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A Brief History of Lyrebird Music Society Inc

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A BRIEF HISTORY OF LYREBIRD MUSIC SOCIETY INC. 1921—2011 John G.B. Perry 2011 Produced by The BriƟsh Music Society of Victoria exisƟng as LYREBIRD MUSIC SOCIETY INCORPORATED ABN 94 676 630 858 & Inc. A0044099C Founded in 1921 by Mrs Louise Dyer Marion Louise Poynter, Patron CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 1 THE PARENT BODY: THE BRITISH MUSIC SOCIETY 3 THE BRITISH MUSIC SOCIETY—VICTORIAN BRANCH 3 THE WORK OF THE BRITISH MUSIC SOCIETY OF VICTORIA 5 THE SECOND HALF-CENTURY 7 LYREBIRD MUSIC SOCIETY 9 LOUISE HANSON-DYER 10 THE FUTURE 12 PHOTOS Front Cover Copy of a photo owned by the Society of Louise B. M. Dyer taken by Dorothy Wilding. The signed photo was originally presented to the Teacher’s AssociaƟon. Page 1 Concert Flyer from the Society’s archives. Page 9 Photo by Jane Hammond (composer of the 90th Anniversary Commission) of two of the twelve volumes of the complete works of Couperin le Grand published by EdiƟons de l’Oiseaux Lyre. Page 15 The Assembly Hall circa 1915. The three-storey Assembly Hall was built in 1915 with the fourth storey added in 1935. The Society’s Įrst public concert was held in the Assembly Hall in April 1922. Used with permission of The Scots’ Church Melbourne. i INTRODUCTION In 1921 the Victorian Branch of the BriƟsh Music Society was formed. In 1930 it became the BriƟsh Music Society of Victoria (BMS), and in 2008 changed its name to Lyrebird Music Society. This booklet celebrates the Society’s 90th anniversary and honours those who have been especially commiƩed to it, notably Louise Hanson-Dyer, but also many others including Miss Sibyl HeweƩ who was Secretary for 42 years. There are many individuals and several organisations who have contributed to the production of this booklet. First, thanks go to the City of Melbourne for its generous Arts Grant, which covered the publication costs as well as other celebration expenses, and thanks also to the members of the Society’s 2010 and 2011 Committees who have been overseeing all of the ninetieth anniversary celebrations. The Committee’s thanks go to Mrs Marianne Hunt and to Mr John North for giving their time in interviews and conversations during which much valuable and interesting information was gathered. Further grateful acknowledgement is made to Ms Rosemary Mclndoe for her efforts in accessing archival material, and to Louise Hanson-Dyer’s biographer, Mr Jim Davidson whose detailed and extensive research informs much of this booklet. The Committee is indebted to Stephanie Rocke for her editorial work with this booklet and to Sally Hutchison (Vice-President) for her fine translation of the author’s type into the format the reader now holds. 1 HISTORY OF THE SOCIETY The Parent Body: The BriƟsh Music Society The BriƟsh Music Society was founded in June 1918 by a small group of Londoners including Dr A. EagleĮeld Hull. A music criƟc, writer, composer and organist, Hull became the inaugural Honorary Director. Lord Howard de Walden became the Įrst President. The aims of the Society can be thought of as the two sides of a coin, the one side represenƟng the desire to further the wellbeing of BriƟsh music and the Ňip side represenƟng the desire to promote the understanding and appreciaƟon of music generally in Britain. Primarily an educaƟve insƟtuƟon, concerts were also organised regularly from the Society’s newly established "home" in Berners Street, between Soho and Bloomsbury. In 1922, the same building became the headquarters of the InternaƟonal Society for Contemporary Music, originally founded in Salzburg, Austria, and now best known for its annual World Music Days - fesƟvals that feature performances of outstanding new composiƟons from around the world. One of the many to call in to the BriƟsh Music Society's rooms in the 1920s was Louise Dyer. Bringing news of music in Australia, especially Melbourne, Louise was soon asked to become the Honorary RepresentaƟve of the BriƟsh Music Society in Australia, and was encouraged to establish an Australian Branch. Developing into a strongly supported organisaƟon, the BriƟsh Music Society survived various conƟngencies in the 1920s; however, the early death of Hull in 1928 coinciding with the onset of the Great Depression ulƟmately resulted in the Society’s suīering Įnancial losses that became unsustainable. Although a few local groups managed to conƟnue to meet and to encourage BriƟsh music for a liƩle longer, the BriƟsh Music Society was oĸcially wound up in 1930. The BriƟsh Music Society—Victorian Branch A testimony to Louise Hanson-Dyer's ability to move things along with great success and panache, the Victorian Branch of British Music Society was formed on 21 August 1921 at a special meeting in the Melbourne Town Hall that she had organised. Sydney, New South Wales, already had a branch of the British Music Society and, Louise argued, Melbourne must not lag! The