You wonder what all the mid-century dialects sounded like. Would we have to listen closely to understand?
Didn't Susy once say that her father's drawl disappeared when he wasn't in public?
- Kit
Kit Farwell
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On Wednesday, July 10, 2019, 2:31:11 PM EDT, Hal Bush <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Friends: stirring the pot even more: MT's speaking voice. How did he sound: a slow drawl--or was that a performance voice only? Did in fact all 6 recordings (that we know about) get destroyed? What exactly is that old tape at Yale (I once made a wild suggestion that, for all we know, it is in fact MT; or that some kind of recording may actually exist/or that somewhere is a version of a version, etc.) ?? How accurate is William Gillette's mimicry? Or Frederick Packard's? Or even Hal Holbrook's??
Food for thought...But I happen to know that Kevin Mac Donnell is giving his talk in Hannibal later this month, on precisely these issues... sorry no spoilers just yet!
https://blogs.loc.gov/now-see-hear/2014/10/mark-twain-sort-of-speaks-to-us/
[https://blogs.loc.gov/now-see-hear/files/2014/10/Twain3a-e1414182860483.jpg]<https://blogs.loc.gov/now-see-hear/2014/10/mark-twain-sort-of-speaks-to-us/>
Mark Twain Sort of Speaks to Us | Now See Hear!<https://blogs.loc.gov/now-see-hear/2014/10/mark-twain-sort-of-speaks-to-us/>
blogs.loc.gov
Mark Twain was known to have made recordings on three occasions; unfortunately none of them are known to have survived. The earliest recording was made by Thomas Edison in 1888. In 1891, the author himself made a number of cylinder recordings of himself dictating portions of a new novella, The ...
http://twain.lib.virginia.edu/onstage/voice.html
MT's Voice - Mark Twain in His Times Homepage<http://twain.lib.virginia.edu/onstage/voice.html>
twain.lib.virginia.edu
Most of the newspaper reporters who covered MT's live performances commented on his "inimitable" or "unmistakable" voice. Early in his career a very few thought it was distracting, but the rest found it an irresistible and vital part of the humorous spell that he cast over his audiences.
Dr. Hal Bush
Dept. of English
Saint Louis University
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314-977-3616
http://halbush.com
author website: halbush.com
