- Published on
The words of the Gippsland March might not be great poetry, but they're ours, writes
SUE WEBSTER.
SUE WEBSTER.
ONLY five sleeps to go before Gippsland’s naming day, on Thursday, March 12.
By this time, all true Gippslanders should know the words and tune of our very own anthem, The Gippsland March.
Sue Webster first came across the march on an old piano roll in East Gippsland in late 2013. Since then she has harboured the dream of seeing it revived, perhaps by a local school.
She discovered it had been recorded by a New York band. An article published in the Bass Coast Post last year elicited further news that the Watsonville band in California had actually played the piece at a 4th of July concert attended by then president Bill Clinton.
She has since found out that the composer, Alex Lithgow – who never actually visited Gippsland in spite of his paean of praise to the place – composed a very popular piece called The Invercargill March for the town at the bottom of New Zealand.
“That travelled the world so in other words this was the b-side recording," Ms Webster says.
On a mission to bring the Gippsland March to a wider audience, she is realistic about the difficulties, saying it has been difficult to match the words to the tune.
"It's going to be very hard to perform it in the style to which it was intended," she says. "The words may not be great poetry, but they're ours."
The Gippsland March
Words by Alex Lithgow
Where the mighty mountains
Lift their crags to the sky,
Where the stream goes laughing by-y-y
Where the woodman plies
His axe with true might, his swing
Through the forest echoes ring.
Where the kookaburra laughs
And greets you with glee
There, I long to be.
My heart enthralled
With those sweet days recalled.
In dear old Gippsland
Home of mine!
Each memory fills
My soul with sweet pain,
And calls to me
Seems to beckon again.
For upon this wide, wide earth
There is no other spot can take the pride
I hold for my land of birth.
Always haunting, calling me.
Oh, how I love that dear old Gippsland, home of mine.
By this time, all true Gippslanders should know the words and tune of our very own anthem, The Gippsland March.
Sue Webster first came across the march on an old piano roll in East Gippsland in late 2013. Since then she has harboured the dream of seeing it revived, perhaps by a local school.
She discovered it had been recorded by a New York band. An article published in the Bass Coast Post last year elicited further news that the Watsonville band in California had actually played the piece at a 4th of July concert attended by then president Bill Clinton.
She has since found out that the composer, Alex Lithgow – who never actually visited Gippsland in spite of his paean of praise to the place – composed a very popular piece called The Invercargill March for the town at the bottom of New Zealand.
“That travelled the world so in other words this was the b-side recording," Ms Webster says.
On a mission to bring the Gippsland March to a wider audience, she is realistic about the difficulties, saying it has been difficult to match the words to the tune.
"It's going to be very hard to perform it in the style to which it was intended," she says. "The words may not be great poetry, but they're ours."
The Gippsland March
Words by Alex Lithgow
Where the mighty mountains
Lift their crags to the sky,
Where the stream goes laughing by-y-y
Where the woodman plies
His axe with true might, his swing
Through the forest echoes ring.
Where the kookaburra laughs
And greets you with glee
There, I long to be.
My heart enthralled
With those sweet days recalled.
In dear old Gippsland
Home of mine!
Each memory fills
My soul with sweet pain,
And calls to me
Seems to beckon again.
For upon this wide, wide earth
There is no other spot can take the pride
I hold for my land of birth.
Always haunting, calling me.
Oh, how I love that dear old Gippsland, home of mine.
Comments are closed.