The Invention of Australian Music

Abstract

Reconsidering a selection of key documents and artefacts, this review article traces a ‘brief history of early colonial Australia in nine musical objects’. Composed, devised, improvised, and merely imagined ‘works’, each is identifiable in some way as Australian. They are presented roughly chronologically, and include complete and partial survivals, and records of lost works; Indigenous and settler, gentry and working class music; musicians’ and some non-musicians’ music; most by men, but - when the documentary record admits them - quite a few by, for, or about women. Each is an early example of an ongoing stream in Australian colonial music, and serves as a useful historical paradigm/pattern for parsing clusters of related later materials, some of which are also briefly introduced. Demonstrating the ongoing process of musical and national invention from the 1770s into the 1840s, they challenge us to re-engage with ‘the muddy issues of Australianness’, and suggest that acts of cultural naming, claiming, and owning are not necessarily so superficial or problematically nationalistic as they are often assumed to be.

Notes

1 Epigraph to the poem ‘On Reading the Controversy between Lord Byron and Mr. Bowles’, in Barron Field, First Fruits of Australian Poetry, 2nd ed. (Sydney: [s.n.], 1823).

2 David Hush, ‘Interview with Peter Sculthorpe’, Quadrant 23/12 (December 1979), 33.

3 ‘Mr Wallace’s Concert’, The Sydney Herald(9 June 1836), 2.

4 F.C. Brewer, The Drama and Music in New South Wales (Sydney: Government Printer, 1892), 54.

5 Stuart Ward, ‘“Culture up to our Arseholes”: Projecting Post-imperial Australia’, Australian Journal of Politics and History 51/1 (2005), 53–66.

6 John Whiteoak and Aline Scott-Maxwell (eds.), Currency Companion to Music and Dance in Australia (Strawberry Hills: Currency House, 2003), 5.

7 ‘Public Amusements’, The Courier (7 November 1854), 2.

8 [News], The Hobart Town Courier (16 October 1830), 2.

9 ‘Musical Literature’, Blackwood's Magazine 27/164 (March 1830), 477, from James Beattie, Essays on Poetry and Music as they Affect the Mind (Edinburgh: Creech, 1776), 174.

10 More information on works, people and issues introduced here can be found on the author's research website Australharmony (University of Sydney, 2014–ongoing), http://www.sydney.edu.au/paradisec/australharmony/the-invention-of-australian-music.php

11 David Collins, An Account of the English Colony in New South Wales 2nd ed. (London: Cadell and Davies, 1804), 377. Compare 1st ed. (London: Cadell and Davies, 1798), 586.

12 Raymond Evans and Jan Walker, ‘These Strangers, Where are They Going? Aboriginal–European Relations in the Fraser Island and Wide Bay region 1770–1905’, Occasional Papers in Anthropology 8 (1977), 39–105; and Tony Swain, A Place for Strangers: Towards a History of Australian Aboriginal Being (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993), 114.

13 Alan Atkinson, Europeans in Australia: A History, volume 1 (Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1997), 181; and Grace Karskens, The Colony: A History of Early Sydney (Crows Nest: Allen & Unwin, 2009), 48.

14 F.J. Watson, Vocabularies of Four Representative Tribes of South Eastern Queensland (Brisbane: Royal Geographical Society of Australasia [Queensland], 1944), 1, 3.

15 Maryborough Chronicle (24 November 1943), 2.

16 Watson, Vocabularies, 96–7. Compare: ‘Sunday, 20th … we passed … a black bluff head or point of land, on which a number of the Natives were Assembled, which occasioned my naming it Indian Head …’. W.J.L. Wharton (ed.), Captain Cook's Journal during his First Voyage Round the World (London: Elliot Stock, 1893), 256.

17 Lisa Chandler (ed.), East Coast Encounter (Collingwood: One Day Hill Publishing, 2014), http://www.eastcoastencounter.com.au/eastcoastencounter/about.html

18 Isobel M. White, ‘The Birth and Death of a Ceremony’, Aboriginal History 4 (1980), 33–42; and Clint Bracknell, ‘Kooral Dwonk-katitjiny (Listening to the Past): Aboriginal Language, Songs and History in South-Western Australia’, Aboriginal History 38 (2014), 1–19.

