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It's Forgotten Masterpiece Friday!
Alfred Hill (1869-1960) was one of the most important figures in the development of music in Australia and New Zealand, founding a number of the two countries' earliest performing arts institutions. He was also a prolific composer, with over five hundred works to his name including thirteen symphonies and eight operas, but his music is largely neglected and he is remembered mainly as an arts administrator.
Hill was born in Melbourne and spent most of his early life in New Zealand. He went to Europe and studied violin and conducting at the Leipzig Conservatory; while in Europe he appears to have been at least tangentially part of the musical circle surrounding Johannes Brahms, Clara Schumann, and Joseph Joachim. Unlike many other composers from outside Europe, he did not stay in Europe for long; he returned to New Zealand immediately after graduating to accept an appointment as director of the Wellington Orchestral Society. In 1897 he moved back across the Tasman Sea to the Sydney area, where he was active as a conductor and chamber musician. In the following two decades, he founded two conservatories that are still among the leading music schools in the region today (the NSW State Conservatorium of Music and the New Zealand School of Music) as well as the Australian Opera League, the Sydney Repertory Theatre Society (for which he wrote several one-act plays under a pseudonym), and the Music Association of New South Wales. When the Australian Broadcasting Corporation was formed in 1932, he was a founding member of its music advisory committee.
Hill began to compose while he was in Leipzig, completing a violin sonata there and beginning work on a symphony and a string quartet. His first symphony, completed in 1901, is believed to be the earliest symphony by an Australian-born composer. But for most of his life, though he was a professional musician, he was decidedly an amateur composer. Perhaps not surprisingly given his level of activity as an organizer and administrator, most of his music was composed in his retirement years: the second of his thirteen symphonies did not appear until he was 71 years old. A few of his other pieces were notable during his lifetime. His first string quartet, composed in 1896 and first published in 1913, was widely performed in the US for about a decade after being championed by the California-based Zoellner Quartet. His eleventh string quartet, composed in 1945, was the first Australian string quartet to be recorded commercially. The only piece of music he wrote that remains well-known today, though, is a popular song titled “Waiata Poi” that was recorded by a number of singers in both Australia and New Zealand.
Hill's Viola Concerto was composed in 1940, three years after he retired from his professional activities and devoted the rest of his life to composition. The viola suffers from a dearth of Classical and Romantic repertoire because it did not come into its own as a solo instrument until the 20th century – which perhaps makes this concerto even more deserving of attention. Though his most productive years were in the middle of the 20th century, Hill largely eschewed 20th century developments in art music, with the exception of a number of pieces derived from his research in Maori music. And Hill himself was a violist, having switched from violin some time between 1911 and 1913. His viola concerto, very much in the Leipzig tradition of Brahms, Grieg, and Bruch, is one of the very few viola concertos in the Romantic idiom, and shows the intimate familiarity with the instrument's quirks that the composer developed through a quarter-century of professional playing experience.
Movements:
I. Moderato
II. Andantino (10:55)
III. Deciso (15:40)
Alfred Hill (1869-1960) was one of the most important figures in the development of music in Australia and New Zealand, founding a number of the two countries' earliest performing arts institutions. He was also a prolific composer, with over five hundred works to his name including thirteen symphonies and eight operas, but his music is largely neglected and he is remembered mainly as an arts administrator.
Hill was born in Melbourne and spent most of his early life in New Zealand. He went to Europe and studied violin and conducting at the Leipzig Conservatory; while in Europe he appears to have been at least tangentially part of the musical circle surrounding Johannes Brahms, Clara Schumann, and Joseph Joachim. Unlike many other composers from outside Europe, he did not stay in Europe for long; he returned to New Zealand immediately after graduating to accept an appointment as director of the Wellington Orchestral Society. In 1897 he moved back across the Tasman Sea to the Sydney area, where he was active as a conductor and chamber musician. In the following two decades, he founded two conservatories that are still among the leading music schools in the region today (the NSW State Conservatorium of Music and the New Zealand School of Music) as well as the Australian Opera League, the Sydney Repertory Theatre Society (for which he wrote several one-act plays under a pseudonym), and the Music Association of New South Wales. When the Australian Broadcasting Corporation was formed in 1932, he was a founding member of its music advisory committee.
Hill began to compose while he was in Leipzig, completing a violin sonata there and beginning work on a symphony and a string quartet. His first symphony, completed in 1901, is believed to be the earliest symphony by an Australian-born composer. But for most of his life, though he was a professional musician, he was decidedly an amateur composer. Perhaps not surprisingly given his level of activity as an organizer and administrator, most of his music was composed in his retirement years: the second of his thirteen symphonies did not appear until he was 71 years old. A few of his other pieces were notable during his lifetime. His first string quartet, composed in 1896 and first published in 1913, was widely performed in the US for about a decade after being championed by the California-based Zoellner Quartet. His eleventh string quartet, composed in 1945, was the first Australian string quartet to be recorded commercially. The only piece of music he wrote that remains well-known today, though, is a popular song titled “Waiata Poi” that was recorded by a number of singers in both Australia and New Zealand.
Hill's Viola Concerto was composed in 1940, three years after he retired from his professional activities and devoted the rest of his life to composition. The viola suffers from a dearth of Classical and Romantic repertoire because it did not come into its own as a solo instrument until the 20th century – which perhaps makes this concerto even more deserving of attention. Though his most productive years were in the middle of the 20th century, Hill largely eschewed 20th century developments in art music, with the exception of a number of pieces derived from his research in Maori music. And Hill himself was a violist, having switched from violin some time between 1911 and 1913. His viola concerto, very much in the Leipzig tradition of Brahms, Grieg, and Bruch, is one of the very few viola concertos in the Romantic idiom, and shows the intimate familiarity with the instrument's quirks that the composer developed through a quarter-century of professional playing experience.
Movements:
I. Moderato
II. Andantino (10:55)
III. Deciso (15:40)