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Music

Owner bound volume of assorted songs, in the collection of Rouse Hill House & Farm, 1850-1864. [music]

‘Home! Sweet Home!’

It may come as a surprise that the expression ‘home, sweet home’ originates from a song title

COL_R84_0862v.jpg

'Australian Flowers'

Given that much of the music played in Australia in the 19th century had been imported, one might ask what constituted an ‘Australian’ piece of music?  

Projector and slides.

1960s psychedelia at Rouse Hill House

In a short experimental period of music making, the talented young John Terry combined radical musical ideas with abstract imagery and the soundscape of Rouse Hill House

Portrait of a man with a white beard
On This Day

30 Nov 1878 - 'Advance Australia Fair' first performed

On 30 November 1878 Advance Australia Fair was performed for the first time.

Vue de George’s Street a Sydney [Nouvelle Galles du Sud]

A 'musical jolt' in early colonial Sydney

Imagine that moment when you first heard your favourite piece of music - something that excited, moved or surprised you. The early musical soundscape of Sydney was teeming with just such moments

Nyssa Milligan, singer, Historical Performance Unit, Sydney Conservatorium of Music

A musical tour back in time

Soprano Nyssa Milligan describes the experience of performing at Elizabeth Bay House in the recent collaboration between Museums of History NSW and the Sydney Conservatorium of Music

Colourful roses on the cover of a sheet music book.

A paper jukebox: exploring our sheet music collections

Musicologist Dr Graeme Skinner reflects on the historical and cultural significance of the sheet music collections from three historic properties belonging to Museums of History NSW

Musical instrument with music book open on stand above keyboard.

An unassuming instrument

By delving into an old harmonium at Rouse Hill Estate we hope to learn when it came into the house, who played it, and how we can best look after it

Elizabeth Bay House during the Bel Canto in the Bush recital

Bel Canto in the bush: opera and song in Sydney, 1835-1850

Guest of honour Maestro Richard Bonynge AC CBE joined a glittering crowd at Elizabeth Bay House for a concert of popular song from early nineteenth-century Sydney