Music Meets Drama

How many people, no matter their career, could honestly say, “In a long working life, there are too many heartwarming experiences to list one.”?  So frequently we complain about all the events and happenings in our lives and work that are wrong, yet if we flip that attitude towards looking at what wonderful things have happened to us, we will find many that bring a smile to our face. In a recent acquisition from an e-bay auction, I purchased a note card, maybe a partial letter that Gena Branscombe wrote.  From the dates she cites, I gather this was written post 1960 when she would have been in her 80’s. Reflecting on highlights of her musical career she points out conducting the New York City performances with her own Branscombe Chorale.  Then Miss Branscombe goes on to mention the chorus of 1000 voices singing under her direction in Atlantic City in 1941, a Delta Omicron performance of her “Coventry’s Choir” in 1959 and the Royal Canadian National Band pl...

South Devonshire, England, the village of Branscombe……that’s where Gena Branscombe’s paternal family heritage began.  Through her musical compositions and life style, she honored her British roots.  “Tea, we must have tea,” a line from my one-woman show probably best describes how Miss Branscombe lived her life.  Tea and small sandwiches were served when one had company, making conversation quite civilized!  Laurine Elkins Marlow, who wrote her dissertation on Gena Branscombe, told me that each time she visited the composer they would work together for a short while, then tea was served after which they returned to work.  Laurine has in her possession the tea cup that was officially hers during those working sessions. “Coventry’s Choir,” a choral work, was composed amidst the bombings of England during World War II.  Coventry Cathedral, known as St. Michael’s, located in the West Midlands of England was destroyed by the Luftwaffe on November 14,...

Dated May the 17th, 1944, Gena Branscombe’s letter to a Mrs. Gladys Ewing Coombes of Forest Hills, New York, written on delicate paper with a New York World-Telegram review of the premiere performance of Gena’s “Coventry’s Choir” at Town Hall lovingly enclosed. A thank you for a beautiful gift, an enjoyment of “Camellias,” the beautiful Browning medley and the enjoyment of sitting next to Mrs. Coombes at a breakfast all carefully mentioned on one piece of paper. A sliver of a look into the life of Gena Branscombe during World War II. Once again EBAY brought this beautiful addition to my Gena collection. Now I would like to know, who is Mrs. Gladys Ewing Coombes? How did she and Gena meet? What breakfast did they attend? Maybe this posting will bring an answer to my questions.