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‘Hearts and Homes’

Little-known today, composer and music publisher John Blockley (1800-1882) was well-represented in the drawing rooms of Sydney in the 19th century. His biggest hit in Australia was in the 1860s with his composition ‘Jessie’s Dream: The Story of the ‘Relief of Lucknow’’.

John Blockley’s ballads are loved and well-used pieces in the Rouse music collection, with many of the pages marked up with pencil additions and torn at the edges. Blockley’s sacred songs, for home performance on a Sunday, as well as some of these secular ballads are found both in bound volumes and as loose sheet music in the collection.

‘Hearts and Homes’ was a minor hit in Sydney for mezzo soprano Flora Harris (1832-1905), whose name features on an edition of the song published by local music firm Woolcott & Clarke. Songs in the Rouse Hill Estate collection are often intimately connected to professional singers, like Flora, whose performances made these songs popular hits at the time. Examples of concert-related sheet music merchandise were found in the collections of many households. A volume of music belonging to Flora Harris’ sister, Haidee, can also be found in our digital collection.

Watch the performance

Listen to Nicole, and her father, special guest James Forsyth, perform ‘Hearts and Homes’. 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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