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Music
by George Kleinsinger, Words by Michael
Stratton, "Brooklyn Baseball Cantata"
was recorded in 1948 on the RCA Victor
Red Seal label. The baseball opera
features Baritone vocals by Robert
Merrill - with Ross Case and his
Orchestra. Merrill was an American
operatic baritone and actor, whose
voice became a Yankee tradition after
the Yankees asked him to sing the
National Anthem at the opening of their
season games in 1967. He recorded the
‘National Anthem,’ ‘Take Me Out to the
Ballgame,’ ‘God Bless America’ and ‘Oh
Canada’ for use in games when Merrill
was not available to perform in person.
Brooklyn Baseball Cantata is about an imagined World Series game between
the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Yankees.
Unlike the real world where the Dodgers
consistently blew their chances, in
this imaginary game the Dodgers were
the winners! The double record set,
with four auto-coupled sides (1 and 4
on one disc, 3 and 4 on the other) came
in a two-page 78 RPM record album.
Album liner notes: If ever American baseball could be condensed into one
specific locale, insofar as rabid
enthusiasm is concerned, Brooklyn, New
York would be the logical and the ideal
choice. For Brooklyn today is not just
a part of America where baseball is
regarded with approval; Brooklyn and
the Brooklyn Dodgers and Ebbets Field
are synonymous with American baseball.
Fully aware of these factors, George Kleinsinger in 1937 wrote his
Brooklyn Baseball Cantata, using the
clever and ingenious lyrics of Michael
Stratton as his text. Ten years later,
Robert Merrill heard the work for the
first time and, being a Brooklyn boy
himself, enthusiastically approached
RCA Victor to record it. The result can
be termed a truly American version of
Gilbert and Sullivan; it's an operetta
in miniature, a slice of real life, the
American McCoy!
In the ten years that intervened between the composition of the work and
its recording the Brooklyn Baseball
Cantata enjoyed a varied career. It was
first performed on the Columbia
Workshop in 1937 and then became part
of an ill-fated Broadway musical
titled, Of V We Sing. After the show
closed, the cantata more or less
disappeared from view, although it had
already won an enduring place in the
affections of all Brooklynites, so much
so that Kleinsinger was automatically
made an honorary member of the Society
for the Prevention of Disparaging
Remarks About Brooklyn.
An additional outgrowth of its initial success, according to Kleinsinger,
was a plea from the Bronx for similar
musical tribute. It is especially
appropriate that Robert Merrill should
choose to record the cantata for not
only is Merrill a Brooklyn boy, one of
the greatest contemporary American
singers and an all-round versatile
musician, but he is, to a certain
extent, a thwarted second baseman! Like
all Brooklyn boys, Merrill from the
cradle on was a confirmed Dodgers fan,
but unlike other boys who worshipped
from afar, Merrill became a member of a
non-professional team that actually
played on Ebbets Field!
Whether he ever entertained serious hopes of becoming a Dodger himself is
unknown, for his baseball career was
cut short by the manager of the
non-professionals who let him know in
one syllable words that, as a baseball
player, he was a a good singer. So
Merrill turned in his uniform and
devoted all his energies to singing,
which he had taken up several years
previously at the urging of his mother,
herself a professional singer before
her marriage. The subsequent
development of Merrill's career was as
thorough and systematic as possible,
until it was climaxed in 1946 with a
Metropolitan Opera contract.
Since then, he has acquired an innumerable following of enthusiastic
music lovers who thunder applause not
only for his operatic and concert
achievements but also for his weekly
broadcasts over the NBC network as the
star of the RCA Victor show. Regardless
of the repertoire, Robert Merrill
always turns in a sterling performance.
His versatility is amazing; his sense
of humor second to none. Add these
attributes to a great voice and you
will see why the Brooklyn Baseball
Cantata offer you a healthy portion of
good, clean American fun in music!
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