Songs of War
Composers, Performers & Publishers
Mildred Manley
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Mildred Manley, daughter of Morris Manley, was a popular child singer in Canada during the First World War. She was described in newspaper articles and on sheet music cover art as "Canada’s Greatest Child Vocalist” [2]. Manley often performed her father’s music around Toronto at recruitment rallies and other concerts, including at Massey Hall. Her mother sometimes accompanied her on piano. According to many newspaper articles from the time, Manley’s performances were well received by her audiences.
Morris Manley
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Morris Manley was a Toronto composer of many popular songs during the First World War. His most successful and well-known song was “Good Luck to the Boys of the Allies,” published privately by Manley in 1915. Manley composed a number of other popular songs during this time, including “I Love You, Canada” (1915), “Goodbye Mother Dear” (1916), “I Want My Daddy” (1916), and “Goodbye Girls” (1918). An article in the Toronto Daily Star on 20 October 1916 described the distinctive sound of his music, characterized by that “Manley melody that so many try to imitate” [1]. Following the war, Manley lived in New York, but little is known about him after his move from Canada in 1930.
Will J. White
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William J. White was a popular composer and Canadian music hall entertainer in the early twentieth century. He often performed at Massey Hall, and composed patriotic songs during the war. Some of his most popular songs included “Hats Off to the Flag and the King” (1916), “Home Again” (1917), “The Hearts of the World Love Canada” (1918), “Take Me Back to Dear Old Canada” (1918), and “Keep Watch” (1918).
Gordon V. Thompson
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Gordon V. Thompson was a composer and publisher of Canadian popular songs for over four decades. During the First World War, Thompson’s own music was met with success, with songs such as “Remember Nurse Cavell” (1915), “Khaki” (1915), “When Jack Comes Back” (1915), and “When Your Boy Comes Back to You” (1916). Thompson’s success as a publisher of patriotic songs continued during the Second World War. Following the war, Thompson continued to publish music until his death in 1965.
Jules Brazil
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Jules Brazil was a songwriter, arranger, and entertainer in Toronto during the early twentieth century. He began as a music teacher in Toronto. During the war, Brazil composed and arranged music for many popular songs including “Remember Nurse Cavell” (1915), “Hats Off to the Flag and the King” (1916), “Home Again” (1917), “The Hearts of the World Love Canada” (1918), “God Protect My Daddy” (1918), and “Keep Watch" (1918).
Composers
Performers
Publishers
Walter Tuttle
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Walter Tuttle was another young performer in Canada during the First World War. He performed popular songs at recruitment rallies and concerts, and was often listed alongside Mildred Manley in programs.
Anglo-Canadian Music Publishers
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The Anglo-Canadian Music Publishers firm was founded in 1885 in Toronto, with the purpose of printing, publishing and selling British music copyrights in Canada. By the beginning of 1889, 600 Canadian copyright editions had been issued and songs by Canadian composers were also included in their catalogue. One notable Canadian composition published by the Anglo-Canadian Music Publishers was Edward Broome’s arrangement of “O Canada” (1910). The firm continued to publish music throughout the war years, and survived a bankruptcy in 1941. In 1943, the company was acquired by Canadian Music Sales, which continued to sell Anglo-Canadian publications under the same name.
Thompson Publishing Company
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Thompson Publishing Company was a music publishing, distributing, and retailing firm established in 1911 by Gordon V. Thompson in Toronto. During the First World War, Thompson experienced success as a publisher of patriotic songs, from both Canada and the United States. In 1919, the company was taken over by the American firm Leo Feist Ltd., but remained under Thompson’s management. Thompson was one of the few music dealers in Canada to have a successful enterprise during the Depression years. This has been attributed to his natural instinct for identifying new trends and music that would sell. Thompson was active within the Toronto music community, and was co-founder of the Kiwanis Music Festival. Following Thompson’s death in 1965, John C. Bird became president of the firm. When the company was sold to the Canada Publishing Corporation in 1984 the name was changed to Gordon V. Thompson Music, and later Warner-Chappell Music Canada in 1990.
