Believe Me, If All Those Endearing Young Charms
The tune and lyrics of most folk songs we are familiar with today are usually the collaboration of several composers and lyricists over, what can sometimes be hundreds of years. Endearing Young Charms is no exception to this rule with the melody line finding its origins in Ireland by composer Sir John Stevenson in the mid part of the 18th century while the lyrics were written some 50 years later in 1808 by fellow Irishman and poet Thomas Moore.
The story goes that Moore’s wife contracted smallpox and because of the disfiguring effects of the disease on the skin and particularly her face, she refused to see anyone, including her husband, as she felt he could not love her the way that she looked. After she would not let him see her, Moore wrote words of endearment to his wife and set them to Stevenson’s melody to reassure her that he would always love her regardless of her appearance. He is reputed to have sung it to her through the closed door until she opened it with her confidence renewed.
Composer Simone Mantia is widely considered the first pioneer of the Euphonium. Born in Italy, he immigrated to America at the age of 17 as a professional valve trombone and euphonium player. He played primarily trombone in pit orchestras and for the opera companies in and around New York but in 1895 took the Euphonium Soloist position with John Philip Sousa’s band. He left Sousa’s band with Arthur Pryor to set up their own ensemble, leaving Sousa’s band as the first “recorded” euphonium artist.