Isaac Nathan

Isaac Nathan
Isaac Nathan c. 1820;[1] artist unknown, probably one of Lord Byron's portraitists.
Bornc. 1791
Canterbury, Great Britain
Died(1864-01-15)January 15, 1864
Sydney, New South Wales
Occupation(s)Composer, musicologist, journalist
RelativesBarnett Nathan (brother)

Isaac Nathan (1792 – 15 January 1864)[2] was an English composer, musicologist, journalist and self-publicist, who has been called the "father of Australian music",[3] having assisted the careers of numerous colonial musicians during his twenty year residence in Australia.[4] He is best known for the success of his Hebrew Melodies (1815–1840) in London. However, he made significant contributions as a singing teacher and music historian during his time at St James Palace and as a composer of opera in the Royal Theatres (1823–1833). After emigrating to Australia in 1840, Nathan wrote Australia's first operas and Australia's first contemporary song cycle which entangled fragments of Aboriginal songlines with European musical traditions. Nathan tailored compositions to the unique individual singing needs of his students and community choirs while using the Neapolitan bel canto pedagogical tradition that he inherited in London. Nathan's best student was Dame Marie Carandini.[5]

  1. ^ National Library of Australia nla.pic-an2292675
  2. ^ Mackerras, Catherine (1967). "Nathan, Isaac (1790–1864)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  3. ^ scheme=AGLSTERMS. AglsAgent; corporateName=State Library of New South Wales; address=1 Shakespeare Place, Sydney (28 April 2016). "Isaac Nathan and George Goodman". www.sl.nsw.gov.au.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ https://reporter.anu.edu.au/father-australian-music [bare URL]
  5. ^ Crowden, David (2024). Isaac Nathan (1792–1864) and his contributions to Australian music in the mid–nineteenth century: a foundational fusion of musical traditions in New South Wales (1841–1864). PhD Thesis, School of Music, The University of Queensland.https://doi.org/10.14264/06ca19e