An Introduction to America’s Music

CHAPTER 7 | THE RISE OF TIN PAN ALLEY 179

CD 1.24 Listening Guide 7.3 “After the Ball” CHARLES K. HARRIS

date: 1892

performer: George J. Gaskin

genre: popular song

meter: triple

form: verse and chorus

WHAT TO LISTEN FOR

• triple meter “waltz time”


• semi-operatic vocal technique


• limited audio fi delity of early recording


• truncation of song to fi t on cylinder

timing section text comments

0:00 announcement “‘After the Ball,’ sung by Mr. George J. Gaskin.” Announcement was a

common feature in early

recordings.

0:04 introduction 8 bars; the piano anticipates

the fi rst 4 bars of the verse,

before closing with a burst of

quicker notes suggesting the

ballroom’s whirling energy.

0:10 verse 1 A little maiden climbed an old man’s knee

Begged for a story—“Do Uncle please.

Why are you single; why live alone?

Have you no babies; have you no home?”

“I had a sweetheart, years, years ago;

Where she is now, pet, you will soon know.

List to the story, I’ll tell it all,

I believed her faithless after the ball.”

64 bars, divided into four

sections of 16 bars each: aa'

ba".

The b section begins on a

minor chord, adding a hint

of pathos.

1:05 verse 2 Bright lights were fl ashing in the grand

ballroom,

Softly the music, playing sweet tunes.

There came my sweetheart, my love, my own—

“I wish some water; leave me alone.”

When I returned dear there stood a man,

Kissing my sweetheart as lovers can.

Down fell the glass pet, broken, that’s all,

Just as my heart was after the ball.

Although the sheet music

indicates that the chorus

should follow each verse, the

pianist plays only a 4-bar

interlude before verse 2.

1:56 chorus After the ball is over, after the break of morn—

After the dancers’ leaving; after the stars are gone;

Many a heart is aching, if you could read them all;

Many the hopes that have vanished after the ball.

32 bars, aa'a" b. The

performers modulate to a

new key, not indicated in the

sheet music, intensifying the

contrast between verse and

chorus.

Long years have passed child, I’ve never wed.

True to my lost love though she is dead.

She tried to tell me, tried to explain;

verse 3 (not recorded)

(continued)

172028_07_162-182_r3_ko.indd 179 23/01/13 10:19 AM