‘Katty Darling’

This song reveals a cheeky disregard for copyright and how trying to identify the national identity of a tune can lead you down a slippery slope!

The song ‘Katty Darling’ uses a tune originally called ‘Vaga Luna’, written by Italian opera composer Vincenzo Bellini (1801-1835). The practice of appropriating an existing popular tune and adding new lyrics had a long tradition in Britain leading into the 19th century. In Sydney, this approach was repeated in musical plays such as ‘The Currency Lass’, which was first performed in the 1840s.

‘Katty Darling’ has a curious genesis with at least three different sets of words published against the same tune within less than a decade. First appearing in London’s musical subscription journal ‘The Musical Bouquet’, in 1849, the song traces the wooing of a young maid by her lover. In 1851, a darker version was published in the USA where the beloved ‘Katy’ has died, and the singer is lamenting by her graveside. Less than a decade later, the same tune called ‘Katy Darling’ appeared in a Boston publication consisting mainly of Irish jigs and reels. How an Italian opera tune became recast as an Irish tune quite so quickly is a mystery, and perhaps best solved in a pub of the time!

Two locally printed copies of ‘Katty Darling’, published in the mid-1850s, have been found at Rouse Hill Estate. Both versions are associated with Anna Bishop, the famous English soprano. Miss Bishop toured through both the USA and Australia, and possibly commissioned this different set of words for her audiences. ‘Katty Darling’ and ‘Katy Darling’ were sold in large print runs from the 1850s and remained popular for at least another 60 years.

Watch the performance

Listen to David Greco introduce and perform ‘Katty Darling’. Dan Walker has prepared a song line and guitar chords to also help you along with your version. This is the only known recording of this song so you can help us share more versions with the world.

This video was recorded at home in 2020 during a COVID-19 lockdown.

Supported by: City of Sydney

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