"The Song of Australia" was composed as the result of 1859 competition to create a "patriotic song", sponsored by the Gawler Institute in

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

. The winning lyrics were written by an English-born poet,

Caroline Carleton ] Caroline Carleton (6 October 1811 – 10 July 1874) was an English-born South Australian poet who is best known for her prize-winning poem " Song of Australia", which, put to a tune by Carl Linger, was used as a patriotic song in South Austr ...

, and the music chosen by the judges was composed by the German-born

Carl Linger Carl Linger (15 March 1810 – 16 February 1862) was a German Australian composer in South Australia who in 1859 wrote the melody for the patriotic " Song of Australia". German-born intellectual Carl Linger, who had studied at the Institute of ...

(1810-1862), a prominent member of the Australian Forty-Eighters. It was one of the options in the 1977 plebiscite to choose a new Australian National Anthem, in which it was preferred by South Australians, but lost in the other states to "

Advance Australia Fair "Advance Australia Fair" is the national anthem of Australia. Written by Scottish-born Australian composer Peter Dodds McCormick, the song was first performed as a patriotic song in Australia in 1878. It replaced "God Save the King, God Save th ...

Contest

On 1 October 1859, the ''

South Australian Register ''The Register'', originally the ''South Australian Gazette and Colonial Register'', and later ''South Australian Register,'' was South Australia's first newspaper. It was first published in London in June 1836, moved to Adelaide in 1837, and ...

'' announced: A few weeks later, the judges announced the winner, and the second stage of the competition: The winner was announced in early November:

Lyrics

This is the poem as published in

The South Australian Register ''The Register'', originally the ''South Australian Gazette and Colonial Register'', and later ''South Australian Register,'' was South Australia's first newspaper. It was first published in London in June 1836, moved to Adelaide in 1837, and ...

on 21 October 1859:

Criticism

Publication of Caroline Carleton's poem caused immediate controversy, generally along the lines that it was nice poetry, but "too tame". One person regretted that nothing more inspiring than the colour of the sky and the prettiness of the scenery could be found for the poem. Another wondered "how hidden wealth could gleam in the darkness". Someone else complained that the poem could equally refer to, say,

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, while another commentator longed for a time when such a peaceful song accorded with international politics, and regretted that the contest was restricted to South Australians, that the prize was so paltry, and there was no mention of sheep. The ''Advertiser'' of 24 October, gave a spirited defence of the judges, and of Mrs. Carleton's poem, culminating in several parodies purporting to be the "real Song of Australia".

Performances and public reaction

One of its first public performances was by the

Adelaide Liedertafel The Adelaide Liedertafel (Die Adelaider Liedertafel) is a traditional German male choir, one of several ''Liedertafeln'', or song societies, in the history of Adelaide and South Australia. It is Australia's oldest male choir. History The first "A ...

, conducted by Herr Linger, for a

South Australian Institute The State Library of South Australia, or SLSA, formerly known as the Public Library of South Australia, located on North Terrace, Adelaide, is the official library of the Australian state of South Australia. It is the largest public research li ...

soirée at

White's Rooms White's Rooms, later known as Adelaide Assembly Room, was a privately owned function centre which opened in 1856 on King William Street, Adelaide, South Australia. It became Garner's Theatre in 1880, then passed through several hands, being know ...

King William Street, Adelaide King William Street is the part of a major arterial road that traverses the CBD and centre of Adelaide, continuing as King William Road to the north of North Terrace and south of Greenhill Road; between South Terrace and Greenhill Road it i ...

, on 14 December 1859. The song, played by orchestra and chorus under Professor

Joshua Ives Joshua Ives (2 May 1854 – 16 June 1931)Doreen Bridges, 'Ives, Joshua (1854–1931)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/ives-joshua-6807/text11777, pub ...

, was a feature of the opening ceremony of the

Adelaide Jubilee International Exhibition The Adelaide International Jubilee Exhibition of 1887 was a celebration of the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria, 50th anniversary of Queen Victoria's accession to the throne on 20 June 1837, held in Adelaide, South Australia in 1887. It was also ...

in 1887. "Song of Australia" was a particular favourite of the Australian baritone

Peter Dawson Peter Dawson may refer to: People *Peter Dawson (bass-baritone) (1882–1961), Australian bass-baritone who gained worldwide renown in the 1920s and 1930s *Peter Dawson, chief winemaker of the Hardy Wine Company *Peter Dawson (politician) (1892� ...

. who called it "the finest national anthem ever written". His notable performances included: *Recital in London as a duet with Richard Nitschke in 1905. *Duet with

Clara Serena Clara Serena Kleinschmidt (9 June 1890 – 11 August 1972) was an Australian operatic contralto singer, professionally known as Clara Serena. She had a successful career in London and in Europe, which was interrupted by the World War I, and resum ...

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in the London Borou ...

on (the then)

Australia Day Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. Observed annually on 26 January, it marks the 1788 landing of the First Fleet and raising of the Flag of Great Britain, Union Flag of Great Britain by Arthur Phillip at Sydney Cove, a ...

24 July 1924. *A gramophone recording

His Master's Voice His Master's Voice is an entertainment trademark featuring a dog named Nipper, curiously peering into the horn of a wind-up gramophone. Painted by Francis Barraud in 1898, the image has since become a global symbol used across consumer elect ...

EA1003 of Dawson and vocal quartet singing "Song of Australia" was released in 1932.

Proposed national anthem

In 1924, George Edwin Yates, the federal member for

, proposed in parliament that the song be adopted as the national anthem. He proceeded to sing the first verse, despite the objections of his fellow members. The song was one of four included in a national plebiscite to choose Australia's national song in 1977. Nationwide it was the least popular of the four choices, but it had the distinction of being the most popular choice in

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

. This result can be attributed to the fact of "Advance Australia Fair" being exposed to schoolchildren in the more populous States, where "The Song of Australia" was sung in schools only in South Australia and, to a lesser extent, in

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

and

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

. The four songs in the plebiscite were "

Waltzing Matilda "Waltzing Matilda" is a song developed in the Australian style of poetry and folk music called a bush ballad. It has been described as the country's "unofficial national anthem". The title was Australian slang for travelling on foot (waltzing ...

"; the then anthem, "

God Save the Queen "God Save the King" ("God Save the Queen" when the monarch is female) is '' de facto'' the national anthem of the United Kingdom. It is one of two national anthems of New Zealand and the royal anthem of the Isle of Man, Australia, Canada and ...

"; the now current anthem, "

"; and "Song of Australia".

In popular culture

"Song of Australia" is featured in the TV series ''

ANZAC Girls ''ANZAC Girls'' is an Australian television drama series that first screened on ABC1 on 10 August 2014. The six-part series tells the rarely told true stories of the nurses serving with the Australian Army Nursing Service at Alexandria, Lemnos, a ...

'', episode 4, "Love", in which the Peter Dawson recording is played on a wind-up gramophone in several scenes, and sung in snatches by "Pat Dooley" ( Brandon McClelland) while digging a latrine pit.

References

External links

More history of "Song of Australia"Recording by the Royal Australian Navy Band
in

MP3 MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany under the lead of Karlheinz Brandenburg. It was designed to greatly reduce the amount ...

format {{DEFAULTSORT:Song of Australia, The 1859 songs Australian patriotic songs Gawler, South Australia