Masterpiece returns: 'New Guinea Fantasy' by Isador Goodman

For the first time since it was composed in the dark days of the Second World War, a long-lost wartime composition by celebrated Australian pianist and composer Isador Goodman will be performed live. New Guinea Fantasy, written by lamplight in the steamy jungles of Papua New Guinea and dedicated to the troops he performed for, will premiere in the Greater Love Memorial concert this August.

Born in 1909 in South Africa, Moses Isador Goodman was a musical prodigy from a young age, playing Mozart’s Piano Concerto No.20 in D minor with the Cape Town Symphony Orchestra when he was just seven years old. After emigrating to Australia in the late 1920s, Goodman became a household name as one of the country’s most accomplished pianists, admired for his technical brilliance and ability to connect deeply with his audience. 

Christopher Latham, Artist in Residence at the Australian War Memorial and Director of Greater Love, believes it was Goodman’s sincerity that forged a bond with listeners. 

“Goodman didn’t just play to his audience but for them,” Latham said. 

“His unique gift was that he loved his audience, and that applied just as much to his audience of soldiers.” 

When the Second World War broke out, Goodman used his talent to support the war effort. He raised thousands of pounds for charity through celebrity concerts and live radio appeals, including one event for the new HMAS Sydney which raised £12,000 in a single night.  Despite this, Goodman wanted to do more. 

In February 1942, he joined the Australian Army as a lieutenant, appointed to the music section of the Army Education Service. Soon, he was giving three lecture-recitals a week, often to crowds of 1,000 troops at a time.  

His daughter, Linda Goodman, remembers her father reminiscing about his early life. 

“He’d been everywhere in Australia, remote desert camps in Western Australia, playing on the backs of trucks with only the moon as his spotlight, from Adelaide up to Darwin and everywhere in between,” said Linda. 

“He played wherever troops were stationed – troops with dusty tired faces, who thought they’d been forgotten by civilisation.”  

The performances were part of a broader vision held by Colonel Charles Moses, a decorated soldier and General Manager of the ABC, to unify the country and support the war effort through music and culture. Under Moses, the ABC broadcast morale-boosting performances nightly from 6.40 to 9 pm.  

Goodman was tasked with taking his world-class performances to the front lines. 

In 1943, Goodman arrived in Papua New Guinea. Travelling by DC-3 aircraft from base to base, he delivered more than 150 concerts for over 200,000 servicemen and women across the Pacific. 

“I’ve found that they enjoy classical music when the atmosphere is informal. If the men want to smoke during the recitals, I let them,” Goodman once said.  

“To listen to music and enjoy it you must be comfortable.  

“Troops don’t like classical musicians who take themselves too seriously.” 

The constant heat, humidity and heavy use of the pianos in New Guinea wore out several of them. In one incident, the piano became so overrun with mould it was rendered unplayable.  

In mid-1944, exhausted by relentless travel and tropical illness, Goodman collapsed and was evacuated to Melbourne, where he was admitted to Heidelberg Psychiatric Hospital. Just weeks later, still recovering, he was summoned to perform as a soloist with renowned American conductor Eugene Ormandy. The concert helped to legitimise and secure funding for state orchestras across Australia, furthering the ABC’s cultural mission. 

It was during his time in the Pacific that Goodman composed New Guinea Fantasy. A deeply personal piece, written by lamplight, it was dedicated to the soldiers he had performed for. Though it was recorded by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra near the end of Goodman’s life, the score itself was lost for decades. 

“It was clear that the New Guinea Fantasy was something that held a very special place in his heart,” Linda said. 

“It wasn't until I heard it for the first time when he eventually recorded it that, through this extraordinary composition, I had a much deeper understanding of what his time during World War 2 really meant to him, and the effect it had on him emotionally. Music has the power to communicate in a way that words alone can't.” 

After a year-long search, Latham uncovered the original score at the State Library of New South Wales and worked with composer Dr Cyrus Meurant to digitally restore and typeset the score.

Now, 80 years later after it was written, New Guinea Fantasy will be brought to life in Greater Love, a commemorative concert marking the declaration of peace in the Pacific in August 1945. 

“When Chris first contacted me and told me of his plans, it took my breath away,” Linda said. 

“After all this time, something that meant so much to my father throughout his life was going to be part of this extraordinary event. I was overwhelmed with joy and pride, knowing what this would have meant to Dad. And the icing on the cake is that the brilliant Simon Tedeschi is performing it.”  

“It just seems like the embodiment of Greater Love on every level,” Latham said.  

“Goodman didn’t just perform. He gave everything – his time, his talent and his health.” 

Linda hopes her father’s legacy is recognised not only for his music but his strength and tenacity. 

“He was an incredibly sensitive man, who loved deeply and was so generous with his time. 

“He was a fighter and his determination to keep going, regardless of what life threw at him is, to me, as important a legacy as is his musical genius.” 

Isador Goodman’s New Guinea Fantasy is more than a piece of music, but a tribute to sacrifice, solidarity and the power of art in wartime. In the most difficult circumstances, Goodman brought light and beauty to this who needed it most. 

Now, 80 years later, that music will be heard again.