A musical year
Music in 1913 was one of the most popular entertainments. Australian performing artists and musicians were drawn to Europe, and many, including Percy Grainger, Nellie Melba and Florrie Forde, were hugely successful there. In Australia’s cities, receptive audiences flocked to concerts, the opera and the ballet, where many of the performances were by touring artists and companies.
Australians sang around the piano or pianola at home, or flocked to concerts. Newspapers keenly followed the visits of artists from abroad, as well as the performances of Australians achieving success internationally. The quality of recorded music was rapidly improving, and many households could boast a phonograph or gramophone. Opera, popular song and vaudeville performances are all represented in this selection.
Explore the slideshow of images below and listen to recordings of Borneo Gardiner, Dame Clara Butt, Lillian Nordica, Peter Dawson, John McCormack, Florence Austral and Dame Nellie Melba.
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Borneo Gardiner
New Zealand siffleur (whistler) Borneo Gardiner, 1913, silver gelatin photograph by May and Mina Moore. Picture Collection, State Library of Victoria.
Borneo Gardiner was a minor sensation on the vaudeville circuit in 1913. A champion whistler, he performed a range of bird calls, light classics and popular airs to enthusiastic audiences.
Listen to New Zealand siffleur (whistler) Borneo Gardiner performing 'Il bacio' (MP3 3.8mb)
Music by Luigi Arditi recorded by Pathé Frères 29001, about 1915.
Dame Clara Butt
English opera singers Kennerley Rumford and Clara Butt, 1913, silver gelatin photograph by May and Mina Moore. Picture Collection, State Library of Victoria.
It was said of Clara Butt that ‘on a clear day, you could have heard her across the English channel’. In 1913 the renowned contralto and her husband, baritone Kennerley Rumford, came to Australia. Their tour included the first performance at Tait’s Auditorium, Melbourne. ‘Land of hope and glory’ was the most popular inclusion in their concerts.
Listen to English contralto Dame Clara Butt singing 'Land of hope and glory' (MP3 4.4mb)
Music by Sir Edward Elgar and words by Arthur Christopher Benson, conducted by Arthur Godfrey, recorded by His Master's Voice HMV 03510, March 1915.
Dear land of hope, thy hope is crowned,
God make thee mightier yet!
On sovereign brows, beloved, renowned,
Once more thy crown is set.
Thine equal laws, by Freedom gained,
Have ruled thee well and long;
By Freedom gained, by Truth maintained,
Thine Empire shall be strong.
Chorus
Land of hope and glory, mother of the free,
How shall we extol thee, who are born
of thee?
Wider still and wider shall thy bounds be set;
God, who made thee mighty, make thee
mightier yet,
God, who made thee mighty, make thee
mightier yet.
Lillian Nordica
American soprano Lillian Nordica, about 1913, photograph by The Dover Street Studios, London. Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales, P1/1241.
Listen to American soprano Lillian Nordica singing 'Mighty lak' a rose’ (MP3 3mb)
Music by Ethelbert Nevin and words by Frank L Stanton, recorded by Columbia 30486, April 1910.
Sweetest little fellow everybody knows
Don’t know what to call him but
he's mighty like a rose
Looking at his mammy with eyes
so shiny blue
Makes you think that heav'n is coming
close to you.
When he’s there a'sleepin' in his little place
Think I see the angels looking through
the lace.
When the dark is fallin' when the
shadows creep
Then they comes on tip-toe to kiss him
in his sleep.
Sweetest little fellow everybody knows
Don’t know what to call him but he's
mighty like a rose
Looking at his mammy with eyes so
shiny blue
Makes you think that heav'n is coming
close to you.
Peter Dawson
Australian baritone Peter Dawson. National Library of Australia, vn4762204.
Listen to Australian baritone Peter Dawson singing 'Song of Australia' (MP3 3.8mb)
Music by Carl Linger and words by Caroline Carleton, conducted by Lawrance Collingwood, recorded by His Master's Voice HMV EA 1093, February 1932.
There is a land where summer skies
Are gleaming with a thousand dyes,
Blending in witching harmonies,
in harmonies;
And grassy knoll, and forest height,
Are flushing in the rosy light,
And all above is azure bright –
Australia! Australia!
Australia.
There is a land where homesteads peep
From sunny plain and woodland steep,
And love and joy bright vigils keep,
bright vigils keep;
Where the glad voice of childish glee
Is mingling with the melody
Of nature's hidden minstrelsy –
Australia! Australia!
Australia.
There is a land where, floating free,
From mountain top to girdling sea,
A proud flag waves exultingly, exultingly;
And Freedom's sons the banner bear,
No shackled slave can breathe the air,
Fairest of Britain’s daughters fair –
Australia! Australia!
Australia.
Australia! Australia!
Australia.
John McCormack
Irish tenor John McCormack, silver gelatin photograph by Mina Moore. Picture Collection, State Library of Victoria.
John McCormack first toured Australia in 1911 with Dame Nellie Melba. By 1913 he had left opera to tour a program of arias, ballads and Irish songs. The programs for his farewell concerts in Sydney were decided by public ballot.
Listen to Irish tenor John McCormack singing 'Killarney' (MP3 5.2mb)
Music by Michael W Balfe and words by Edmund Falconer, recorded by Victor 74157, January 1910.
By Killarney's lakes and fells,
Emerald isles and winding bays;
Mountain paths and woodland dells,
Mem'ry ever fondly strays.
Bounteous nature loves all lands
Beauty wanders ev'rywhere;
Footprints leaves on many strand,
But her home is surely there!
Angels fold their wings and rest,
In that Eden of the west
Beauty's home Killarney,
Ever fair Killarney.
No place else can charm the eye,
With such bright and varied tints,
Ev’ry rock that you pass by,
Verdure broiders or besprints.
Virgin there the green grass grows
Ev'ry morn spring's natal day;
Bright-hued berries daff the snows,
Smiling winter’s frown away.
Angels often pausing there,
Doubt if Eden were more fair,
Beauty's home Killarney,
Ever fair Killarney.
Florence Austral
Australian soprano Florence Austral. State Library of Victoria.
Music and words by Richard Wagner, conducted by Spencer Clay, recorded by His Master’s Voice (unpublished), September 1922.
Hojotoho! hojotoho! heiaha! heiaha!
Hojotoho! hojotoho! heiaha! heiaha!
Hojotoho! hojotoho! hojotoho! hojotoho!
Heiaha ha! hojoho!
On a high peak she stops, looks into the gorge
at the back, and calls to Wotan:
Take warning, Father, look to thyself;
Storm and strife must thou withstand.
Fricka comes to thee here,
Drawn hither in her car by her rams.
Hei! how she swings the golden scourge!
The wretched beasts are groaning
with fear;
Wheels furiously rattle;
Fierce she fares to the fray.
In strife like this I take no delight,
Though I take joy in the fights of men;
Then take now thy stand for the storm:
I leave thee with mirth to thy fate.
Hojotoho! hojotoho! heiaha! heiaha!
Hojotoho! hojotoho! heiaha! heiaha!
Hojotoho! hojotoho! hojotoho! hojotoho!
Heiaha ha!