Musgrave Brothers
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The Musgrave Brothers music publishing business was opened in Toronto in 1909 by the brothers Charles E. Musgrave and George A. Musgrave. The company was briefly named A.L.E. Davies and Musgrave Brothers in 1914, and published many patriotic and popular songs during the First World War. Musgrave’s publications were notable for their colourful cover illustrations, including “I Love You Canada” (1915) and “Take Me Back to Dear Old Canada" (1918). In the early 1930s the company became the Musgrave Music Shoppe, before closing around 1933. The brothers continued as active musicians in Toronto in the 1940s.
Whaley, Royce & Co.
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Whaley, Royce & Co. Ltd. was founded in 1888 by Eric Whaley and George C. Royce. Whaley was a former bandleader in Orangeville, Ontario, while Royce had been employed briefly by a Toronto music dealer. The Toronto-based company was an instrument dealer and manufacturer, as well as music dealer and publisher. Between 1889 and 1922 there was also a branch of the company in Winnipeg. In 1902, Royce left the company for another industry and Whaley became president and general manager. In the early twentieth century, Whaley, Royce & Co. used the advertising slogan “Canada’s Greatest Music House,” as they carried a wide stock of band instruments, pianos and organs, sheet music, and other merchandise. The company issued a magazine, the Canadian Musician, and offered a number of music catalogues. The majority of music published was educational, sacred, or patriotic, with one of the most important publications being the first edition of “O Canada” by Thomas Bedford Richardson in 1906. Following Whaley’s death, the firm transferred ownership, and publications continued until the 1990s.
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This page features short biographies for some of the most prominent composers and performers of Anglo-Canadian popular songs during the First World War. Their names often appeared in newspaper advertisements for sheet music and records, as well as in coverage of recruitment rallies and concerts. Details on the major publishing companies for music in Canada during this time period are also included.
Henry Burr
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Henry Burr was an active recording artist in the early twentieth century, with a reported 12,000 recordings during his lifetime. He was born Harry McClaskey in 1885 in St. Stephen, New Brunswick. Burr began singing as a young child, and studied voice in New York City before recording for Columbia Records as a teenager. During the First World War, Burr recorded many popular songs, including “When We Wind Up the Watch on the Rhine” (1917), “When Your Boy Comes Back to You” (1917), and “We’ll Never Let the Old Flag Fall” (1918). Burr’s recording career was largely over by the late 1920s, but he continued to sing on a Chicago radio station in the 1930s. He died of throat cancer in 1941, and was buried in Westchester, New York.
Herbert Stuart
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Herbert Stuart, known as Albert Wiederhold prior to the First World War, was a Canadian artist who provided baritone vocals for many patriotic songs. He recorded “Good Luck to the Boys of the Allies” with Columbia Records in 1915, as well as “I Love You, Canada” in 1916.
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Sources:
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Historica Canada. "Anglo-Canadian Music Company." www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca.
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---. "Good Luck to the Boys of the Allies." www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca.
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---. "Gordon V. Thompson." www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca.
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---. "Gordon V. Thompson Music." www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca.
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---. "Jules Brazil." www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca.
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---. "Musgrave." www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca.
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---. "Whaley, Royce & Co Ltd." www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca.
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Library and Archives Canada. "Biographies: Henry Burr." www.collectionscanada.gc.ca.
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---. "The Virtual Gramophone." www.collectionscanada.gc.ca.
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Moogk, Edward B. Roll Back the Years: History of Canadian Recorded Sound and Its Legacy - Genesis to 1930. Ottawa: National Library of
Canada, 1975.
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The Globe, 1914-1918
Toronto Daily Star, 1914-1918
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[1] "Mildred and Morris Manley," Toronto Daily Star, 20 October 1916, ProQuest Historical Newspapers, 12.
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[2] For example, see cover art of Morris Manley, "Good Luck to the Boys of the Allies," (Toronto: Morris Manley, 1915); Morris Manley and Kenneth McInnis, "I Love You, Canada," (Toronto: Musgrave Brothers, 1915).
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Morris Manley,
Toronto Daily Star,
20 October 1916, 2.
Mildred Manley,
Toronto Daily Star,
11 April 1916, 15.
Will J. White,
The Globe,
17 March 1916, 7.
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Gordon V. Thompson,
Roll Back the Years, 155.