19 Barry McDonald, ‘Evidence of Four New England Corroboree Songs Indicating Aboriginal Responses to European Invasion’, Aboriginal History 20 (1996), 176–94.

20 [William Hunter], ‘Biographical Memoir of Captain John Hunter, Late Governor of New South Wales’, The Naval Chronicle (November 1805), 350.

21 John Hunter, An Historical Journal of the Transactions at Port Jackson (London: Stockdale, 1793), 493.

22 Keith Vincent Smith, ‘1793: A Song of the Natives of New South Wales’, eBLJ (Electronic British Library Journal) (2011), 7, http://www.bl.uk/eblj/2011articles/pdf/ebljarticle142011.pdf

23 Hunter, Historical Journal of the Transactions, 406.

24 Carl Engel, An Introduction to the Study of National Music (London: Longmans, 1866), 246.

25 Hunter, Historical Journal of the Transactions, 210–13.

26 J.E. Heeres, The Part Borne by the Dutch in the Discovery of Australia, 1606–1756 (London: Luzac, 1899), 94–5.

27 Watson, Vocabularies, 94.

28 Michael Parsons, ‘The Tourist Corroboree in South Australia to 1911’, Aboriginal History 21 (1997), 46–69.

29 Barron Field, ‘Journal of an Excursion across the Blue Mountains of New South Wales (October 1822)’, The London Magazine (November 1823), 465, http://books.google.com.au/books?id=o9gYAAAAMAAJ&pg=pa465; reprinted, with slightly altered text, in Barron Field, Geographical Memoirs (London: John Murray, 1825), 433–4, http://books.google.com.au/books?id=P7kBAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA433

30 Voyage de Decouvertes aux Terres Australes … Atlas par Mm. Lesueur et Petit, 2nd ed. (Paris: Arthus Bertrand, 1824), plate 32, http://www.nla.gov.au/apps/cdview/?pi=nla.aus-f979-s47

31 John Lhotsky, A Song of the Women of the Menero Tribe (Sydney: Sold by John Innes, [1834]), http://acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/album/albumView.aspx?itemID=846215&acmsid=0

32 G.L. Domeny de Rienzi, Oceanie; ou cinquième partie du monde … Tome premier (Paris: Firmin Didot, 1836), 81, https://archive.org/stream/ocanieoucinqui01dome#page/80/mode/2up

33 Louis de Freycinet, Voyage autour du monde … pendant les années 1817, 1818, 1819 et 1820, historique, tome deuxième—deuxième partie (Paris: Pillet Ainé, 1839), 774–5, https://books.google.com.au/books?id=YGBdAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA774; see also 830.

34 Engel, Introduction, 26–7.

35 Review of New Musical Publications’, The Monthly Magazine 34 (1 August 1812), 54.

36 Edward Jones, Musical Curiosities: or a Selection of the most Characteristic National Songs and Airs, many of which were never published; consisting of Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Danish, Lapland, Malabar, New South Wales, French, Italian, Swiss, and particularly some English and Scotch National Melodies (London: for the author, 1811), 15. A facsimile of the song is in Smith, ‘1793’, 1; and page 7 of the pdf has an embedded sound file with performances of this song and Harry's song (after Field).

37 University of London, School of Oriental and African Studies, MS. 41645, B, 31, http://www.williamdawes.org/ms/msview.php?image-id=book-b-page-31

38 David Collins, An Account of the English Colony in New South Wales … second edition (London: Strahan, Cadell, and Davis, 1804), 394, https://archive.org/stream/AccountEnglishC00Coll#page/n465/mode/2up

39 ‘after Macquarie established a Christmas feast and a conference with the blacks, of proximate and distant tribes, at Parramatta [1814], and the parents had witnessed the progress of certain of their children in reading, writing, and singing hymns to the God of the Christians, they began voluntarily to place their children in the school’. [Editorial] ‘To Sir George Murray’, The Sydney Monitor (29 November 1828), 5.

