Australian classical music has developed from early years in theAustralian colonies, until today. Today, each state and territory has an orchestra and there are many major venues where classical music is performed.
The earliest western musical influences in Australia can be traced to two distinct sources: in the first settlements, the large body of convicts, soldiers and sailors who brought the traditional folk music of England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland;[1] and the first free settlers, some of whom had been exposed to the European classical music tradition in their upbringing. An example of original music by a convict would be an 1861 tune dedicated to settler James Gordon by fiddler constable Alexander Laing.[2][3] Very little music has survived from this early period, although there are samples of music originating fromSydney andHobart that date back to the early 19th century.[4] Musical publications from this period preserved in Australian libraries include works byCharles Edward Horsley,William Stanley,Isaac Nathan,Charles Sandys Packer,Frederick Augustus Packer,Carl Linger,Francis Hartwell Henslowe,Frederick Ellard, Raimund Pechotsch and Julius Siede.
Isaac Nathan's 1847Don John of Austria was the firstopera to be written, composed and produced in Australia. The establishment ofchoral societies (c. 1850) andsymphony orchestras (c. 1890) led to increased compositional activity, although most Australian classical composers of this period worked entirely withinEuropean models and many undertook their training in composition in Europe or theUnited Kingdom. One of the earliest known composers wasGeorge Tolhurst, whose oratorioRuth was the first composed in the then colony of Victoria in 1864. Some works leading up to the first part of the 20th century were heavily influenced by folk music (Percy Grainger's "English Country Gardens" of 1908 being a good example of this).[4] An estimated 10,000 Australians and New Zealanders traveled to Britain each year from the late 1880s to the early 20th century, and the number doubled between the World Wars. A majority was likely female, often a musician; in 1907 one commentator said that Australia's principal exports to Britain were "frozen sheep and pretty-voiced girls". Success in London was often seen as a prerequisite for fame in Australia for singers such asNellie Melba,Amy Sherwin, andAda Crossley.[5]
Australian composers who published classical music during the late nineteenth century includeHugo Alpen,Hooper Brewster-Jones,Thomas Bulch,Alice Charbonnet-Kellermann,George H. Clutsam,Herbert De Pinna,John Albert DelanyGuglielmo Enrico Lardelli,Louis Lavater,George Marshall-Hall,Stephen Moreno,George William Torrance, Cesare Cutolo,Christian Helleman, and Augustus Juncker.
Even for composers, a trip abroad could make a career:[6]George Frederick Boyle, who was born in thecolony of New South Wales in 1886, had a great career in Australia as a piano prodigy but did not meet with international success as a composer until he traveled to Europe and the United States.[7]
From the time ofAustralia's federation in 1901, a growing sense of national identity[8] began to emerge in the arts, although a patriotic attachment with the "mother country"[9] or "Home",[5] that is Britain, and the Empire, continued to dominate musical taste. European musical training became more available in Australia through migrants likeAlice Charbonnet-Kellermann,Fred Werner and as an academic pursuit under emerging conservatory academics likeErnest Truman andGeorge Marshall-Hall. In the war and post-war eras, as the Australian national identity continued to build, composers looked to their surroundings for inspiration.John Antill in his balletCorroboree,Peter Sculthorpe and others began to incorporate elements of Aboriginal music,Richard Meale drew influence from south-east Asia (notably using the harmonic properties of theBalinesegamelan), whileNigel Butterley combined his penchant for International modernism with an own individual voice.[4]
By the beginning of the 1960s other strong influences emerged in Australian classical music, with composers incorporating disparate elements into their work, ranging from Aboriginal and south-east Asian music and instruments, American jazz and blues, to the belated discovery of European atonality and the avant-garde. Composers likeDon Banks,Don Kay,Malcolm Williamson andColin Brumby epitomise this period.[4] Others who adhered to more traditional idioms includeArthur Benjamin,George Dreyfus,Peggy Glanville-Hicks andRobert Hughes. In recent times composers includingJulian Cochran,Barry Conyngham,Brett Dean,Ross Edwards,Gordon Hamilton,Matthew Hindson,Elena Kats-Chernin,Graeme Koehne,Constantine Koukias,Stephen Leek,Georges Lentz,Liza Lim,Richard Mills,Carl Vine,Martin Wesley-Smith,Nigel Westlake, andDavid Worrall have embodied the pinnacle of establishedAustralian composers.
James Murdoch played a large part in promoting Australian music both at home and internationally, and in bringing Peggy Glanville-Hicks and Richard Meale back from self-imposed artistic exile overseas.[citation needed]
State-based symphony orchestras, originally managed under theAustralian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) but now operating as separate independent bodies, have played a major role in performing mainstream orchestral repertoire for the general public as well as commissioning new works from Australian composers and ensuring that works by contemporary international composers are introduced to their audiences. These include theSydney Symphony Orchestra, theMelbourne Symphony Orchestra, theQueensland Symphony Orchestra, theAdelaide Symphony Orchestra, theWest Australian Symphony Orchestra and theTasmanian Symphony Orchestra. There are also professional orchestras whose role is related specifically to opera and ballet performance, chiefly theAustralian Opera and Ballet Orchestra based at theSydney Opera House andOrchestra Victoria based inMelbourne.
