TEDDY Thonen came to Ballarat in the mid-1800s with dreams of striking it rich by finding gold – or at least by selling enough lemonade to make a decent quid.
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But the German Jew must have also be a heady idealist.
Leading a division of miners into the Eureka Stockade, he was also sadly the first to be killed in the violent battle.
Over time, Teddy’s story has simply faded into oblivion – until now.
Renowned composer George Dreyfus has composed a score for string orchestra entitled German Teddy, an ode to the ill-fated historical figure.
It will be performed this weekend in a free concert at the Museum of Australian Democracy at Eureka, fulfilling Dreyfus’ wish to stage its world-premiere in Ballarat.
The composition combines elements from the original folk song German Teddy as well as Dreyfus’ own score for the 1970s television program Rush, a highlight of his career.
Dreyfus, who now lives in Melbourne, also hails from Germany. In fact, he was born in the same city as Teddy – Elberfeld – which is now known as Wuppertal.
An eminent composer, Dreyfus has a long history composing for film and television and has been made a Member of the Order of Australia for his services to music.
The concert will open M.A.D.E’s exhibition 19th Century BLING – an exploration into goldfields jewellery, which runs Saturday through to July 4.
M.A.D.E Director Jane Smith said many people would never have heard about the miner and lemonade-seller Teddy Thonen before, with works like these keeping his memory alive.
“He would have been wildly idealistic and sadly he paid the price for it,” she said.
“I didn’t know about Teddy before. So it’s a nice part of Stockade history that people wouldn’t know.”
Ms Smith said Dreyfus would bring 14 musicians from Melbourne to perform the concert along with a group of Ballarat players.
“It’s a nice way of connecting to that goldfields history,” she said.
“There are quite a few pieces of music out there but I guess the thing about this is we’ll have someone coming to play it.”
The free performance of German Teddy will be held at the M.A.D.E theatre in Stawell Street on Sunday April 17 at 2pm.
To prebook, phone M.A.D.E on 1800 287 113.
