Song of Australia – Quiet Hymn (SATB & Tenor)

There is a land where summer skies once “blended in witching harmonies” – and one of the songs that captured that imagination was Song of Australia, written in South Australia in 1859. In that year the Gawler Institute held a competition to create a patriotic “Song of Australia”, with prizes for the best words and the best tune. The winning lyrics were written by Caroline Carleton, an English‑born migrant who had already endured enormous hardship: two of her young children died on the voyage out and were buried at sea, and later she and her husband lived and worked at Adelaide’s West Terrace Cemetery. According to tradition, she wrote the text sitting by the cemetery wall, her surviving children playing nearby, and submitted it under the motto “Nil Desperandum” (“never despair”). The music prize went to Carl Linger, a Berlin‑born composer and bandmaster who had migrated to South Australia in 1849. His setting of Song of Australia was first performed in Gawler in December 1859 and quickly became a much‑loved patriotic song across the colony. By 1880 the South Australian government had directed that it be sung in schools, and for decades children gathered at assemblies to sing it as an expression of loyalty and unity. For those who grew up with it – including me – it is remembered with great affection: a song that brought together newcomers from Britain, Germany and elsewhere, all learning to call this place “home”. In the 1977 national song plebiscite, Song of Australia was one of the four shortlisted candidates alongside Advance Australia Fair and Waltzing Matilda, but it eventually faded from wider national view. If you’d like to hear how South Australian children once sang it, there is a rare school‑choir recording here (not my upload): Song of Australia – South Australian schoolchildren:    • 1971 Elizabeth Salisbury SA Schools Choir ...   About this new version The original 1859 text is very much a product of its time: it celebrates a land of abundance, invokes “treasures” in “unfathomed mines”, and reflects nineteenth‑century colonial optimism. For this new arrangement I’ve tried to keep the general shape and spirit – a love‑song to this place – while gently updating the language and imagery. The aims are to: • Bring the diction closer to contemporary Australian English. • Reflect the country we know now – multicultural, post‑colonial, often self‑questioning – as well as the “summer skies” and landscape that Carleton described. • Acknowledge that this land had and has First Nations custodians, something absent from the original text. My intention is not to “improve” on Carleton, but to let the tune and basic idea breathe in 2026: to keep enough of the original that older South Australians still recognise “their” song, while opening it up so that more Australians might see themselves in it. New lyrics – 2026 version (as sung here) [Verse 1] There is a land where hearts unite, Where many voices share the light, Singing in hopeful harmony; in harmony. Where hand in hand we choose to stand, To care for sea and sky and land, And strive to keep her future bright — Australia! Australia! Australia! [Verse 2] There is a land where deeds each day Can help to light another’s way, Building in steadfast care and cheer; in care and cheer. Where every hand, in work and art, Can leave her stronger, heart by heart, And guard the hope all ages share — Australia! Australia! Australia! Please feel free to listen – or not – as time and interest allow. I realise this won’t be everyone’s cup of tea musically. What I hope you might find interesting is the story itself: it hints at a kind of insight and generosity in some of our forebears that feels very relevant as Australia continues to grapple with questions of multiculturalism, First Nations recognition and national identity today Arrangement & realisation: Michael Pyne, 2026   © 2026 Michael Pyne. All rights reserved. #SongOfAustralia #ChoralAnthem #AustralianChoralMusic #SouthAustralia