Hearing the Music
of Early New South Wales
The Dowling Songbook
The Story
In 2011, Dr Graeme Skinner discovered an amazing find in the sheet music collection at Rouse Hill House & Farm. Tucked among the sheets, Skinner found a book of bound sheet music - a volume of British music for piano and voice which had likely been bound in Sydney in the early 1840s by the Sydney-based Francis Ellard.
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The book contained a number of transcriptions by a 'Miss Dickson', as well as other markings which suggested that music in the volume had been used for its owner for singing training.
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This was a find of national significance. It was one of the earliest collections of bound music from Australia.
Investigations by the staff at Sydney Living Museums' Caroline Simpson Library & Research Collection found that the volume contained songs owned and sung by Sydney couple, Lilias and Willoughby Dowling (after whom the book has been named). The fascinating life of the Dowlings is recounted here.
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A collaboration between the Sydney Living Museums (now Museums of History New South Wales) staff and the Sydney Conservatorium of Music has brought this incredible example of Australian music history to life.
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To explore the songbook for yourself and to see (and hear!) the songbook recreated, scroll below.
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With many thanks to Museums of History New South Wales and to the Historical Performance Unit at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.
Recreating the Dowling Songbook
Listen to the Past
Below is a selection of songs from the songbook which have been recreated and performed by musicians at a concert at Elizabeth Bay House, the Sydney Children's Choir at Rouse Hill Estate, and in the ‘Songs of Home’ exhibition.
Clicking on the scores will take you to the Museums of History New South Wales' YouTube Channel.
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Image Credit: James Taylor | Cockle Bay now Darling Harbour, ca. 1819-20 | State Library of New South Wales
'I Love Thee Still' (1830s) by Jonathan Blewitt. Performed by James Doig (voice and piano) | Score from the collections of MHNSW.
‘Light my Heart with Joy is Bounding’ (1838) by Carl Maria Von Weber. Performed by Nyssa Milligan (voice) and Katrina Faulds (piano) | Score from the collections of MHNSW.
‘The Light of Other Days’ (1836), words by Alfred Bunn; music by M. W. Balfe. Performed by Nyssa Milligan (voice) and Katrina Faulds (piano) | Score from the collections of MHNSW.
‘The Letter', Songs of the Superstitions of Ireland No.12, by Samuel Lover (c1839), from the collection of Rouse Hill Estate Performed by The Sydney Children's Choir | Score from the collections of MHNSW.
‘All round my hat’[manuscript copy], by John Valentine (1834), from the collection of Rouse Hill Estate performed by Jacqueline Ward (voice) and Neal Peres Da Costa (piano). Score from the collections of MHNSW.
Publications
Neal Peres Da Costa, Helen Mitchell & Matthew Stephens, ‘The Dowling Songbook Project: A Uniquely Australian Opportunity in HIP Learning’, in Creative Research in Music Informed Practice, Innovation and Transcendence, Anna Reid, Neal Peres Da Costa & Jeanell Carrigan (eds.) (Abingdon Oxon; New York: Routledge, 2021).
Helen Mitchell, Neal Peres Da Costa & Matthew Stephens, ‘The Dowling Songbook Project’, in Sound Heritage: Making Music Matter in Historic Houses, Jeanice Brooks, Matthew Stephens, Wiebke Thormählen (eds.) (Abingdon, Oxon; New York: Routledge, 2022).
Matthew Stephens, ‘From Piano Stool to Library Shelf: Reconnecting Library and Museum Owner-Bound Music Collections with Audiences’, in Memories of Musical Lives: Music and Dance in Personal Music Collections from Australia and New Zealand, Rosemary Richards & Julja Szuster (eds.) (Melbourne: Lyrebird Press, 2022).
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National Trust, Education and Interpretation - Dowling Songbook