John Joseph Slater (1872- 16 May 1926) was an Australian composer of popular and light classical works. He operated a music publishing company in Leichardt and blended his product with sheet music from other sources in Haymarket, Sydney. He wrote under several alias names and is commonly known as Felix Le Roy.[1][2] Slater was active in variety theatre, particularly the company of Harry Rickards[3]

Joe Slater

His mature works include a series of favourably mentioned [4] impressions for cornet, violin and piano trio - Bells of Peace, Spring Morning and Day Dreams. Slater's song A Faded Leaf of Shamrock sold six editions.[5] Slater's more popular variety theatre pieces [6] enjoyed larger reprints, especially One of these Days ran to a hundred and seventy five editions.[7]

Works

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Seventy published titles are preserved in Australian libraries.

  • 1916 Melody of Peace [8][9]
  • Spring Morning
  • Day Dreams
  • 1917 One of these days
  • 1914 Somebody's calling the cooee call [10]
  • 1916 I'd Like to Call You Sweetheart [11]
  • 1913 Your eyes are the light of my world [12][13]

Recordings

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  • 2001 We'd fly the green above us, A bird with a broken wing (Heritage Singers) [14]
  • 2013 Why can't each nation be at peace?, Lonely (Wirripang) [15]

References

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  1. ^ "MR. J. J. SLATER". Sydney Morning Herald. 17 May 1926. p. 12 – via Trove.
  2. ^ "Joe Slater Publishing Company". socialarchive.iath.virginia.edu.
  3. ^ "MR. J. J. SLATER". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 27, 570. New South Wales, Australia. 17 May 1926. p. 12. Retrieved 19 December 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. ^ "NEW MUSIC". The Daily Telegraph. No. 11373. New South Wales, Australia. 23 October 1915. p. 10. Retrieved 19 December 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. ^ "A POPULAR BALLAD". The Catholic Press. No. 918. New South Wales, Australia. 24 July 1913. p. 30. Retrieved 19 December 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. ^ "PERSONAL". The Brisbane Courier. Vol. LXVI, no. 16, 070. Queensland, Australia. 14 July 1909. p. 7. Retrieved 19 December 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. ^ "Trove".
  8. ^ "Category:Le Roy, Felix - IMSLP/Petrucci Music Library: Free Public Domain Sheet Music". imslp.org.
  9. ^ "BAND MUSIC". Sunday Times. 28 May 1916. p. 6 – via Trove.
  10. ^ "Somebody's calling the cooee call [music]". nla.gov.au.
  11. ^ Jerome, W.; Le Roy, Felix. "I'd like to call you sweetheart [music]". Sydney, Australia: Joe Slater Publishing. Retrieved 5 February 2020 – via nla.gov.au.
  12. ^ "YOUR EYES ARE THE LIGHT OF MY WORLD". The Sunday Times. No. 1465. New South Wales, Australia. 15 February 1914. p. 7. Retrieved 19 December 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  13. ^ Le Roy, Felix, 1872-1926; McAlister, Ward, 1872-1926; Nugent, John, Your eyes are the light of my world [music] : song / lyrics by Ward McAlister & John E. Nugent ; music by Felix Le Roy, Tozer & Keil{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  14. ^ "CD: Federation polka : Australian songs of the Federation era. [2001] : Product : Australian Music Centre". www.australianmusiccentre.com.au.
  15. ^ "That Bloody Game". australiancomposers.com.au.