Alfred Hill - there is no music teacher in Australia
or New Zealand who would not recognise the name. Although born
in Melbourne, the family moved to NZ in 1871. After overseas
study and a further period of residency in NZ, Hill finally
returned to Australia and settled in Sydney in 1910 until his
death in 1960. He is well-remembered as a prominent and influential
part of the Sydney music scene, as a prolific composer and teacher
and as the first Professor of Composition at the [then] NSW
Conservatorium of Music
Writing a personal diary can be fraught with
danger, laying one’s soul out for view as it were, but nevertheless,
such documents provide the best way of understanding the day
to day activities, the thoughts and aspirations of the diarist,
whether those entries seem important or mundane to a later reader.
The Leipzig Diary covers the period from
March 1887 to November 1891, the period of Hill’s study at the
Royal Conservatorium of Music in Leipzig. As such, it is a fascinating
first-hand account of late 19th century musical life at the
very hub of its existence and a detailed, readable and absorbing
look at the emergence of a fine composer and musician through
his personal diary. Who Hill saw, what he did, where he went,
the works he played, how many hours a day he practised, the
music productions, orchestras and theatre events that he attended
are all described in the diary. Some entries are long, some
short but all are interesting, many with a degree of sophistication
and insight surprising in such a young man.
I found that such legendary names as Joachim,
Bruch, Brahms, Tchaikowsky [whom he saw conducting with Brahms
sitting in the audience] and so many others, came to life via
Hill’s diary. And I chuckled in agreement at the 10th December,
1887 entry: “We saw the composer of the well known Greig
Sonata but I don’t like his last Sonata like I do the first
one.”
Was Hill a feminist? viz, this description of
a Leipzig street scene which clearly shows his outrage:
I must say that the lower classes of women
are treated shamefully here, and what is more, they seem to
do all the work.....It is a custom (or a habit) for a “man”
(they’re not worthy of the name of gentleman) always to walk
on the inside of a path, and if a lot of young students should
meet a young lady and not have room to pass her, they would
quietly push her into the gutter”
Then again perhaps not; he describes violinist
Fanny Davis as “...a fine player but she (like most ladies)
lacks power, tone, etc.” And it is clear in the Diary
that Hill plainly revered Wagner ... [hopefully, it was the
music not the politics that he admired]....so much so, that
in later life he named two of his children Tristan and Isolde.
Apart from some necessary but minor editorial
changes, the diary entries are true to their original form.
The editor has added useful footnotes [as an example, the first
footnote gives details of the SS Hauroto, the ship of
the first leg - Wellington to Sydney - of Hill’s outward voyage]
which provide explanations of some of the diary content but
do not detract from the entries themselves.
The book is beautifully illustrated with facsimiles
of concert programmes, manuscripts, Hill family photographs
and newspaper clippings.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and can highly
recommend it for both teachers and students as a ‘must’ addition
to your collection of Australian music. It brings to life the
personages and events surrounding the European late-Romantic
musical scene from the point of view of a young Australian,
in the place where it all happened.
Published by Wirripang, - who are to be congratulated
on a splendid presentation - The Leipzig Diary - Alfred Hill
is available from Publications by Wirripang: www.australiancomposers.com.au
[phone 61 4228 9388] at $AU66 plus postage.
Dr Rita Crews
Dr Rita Crews is Vice-President of the Music
Teacher’s Association of NSW, Deputy Chair of the Australian
Music Examinations Board [NSW] and editor of The Studio
Acknowledgement to The Studio where it was first
published: Vol.15, No.2, May 2009
Review of
Hill on Marco Polo
Hill’s
string quartets vol. 1 Naxos
