Elizabeth Bay House Concert: Echo’s Song by William Vincent Wallace

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

Koen van Stade (tenor)
Neal Peres Da Costa (pianoforte)

For two years from early 1836 to early 1838, Sydney was home to the young Irish violinist, pianist and composer William Vincent Wallace. The musical offspring of leading local families lined up for the honour of receiving music lessons from him, and were the target market for the only two pieces of sheet music he published here. The first was Echo’s Song, to words by Sydney attorney Robert Stewart, and dedicated to Wallace’s cousin, Maria Logan, who was herself later Sydney’s leading society piano teacher. The second was a set of original piano variations on a popular waltz by Johann Strauss II.

‘On the Plains of Emu: Settler Art Music in Early NSW’, Elizabeth Bay House, Sydney, 27 February 2022. A concert presented by the Sydney Living Museums Foundation and Hearing the Music of Early New South Wales 1788-1860, Conservatorium of Music, The University of Sydney. Australian Research Discovery Project DP210101511 – 2021–24.

Видео Elizabeth Bay House Concert: Echo’s Song by William Vincent Wallace канала Museums of History NSW