40 Robert Dawson, The Present State of Australia (London: Smith, Elder, 1830), 134, http://books.google.com.au/books?id=5ngIAAAAQAAJ&pg=pa134

41 National Library of Scotland, Inglis Collection of printed music, Ing.72(3), No. 36, p. [43], http://digital.nls.uk/special-collections-of-printed-music/pageturner.cfm?id=94737053

42 For another instance of an Australian Indigenous singer in London, c.1810–1811, see ‘MOO-WAT-TIN’, Chambers Edinburgh Journal 2/77 (20 July 1833), 199–200.

43 ‘The Drum was beat before them, which terrified them exceedingly, they liked the Fife, which pleased them for 2 or 3 Minutes. Indeed Music of any kind does not attract their attention, long together, they will sometimes jump to it, and make a grunting Noise by way of keeping Time to the Tune’. George Worgan, letter to his brother Richard Worgan, 12–18 June 1788, 12, State Library of NSW, MS, Safe 1 / 114.

44 Watkin Tench, A Narrative of the Expedition to Botany Bay (London: Debrett, 1789), 58.

45 George Thompson, Slavery and Famine … Or, An Account of the Miseries and Starvation at Botany Bay (London: Ridgway, 1794), [appendix] 16. In Tasmania in January 1802, François Péron also sang ‘cet hymne si malheureusement prostitué dans la révolution’ (i.e. La Marseillaise) for an Indigenous family, but did not stay around long enough to record whether they ever sang it themselves. See Péron, Voyage de découvertes aux terres australes … pendant les années 1800, 1801, 1802, 1803 et 1804 … tome premier (Paris: L'imprimerie Impériale, 1807), 226–7.

46 Collins, Account of the English Colony … second edition, 511.

47 Ibid., 508.

48 Ibid., 510.

49 ‘Coroner’s Inquests’, The Australian (28 April 1829), 3.

50 ‘Music’, The Australian (19 July 1833), 3.

51 Heather Clarke, ‘Cheshire Rounds’, Australian colonial dance, posted 26 January 2012 (Accessed 15 May 2015), http://www.colonialdance.com.au/cheshire-rounds-634.html

52 ‘Sydney’, The Sydney Gazette (15 May 1803), 2.

53 ‘Married’, The Sydney Gazette (15 May 1803), 4.

54 George Mackaness (ed.), A New Song Made in New South Wales on the Rebellion by Lawrence Davoren (Sydney: Author, 1951).

55 Charles Dibdin, The Songs in the Deserter (London: Johnston, [1773?]), 7, https://archive.org/stream/songscindeserter00dibd#page/6/mode/2up

56 ‘Murtoch Delany’s Description of the Races’, The Sydney Gazette (20 October 1810), 3, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article628109; and The Irish volunteers (London: Welker, [1780s?]), http://jhir.library.jhu.edu/handle/1774.2/15511

57 ‘Sydney Races’, The Sydney Gazette (20 October 1810), 2.

58 George F. Moore, Diary of Ten Years Eventful Life of an Early Settler in Western Australia (London: Walbrook, 1884), 58 and 65, https://archive.org/details/diaryoftenyearse00mooriala. Moore first mentioned the song in a letter on 22 August 1831, and was also composing ‘a song … suggested by that of a bird's notes; and if I can get my flute mended, [I] shall set it for you’.

59 Ibid., 64; and ‘St Patrick’s Day’, The Perth Gazette (21 March 1840), 30.

60 Philip V. Bohlman, ‘Music Before the Nation, Music after Nationalism’, Musicology Australia 31 (2009), 83.

61 J.P. McGuanne, ‘The Humours and Pastimes of Early Sydney’, The Australian Historical Society Journal and Proceedings 1/3 (1901), 40.

