 |
| Composer: F A Pearson |
I’m sitting here
listening to ‘music from the grave’ but by no means morbid music.
My nephew is
playing a mazurka, composed by his 3x great grandfather, on his great great
grandmother’s piano (now mine).
The composer:
Frederick Augustus Pearson - my great great grandfather on my father’s side.
The original
owner of the piano: Sarah Henrietta Long (nee Stonehouse) – my great
grandmother on my mother’s side.
The piano was
given to Sarah by her husband Edward Long in 1901 on the occasion of the birth
of their first child. It was passed down to this child, my great aunt Jean, and
then as she had no children, onto me.
Sarah was a
beautiful pianist, with at least a couple of little awards (see below) before her marriage.
My mother told
me that she played often at family gatherings.
“Nanna was really good on the piano and
played the organ at church.
 |
| The piano at Ballangeich in Ellerslie, Victoria c1920 |
She had a lovely voice – she sang at
church, and at home when she played the piano.”
It was such an
amazing find to discover two pieces of music Frederick composed (on Trove), and even
better to have a nephew who has the skills to be able to play it.
And it’s really lovely music too – not to mention the skilled pianist, thanks Oliver.
I have written
about Frederick twice already (and there are more photos there, and images of the front cover of the music):
My nephew and I agreed that Frederick's early death was a sad and tragic waste of talent.
 |
| An inscription in a book given to Sarah when she was just 11 years old |
 |
| The inscription in a book given to Sarah when she was 17 years old |
 |
| Sarah and Edward in 1901 with their first child Frances Jean McVey Long (Jean) |
No comments:
Post a Comment