Music by Australian Composers

[davida march]

Very short piece - composition date 1957; out of print

http://www.australianmusiccentre.com.au ... mble-keith for biography

[alegitor]

One more by Clutsam.

Clutsam_-_Etudes_Pittoresques,_Danse_Rococco_n4_or_3.pdf

[fredbucket]

I have posted here rather than in the NZ thread because I think it's more appropriate here

As much of a fantastic work as Corroboree Suite is, I would question whether appropriating (or MISappropriating) Aboriginal music means it is distinctly Australian.

John told me that he researched aboriginal music as much as was possible at the time. You must also remember that Corroboree was a ballet (I have seen it) and therefore he paid a great deal of attention to aboriginal dance (the structure of the ballet is based upon a genuine corroboree) and also took great heed of advice from aboriginal elders and dancers - even in those days he was very sensitive to their music and customs. There was no way that he mis-appropriated aboriginal music as you say.

John was an individualist - he wrote in his own way and had his own quite unique style.

Mirrie Hill wrote her Three Aboriginal Dances based on 3 different stories from tribes, however, they still remain written in a post romantic vein. The same can be said for Maori music and the works of Frank Hutchens (Weeping Mist etc). Miriam Hyde's 'Legend' for Clarinet and Piano is another example.

Yes, because both those composers (as did Alfred Hill) were trained in a post-romantic style and were unable to escape from it. The same difference may be seen in the Hungarian Dances/Rhapsodies of Brahms and Liszt against the more 'authentic' work of Bartok and Kodaly.

Wouldn't something that is distinct to a country come from the fact that new and innovative ideas in the actual compositional devices were being used?

Yes, and that is why Corroboree was, and still is, regarded as a seminal work in that area - John was the first to break the shackles of European training applied to Australian music and paved the way for people such as Sculthorpe to write such works as Sun Music. He did what Hyde, Hill, Hutchens etc were unable (or unwilling) to do. Even Roy Agnew, a very skilful and accomplished pianist, was still tied to tradition, as was Dorian LeGalliene, Arthur Benjamin and the like.

Regards
Fred

[iano]

Thanks for these, Fred. Benjamin has been an interest of mine for some years. Wendy Hiscocks is completing a PhD on his life and works and it's to be hoped that the book will be published before too long, as I believe she has done some excellent work. I recently obtained a copy of his set of Etudes Improvisées, which is something of a rarity, and I'd have to check on its copyright status (although I'm pretty sure what it is) before scanning. We're not sure what the circumstances were but the MS was lost, fortunately not before Lamar Crowson made a copy.

Do you have a copy of the Novelette, the partner piece of the Romance-Impromptu? I've been unable to find one outside the British Library.

I take what you say about the composers who were more or less tied to tradition(s) but I think it's advisable to treat them with respect for all that. Benjamin, for instance, was a highly educated and cultured man who was well aware of the choices he was making, and had some very perceptive things to say about style.

iano

[alfor]

Thanks for these, Fred. Benjamin has been an interest of mine for some years. Wendy Hiscocks is completing a PhD on his life and works and it's to be hoped that the book will be published before too long, as I believe she has done some excellent work. I recently obtained a copy of his set of Etudes Improvisées...

I do have the excellent Crowson recording (on LP) and was looking for the "Etudes Improvisées", but could not find that they had ever been published. Anyway, I would be interested to obtain a copy, if possible. Thanks in advance.

alfor

[fredbucket]

Thanks for these, Fred. Benjamin has been an interest of mine for some years. Wendy Hiscocks is completing a PhD on his life and works and it's to be hoped that the book will be published before too long, as I believe she has done some excellent work. I recently obtained a copy of his set of Etudes Improvisées, which is something of a rarity, and I'd have to check on its copyright status (although I'm pretty sure what it is) before scanning. We're not sure what the circumstances were but the MS was lost, fortunately not before Lamar Crowson made a copy.

That would be marvellous if indeed the copyright status allowed a posting here. Any chance of your recording it? (I know someone with a good piano you may care to use )

Do you have a copy of the Novelette, the partner piece of the Romance-Impromptu? I've been unable to find one outside the British Library.

No, I don't, although I'd love to see it.