62 [Advertisement], The Australian (5 January 1826), 1.

63 [Advertisement], The Australian (28 April 1825), 1; and James Hall, ‘A History of Music in Australia, No 3’, The Canon 4/8 (March 1951), 372–6.

64 ‘His Excellency the Governor in Chief’, The Sydney Gazette (22 December 1825), 2.

65 [News], The Hobart Town Gazette (29 April 1826), 2.

66 ‘Turf Club Dinner’, The Monitor (12 November 1827), 6s.

67 [Advertisement], The Hobart Town Courier (26 January 1828), 2.

68 [Advertisement], The Hobart Town Courier (9 August 1828), 1.

69 John Dunmore Lang, An Historical and Statistical Account of New South Wales … volume 1 (London, 1837), 88–9, http://books.google.com.au/books?id=hae6aqaaiaaj&pg=ra1-pa88

70 State Library, NSW, Castell family papers, MLMSS 7989, http://acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/item/itemDetailPaged.aspx?itemID=909647

71 Ann V. Beedell, The Decline of the English Musician 1788–1888: A Family of English Musicians in Ireland, England, Mauritius, and Australia (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1992), 236–7.

72 Castell family papers.

73 Susannah was unimpressed—on 28 May 1834 she complained: ‘the Quadrilles you sent is [sic] a total failure both in style and quality … so that we have never been able to benefit by them’. Ann Beedell, ‘William Joseph Castell, o. k. a. Cavendish (1789–1839), Musician: His Origins, Life and Career in Ireland, England, France, Mauritius and Australia’, (M.A. thesis, University of New South Wales, 1990), 671.

74 The Much Admired Australian Quadrilles (Dublin: Ellard, [1835]); State Library, NSW, copy without cover, http://acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/album/albumview.aspx?itemid=921288&acmsid=0; and photocopy of University of Newcastle copy with cover, http://trove.nla.gov.au/version/171071617

75 [News], The Sydney Gazette (12 December 1835), 2; ‘Australian Music’, The Sydney Herald (24 December 1835), 2; and ‘Erratum’, The Sydney Herald (28 December 1835), 3.

76 ‘The Late Mrs Gother Mann’, The Brisbane Courier (17 September 1901), 6.

77 Collins, Account … second edition, 316; and Collins, Account, 601.

78 Adding confusion, Isaac Nathan and Eliza Dunlop later rearranged and bowdlerized the same song as The Aboriginal Father (Sydney: Author, [1843]), http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/16497064

79 Thomas Mitchell, Three Expeditions into the Interior of Eastern Australia … second edition … volume 1 (London: Boone, 1839), 117–18.

80 A.A.C.D. Boswell, Some Recollections of my Early Days Written at Different Periods ([no publication details], 107–8.

81 [News], The Hobart Town Courier (26 April 1839), 2.

82 At the State Library, Tasmania, and University of Tasmania, http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/3882084. There are also several words-only transcriptions; see Alice Moyle, ‘Two Native Song-styles Recorded in Tasmania’, Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania 94 (1960), 73–8.

83 ‘Aboriginal Recordings’, The Mercury (23 March 1949), 5. One of her recordings of Popeller has been restored and streamed by the National Film and Sound Archive, http://aso.gov.au/titles/music/fanny-cochrane-smith-songs

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Graeme Skinner

Graeme Skinner is an Australian music historian, and an Honorary Associate of Sydney Conservatorium of Music, University of Sydney. His biography Peter Sculthorpe: The Making of an Australian Composer 1929–1974 (University of NSW Press, 2007), covering the first half of the late composer’s life, has just been re-released with a new preface as an e-book (2015). In his online research website (http://sydney.edu.au/paradisec/australharmony) he continues to document music of the colonial and early Federation eras, complemented by a virtual library of colonial resources he curates inside Trove. With co-author Michael Noone, he is completing a catalogue of the sixteenth-century polyphonic choirbooks of Toledo Cathedral, Spain. He is also working on the second, concluding volume of his Sculthorpe biography.