AUSTRALASIAN
MUSIC
RESEARCH
Abstracts
Frances Saville: Australia's Forgotten Prima Donna
In the late 1880s, the Melbourne soprano Frances Saville was considered second only to Melba among Australian singers. Her career had taken her from the travelling companies of the Australasian circuit to international recognition at London's Covent Garden and the Metropolitan Opera House, New York. In 1897, she became a member of Gustav Mahler's ensemble at the Vienna Hofoper. This article outlines her life and career and speculates on why she chose to retire from the stage in 1903, at the early age of thirty-eight. It also discusses the factors that have led to her name and achievements being forgotten in Australia.
'Acted and Sung in Italian:' Catherine Hayes and Anna Bishop in Sydney, 1855—1856
During the first half of the nineteenth century, Sydney audiences had a strong preference for English opera. In 1852, the first production of Bellini's Norma stimulated interest in the new style of Italian opera, and three years later audiences were entranced by Hayes's season of opera 'acted and sung' in Italian. By the end of Bishop's season, which followed almost immediately, Italian opera was firmly established on the Sydney stage. During this time of an unprecedented level of operatic and musical activity, audiences outgrew their dependence on English tastes and prejudices, preparing for a ready acceptance of the new repertoire—Verdi, Meyerbeer, Gounod, Bizet, Strauss, Wagner—about to be revealed to them by Lyster and others.
From Drawing Room to Diva: The Australian Popular Song 'I was Dreaming' by Augustus W. Juncker
The sheet music of 'I was Dreaming,' a song by Augustus W. Juncker, published in Sydney in 1894, sold an impressive 85,000 copies, one for every forty non-indigenous Australian residents at the time. It achieved its ubiquity early on, and was still remembered in 1973 when Joan Sutherland included it in her album Songs my Mother Taught Me. This article explores reasons why this particular song, out of so many light published ballads, was so successful. Most important of these was Juncker's placement of the song as an interpolation in an imported operetta Ma mie Rosette, where it was sung by famous performers in professional productions over long seasons and became as well-known as any of the rest of the 'authentic' score. The article also addresses more general issues of local publication and performance of popular music in turn of twentieth-century Australia.
Violence, Vengeance and Violation: 'The Display', A 'Powerful Dramatic Work, Intended to be Very Australian'
Premiered at the third Adelaide Festival in 1964, Robert Helpmann's ballet The Display, with music by Malcolm Williamson, decor by Sidney Nolan and lighting by William Akers, is the second most performed work in the repertoire of the Australian Ballet. This ballet offers a unique insight into the identification and manipulation of personal, professional and national constructions of identity in Australia as they were fashioned in the context of the 1960s. Through a reading of the scenario, choreography and score, allied to an investigation of the creation, performance and reception of The Display, this article explores aspects of national representation, gender identity and the relationship between music and dance.
On the Auto/Biography of Peggy Glanville-Hicks: Telling a Life—Or Lies?
Wendy Beckett's Peggy Glanville-Hicks, the first full-length biography of the composer, blurs the conventional distinctions between biography and autobiography. The product of conversations between friends, its narrative is disjunctive and discontinuous, replete with errors of fact, misunderstandings of the nature and practice of music, and patently hagiographical utterances. Nonetheless, it discloses a consciousness of self, and must therefore be deemed authentic. This article clarifies historical detail, but aims to place Glanville-Hicks's recollections in the tradition of auto/biographical works by accomplished women of her time.
'To Make Propaganda of his Music:' Music Publishing at New Norcia
The Benedictine Community at New Norcia can be claimed to be one of Australia's major music publishers. Research on music at New Norcia has to date focused on the output of its most prominent composer and performer, Dom Stephen Moreno. This article examines the production and sale of this music as a commodity and the circumstances in which New Norcia's music came to be printed and published—first in Italy by Chenna then later in Perth—and disseminated beyond the immediate community. The study notes the range of music published, the extent of its distribution and the production methods used.
Australian Archive of Jewish Music
An introduction to the Australian Archive of Jewish Music at Monash University, providing information on the establishment, history, collections and research initiatives of the Archive.
Authorised by: Dean, Music Faculty
Maintained by: S.Cole - Email: s.cole@music.unimelb.edu.au