Concert, ‘On the Plains of Emu’ - Settler Art Music in Early NSW, Elizabeth Bay House, Sydney, 27 February 2022; presented by Sydney Living Museums and the Hearing the Music of Early NSW 1788-1860 project; Koen van Stade (tenor); Neal Peres Da Costa (pianoforte), Annie Gard (violin), Daniel Yeadon (violoncello) – on historically appropriate instruments

Abstract

This selection recreates a typical household entertainment of songs, dances, and piano music, as might have been ‘got up’ by musical members and guests of wealthier ‘gentry’ and merchant families in 1830s NSW. All of the pieces chosen are documented as having been performed, published, or popularly regarded in Sydney during that decade, many on several or repeated occasions. Two particular families, both with musically active daughters and sons, are ‘channelled’ in our selection; the Macleays of Elizabeth Bay House, who were also ‘at home’ in the country at Brownlow Hill near Camden – their Scottish ancestry is recalled in the Guy Mannering Overture; and the Helys of Engehurst in what is now Ormond Street, Paddington, who came from County Tyrone, Ireland - to them, the Australian Quadrilles, last on the program, were originally dedicated on their first publication in 1835.

PART 1

[1] Rodolphe Kreutzer (1766-1831): Overture to Lodoiska (arr. for pianoforte trio)

[2] William Vincent Wallace (1812-1863); words, Robert Stewart (c.1806-1849): Echo’s Song (Sydney, 1837) – FIRST MODERN PERFORMANCE

[3] Words by Eliza Hamilton Dunlop (c.1796-1880): The Aboriginal Mother (Tune: ’Twas when the seas were roaring, G. F. Handel) (Sydney, 1838) – FIRST MODERN PERFORMANCE

[4] Words by Eliza Hamilton Dunlop (c.1796-1880): Your Eyes Have the Twin-Star's Light (Tune: The Foggy Dew, arr. Edward Bunting) (Sydney, 1839) – FIRST MODERN PERFORMANCE

[5] William Joseph Cavendish (1789-1839): Fairy Quadrilles and Waltzes (Sydney, 1833) – FIRST MODERN PERFORMANCE (arr. for pianoforte trio): [i] Pantalon (Radoma); [ii] L’Été (Betanimena); [iii] Poule (Kurry Jong); [iv] Pastourelle (Woo-loo-moo-loo) [sic]; [v] Finale (Matitanana); [vi] Waltz No. 1; [vii] Waltz No. 2

PART 2

[1] Henry Rowley Bishop (1787-1856): Overture to Guy Mannering (arr. for pianoforte trio)

[2] John Barnett (1802-1890), music; Harry Stoe van Dyk (1797-1828), words: The Light Guitar

[3] Alexander Lee (1802-1851), music; Thomas Haynes Bayly (1797-1839), words: Come Where the Aspens Quiver

[4] Henri Herz (1803-1838): Variations brillantes sur un thème favori de l'opéra de Zampa [by Hérold]

[5] Words by ‘M, of Anambaba’ (John McGarvie): The Exile of Erin on the Plains of Emu (Tune: The Exile of Erin) (Sydney, 1829)

[6] William Ellard (d. c. 1838/39): The Much Admired Australian Quadrilles (Dublin and Sydney, 1835) (arr. for pianoforte trio): [i] La Sydney; [ii] La Wooloomooloo [sic]; [iii] La Illawarra; [iv] La Bong-Bong; [v] La Engehurst