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Magic Gum Tree

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Gumnut Pixies. by May Gibbs
Another example of Nursery Australiana

The Magic Gum Tree[1] is a musical comedy written in 1932 with music and lyrics by Australian composer Arline Sauer.[2]

The story involves an immigrant girl lost in the Australian outback who falls asleep and meets several dreamland characters. She is rescued by a group of Australian Aboriginal boys and returned safely home. The piece is a work of Australiana featuring Australian animals and characters. A Queensland reviewer thought it reminiscent of A. A. Milne.[3]


Musical numbers

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  • Overture
  • Ten Little Aboriginals
  • Gumnut Pixies (dance)
  • Dear Little Wattle Blossom
  • Ko-a-la
  • Hail! Thou Fair Land (duet)
  • Ten Little Aboriginals (Finale)

Productions

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  • 1934 Railway Institute, Sydney[4][5]
  • 1935 Melbourne[6]
  • 1935 Clermont, New South Wales[7]
  • 1935 Newcastle, New South Wales[8]
  • 1935 Lismore, New South Wales[9]
  • 1935 Parkside, South Australia[10]
  • 1936 Wayville, South Australia (selections)[11]
  • 1937 Trangie, New South Wales[12]
  • 1937 St George, Queensland[13]
  • 1937 Coffs Harbour[14]
  • 1937 Armidale, New South Wales[15]
  • 1938 Bundarra, New South Wales[16]
  • 1938 Maitland, New South Wales[17]
  • 1939 Hobart, Tasmania[18]
  • 1939 Canberra, ACT[19]
  • 1940 Wellington, New South Wales[20]
  • 1940 Carnarvon, Western Australia[21]
  • 1941 Cairns, Queensland[22]
  • 1941 Mount Barker, South Australia[23]
  • 1941 Newcastle, New South Wales[24]
  • 1942 Manilla, New South Wales[25]
  • 1942 Mudgee, New South Wales[26]
  • 1942 Rockhampton, New South Wales[27]
  • 1946 Burnie, Tasmania[28]
  • 1947 Forbes, New South Wales[29]
  • 1950 Pinnaroo, South Australia[30]

Carl and Arline Sauer

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Carl Sauer D. Mus., F.S.Sc.A. (London) (died 5 March 1951)[31] was a German-born musician, teacher and composer in Australia,[32] founder of the N.S.W. Youth Symphony Orchestra and Choir.[33]

Arline Estelle Lower (died 1990) was an Adelaide pianist[34] who, at around 16 years of age, achieved considerable success at the Easter 1912 competitions in Launceston.[35] She joined Sauer's concert party sometime around 1915[36] and married him in May 1924[37] and became generally known as Arline Sauer the following month.[38] They divorced in 1946[37] and the following year, as Arline Lower, acted as soloist and accompanist to Rosina Raisbeck on the mezzo-soprano's tour of Australia and New Zealand.[39] She continued to find favor as an accompanist in Sydney: for soprano Eleanor Houston, contralto Florence Taylor, tenor John Dudley, and baritone John Cameron. at the 1948 Carols by Candlelight,[40] and in 1949 for baritone Donald Graham and Betty Kable, the New Zealand violinist.[41]

Other works include:

  • Pixie-land (c. 1932): three songs for medium voice by Arline Lower
1. Pixie pipers
2. Pixie revels
3. Lullaby

Lower was active in promoting cross-cultural exchanges, founding president of the New Australians' Cultural Association, and founder of the Arline Lower Art Prize of 100 guineas.[42]

