Georgette Augusta Christina Peterson (1863 – 19 April 1947) was a Hungarian-born composer, singer and pianist. Best known as Georgette Peterson, she conducted a choir of 1300 women at the 1907 Australian Exhibition of Women's Work.[1]
Georgette Peterson | |
|---|---|
| Born | Georgette Augusta Christina Lichtenstein 1863 Budapest, Hungary |
| Died | 19 April 1947 (aged 83–84) Swanage, Dorset, England |
| Occupation | Composer |
Life edit
Georgette Augusta Christina Lichtenstein was born in Budapest in 1863.[1]
She married Franklin Sievright Peterson in 1890 in Croydon, Surrey. She later accompanied him to Australia where he took up the professorship of music at the University of Melbourne, replacing George Marshall-Hall in 1901.[1]
Peterson conducted the 1300-voice choir of women at the opening of the Australian Exhibition of Women's Work held in Melbourne in 1907. Her orchestration for the Exhibition Ode, "God Guide Australia", was placed second to a version by Florence Maude Ewart. The Melbourne Punch reviewer, however, considered Peterson's superior in its "perennial flow of captivating and original melody".[2]
Peterson's husband died in 1914.[1] She lived in South Yarra during World War I and her son Franklin George Peterson (born in Edinburgh in 1891) served in Rabaul, Papua New Guinea in 1918.[3] She sailed for London in 1920 per the White Star liner, Ceramic.[4] After that, little is recorded of Peterson's life.[1]
She was living at Swanage in Dorset, England in 1943 when visited by Hubert Clifford of the BBC in 1943. He programmed some of her songs to celebrate Australia Day in England.[5]
In 1946 the Australian Broadcasting Commission produced a series of radio playlets written by G. K. Saunders which including bush songs by Peterson performed by child actress, eight-year-old Andrina Watton.[6][7]
Works edit
Collections edit
- Rentoul, Annie R. (1907), Australian Songs for Young and Old, Peterson, Georgette (composer); Outhwaite, Ida Rentoul (illustrator), George Robertson. Republished by George Robertson (1908), (1910), (1924)
- Rentoul, Annie R. (1910), Bush Songs of Australia for Young and Old, Peterson, Georgette (composer), George Robertson. Republished by Allan and Co. (1924), George Robertson (1924)
- Rentoul, Annie R. (1913), More Australian Songs for Young and Old, Peterson, Georgette (composer), George Robertson. Republished by Allan and Co. (1924)
- Rentoul, Annie R. (1936), Australian Bus Songs, Peterson, Georgette (composer), Allan and Co.
Songs edit
- Rentoul, Annie R. (1907), God Guide Australia, Peterson, Georgette (composer); Outhwaite, Ida Rentoul (illustrator)
- Rentoul, Annie R. (1910), Australia's Song of Empire, Peterson, Georgette (composer), George Robertson[8]
References edit
- ^ a b c d e f Patton, Faye E., "Georgette Augusta Christina Peterson (1863–1947)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 5 May 2024
- ^ "Women's Work Exhibition". Melbourne Punch. Vol. CVII, no. 2726. Victoria, Australia. 24 October 1907. p. 17. Retrieved 5 May 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Peterson, Franklin George Reginald". National Archives of Australia. Retrieved 5 May 2024.
- ^ "Passengers by S.S. Ceramic". The Argus (Melbourne). No. 23, 027. Victoria, Australia. 22 May 1920. p. 20. Retrieved 5 May 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ ""Bush Songs"". The Kadina and Wallaroo Times. Vol. LXXIX, no. 8023. South Australia. 19 March 1943. p. 3. Retrieved 5 May 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Actress and Vocalist at Eight". Daily Examiner. No. 9144. New South Wales, Australia. 16 July 1946. p. 4. Retrieved 5 May 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Andrina Watton – Tiniest A.B.C. Actress". Wodonga and Towong Sentinel. No. 3047. Victoria, Australia. 2 August 1946. p. 1. Retrieved 5 May 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "New Music". Australian Town and Country Journal. New South Wales, Australia. 9 November 1910. p. 55. Retrieved 5 May 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
External links edit
- Exhibition Ode, "God Guide Australia!", words by Annie R. Rentoul, music by Georgette Peterson and signed by both women
- "Australia's Song of Empire", dedicated to Lady Gibson Carmichael, words by Annie R. Rentoul, music by Georgette Peterson