Magic Gum Tree

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

Gumnut Pixies. by May Gibbs
Another example of Nursery Australiana

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

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

Productions

• 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

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

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. "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.

External links

• Piano/vocal score with dialogue