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‘I Love Thee Still’

Even the simplest, shortest tunes could be a florid affair in the 19th century when a performer put their mind to it. Both male and female singers were taught to add extra notes to a song to demonstrate both skill and taste.

This copy of ‘I Love Thee Still’ was published in London (1833) and purchased from the Sydney music seller Francis Ellard sometime before 1840. The song was found at Rouse Hill Estate in a bound collection of music called the Dowling Songbook and contains the pencil markings of its earliest owners. Written by Jonathan Blewitt (born 1782), this song is typical of the light and often humorous ballads and ditties produced by this composer. English born, Blewitt spent some time in Ireland working on a new music teaching method with J.B. Logier. The Logerian system was quickly adopted by music teachers in Ireland and Britain and included group tuition and a series of published exercises such as this surviving example from 32 Exercises from Sequel to the First Companion to the Chiroplast, which was purchased and used in Sydney in the 1830s.

Despite some of his songs being extremely popular and copies printed in Great Britain, Ireland and North America, as well as freely available in Australia, Blewitt died in abject poverty in 1853.

Watch the performance

In his performance of ‘I Love Thee Still’, James Doig interprets the penciled ornaments found in the score along with the quite extensive printed ornaments. Take a listen and then have a go yourself! We have created the only available recording of this song, so we’ve added a couple of other tunes by the composer. Why not help us share more versions with the world.

Supported by: City of Sydney

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