Jonah Barrington (journalist)

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Jonah Barrington was the pseudonym of Cyril Carr Dalmaine (20 August 1904 – 21 September 1986) the radio critic of the Daily Express, a British newspaper, during the Second World War. He is especially known as being the person who first used the term "Lord Haw-Haw" to describe a German radio broadcaster:[1]

He speaks English of the haw-haw, damn-it-get-out-of-my-way variety, and his strong suit is gentlemanly indignation.[2]

Early life and education[edit]

Dalmaine studied at Eastbourne College and graduated from the Royal College of Music.

Career[edit]

Dalmaine was music master at Uppington School and chorus master to the BBC. He composed chamber music,[3] and he transcribed cantatas of Johann Sebastian Bach for piano.[4]

Jonah Barrington was also a record presenter in the pre-1955 days. He was responsible for the "discovery" of the then-deceased Italian tenor, Alessandro Valente. At a time when the great Swedish tenor Jussi Björling's recording of "Nessun dorma" was popular, Barrington played a version by Valente which, he said, was the best he had ever heard. It was instantly popular, and Valente enjoyed a posthumous vogue.

References[edit]

  1. ^ Hall, J. W. (1954). "William Joyce". In Hodge, James H. (ed.). Famous Trials. Vol. 4. Penguin Books. p. 80. Usually, the inventor of popular nicknames is unidentifiable, but the 'onlie begetter' of Lord Haw-Haw was undoubtedly Mr Jonah Barrington, then of the Daily Express
  2. ^ Thwaites, Sam (26 August 2009). "Germany Calling! Lord Haw-Haw's Mic is Up For Sale!". Daily Express.
  3. ^ "Cyril C. Dalmaine". Biographical Dictionary of the Organ – via organ-biography.info.
  4. ^ Bach, Johann Sebastian. "Piano Transcriptions of Bach's Works by Cyril Carr Dalmaine". bach-cantatas.com. Translated by Cyril Carr Dalmaine. Retrieved 4 November 2022.