Australian Music And Modernism 1960 1975

"Music and Modernism defines 'Australian Music' as an idea that emerged through the lens of the modernist discourse of the 1960s and 70s. At the same time that the new 'Australian Music' was distinctive of the nation, it was also thoroughly connected to practices from Europe and shaped by a new engagement with the music of Southeast Asia. This book examines the intersection of nationalism and modernism at this formative time. During the early stages of 'Australian Music' there was disagreement about what the idea itself ought to represent and, indeed, whether the idea ought to apply at all. Michael Hooper considers various perspectives offered by such composers as Peter Sculthorpe, Richard Meale, and Nigel Butterley and analyzes some of the era's significant works to articulate a complex understanding of 'Australian Music' at its inception"--Bloomsbury Collections.

Drawing on newly available archival material, key works, and correspondence of the era, Australian Music and Modernism defines "Australian Music" as an idea that emerged through the lens of the modernist discourse of the 1960s and 70s. At the same time that the new "Australian Music" was distinctive of the nation, it was also thoroughly connected to practices from Europe and shaped by a new engagement with the music of Southeast Asia. This book examines the intersection of nationalism and modernism at this formative time. During the early stages of "Australian Music" there was disagreement about what the idea itself ought to represent and, indeed, whether the idea ought to apply at all. Michael Hooper considers various perspectives offered by such composers as Peter Sculthorpe, Richard Meale, and Nigel Butterley and analyzes some of the era's significant works to articulate a complex understanding of "Australian Music" at its inception.

The Symphony remained a major orchestral form in Australia between 1960 and 2020, with a body of diverse and interesting symphonies produced during the 1960s and 1970s that defied the widespread modernist trends of serialism, electronic music and indeterminism that seemed harbingers of the symphony’s demise. From the late 1970s onwards, many Australian composers chose to work in styles that admitted modal and tonal melodic and harmonic elements with regular pulse. Major cycles of symphonies by Carl Vine, Brenton Broadstock and Ross Edwards began to appear in the late 1980s. Other prolific symphonists like Paul Paviour (10 symphonies), David Morgan (15 symphonies), Philip Bracanin (11), Peter Tahourdin (5), John Polglase (5) and many others demonstrated a revived interest in the form. This trend continued into the first two decades of the present century with symphonies by Matthew Hindson, Katy Abbott, Stuart Greenbaum, Andrew Schultz, Mark Isaacs and Gordon Kerry. This renewed interest in the symphony reflects similar trends in Britain and the United States. Rhoderick McNeill provides a comprehensive introduction to this large body of music with the aim of making the music and its composers known to concert- goers, music educators and students, conductors and music entrepreneurs.

Drawing on newly available archival material, key works, and correspondence of the era, Australian Music and Modernism defines "Australian Music" as an idea that emerged through the lens of the modernist discourse of the 1960s and 70s. At the same time that the new "Australian Music" was distinctive of the nation, it was also thoroughly connected to practices from Europe and shaped by a new engagement with the music of Southeast Asia. This book examines the intersection of nationalism and modernism at this formative time. During the early stages of "Australian Music" there was disagreement about what the idea itself ought to represent and, indeed, whether the idea ought to apply at all. Michael Hooper considers various perspectives offered by such composers as Peter Sculthorpe, Richard Meale, and Nigel Butterley and analyzes some of the era's significant works to articulate a complex understanding of "Australian Music" at its inception.

Entrenched until recently in Western aesthetics, Australian composers are now developing a functional cultural identity expressed through a distinctly nationalistic musical idiom. Its ongoing formation, inspired by Australias Aboriginal heritage and unique natural environment, seeks to distance the nations artistic developments from the geographically remote Occidental regions and emphasize its native cultures. Presently, however, mounting sociopolitical and ethical concerns surrounding the cultural borrowing between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples are problematizing the developing nationalistic idiom, as composers must determine whether the two groups share any legitimate connection beyond mere occupation of the same land, given their tense post-colonial history. Musicologist Beatrice Dalov traces the formation of the Southern Lands cultural identity while simultaneously considering its complex relationship with the nations First Peoples. She illuminates the origins, influences, and developments of Australian art music, from colonization (late eighteenth century) to the present day, interweaving the social, cultural, political, and economic forces that shaped (and often determined) its evolution. The history demonstrates that the complex processes of articulating a unique cultural identity began almost immediately after arrival of the first colonists and continues uninterrupted through today. Drawing on newly available archival material, key works, and personally conducted interviews with numerous contemporary composers, Dalov traces the history of the lands music, from scattered convict settlements and eventful contacts with Aboriginal peoples, to the formation of a national musical infrastructure, to todays thriving musical independence. She brings forward not only the most prominent composers and musicians of the last century, but also those who laid a crucial foundation and offered the first contributions toward a national idiom. A comprehensive history of the music of the Great Southern Land has been too long neglected by social historians and musicologists worldwide. Beatrice Dalov sets the record straight.

The experience of modernization -- the dizzying social changes that swept millions of people into the capitalist world -- and modernism in art, literature and architecture are brilliantly integrated in this account.

This book represents the first critical survey of a section of a rich Australian corpus of chamber music. The author has included various instrumental combinations with piano as well as vocal music with piano. The survey is chronological, as well as by composer. An appendix to the work provides source material for future research into this area. The research has concentrated on progressive modernist music by Australian composers. The commentary utilizes the author's rich experience as composer, pianist and educator.