The Library has a small but significant collection of Indigenous music. This includes music both written by Indigenous people and interpreted by Europeans from interactions with Indigenous people.
Significant items in the collection by Indigenous artists include:
My Thoughts and I'm Happy To-day by Tom Foster
Foster was an Indigenous Australian composer and vocalist active during 1930s and 1940s.
Unte nthenharenye : where do you come from?
Song book to learn the Arrernte language (Alice Springs) and culture with lyrics in Arrente and English.
One day we shall see Jesus: as sung by Aborigine boys and girls in the Nungkubuyu language
Aboriginal hymn with words in Nungkubuyu language (Northern Territory) and English translation.
Pecan summer by Deborah Cheetham
Opera by Indigenous Australian composer and soprano.
Indigenous music interpreted by Europeans:
The Aboriginal father: a native song of the Maneroo tribe
The earliest indigenous music held at the Library. Transcribed and interpreted from an original Aboriginal Australian melody by Isaac Nathan (1790-1864) who was an Australian Jewish musician.
Clarence Long (Milerum) songs
Loose transcriptions of songs recorded by Norman Tindale in 1932 on wax cylinders. They were sung by Milerum (Clarence Long) of the Ngarrindjeri people, Coorong, South Australia.
Searching for Indigenous music
Type your keywords into the "Search our collections" text box, then navigate to the catalogue records. Click the "Format" filter then select Music.
For example: results for Aboriginal Australian.
Indigenous music recordings
The Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) has a large collection of sound recordings which cover languages, ceremonies, music and oral histories. Around 45% of the collection are musicology recordings.
