| Composition Year | 1900 |
|---|---|
| Genre Categories | Songs; For voice, piano; For voices with keyboard; |
Complete Score
*#671626 - 54.35MB, 8 pp. - (-) - V/V/V - 2×⇩ - Ross Duncan Boyle
PDF scanned by Medical Histori...
Ross Duncan Boyle (2021/1/22)
Complete Score (Compressed)
*#671627 - 5.35MB, 8 pp. - (-) - V/V/V - 27×⇩ - Ross Duncan Boyle
PDF scanned by Medical Histori...
Ross Duncan Boyle (2021/1/22)
|  |
| Work Title | The Rejected Volunteer |
|---|---|
| Alternative. Title | Humorous Song |
| Composer | Schartau, Herbert |
| I-Catalogue NumberI-Cat. No. | IHS 2 |
| Key | D major |
| Year/Date of CompositionY/D of Comp. | 1900 |
| First Performance. | 1900 |
| First Publication. | 1900 |
| Librettist | Jay Hickory Wood (d. 1913) |
| Language | English |
| Composer Time PeriodComp. Period | Early 20th century |
| Piece Style | Early 20th century |
| Instrumentation | voice, piano |
| Extra Information | A humorous topical song about a Englishman wanting to serve his duties as a soldier, but gets turned away due to his poor health. He does not get the message, so he comes back and gets rejected again and again. Five times in fact! This song was relevant at the time, as there was a huge scandal regarding the fitness of Boer recruits, with a 25% rejection rate nationwide. In some cities like Manchester, 9/10 recruits were turned away. The Boer War was long and gruelling. It took 200,000 British soldiers to defeat 20,000 Boers. This was due to their poor nutrition, health and living conditions, in contrast to the well-fed, fit Boer farmers. This may have kickstarted the Liberal reforms of the next decade. Sung by Ernest Hastings (1879-1940), the entertainer at the piano during his beginning of his society entertainer career. |
