Georgette Augusta Christina Peterson (1863 – 19 April 1947) was a Hungarian-born composer, singer and pianist. Best known as Georgette Peterson, she conducted a choir of 1300 women at the 1907

Australian Exhibition of Women's Work The first Australian Exhibition of Women's Work was a national exhibition held over thirty-nine days in 1907 in Melbourne, and in the seventh year of the country's Federation of Australia, Federation. The exhibition was a celebration of the creat ...

Life

Georgette Augusta Christina Lichtenstein was born in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

in 1863. She married Franklin Sievright Peterson in 1890 in Croydon, Surrey. She later accompanied him to Australia where he took up the professorship of music at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

, replacing George Marshall-Hall in 1901. Peterson conducted the 1300-voice choir of women at the opening of the Australian Exhibition of Women's Work held in Melbourne in 1907. Her orchestration for the Exhibition Ode, "God Guide Australia", was placed second to a version by

Florence Maude Ewart Florence Maude Ewart (16 November 1864c.8 November 1949) was an English violinist, music educator and composer who lived and worked in Australia. Biography Florence Donaldson was born in Kentish Town, London, the daughter of accountant Frederi ...

. The Melbourne ''Punch'' reviewer, however, considered Peterson's superior in its "perennial flow of captivating and original melody". Peterson's husband died in 1914. She lived in South Yarra during World War I and her son Franklin George Peterson (born in Edinburgh in 1891) served in Rabaul, Papua New Guinea in 1918. She sailed for London in 1920 per the White Star liner, ''Ceramic''. After that, little is recorded of Peterson's life. She was living at

Swanage Swanage () is a coastal town and civil parish in the south east of Dorset, England. It is at the eastern end of the Isle of Purbeck and one of its two towns, approximately south of Poole and east of Dorchester, Dorset, Dorchester. In the Unit ...

in Dorset, England in 1943 when visited by

Hubert Clifford __NOTOC__ Hubert John Clifford (31 May 1904 – 4 September 1959) was an Australian-born British composer, conductor and musical director for films. Education and early career A native of Bairnsdale in rural Victoria, he studied chemistry befor ...

of the BBC in 1943. He programmed some of her songs to celebrate Australia Day in England. In 1946 the

Australian Broadcasting Commission The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia’s principal public service broadcaster. It is funded primarily by grants from the federal government and is administered by a government-appointed board of directors. The ABC is a ...

produced a series of radio playlets written by G. K. Saunders which including bush songs by Peterson performed by child actress, eight-year-old Andrina Watton. She died at

on 19 April 1947.

Works

Collections

* . Republished by George Robertson (1908), (1910), (1924) * . Republished by Allan and Co. (1924), George Robertson (1924) * . Republished by Allan and Co. (1924) *

Songs

* *

References

External links

* Exhibition Ode
"God Guide Australia!"
words by Annie R. Rentoul, music by Georgette Peterson and signed by both women
"Australia's Song of Empire"
dedicated to Lady Gibson Carmichael, words by Annie R. Rentoul, music by Georgette Peterson {{DEFAULTSORT:Peterson, Georgette 1863 births 1947 deaths Hungarian women composers Australian women composers Hungarian women singers Hungarian women pianists Australian women pianists Musicians from Budapest