] Louis Isidore Lavater (2 March 1867 – 22 May 1953) was an Australian composer and author born in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, of Swedish extraction. He published more than a hundred musical works. He prepared musical settings of popular

folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...

by collaborating with well known Australian lyricists of his time, including

Banjo Paterson Andrew Barton "Banjo" Paterson, (17 February 18645 February 1941) was an Australian bush poet, journalist and author. He wrote many ballads and poems about Australian life, focusing particularly on the rural and outback areas, including the ...

Henry Lawson Henry Archibald Hertzberg Lawson (17 June 1867 – 2 September 1922) was an Australian writer and bush poet. Along with his contemporary Banjo Paterson, Lawson is among the best-known Australian poets and fiction writers of the colonial perio ...

and

Mary Gilmore Dame Mary Jean Gilmore (née Cameron; 16 August 18653 December 1962) was an Australian writer and journalist known for her prolific contributions to Australian literature and the broader national discourse. She wrote both prose and poetry. Gi ...

. He was a leading proponent of the Australian

bush ballad The bush ballad, bush song or bush poem is a style of poetry and folk music that depicts the life, character and scenery of the Australian bush. The typical bush ballad employs a straightforward rhyme structure to narrate a story, often one of ...

as a vehicle for music education. In 1938,

Alfred Hill Alfred Hill may refer to: * Alfred John Hill (1862–1927), British railway engineer * Alfred Hill (cricketer, born 1865) (1865–1936), English cricketer * Alfred Hill (politician) (1867–1945), British Member of Parliament for Leicester West 192 ...

composed a musical setting of Lavater's verse ''Mopoke.'' Lavater's words were also set by Australian composers Doctor Ruby Davy and Fanny Turbayne.

Notoriety

Lavater was regarded as a gifted leader of music in rural Victoria. He was fondly known for his direction of Liedertafel concerts held between 1890 and 1920. In 1927 Gertrude Hart and Bernard Cronin founded the Society of Australian Authors. Cronin was president and Lavater and Hart were vice-presidents. Its aim was to raise the profile of Australian authors across Australia and also to welcome visiting writers. Cronin thought that the society became too political and it ceased to operate in 1936. An oil portrait of Louis Lavater by Rollo Thomson hangs in the State Library of Victoria. Lavater composed ballet orchestrations which played abroad and arranged

light opera Comic opera, sometimes known as light opera, is a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending and often including spoken dialogue. Forms of comic opera first developed in late 17th-century Italy. By the 1730s, a ne ...

. His piano miniatures have been recorded by

Larry Sitsky Lazar "Larry" Sitsky (born 10 September 1934) is an Australian composer, pianist, and music educator and scholar. His long term legacy is still to be assessed, but through his work to date he has made a significant contribution to the Austra ...

''The White Owl'' was revived in a 1961 recording by Jessica Dix and Arnold Matters.

Performances

Lavater's setting of ''The Old Bark Hut'' by Banjo Paterson was revived for a production of bush ballad musical ''Under the Coolibah Tree'' produced by the Waterside Worker's Union in 1956.

Musical works

* 1880 Queen Mab Waltz * 1891 Nina (Ballet) * 1895 Australis (''Australian Hymn'' words added by

Gallipoli The Gallipoli peninsula (; tr, Gelibolu Yarımadası; grc, Χερσόνησος της Καλλίπολης, ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles ...

correspondent John Sandes) * 1921 Demon Wind (appeared in a 1921 musical play ''Laughing Murra'' by Euphemia Coulson Davidson Nee Kidd) * 1922 Dance of the Saplings * 1924 Awakening – Sonata in A major * 1928 Canon in E flat * 1932 Valse Lente * 1933 Meadow Clover (two part song based on his 1928 Canon) * 1923 Hornpipe in G * 1924 Valse capricieuse * 1936 Aubade * 1936 By starlight – serenade for string and piano * 1936 A summer night – SATB voices * 1937 We Beseech Thee Almighty God * 1937 Twelve Preludes for Piano * 1937 Trav'lin' down the Castlereagh (words by Banjo Paterson) * 1937 The Old Bark Hut (words by Banjo Paterson)

Books

* 1917 A Lover's Ephemeris * 1922 ''This Green Mortality''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lavater, Louis 1867 births 1953 deaths Australian male composers Australian composers 20th-century Australian poets Australian male poets 20th-century Australian male writers Australian songwriters People educated at Wesley College (Victoria)