size-medium wp-image-6068Isaac Nathan, Australia's first composer, 1820. Contributed by National Library of Australia [nla.pic-an2292675]http://trust.dictionaryofsydney.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/IsaacNathan-226x300.pngIsaac Nathan, Australia's first composer, 1820. Contributed by National Library of Australia [nla.pic-an2292675]226300/>

This morning on 2SER breakfast, Lisa and Tim looked into more of Sydney's musical history with the story of Isaac Nathan, Australia's first composer. An intriguing character, in England Nathan associated with the poet Lord Byron, setting some of his poems to music, and was reportedly a royal spy. Emigrating to Australia for financial reasons in April 1841, Nathan quickly became the city's leading singing instructor and is remembered as a founder of Sydney's musical culture. Nathan directed music at St Mary's Cathedral, St James' church and the first Jewish Synagogue in York St. He composed operas, the most famous of which was his Spanish romance, Don John of Austria. His many compositions contributed not only to the city's, but to the colony's national musical culture. He wrote patriotic vocal odes such as Australia the Wide and Free (to verses by WA Duncan), to celebrate the inaugural Sydney City Council in 1842 ('Composed and respectfully inscribed to The Right Worshipful John Hosking, Mayor of Sydney'), and the musical entertainment Currency Lasses, for the 58th anniversary of the founding of Sydney in 1846. Unusually for his time, Nathan was interested in Aboriginal life and set to music poems by Mrs EH Dunlop such as 'The Aboriginal Mother'. He was the first person to publish transcriptions of local Aboriginal music - something that is now considered extremely significant. Sadly, Nathan was tragically killed by a tram in 1864 - one of the earliest recorded tram deaths in Sydney. He is buried in St Stephen's cemetery, Newtown. Don't forget to tune in again next week to hear more of Sydney's unique stories from the Dictionary with Dr Lisa Murray.