The Cimmerian and the Elysian : How Musical and Extra - Musical Models and Expressive Ethos Affect the Compositional Process

s 131 The Cimmerian and the Elysian: How Musical and Extra-Musical Models and Expressive Ethos Affect the Compositional Process Adam Brantley Hill, PhD (Composition), University of Tasmania, 2004 This exegesis is a document of my rediscovery of emotion and expression in my music. It is also a chronicle of my acknowledgement and incorporation into my methodology of my many influences. Moreover, it is a recounting of how I utilsed emotion, expression, and my various influences in the creation of the folio compositions. There are two primary aspects that unify the compositions in the folio. The first aspect is the diversity of musical and extra-musical models, such as art music, popular music, literature, and films, which influence the compositional process. The second aspect is that an expressive ethos, defined as a general affective or emotional state that expressively informs the composition, characterises each work and affects the compositional process. In the exegesis, I clearly define the two primary aspects, clarify their relationship to music history, explain my compositional methodology, and demonstrate the role of each aspect throughout the process. I provide a brief discussion of my placement, literally and aesthetically, in music history, focusing primarily on my relationship to three prominent trends in the twentieth century. I also discuss how I formulated compositional and aesthetic conclusions and how they informed my current praxis. In short, this exegesis examines, with examples from the folio, how I am incorporating more traditional affective techniques and past tonal practices as they have been filtered through and influenced by the musical environment of the last century. The Rise and Fall of the Melbourne Popular Concerts: Chamber-Music Concerts in Pre-Federation Melbourne Peggy Lais, MMus, University of Melbourne, 2004 During the 1880s and early 1890s a series of chamber-music concerts entitled the ‘Melbourne Popular Concerts’ was held in various venues on the east end of Collins Street, Melbourne. The concerts, modeled on the famous Monday Popular Concerts at St James’s Hall in London, produced over 300 performances of chamber music in addition to numerous performances of solo instrumental and vocal works. Contemporary press reviews indicate that they were the most successful series of professional chamber-music concerts to be produced in Melbourne during the nineteenth century. Until this study, however, nothing was known about them. The influence of English musical practices permeates the history of the Melbourne Popular Concerts. While annotated programmes were not used at the Melbourne Popular Concerts, the directors of the Australian concerts emulated the London concert model, particularly that of the Monday Popular Concerts, in every other way. Furthermore, a high standard performance of the ‘best quality music’ was seen as imperative and resulted in the recruitment of notable London and European musicians resident in Melbourne. 132 Context 27 & 28 (2004) The rise and fall of the Melbourne Popular Concerts is very much the story of the concerts’ directors, particularly T.H. Guenett, who showed great tenacity and dedication to the cause of chamber music in the face of numerous obstacles. Unfortunately, while the Melbourne Popular Concerts were successful from an aesthetic and artistic point of view, they continued to be plagued with financial difficulties. With added problems caused by the onset of Melbourne’s economic depression in the early 1890s, competing musical organisations, which recruited many of the significant musicians, and a lack of public patronage, the concerts could not survive. ‘A Cinderella of the Arts:’ The Life of Henry Tate (1873–1926) and a Preliminary Catalogue of His Works Christine Mercer, MMus (Prelim.), Australian Catholic University, 2004 This thesis reports on preliminary research into the life and work of Henry Tate (1873–1926), an important but neglected Australian musical pioneer who gave every ounce of his creative energy to his country. Drawing on Tate’s own writings and those of his extensive circle of literary and artistic friends, I demonstrate that Tate was an important member of early cultural nationalist movements in Australia, and widely recognised during his lifetime. His ideas for a distinctive Australian music included incorporating birdcalls, nature sounds, evocation of the landscape and Aboriginal music. His friends encouraged his philosophies and wrote of their appreciation for his work. However, after his death Tate was largely forgotten, and considered an eccentric footnote in Australia’s musical history. While some recent literature on Australian music mentions his ideas, no-one has yet given him the recognition he deserves or explored his music and suggestions in any depth. This thesis contains the first extensive and accurate biography of Tate. The eldest son of a cultured middle-class family, his early education included music, languages and literature. However, his formal education was cut short by his father’s lack of financial foresight and premature death. This forced the young Henry to become the family breadwinner in jobs unsuited to his creative talents and interests, but he continued to study independently. This change of lifestyle and his subsequent life’s struggles are central to understanding his career. After meeting the Mercer family, who gave him financial support, Tate was finally able to attend university at the age of 29. He developed his understanding of music, improved his compositional skills, and was able to explore further the nuances of bush sounds and Aboriginal music as the basis for his Australian music. Tate also became a leading member of several Melbourne literary and music societies that promoted Australian culture, and held performances of his music at their meetings. He gave lectures and wrote articles expounding his ideas, including the pamphlets Australian Musical Resources (1917) and Australian Musical Possibilities (1924), which have often been referred to in literature on Australian music. By the 1920s, Tate had gained a prominent and respected place in artistic society, capped by his appointment as music critic of The Age in 1924, which gave him a public forum to express his nationalistic ideas. His friends included leading writers such as Katherine Susannah Prichard, Louis Esson, and Vance and Nettie Palmer, and his musical supporters included Franklin Peterson and Bernard Heinze, who performed some of Tate’s orchestral works. Although he