Tristram Cary: Scenes from a Composer’S Life
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1 University of Adelaide Elder Conservatorium of Music Tristram Cary: scenes from a composer’s life by Gabriella Joy Smart Dissertation submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Music November 2009 2 In Memoriam Tristram Ogilvie Cary 14 May 1925 – 24 April 2008 3 Tristram Cary: scenes from a composer’s life Contents Abstract 4 Declaration 5 Acknowledgements 6 List of music examples 7 Introduction 8 Chapter 1 Formative Years: (1925–1946) 14 Chapter 2 Early Career (1947–1954) 28 Chapter 3 Film (1954–74) 44 Chapter 4 Electronics and EMS (1967–74) 68 Chapter 5 The Rhyme of The Flying Bomb 84 Chapter 6 Australia and Academic Life (1974–2008) 103 Chapter 7 Migration and Dislocation 112 List of Sources 136 Appendix A: List of Works and Discography 146 Appendix B: The Rhyme of the Flying Bomb (sound recording) 192 Appendix C: The Rhyme of the Flying Bomb (full score) 193 4 Abstract Tristram Cary (1925-2008) had a varied and successful life as a composer, spanning sixty years and two continents. He was a highly respected and prolific composer of film, radio, concert and electronic music in England before he took up a position at the Elder Conservatorium of Music, Adelaide, in 1974 at the age of 49. Cary produced a significant body of work that enjoys public attention through performances, recordings and intelligent criticism, but it remains outside the music canon. He is half remembered in England, and not fully valued in Australia; as it were, each country sees only half the picture. The dislocation of his career path resulted in the underestimation of many of his achievements, in particular his groundbreaking work in electronic music independent of concurrent European developments during the post-war years. Apart from his own fastidious cataloguing and documentation of his work, an external critique of his long and prodigious career has not previously been undertaken. The dissertation gives a survey of Cary’s life and career, and aims to evaluate the importance of his achievements. The effects of his move from England to Australia on his career are assessed, and reference is made to the reception of some of his key compositions, including The Rhyme of the Flying Bomb. 5 Declaration The candidate confirms that this work contains no material which has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma in any university or other tertiary institution to Gabriella Smart and, to the best of the candidate’s knowledge and belief, contains no material previously published or written by another person, except where due reference has been made in the text. The candidate gives consent to this copy of the thesis (with the exception of Appendices B and C), when deposited in the University library, being made available for loan and photocopying, subject to the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. The candidate also gives permission for the digital version of the thesis (excluding Appendices B and C) to be made available on the web, via the University’s digital research repository, the Library catalogue, the Australasian Digital Theses Program (ADTP) and also through web search engines, unless permission has been granted by the University to restrict access for a period of time. The candidate does not give permission for the photocopying, digital copying, or web distribution of either Appendix B (the sound recording) or Appendix C (the musical score). ---------------------------------------------- Signed: Gabriella J. Smart Date: 6 Acknowledgements I would like to acknowledge the generosity of Tristram Cary in the many hours spent with the composer recording interviews. His enduring talent was a continual source of inspiration. Tristram provided crucial biographical information and copies of published and unpublished materials, including scores, sound recordings, and reviews. My thanks go to my supervisor Professor Charles Bodman Rae for his unfailing professional support. I would also like to thank the composer’s widow Mrs Jane Cary, my family Mark, Stuart and Justina Patterson, for their patience, Eleonora Sivan, Dr. Maggie Tonkin, Claire Harris, Matthew Bate, Dr. David Swale and Dr. Helen Rusak. 