Uploaded May 2020 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
American tenor Frank Pollock (1878-1955)
Because
Guy d'Hardelot (composer)
Edward Teschemacher (lyricist)
Recorded: July 11, 1913 in New York (until a better copy surfaces this shall have to do)
Portrait: Page 16, Music News, Volume 8, Issue 2, November 3, 1916, Chicago.
Across the decades since its publication, recorded by so many artists: Caruso, McCormack, Crooks, Bjorling, Turner, Tauber, Peerce, Eddy, Durbin, Lanza, Corelli, Carreras, Domingo, Bocelli, not to mention Bing Crosby, Perry Como, Mahalia Jackson:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Because_(Guy_d%27Hardelot_and_Edward_Teschemacher_song)
BECAUSE (first published in 1902)
Because, you come to me,
with naught save love,
and hold my hand and lift mine eyes above,
a wider world of hope and joy I see,
because you come to me!
Because you speak to me in accent sweet,
I find the roses waking 'round my feet,
and I am led through tears and joy to thee,
because you speak to me!
Because God made thee mine,
I'll cherish thee,
through light and darkness through all time to be,
and pray His love may make our love divine,
because God made thee mine!
*******************
The following is from the 2012-13 Holdridge Record Auction Catalog:
Frank Pollock (Abington, IL, 1878-1955): An 1896 graduate of Knox College, he made his debut as Robin Hood in the de Koven ope2retta with The Bostonians. He then studied in France with Sbriglia for half a year and returned to star in another operetta. He was heard by Marcella Sembrich, who urged him to return to Paris to continue studying, which he did, this time for a year with Jean De Reszke. He made his debut with the Paris Opèra-Comique in 1900 (parts sung there not known) and in Bellagio, Italy, shortly before that, where one of his roles was the Duke in Rigoletto. There he was heard by a representative of the King of Sweden, a result being his engagement with the Swedish Royal Opera as Romeo to Aïno Ackté’s Juliette. He mentioned that only he and Ackté sang in French, the rest of the cast singing in Swedish. The result, Pollock stated, was “a mutilation of the original [musical] notation beyond description, strange to the ear accustomed to the flowing phrases of the original French text.” While engaged by the Metropolitan Opera 1904-05, he was given no roles but appeared as a guest artist in a gala Die Fledermaus, sharing the stage with Sembrich, Caruso, Nordica, Eames, Fremstad, Scotti, Van Rooy, Plançon and a number of others. What an evening that must have been! In addition, he was assigned the tenor part in two performances of Rossini’s Stabat Mater with Nordica, Homer and Plançon. He also sang “Una furtiva lagrima” from l’Elisir d’Amore in a Sunday night concert, joined that evening by Ackté, Nordica, Parvis and Giraldoni. In 1910 Pollock appeared in New York with Hammerstein’s Manhattan Opera in Louis Ganne’s Hans, the Flute Player. Of Pollock’s participation, the NY Times reviewer raved, “Frank Pollock has a really splendid tenor voice which the audience realized as soon as it had heard him sing his first air. He was one of the strongest features of the cast and made much of a part that needed authority to carry it.” As a result of his success, Hammerstein chose him as a leading tenor for his London Opera House venture in 1911 in the title role of Offenbach’s Contes d’Hoffmann with Lina Cavalieri, Felice Lyne, Victoria Fer and Maurice Renaud. He was heard in New York, 1912, in a revival of de Koven’s Robin Hood with Bessie Abott and then in the premiere of de Koven’s Rob Roy with Henrietta Wakefield. Through 1916 he appeared in various operettas, such as Road to Mandalay, in which he co-starred with Edison recording soprano Leola Lucey. Miss Lucey was likely the center of attention. She had sprained her ankle shortly before the opening curtain and, there having been no understudy, she had to navigate around the stage in a wheelchair. Venues for Pollock in concert were as varied as the Long Island Garden City Hotel and the Philadelphia home of Mr. and Mrs. E. T. Stotesbury in a musicale for friends where Maria Barrientos and Pollock were the featured vocalists. How nice to be able to afford such entertainment! What happened to Pollock after the ‘teens seems to be a mystery.
