Frederic Austin

Frederic Austin (30 March 1872 – 10 April 1952) was an English baritone singer, a musical teacher and composer in the period 1905–30. He is best remembered for his restoration and production of The Beggar's Opera by John Gay and Johann Christoph Pepusch, and its sequel, Polly, in 1920–23. Austin was the older brother of the composer Ernest Austin (1874–1947). The standard melody for the carol "The Twelve Days of Christmas" was published by Austin in 1909. His arrangement of a traditional folk melody saw him add his own two-bar motif for "Five gold rings". He also altered the lyric, adding "on" at the beginning of each verse.