“Dedicated to the colonial music-loving public”: New Zealand’s published music 1850-1913

Abstract

The work of most of New Zealand’s colonial composers is frequently dismissed as ephemeral, yet the sheer volume of activity suggests that the role and influence of this music deserve to be further understood. During the period 1850 to 1913 over 900 pieces of music with New Zealand associations were published by over 250 individual composers. This thesis explores the contexts in which this activity took place and its social and cultural importance in the fledgling colony. Be they settlers or touring artists, musicians came to New Zealand in the nineteenth century complete with their own familiar and established traditions. Neither the population nor the socio-economic structure could support full-time composers. Settler musicians were primarily music teachers and/or church organists who also turned their hand to composition from time to time. Music was published that addressed the colony’s need for entertainment, for religious services, as expressions of celebration and of loss. Although the music was in forms and styles popular in Britain and elsewhere, these generic pieces nonetheless contributed to New Zealand’s nation-building through the use of New Zealand names and symbols, albeit in a simple and romanticised manner. Alongside these composers were publishers, usually music retailers such as Begg’s and Eady’s, who considered it part of their roles to encourage local composers. Music was also published in newspapers and magazines, adding to the available resources of music for the colonial music-loving public. The stories of these composers and publishers contribute to a broader understanding of the New Zealand colonial musical experience, one that has parallels in the settler colonies of Australia and Canada. Rather than dismissing this material, it should be valued for what it is and as evidence of the full engagement by the composers in the opportunities available to them. The works remain as testimony to the output of composers and publishers who addressed the interests of a musically active public. Traditions have to start somewhere and beginnings are just that: early and often tentative developments which create an environment and an expectation that others will follow.