the medieval period, but there has always been a residual coexistence in some dialects of “me” and “my” to mean “my”.
December 4th, 2011 - 02:48
That was classic.
December 4th, 2011 - 03:01
Gosh, he has such enthusiasm!
December 4th, 2011 - 03:06
If he was born in 1812, that probably makes him one of the earliest born people whose voice has been captured on record. This is important for historical linguistics too. People’s accents and pronunciations are usually solidified between the ages of 4 and 7 based on what they hear spoken around them. This means the accent you hear in the recording could be how people in his part of London might have spoken around 1820, including “me verses.”
December 4th, 2011 - 03:13
if it were not for subtitles, this recording would be useless.
December 4th, 2011 - 03:49
@Menophanes it´s still used in Dublin – Joyce often spoke of `me book´
December 4th, 2011 - 03:56
I hate iPods, phonographs RULE!
December 4th, 2011 - 04:28
Thanks…I am excited…perhaps as much as the great poet when he recorded his lines…very spontaneous…a great poet indeed
December 4th, 2011 - 04:37
When he heard the playback of the recording I wonder if he asked “Do I really sound like that?”
December 4th, 2011 - 05:24
Thank you for sharing this very interesting post.
December 4th, 2011 - 05:51
Mark, this is astounding! Thank you to Doug@CurzonRoad for sharing. Maya
December 4th, 2011 - 06:46
Must have been quite an amazing moment.