David Scull Bispham was born in Philadelphia in 1857 to Jane Lippincott Scull and William Danforth Bispham. His mother came from a devout Quaker family, and while his father had left Quaker meeting some years earlier, the Bisphams lived and thought of themselves as Quakers. As might be expected, Bispham’s earliest years were without significant musical influence. His mother did not permit a piano in the home and is said to have been “shocked beyond expression” the one time she attended a ballet. Nevertheless, William Bispham played the flute and his brother, John Bispham, took David to his first opera in Philadelphia.
David entered Haverford College in 1872 during its non-musical days, so any musical activities he might have participated in were strictly on the sly. Upon graduation, he entered the family business of wool merchandizing, but soon found the call to music too strong to ignore. He embarked for Europe in 1886 to study voice in England and Italy.
Bispham made his opera debut in 1891 and went on to star at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden and at the Metropolitan Opera between 1892 and 1903. In addition to operatic roles, Bispham excelled at oratorio and German song. In his later years he was a devoted teacher and when his voice was no longer in its prime, he won acclaim for his acting and dramatic readings. He led a colorful life, making friends with the likes of Mark Twain, Robert Browning, and John Singer Sargent. His manager was Bram Stoker.
In 1914 David Bispham was awarded an honorary doctorate from Haverford College. Regarding the changes at Haverford that allowed for this award, he said: “The rising generation, and those of the older school who remained, had lived to see a time not comprehended by its founders, when music and the drama had become recognized factors in the daily life of the community.”
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Bispham’s autobiography A Quaker Singer’s Recollection was published in 1920, just a year before his death at age 64. It begins by recounting his early interest in music and the adversities he encountered coming from a Quaker family and attending Haverford College before music was accepted as a part of college life. What follows is a fascinating look into the life of an exceptional artist whose success, he believed, was a testament to the power of perseverance, determination, and an unfailing love for his craft.   ) The zither was the first musical instrument learned by David Bispham (followed by the guitar and the banjo). Yet its arrival on campus with Bispham in 1872 was not as warmly received as the young student would have liked. He says in his autobiography, “I had not counted upon the strict authorities at Haverford forbidding such harmless music as was made upon this rather primitive instrument; but to my great chagrin I was soon informed that music was against the rules, and that if I must needs play at all, I would have to do so off the college grounds.” Indeed, Bispham ended up storing his zither at the Haverford railroad station where he went daily to practice. (Courtesy of Paul Stevens, Ardmore, PA).  )
) In October 1900, Haverford College welcomed back its wayward son, David Scull Bispham, for a recital in Alumni Hall (now the old wing of Magill Library). In addition to standard arias from Italian, German, and French opera and oratorio, the program also included songs of the medieval Troubadours and Minnesingers (which Bispham came to know while at Haverford through the influence of Professor Ellis Yarnall and his wife Caroline). Bispham returned to give two further recitals at Haverford in subsequent years.  David Bispham recorded the aria “Why Do the Nations Rage” from Handel’s oratorio The Messiah in 1910 for the Columbia label. He also performed it on his first recital at Haverford College in 1900.  )
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Of the many famous personalities with whom Bispham came into contact, none compares to Mark Twain. In this letter to his friend Elizabeth Wallace, Twain describes a concert given by his daughter Clara Clemens, David Bispham, and Russian pianist Ossip Gabrilowitsch, as a benefit for a library near Twain’s home in Redding, Connecticut. Introducing the performers, Twain is recorded to have said, “My daughter is not as famous as these gentlemen, but she is ever so much better-looking.” By the end of the evening, Clara and Gabrilowitsch were engaged to be married. (Used by permission of the Huntington Library, San Marino, CA). |
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This signed photograph of David Bispham was used to publicize a concert he gave at the Arion Club, a German singing society in Germantown, Pennsylvania. Emended after the concert, it thus became a souvenir. It comes from the Allinson Family Papers and is dated 1897.
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David Bispham was first recorded in live performance on experimental cylinder recordings by Lionel Mapleson, music librarian of the Metropolitan Opera, in 1903. By 1908 Bispham was recording exclusively for the Columbia label on their Grand Opera recording series along with other major Metropolitan Opera stars. This 1912 autographed 12-inch disc contains “The Arrow and the Song” and “Annie Laurie” on separate sides.
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In this 1913 letter to a Mr. Edmunds, David Bispham lays out his thoughts on singing in the English language. He was a strong advocate for performing vocal music in the language of the audience and the first major singer to perform the song repertoire of Beethoven, Schubert, and Schumann in English. Rejecting contemporary notions that English was not a language worthy of serious art, he said, “There is nothing bad in English as a medium for opera and song, except bad English.” To this end he also sang recitals of exclusively American composers, something of a novelty at the time.
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After his career as an opera singer at Covent Garden and the Metropolitan Opera came to an end, “The Quaker Singer” concerned himself with the education of young singers. He published this song book in 1920 in order to encourage American singers especially. His considerable fame by this time meant that his publications were well and widely received.
David Bispham recorded this song by Schumann for the Pathé Frères label in 1916. It is also one of the songs performed at the library concert with Mark Twain.
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