References

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  1. ^ Sauer, Arline (1934), The Magic Gum Tree : an Australian musical play for children, W. H. Paling & Co, retrieved 6 November 2024
  2. ^ "Prof. C. Sauer". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 25, 679. New South Wales, Australia. 24 April 1920. p. 14. Retrieved 6 June 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. ^ "Music and the Drama". The Courier-mail. No. 268. Queensland, Australia. 7 July 1934. p. 20. Retrieved 20 October 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. ^ "The Magic Gum Tree". Sydney Morning Herald. 27 August 1934.
  5. ^ "Sydney's Big Music Festival Launched". Sun. 26 August 1934.
  6. ^ "St. Dominic's School, East Camberwell". Advocate. 3 January 1935.
  7. ^ "Clermont". Central Queensland Herald. 12 December 1935.
  8. ^ "The Magic Gum Tree". Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate. 21 August 1935.
  9. ^ "Old Bonalbo School Concert". Northern Star. 30 August 1935.
  10. ^ "Convent of Mercy, Parkside". Southern Cross. 20 December 1935.
  11. ^ "Thousand Voices Concerts". Advertiser. 23 September 1936.
  12. ^ "Trangie Convent Concert". Narromine News and Trangie Advocate. 2 December 1937.
  13. ^ "Heralds of the King". Balonne Beacon. 23 September 1937.
  14. ^ "School Concert". Coffs Harbour Advocate. 7 December 1937.
  15. ^ "Armidale 51 Years Ago". Armidale Express and New England General Advertiser. 3 February 1939.
  16. ^ "Convent School Concert at Bundarra". Uralla Times. 15 December 1938.
  17. ^ "Musical Play". Maitland Daily Mercury. 2 July 1938.
  18. ^ "Glenorchy School Concert". Mercury. 14 December 1939.
  19. ^ "The Social Round in Canberra". Canberra Times. 13 December 1939.
  20. ^ "The Magic Gum Tree". Wellington Times. August 1940.
  21. ^ "Convent Concert". Northern Times. 28 November 1940.
  22. ^ "Japoon Notes". Cairns Post. 6 December 1941.
  23. ^ "St Scholastica's College". Mount Barker Courier and Onkaparinga and Gumeracha Advertiser. 18 December 1941.
  24. ^ "Islington School Concert". Newcastle Sun. 2 May 1941.
  25. ^ "Convent Concert". Manilla Express. 27 November 1942.
  26. ^ "Talented Tiny Tots". Mudgee Guardian and North-Western Representative. 24 August 1942.
  27. ^ "Rockhampton Diocese". Catholic Press. 22 January 1942.
  28. ^ "Advertising". Advocate. 8 November 1946.
  29. ^ "Convent Concert". Forbes Advocate. 26 September 1947.
  30. ^ "School Concert". Pinnaroo and Border Times. 21 December 1950.
  31. ^ "Family Notices". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 35, 321. New South Wales, Australia. 6 March 1951. p. 20. Retrieved 6 November 2024 – via National Library of Australia. married to Doris
  32. ^ "Colac Competitions". The Colac Herald. Vol. XLIII, no. 4593. Victoria, Australia. 29 April 1912. p. 5. Retrieved 6 November 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  33. ^ "Prof. Sauer dies suddenly". The Sun (Sydney). No. 12, 824. New South Wales, Australia. 6 March 1951. p. 2. Retrieved 6 November 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  34. ^ "Broadcast Recital". The Register News-pictorial. Vol. XCIV, no. 27, 277. South Australia. 17 January 1929. p. 4. Retrieved 6 November 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  35. ^ "Musical Notes". The Express and Telegraph. Vol. XLIX, no. 14, 600. South Australia. 27 April 1912. p. 3. Retrieved 6 June 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  36. ^ "Kapunda Herald". Kapunda Herald. Vol. LI, no. 3, 820. South Australia. 27 August 1915. p. 2. Retrieved 6 November 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  37. ^ Jump up to: a b "In Divorce". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 34, 004. New South Wales, Australia. 17 December 1946. p. 5. Retrieved 6 November 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  38. ^ "The World of Women". The Daily Telegraph (Sydney). No. 13, 893. New South Wales, Australia. 18 June 1924. p. 7. Retrieved 6 November 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  39. ^ "Mezzo-Soprano Is Six Feet One in Height". The Northern Star. New South Wales, Australia. 26 June 1947. p. 2. Retrieved 6 November 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  40. ^ "20,000 at Carols Festival". The Daily Telegraph (Sydney). Vol. X, no. 6. New South Wales, Australia. 26 December 1948. p. 8. Retrieved 6 November 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  41. ^ "Donald Graham's Recital". National Advocate. New South Wales, Australia. 8 March 1949. p. 2. Retrieved 6 November 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  42. ^ "Czech wins prize in migrant art contest". The Good Neighbour (newspaper). No. 23. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 1 June 1952. p. 3. Retrieved 7 November 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
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