Mexborough and Swinton Times, April 14, 1899
Denaby Main Orchestral Society Grand Evening Concert Mr William Foxon at Denaby
Denaby Main Orchestral Society has now been formed for six or seven years, and seems to grow more successful each season. The new school, Denaby main, was packed on Tuesday night, when one of the season´s concerts took place. In addition to the Orchestral Society, there being attractions in the persons of Mr William Foxon, tenor vocalist (Medallist of the Royal Academy of music), who has frequently contributed to entertainments at the Crystal Palace, London.
As is well known, this gentleman resides in Sheffield, and is considered to be more and away the best tenor vocalist in the surrounding district. Miss Gertie Soar, who is a pupil of Mr Foxon, was also announced to appear. She has a lovely soprano voice, and the tone of her singing is remarkably clear and sweet. Miss Soar received a most enthusiastic welcome, not only on account of the fact that she possessed such great abilities as a singer, but also because she is a resident within the district, and people always appreciate local talent. Mr Foxon is training this young lady’s voice almost to perfection and further sweet renderings went a long way towards ensuring the success of the evening.
Mr Foxon’s voice is well-known to music lovers of this district, and on Tuesday we should say he was at his best, and our readers will quite understand the quality of his portion of the entertainment. Mr Foxon has a voice that was heard with splendid effect. In the songs he chose for the evening, he quite won the appreciation of the audience by the way in which he sang. His high notes were beautifully clear and sweet, and people who are lovers of music, and did not go to the concert, missed what we should term a veritable treat.
The orchestra was composed of 35 performers. The conductor of the band was Mr M.Soar and to this gentleman is due a great amount of credit for the manner in which he led the orchestra. Mr William Henry Wilson proved an able accompanist and the leader of the band was Mr Ben Wilson.
The concert opened with a selection by the band; “Men of Prometheus” was the music selected, and this was gone through in a manner which reflected great credit on the performers.
Mr Foxon was heartily received, then sang Weber´s “Yes, ever love to same must yield”, “Oh tis a glorious sight.” This song was pitched in an exceedingly high key but Mr Foxon reached the top notes with apparent ease. The expression he puts into his vocalisation was excellent and in the rendering of the softer tones of the songs, his voice and expression were alike perfect.
Mr Tom Soar, one of the band, was heartily applauded on the oboe. He chose Clarke´s “Ash Grove” for the occasion, and it was a distinct success.
Next came a duet by Miss Gertie Soar and Mr Foxon entitled “Maying”. Words cannot convey the excellency of this particular portion of the entertainment. Suffice it to say that both singers were in the best of condition, and both were loudly applauded
The next item was a selection by the orchestra, entitled “Dawn” and this was equally, if not more so, successful than the first.
Miss Soar’s song “Should he upbraid” jokes the hearts of the assembly, and further singing was loudly appreciated and she had to oblige with an encore. This time she rendered the well-known old English song “Cherry ripe” in a very fascinating manner.
The first portion of the concert concluded with another selection by the band, Rossini’s “William Tell” being the music selected.
After the interval the first item on the program was a selection by the orchestra. This time they rendered Wagner´s “Lohengrin” in a manner that surpassed all previous selections.
Mr Foxon then sang, “The sailors grave” and of course was warmly received. This was followed by “Sunset” by the orchestra
Miss Soar then sang “goodbye” and so delighted the audience that she was obliged to seeing it again before the proceedings closed.