movement had been helped by an upsurge in patriotism after World War I. New Zealand also had a BMS. 2 Objects of the Society (1) To spread the knowledge of British Music. (2) To encourage Australian Composers. (3) To afford facilities for Australian Musicians visiting other countries. (4) To foster the spirit of International Music. __________________ Office Bearers: President: MR. T. BRENTNALL Vice-Presidents: PROFESSOR LAVER, MR. FRITZ HART and MR. ALBERTO ZELMAN. Hon. Sec.: MRS. J DYER Hon. Treas.: MR JAMES DYER Hon Correspondent: MR A. L. BRIENT Committee: MESDAMES SINCLAIR, THIRKELL, WISCHER, MISS LUCY ROWE, MESSRS. SUTTON CROW, MANSLEY GREER, HEATHCOTE, FOWLER, MEWTON, GIBSON YOUNG. ___________________________________________ Office of the Victorian Branch: 325 Flinders Lane. ___________________________________________ LOUISE B. M. DYER, Hon. Representative. Back page of first programme (see page opposite for details) at the inaugural concert, held at the Dyers’ home “Torryburn”, on 11 November 1921. The first programme also showed Dame Nellie Melba D.B.E. as patron. Louise became the Honorary RepresentaƟve of the Victorian Branch for the BriƟsh Music Society parent body and was also appointed Honorary Secretary of the Branch. The foundaƟon president was Mr Thomas Brentnall, with Louise’s husband, Jimmy Dyer the Honorary Treasurer. Of course it is one thing to set up an organisaƟon; it is quite another for that organisaƟon to act eīecƟvely over many years. Yet from the beginning, the Society has succeeded in doing so. Capitalising on the City of Melbourne’s forthcoming inaugural "Music Week" in November 1921, Louise ensured that the Ňedgling BriƟsh Music Society, Victorian Branch, would make its debut during the new fesƟval by organising a concert at "Torryburn," the Dyer's own home in Hawthorn Grove in the inner-eastern suburb of Hawthorn. 3 On 11th November, just two-and-a-half months aŌer the foundaƟon of the new Society, the following program was performed: Programme 1. A preliminary note on English Madrigals, by Dr A. E. Floyd 2. Madrigal: "Lord, When I Think" T. Weelkes 3. Romance and Scherzo, from Sonata in D minor (for Viola & piano) T.F. Dunhill (performed by Gertrude Healey and Harold Elvins) 4. Two Part-songs (a) "O, How shall I my true love know?" arr. B. Gardiner (b) "Rose Aylmer" F.B. Hart 5. Four Songs for Voice and Violin G.T. Holst (performed by Lilian Stott and Isabel Langlands) 6. Madrigals (a) "The Captive Lover" H. Lawes (b) "Philomela” T. Morley Note: The Madrigals will be sung by members of the Choral Class of the Albert Street Conservatorium of Music. While the "Torryburn" concert was only aƩended by members of the new Society and their invited guests, the Įrst public concert came in the following year, April 1922. Given at the Presbyterian Church's Assembly Hall in Collins Street, Melbourne, this concert was an all-BriƟsh aīair with the excepƟon of piano music by Australian-born Percy Grainger. It featured Elgar's Violin Sonata in E minor Op. 82 (composed 1918), songs by Gustav Holst, Sir Granville Bantock, Sir Charles Villiers Stanford, Thomas Wood and Frank Bridge; and other piano pieces by Frank Bridge, Fritz Hart and John Ireland. In 1923 the BMS QuarteƩe was formed by Alberto Zelman and Bertha Jorgensen (violins 1 and 2), Dorothy Roxburgh (viola) and Tasma Tiernan (violoncello). In the same year, the Dyers moved to "Kinnoull" in Heyington Place, Toorak, not far from the Heyington railway staƟon. 4 An important theme in Louise's life and work for the Society was the vital noƟon of the importance of music in the home. As she herself put it during an interview for "The Argus" newspaper of Melbourne published on 23 November 1925, music in the home was "the foundaƟon for a naƟon of music-lovers.” In the new seƫng of “Kinnoull” BMS concerts became signiĮcant events in Melbourne's musical calendar. Louise’s Ňair for creaƟng high quality occasions, supplemented by her insistence that professional fees be paid to arƟsts, ensured that the Society’s concerts were highly sought aŌer by both audiences and performers. Unsurprisingly, membership rose very saƟsfyingly during the mid-1920s. By 1926 a small but interesƟng change occurred: the Society began to be referred to as the BriƟsh Music Society, Victorian Centre, perhaps signalling an aƩempt to distance itself from the troubled parent organisaƟon. In contrast, the “Victorian Centre” was going from strength to strength, taking rooms in the Auditorium Building in Collins Street, directly opposite the Presbyterian Assembly Hall in 1927. A reference library accessible to members had become well established and a small collecƟon of art works had also begun to be formed, including a photographic replica of a portrait in oils of Louise Dyer by W. B. Mclnnes (1889 - 1939). With the cessaƟon of the BriƟsh Music Society in England in 1930, the Victorian Branch changed its name oĸcially; it became the BriƟsh Music Society of Victoria.
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