Victorian Sheet Music
Locally published sheet music began to appear in Sydney music stores in the late 1830s. By the 1850s the trickle had become a flood and Australian compositions, as well as Australian editions of British and American hits, sat side by side with their imported counterparts in the homes of music makers in Sydney and the country.
This collection of songs belonged to Isabel Throsby (1844–1901) of Throsby Park, Moss Vale. A number were sung by Isabel while studying at the Australian Ladies College, Sydney. The pieces were bound together at the time of Isabel’s marriage to Alick Osborne and her move to their home in Kangaroo Valley in 1861.
Volume of sheet music bound by Isabel Martha Throsby (1844-1901) of Throsby Park. Caroline Simpson Library & Research Collection, Sydney Living Museums.
The pieces below come from a bound volume of sheet music that was also located at Throsby Park and appears to have belonged to Miss Elizabeth Gittins (1834-1932), governess to the children of the house, between the mid-1880s and early 1900s. These publications were collected in Sydney soon after the arrival of Elizabeth and her family from the north of England in 1852.
Summer Roses
Cover, ‘Summer roses’ by Stephen Glover, 1856, from Throsby Park. Full details can be found on our Library Catalogue.
Cushla Machree
Cover, ‘Cushla Machree’, c1857, from Throsby Park. Full details can be found on our Library Catalogue.
I Cannot Sing Tonight
Cover of 'I cannot sing tonight' by L Lavenu, c1857, from Throsby Park. Full details can be found on our Library Catalogue.
Gentle Annie
Cover of 'Gentle Annie', c1858 from Throsby Park. Full details about this item can be found on our Library Catalogue.
Gerty's song of the star
Cover, ‘Gerty's song of the star’ by Stephen Glover, c1855, from Throsby Park. Full details about this item can be found on our Library Catalogue.
Moonlight and Melody
Cove of 'Moonlight and Melody', words by Charles Jefferys ; music by Verdi, c1855, from Throsby Park. Full details about this item can be found on our Library Catalogue
L' Echo du Mont Blanc
Cover, 'L'echo du Mont Blanc polka', by Jullien, c1855, from Throsby Park. Full details for this item can be found in our Library Catalogue
The Queen's waltz
Cover, 'The Queen's waltz', by Charles D'Albert, c1857, from Throsby Park. Full details for this album can be found on our Library Catalogue
Ben Bolt
Cover, ‘Ben Bolt’, arranged by J.C. Rainer, c1852, from Throsby Park. Full details of this item can be found on our Library Catalogue
Merchandising music
Fashion plates from Rudolph Ackermann's ' 'The repository of arts, literature, fashions &c', depicting a woman holding a harp lute (left, April 1819) and a woman standing at a piano (right, December 1824). Caroline Simpson Library & Research Collection, Sydney Living Museums.
From the earliest decades of the nineteenth century, musical instruments and publications were promoted in periodicals sent to Australia. The range of instruments available to Sydneysiders through local retailers also grew over the century and department store catalogues reveal a cornucopia of musical temptations by the early 1900s.
![Feldheim, Gotthelf & Co. [trade catalogue], circa 1905](https://sydneylivingmuseums.com.au/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/COL_CSLRC_recno04598_01TitlePage.jpg?itok=n3xkCCM2)
Title page of trade catalogue produced in 1905 by Feldheim, Gotthelf & Co., listing pianos, organs, and musical instruments amongst the items for sale. Caroline Simpson Library & Research Collection, Sydney Living Museums.