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separate songs may be mentioned here, "The Bandolero" and "Soldiers of the Queen."
The former was written when Stuart was a young man. He took it to Foli one day, and shaking with nervousness, asked the great basso whether he might play it to him. " What's it about?" asked Foli. "A Bandolero," said Stuart. " Bandits," answered Foli brusquely, "I don't want a song about bandits." "Ah, but this is a sort of bandit you've never heard about — or anyone else either," said Stuart, smiling. The frankness pleased Foli, who consented to hear the song, and liked it so much that he insisted on taking the composer up to London and introducing him to Chappell's.
"Soldiers of the Queen" leapt into prominence during the time of the Boer War. It had been published some years before, but had not attracted much attention. It was first made popular by Hayden Coffin, whose name is, of course, equally associated with another patriotic ditty, "Private Tommy Atkins," the words of which are by Henry Hamilton and the music by S. Potter.
Stuart has written a number of coon songs, both in and out of his operas. The first of these was " Louisiana Lou." When the song reached America it was thought to be the product of a native Southern composer, as it happened to strike the very vein and colour of Southern nigger |
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