7 List of music examples All the following facsimile examples are drawn from the composer’s autograph score of The Rhyme of the Flying Bomb, and relate to the discussion of that work in Chapter 5. The complete, full score of this work can be found in Appendix C. Page Ex.1: The Rhyme of the Flying Bomb, bb. 307-312 91 Ex.2: The Rhyme of the Flying Bomb, bb. 94-99 95 Ex.3: The Rhyme of the Flying Bomb, bb. 108-116 96 Ex.4: The Rhyme of the Flying Bomb, bb. 222-226 97 Ex.5: The Rhyme of the Flying Bomb, bb. 299-308 98 8 Introduction Tristram Cary (1925-2008) had a varied and successful life as a composer, spanning sixty years and two continents. He was a highly respected and prolific composer of film, radio, concert and electronic music in England before he took up a position at the Elder Conservatorium of Music, Adelaide, in 1974 at the age of 49. Cary produced a significant body of work enjoying public attention through performances, recordings and intelligent criticism, but it remains outside the music canon. He is half remembered in England, and not fully valued in Australia; as it were, each country sees only half the picture. The dislocation of his career path has resulted in the underestimation of many of his achievements, in particular his groundbreaking work in electronic music independent of concurrent European developments during the post- war years. Apart from his own fastidious cataloguing and documentation of his work, an external critique of his long and prodigious career has never been undertaken. The dissertation gives a survey of Cary’s life and career, and aims to evaluate the importance of his achievements. The effect on his career of his move from England to Australia is assessed, as is the reception of his compositions. Tristram Ogilvie Cary was born on 14 May 1925, in Oxford, and died in Adelaide, Australia, on 24 April 2008. He was the son of celebrated author Joyce Cary and Trudy Cary (née Ogilvie). His childhood home was a meeting place for Oxford intellectuals of the time; these inspiring influences are reflected in his unique facility to meld words and music. Cary’s talent lies in his independent and modern perspective, which enabled him to bring a wide spectrum of knowledge and experience to his work. As a result his compositional output retains a diversity and candidness that is distinctive and contemporary. A pioneer of electronic music, for many years Cary composed both instrumental and electronic music for films, theatre, radio and television as well as music for the concert stage. It was during his service in the Royal Navy during World War Two that he developed the idea of using the newly invented tape recorder as a creative medium, thus opening up endless compositional possibilities independent of concurrent developments in continental Europe. 9 Cary’s success as a composer for film was established early with his score for the Ealing Studio’s film The Lady Killers in 1955. He attracted international acclaim with several of his radio plays and films, including the play The Ballad of Peckham Rye (1960) by Muriel Spark and the animated film The Little Island, directed by Richard Williams (1957). Cary’s pioneering invention led him to make many of his own machines. He was possibly the first composer to utilize electronic effects for a BBC radio play, with the Japanese Fishermen in 1955. Cary subsequently established the earliest electronic music studios in England (privately in 1952, and at the Royal College of Music in 1967). Another major achievement of Cary’s in the 1960s was his innovative work with EMS (Electronic Music Studios (London Ltd)). With his colleagues Peter Zinovieff and David Cochereal, he designed and manufactured synthesizers, the most groundbreaking of which was the VCS3. The VCS3 was the first portable synthesizer; it was affordable and easy to utilize, which meant that it could easily be mass-produced. To this day it is regarded as the ‘classic’ of its kind. In 1974 Cary was invited to Adelaide to teach composition at the Elder Conservatorium and to develop the electronic music studio. He became Reader at the Elder Conservatorium in 1978 and served as Dean of Music from 1982. Cary’s first major Australian commission was Contours and Densities at First Hill, premiered by the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra in 1976, with the composer conducting. Works composed between 1996 and 2008 include: Suite – The Ladykillers (1996), based on his score for the Ealing comedy; Voix dans la Foule for orchestra (1997); Through Glass for piano and playbacks (1998), commissioned by the present author; Scenes from a Life for Orchestra (2000); Two Film Music Suites for orchestra (2000); and Three Songs for the Adelaide Baroque (2004). Cary became one of Australia’s foremost music critics in the period from 1987 to 2002, writing for The Australian. In 1991 he was awarded the OAM (The Medal of the Order of Australia) for his services to music. Cary was awarded the title of Honorary Visiting Research Fellow at the Elder Conservatorium in 1986, and in 2001 he was awarded the D.Mus degree by the University of Adelaide. 10 Cary’s productivity as a composer is clearly demonstrated by the list of his works in appendix A. Some of Cary’s key works for concert, film and radio such as The Ballad of Peckham Rye (1965), Where are You I am Here (1980), Strange Places – an exploration for piano (1992), Steam Music (1978), and music composed for the films Time Without Pity (1956) and The Little Island (1958), would be of interest to study in detail, but such studies are beyond the scope of this investigation.