We’ll Gather Lilacs
I fear that I’ve worn out miscellaneous family members and friends raving about how good Katherine Jenkins was in Llandudno (Venue Cymru, November 17, 2021). It’s hard work indulging my enthusiasms. So I’ve had recourse to the only option left open to me – endless raving in the infinite space that is the Internet, a place of eternal recurrence if ever there was.
I think I passed out when she sang “We’ll Gather Lilacs.” It took me two weeks to recall it to conscious memory. In other contexts, that would be a definition of trauma.
I’ll attempt to explain. A few years ago I sat down to compile a list of my five most favourite songs. Certain songs sprang immediately to mind – ‘Autumn Leaves’/ ‘Les Feuilles Mortes,’ ‘Blue Moon,’ Born Free,’ ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ and ‘Danny Boy.’ Being me, the list extended to a hundred or more songs. As time passed I carried on adding contenders to the list, which now stands at the grand total of 260. My most favourite song of all is ‘We’ll Gather Lilacs.’
The song was written by the Welsh composer Ivor Novello for the musical romance Perchance to Dream, which opened at the Hippodrome Theatre in London's West End in 1945 and ran until 1948. The song was sung in the show by Olive Gilbert, and was originally recorded by Olive Gilbert in duet with Muriel Barron. There have been many other recordings of the song since, most notably Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra (vocal by Stuart Foster), Gene Krupa, Anne Ziegler and Webster Booth, Richard Tauber, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Marion Grimaldi, Julie Andrews, Dorothy Squires, Moira Anderson, Vince Hill, Lesley Garrett, Cerys Matthews, and Clare Teal. But it is the Muriel Barron and Olive Gilbert version that I favour above all others and it is this version that topped my great song list.
And now Katherine Jenkins’ version joins my list. I liked the version that she recorded for her album ‘Home Sweet Home,’ although the switch in the lyric from ‘English lane’ to ‘British lane’ jarred a little. I can understand the reason for the switch and I was always puzzled why a Welshman would be waxing lyrical about an English country lane. No matter, a great song or work of art should be independent of the character and identity of the creator. And ‘English lane’ fits much better than ‘British lane,’ and, wisely, this is the version that Katherine Jenkins sings in live concert. That’s how I heard her sing the song at Llandudno’s Venue Cymru November 17 2021, just before I lost consciousness. Outstanding, and much better sung live than on record, warmer and much more moving. I think I passed out at this point of the show. (Not wishing to be critical, but I’m not that keen on anti-septic, saccharine and anodyne CD perfection – I prefer human warmth to clinical computer precision).
Written as World War II drew to an end, “We’ll Gather Lilacs” expresses the yearning for reunion on the part of all those who have been separated from one another and from all the connections, solidarities, and loyalties of normal life. It evokes the pleasant imagery of the English countryside in spring, full of lilac blossom, as it anticipates the joy those who were now together again. Olive Gilbert would go on to sing the song at Ivor Novello's cremation service in 1951. He was a marvellous composer and actor and "We'll Gather Lilacs" is a truly great song, with Ivor Novello recapturing the mood of his First World War song "Keep the Home Fires Burning." It's nice to hear the song being recovered in another age of separation, with so many yearning for reunion in so many ways. Katherine Jenkins sings this song wonderfully well in live performance, so warm and engaging.
It’s not that I’m alone in my ravings, it’s just that other Katherine Jenkins fans are more interested in raving away themselves than actually listening to one’s own particular ravings. You really need a captive audience for this kind of thing. I used to just batter my dad relentlessly with my enthusiasms and he was only too happy for the opportunity to participate keenly in a shared experience of happiness. (The path of least resistance is likelier to yield some peace, and even the occasionally profound joy. You just need to stick at it and have the requisite enthusiasm). I mentioned how good she was to my brother. He simply said he’d been to see The Waterboys. (But at least he didn’t find another bill that needed paying from back home). I mentioned how good she was to my aunty a couple of nights ago. She said that my uncle had tickets to see her a while back but that she ‘wasn’t keen,’ so he had to go with another uncle. They both said she was fabulous, she told me, somewhat detached from the general enthusiasm. I didn’t enquire any further, just raved a little bit more (a lot more) whilst I had a pair of captive ears with nowhere else to go.
I went along with a pair of sceptical ears myself. I know all about ‘popera.’ I have no intrinsic objection to operatic pop. Some of it is indeed execrable (and there’s a lot of it). But some of it is worthy. When I was young, my dad had a little collection of Benjamino Gigli, Jussi Bjorling, and Enrico Caruso (we still have those records). But he also liked Mario Lanza. He knew an opera buff in the army, who told him that Mario Lanza was not as bad as the critics said he was but not as good as his fans said he was. Which is a nice, middling, non-descript appraisal that leaves all options open. Which suits me fine. I’d bought a ticket a couple of months earlier but had more or less given up any hope of attending as the date approached. I struggle with instructions and it looked impossible for to me to do the tests and sort the passes out. I’d rather not have the hassle and aggravation. I only made the attempt with three hours to go. I’d had a meeting in the morning and only got back at 2pm. ‘Why not?’ I thought. I like the theatre. Let’s see what I have to do. I managed to get everything sorted with just an hour to spare. I’m glad I made the effort, now. Katherine Jenkins at the Venue Cymru, Llandudno was the best show I’ve seen since Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, and Chuck Berry twenty years ago. I quite like selected recordings by her on cd. But to appreciate her you have to see her live. She is just awesome in live performance. An immersion in sound and vision; a kind of real fantasy.
As to this video, the performance of “We’ll Gather Lilacs” is taken from Katherine Jenkins’ Saturday Night Lockdown Concert (16th January 2021).
I'm probably in breach of something or other here. I’m not monetizing anything. I’m just messing about, really, trying to get an audio of the live recording. I just made use of something I found on the Internet, which insists on sticking its moniker all over the video. (Most distracting, but maybe not as much as a split skirt in sacred arias. I digress). Just listen.
Song: We'll Gather Lilacs (From "Perchance to Dream")
Artist: Katherine Jenkins
Album: We'll Gather Lilacs (From "Perchance to Dream")
Writers: Ivor Novello
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