Thomas, Margaret (1843-1929; English)
Charles Horsley, Musician [medallion]
Medium and size unknown
Acquired by 1880
Unidentified; location unknown
This work is listed in the NGV’s 1880 catalogue under “Medallion Casts,” but only scanty details are provided, and the work no longer appears to be extant. It may have been a plaster model.
Horsley (1822-76) played a significant role in the early musical life of Melbourne, where he arrived in 1861, after studying with Louis Spohr and others, and embarking on a career as a composer and organist in London. He was appointed conductor of the Melbourne Philharmonic Society (1862-65), and his masque The South Sea Sisters was performed at the opening ceremony of the 1866 Melbourne Exhibition. His cantata Euterpe (with text by his friend Henry Kendall) was performed at the opening of the new Melbourne Town Hall in 1870, and later at the Crystal Palace in London. He returned to England in 1871, and later worked as an organist in New York, where he died.
Refs.
NGV 1880, p.32 (“Medallion Casts”)
For Horsley, see http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/horsley-charles-edward-3800 (biography by Thérèse Radic, first published in ADB vol.4, 1972)