I Dreamt I Dwelt In Marble Halls - Mabel Garrison (1917)

Mabel Garrison

Victor 64641

1917

“I Dreamt That I Dwelt In Marble Halls” is a once-famous song from a once-popular opera--Balfe's opera The Bohemian Girl.

Libretto is by Alfred Bunn.

I dreamt I dwelt in marble halls
With vassals and serfs at my side,
And of all who assembled within those walls
That I was the hope and the pride.

I had riches all too great to count
And a high ancestral name.
But I also dreamt which pleased me most
That you loved me still the same,

That you loved me
You loved me still the same,
That you loved me
You loved me still the same.

I dreamt that suitors sought my hand,
That knights upon bended knee
And with vows no maidens heart could withstand,
They pledged their faith to me.

And I dreamt that one of that noble host
Came forth my hand to claim.
But I also dreamt which charmed me most
That you loved me still the same

That you loved me
You loved me still the same,
That you loved me
You loved me still the same.

________________________


This record gives both verses, which means we can hear the second verse that the character Maria omits in "Clay" (the Joyce story).

The verse that she does sing says a lot. Because she repeats that verse instead of going to the second verse (the story calls special attention to Maria's mistake), we have to wonder if Maria cannot bring herself to sing about marriage, love, or romance. Marriage is not in the cards for Maria.

This second verse involves suitors and a bridegroom. Here is that second verse:

I dreamt that suitors sought my hand;
That knights upon bended knee,
And with vows no maiden heart could withstand,
They pledg'd their faith to me;

And I dreamt that one of that noble host
Came forth my hand to claim.
But I also dreamt, which charmed me most,
That you lov'd me still the same...

Maria's omission in "Clay" may be inadvertent. On the other hand, it may be deliberate to save herself embarrassment. It is open to interpretation.

The singer was born Mabel Garrison Siemonn on April 24, 1886, in Baltimore, Maryland.

This American singer sang at the Metropolitan Opera from 1914 to 1921. Garrison had an impressive coloratura soprano voice.

She graduated from Western Maryland College (now McDaniel College) in 1903.

She went on to study singing at the Peabody Conservatory.

In 1908 she married a professor of harmony, George Siemonn.

She then studied further with Oscar Saenger and Herbert Witherspoon in New York.

She made her debut in 1912 with the Aborn Opera Company as Philine in Mignon.

She made her Metropolitan Opera debut on February 15, 1914 in a Sunday afternoon concert singing arias by Verdi and Mozart.

Her first role at the Met was Frasquita in Bizet's Carmen.

Her last Met performance was as Lucia in Lucia di Lammermoor on January 22, 1921.

In 1921, Garrison made guest appearances at the Berlin State Opera in Hamburg and at the Cologne Opera.

Later that year, she made a world concert tour.