****************************
American tenor Frank Pollock (1878-1955)
Because
Guy d'Hardelot (composer)
Edward Teschemacher (lyricist)
Recorded: July 11, 1913 in New York (until a better copy surfaces this shall have to do)
Portrait: Page 16, Music News, Volume 8, Issue 2, November 3, 1916, Chicago.
Across the decades since its publication, recorded by so many artists: Caruso, McCormack, Crooks, Bjorling, Turner, Tauber, Peerce, Eddy, Durbin, Lanza, Corelli, Carreras, Domingo, Bocelli, not to mention Bing Crosby, Perry Como, Mahalia Jackson:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Because_(Guy_d%27Hardelot_and_Edward_Teschemacher_song)
BECAUSE (first published in 1902)
Because, you come to me,
with naught save love,
and hold my hand and lift mine eyes above,
a wider world of hope and joy I see,
because you come to me!
Because you speak to me in accent sweet,
I find the roses waking 'round my feet,
and I am led through tears and joy to thee,
because you speak to me!
Because God made thee mine,
I'll cherish thee,
through light and darkness through all time to be,
and pray His love may make our love divine,
because God made thee mine!
*******************
The following is from the 2012-13 Holdridge Record Auction Catalog:
Frank Pollock (Abington, IL, 1878-1955): An 1896 graduate of Knox College, he made his debut as Robin Hood in the de Koven ope2retta with The Bostonians. He then studied in France with Sbriglia for half a year and returned to star in another operetta. He was heard by Marcella Sembrich, who urged him to return to Paris to continue studying, which he did, this time for a year with Jean De Reszke. He made his debut with the Paris Opèra-Comique in 1900 (parts sung there not known) and in Bellagio, Italy, shortly before that, where one of his roles was the Duke in Rigoletto. There he was heard by a representative of the King of Sweden, a result being his engagement with the Swedish Royal Opera as Romeo to Aïno Ackté’s Juliette. He mentioned that only he and Ackté sang in French, the rest of the cast singing in Swedish. The result, Pollock stated, was “a mutilation of the original [musical] notation beyond description, strange to the ear accustomed to the flowing phrases of the original French text.” While engaged by the Metropolitan Opera 1904-05, he was given no roles but appeared as a guest artist in a gala Die Fledermaus, sharing the stage with Sembrich, Caruso, Nordica, Eames, Fremstad, Scotti, Van Rooy, Plançon and a number of others. What an evening that must have been! In addition, he was assigned the tenor part in two performances of Rossini’s Stabat Mater with Nordica, Homer and Plançon. He also sang “Una furtiva lagrima” from l’Elisir d’Amore in a Sunday night concert, joined that evening by Ackté, Nordica, Parvis and Giraldoni. In 1910 Pollock appeared in New York with Hammerstein’s Manhattan Opera in Louis Ganne’s Hans, the Flute Player. Of Pollock’s participation, the NY Times reviewer raved, “Frank Pollock has a really splendid tenor voice which the audience realized as soon as it had heard him sing his first air. He was one of the strongest features of the cast and made much of a part that needed authority to carry it.” As a result of his success, Hammerstein chose him as a leading tenor for his London Opera House venture in 1911 in the title role of Offenbach’s Contes d’Hoffmann with Lina Cavalieri, Felice Lyne, Victoria Fer and Maurice Renaud. He was heard in New York, 1912, in a revival of de Koven’s Robin Hood with Bessie Abott and then in the premiere of de Koven’s Rob Roy with Henrietta Wakefield. Through 1916 he appeared in various operettas, such as Road to Mandalay, in which he co-starred with Edison recording soprano Leola Lucey. Miss Lucey was likely the center of attention. She had sprained her ankle shortly before the opening curtain and, there having been no understudy, she had to navigate around the stage in a wheelchair. Venues for Pollock in concert were as varied as the Long Island Garden City Hotel and the Philadelphia home of Mr. and Mrs. E. T. Stotesbury in a musicale for friends where Maria Barrientos and Pollock were the featured vocalists. How nice to be able to afford such entertainment! What happened to Pollock after the ‘teens seems to be a mystery.
****************************
