1793: A Song of the Natives of New South Wales

摘要

‘A Song of the Natives of New South Wales’, written down in London in 1793, documents the first Australian Aboriginal song heard in Europe. The singers, Bennelong and his young kinsman Yemmerrawanne, were far from their Wangal homeland on the south bank of the Parramatta River in Sydney, New South Wales. Against the rhythmic beat of hardwood sticks clapped together they sang a universal theme, ‘in praise of their Lovers’. Their performance intrigued one listener, Edward Jones (1752-1824), the Welsh harpist, composer and bard to the Prince of Wales (later George IV), who published the words and score in Musical Curiosities in London in 1811.