There are severalchamber orchestras which focus on works for smaller ensembles. These include theAustralian Chamber Orchestra which tours regularly throughout Australia and has been well-received overseas,[10] theMelbourne Chamber Orchestra,[11] the Adelaide Chamber Orchestra[12] and the Camerata of St. John's.[13] Orchestral ensembles which concentrate onhistorically informed performance include theAustralian Brandenburg Orchestra,[14] Van Diemen's Band,[15] and the Orchestra of the Antipodes.[16]
Leading chamber ensembles include theAustralian String Quartet, theGoldner String Quartet, theAustralia Ensemble,[17] Synergy Percussion,[18] Dean Emerson,[19] TRIOZ,[20] the Sydney Soloists,[21] the Southern Cross Soloists,[22] Guitar Trek,[23] Collusion (chamber ensemble),[24] the Elandra String Quartet, theZephyr Quartet,[25] and the Tinalley String Quartet.[26]Chamber ensembles involved in historically informed performance include Marais Project,[27] Accademia Arcadia,[28] La Compania,[29] Ironwood,[30] and probably Australia's oldest group of this kind, The Renaissance Players.[31]
Musica Viva Australia, now the largest entrepreneur of chamber music in the world,[32] was founded in 1945 and has provided a major stimulus for public interest in chamber music by organising annual subscription programs of concerts by leading international and Australian ensembles.[33] Further interest has been stimulated by events such as theAustralian Festival of Chamber Music[34] which was founded in 1991 and is held each year inTownsville, theMelbourne International Chamber Music Competition and theAsia-Pacific Chamber Music Competition, held every four years inMelbourne, organised byMusica Viva in partnership with theMelbourne Recital Centre and theAustralian National Academy of Music.[35]
Several Australian composers have written chamber works. Among the older composers,Peter Sculthorpe stands out because he wrote 18 string quartets,[36] with performances in Australia and overseas and recordings by leading groups such as theKronos Quartet. In the next generation,Brett Dean, himself a violist of note and a composer who has received world-wide recognition, has written several works for various ensembles including a string quartet called "Eclipse" which was commissioned by the Cologne Philharmonie[37] for the Auryn Quartet,[38] a string quintet entitled "Epitaphs" premiered in 2010 at theCheltenham Music Festival,[39] theSanta Fe Chamber Music Festival,[40] La Jolla SummerFest[41] and the Cologne Philharmonie, and a sonata for violin and piano commissioned byMidori[42] for performance in 2010 inStockholm and theWigmore Hall,[43] London. Dean's near-contemporary,Julian Yu[44] has written over 30 works for various chamber ensembles including conventional trios and quartets, as well as unusual combinations such as a quintet for four percussions and piano, a septet for flute, percussion, harp, violin, viola, cello and double bass entitled "Pentatonicophilia", and an unconventional reworking[a] ofMussorgsky'sPictures at an Exhibition for 16 instruments.
Other piano and chamber works of special merit includePeggy Glanville-Hicks' Concertino da camera for flute, clarinet, bassoon and piano,Richard Meale's "Las Alboradas" for flute, violin, horn, and piano,Riccardo Formosa's "Vertigo" for flute (piccolo), oboe, clarinet and piano,Nigel Westlake's "Refractions at Summer Cloud Bay" for flute, bass flute, clarinet, soprano saxophone, violin, cello and piano, the piano works ofJulian Cochran,Ross Edwards' "Laikan" for flute, clarinet, percussion, piano, violin and cello,Carl Vine's String Quartets Nos. 2, 3, 4 and 5, his Elegy for flute, cello, trombone, piano four-hands, organ and percussion, and "Inner World" for amplified cello and tape.[46]
TheSydney Opera House and Melbourne'sState Theatre are the premiere venues for operas and concerts, andOpera Australia performs regularly there. Other venues for classical music, opera and ballet are theQueensland Performing Arts Centre in Brisbane, theAdelaide Festival Centre, theCanberra Theatre Centre.
City Recital Hall in Sydney,Hamer Hall, Melbourne,Melbourne Recital Centre,Perth Concert Hall, andDarwin Entertainment Centre are dedicated concert halls. Additionally, many regional centres have entertainment and performance venues which are used by state and national touring companies and individual performers, groups, and orchestras.[47]
Music broadcasting has played an important role in providing classical music and jazz to the Australian public. Prior to the introduction ofFM into the country, the ABC produced classical music programs which were broadcast through their local stations. ProfessorAlfred Ernest Floyd's program "Music Lover's Hour" was heard for over 25 years, beginning first on the local Melbourne ABC station in 1944 before being broadcast nationally.[48] Pianist and academicLindley Evans[49] broadcast a series of programs called "Adventures in Music" on the ABC, but was probably better known and more influential through his appearances each Thursday under the pseudonym "Mr Music" on the ABC's national "Argonauts Club" program. Ralph Collins, formerly a record librarian at the ABC with an acute knowledge of music, hosted his own national music program for over 30 years from the early 1960s, and he was eventually nicknamed "Mr Sunday Morning" by the general public.John Cargher, a record retailer, avid collector of records and author of many books, presented two programs. The most popular was "Singers of Renown", which began on the local Melbourne ABC station in 1966 and was transferred by public demand toRadio National at the end of only 10 weeks and remained on air for 42 years. The other program, "Music for Pleasure", began on Radio National in 1967 and continued until 1996.
The national FM music networkABC Classic FM[50] was established in 1976 to broadcast classical music, jazz, operas, recitals and live concerts from Australia and overseas, music analysis programs and news about music activities. Its audience is now estimated as being about one million people,[51] not taking into account a growing number of international users who access its programs via its online service.[52] At about the same time, communitynot-for-profit FM stations were set up to enable volunteers to produce and present classical music and jazz programs. These included2MBS FM[53] in Sydney,3MBS FM[54] in Melbourne and4MBS Classic FM[55] in Brisbane. More recently a similar station, 5MBS. has been established in Adelaide.
There are five important classical record labels in Australia:ABC Classics[56]Move Records,[57]Tall Poppies Records (run by Belinda Webster),[58] Melba Recordings,[59] and Master Performers.[60]
Well-known Australian classical performers of the past and the present day include:
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