I take what you say about the composers who were more or less tied to tradition(s) but I think it's advisable to treat them with respect for all that. Benjamin, for instance, was a highly educated and cultured man who was well aware of the choices he was making, and had some very perceptive things to say about style.

I take your point of course, and different people choose different and personal ways to express themselves, as indeed I imagine you do in your own compositions. I think that defining someone as 'Australian' or whatever nationality you choose is much more difficult than it used to be, if not impossible. I certainly think that Antill's music is more 'Australian' than say Grainger or Benjamin and that he paved the way for people like Meale, Sculthorpe and Ross Edwards. And then you have the tremendous skills of Elena Kats-Chernin, who was born in the Ukraine...

It's all too confusing, really.

Regards
Fred

[juno_nb]

I had a class today with Larry Sitsky and David Bollard, Larry has a very low opinion of Grainger in regards to Australian identity, he told this story today though, it was hilarious... Larry said he attended a Grainger exhibition and they were showing the famous whip collection and Larry said there were a large bunch of musicians viewing it at the time and he went over and said "every piano teacher should have one".

[iano]

I had a class today with Larry Sitsky and David Bollard, Larry has a very low opinion of Grainger in regards to Australian identity, he told this story today though, it was hilarious...

It's a shame that many of the older Australian musical identities like Larry still affect this attitude, especially those who have not bothered to investigate very far. But then, there are others, like Vincent Plush, who have moved forward and are helping in the process of reappraisal of a whole era of music-making. Vincent is of the view that it would be more productive if the Australian musical chattering classes would concern themselves less with the evanescent 'Australian sound' or Australian identity' (laughably cringeworthy ideas in some ways) and be open enough to want to learn more about our real heritage, warts 'n' all. Included in that heritage would be all those composers we have, for one reason or another, forgotten about or relegated, mostly without really listening to or playing them. As for the jibes about Percy and his whips: too predictable and superficial for words. One would expect more from a putative intellectual like Sitsky.

Davida would remember the Grainger centenary 'celebrations' in Melbourne back in 1982. There was a terrific lecture recital given by Ronald Stevenson at the Conservatorium, to an audience of perhaps twenty people. The persistence of the prejudice against Grainger is a curious thing. It was alive in the 1980s and is alive still. And yet, just as Constant Lambert said of English critics regarding Satie, once you ask Grainger haters what they have heard, you realise that their opinions are based on very little knowledge of the actual music. I stand to be corrected, but has there ever been a performance of the complete Jungle Book settings here in Oz? I doubt it. Whenever I suggest it to promoters, choirs and ensembles, I am met with polite but bemused indifference, despite the fact that is the best music by one of our best composers.

[fredbucket]

It's a shame that many of the older Australian musical identities like Larry still affect this attitude, especially those who have not bothered to investigate very far.

I'm not so sure that you can read that into Larry's comment as quoted by Juno, "in regards to Australian identity" as distinct from an appraisal of his music in general, unless you know more of Larry, which I wouldn't of course be surprised if you do.

I have a very high opinion of Grainger's music, both from a pianistic point of view (which my fingers don't have a snowball's chance in hell of grasping) and compositional. But I would not regard him as an 'Australian' composer per se - an Australian-born American naturalised (eventually) resident of England for much of his life, whose major early influences were Nordic rather than South-ic. 'Australian' to me is much more style than ancestry - and even then I'm not sure if I, or anyone, can lay a finger (or 10) on what that style really is. Yes, one can quote aboriginal music or write about the southern aurora etc etc but even Australian bush music (cue George Dreyfus in here) is based upon Celtic music with a dash of music hall thrown in for good measure.

Regards
Fred

[Abraxas]

Having played Country Gardens and Handel in the Strand for Larry when younger, I can state that he never said anything of that nature regarding Grainger. He was actually quite informative and gave us a mini lecture on how Grainger had lots of weird and wonderful ideas on instrumentation and humour. He was far from a traditionalist in that sense.

I think his quip about Grainger's so-called "nasty" private life was actually quite funny, especially in the piano teacher sense. How can you not have a bit of a laugh at it? You are talking about an exhibit that showed the whip collection. In my opinion, that's the funniest part of all!

There is a danger in being a purist and taking things too seriously.