THE CLASSICAL GUITAR IN AUSTRALIA: FOUNDATIONS By ANGELINA M . - QUT

11 guitar in Australia during the 1950s and 1960s, firstly under the auspices of guitar societies, and secondly through the rise of professional activity. In chapter four, the introduction and expansion of the guitar into Australian tertiary music education and public music examinations systems is examined. The conclusion draws together the main threads of this study and identifies the three major periods of guitar activity in Australia between 1830 and the 1970s. This study concludes with a brief review of Australian guitar culture since the late 1970s, and is followed by recommendations for further study in this field. It should be noted that although this study has addressed the existence and growth of the guitar on a nation-wide scale, findings have largely emanated from the eastern mainland states of Australia. Although activity took place in other parts of Australia, the cities of the east coast were more densely populated and therefore hosted greater numbers of players and higher levels of activity during the formative years. Furthermore, the bulk of evidence gathered in this study indicates that before the 1970s Sydney was the most active capital city for guitar playing. Given that it has long been the nation's most populous and wealthy city, not surprisingly, Sydney was home to guitar playing during colonial times, and the centre of much activity after World War Two. The inspiration for this study took place in 1993 and 1994 when I was undertaking postgraduate studies in Malmo, Sweden. During this time, I observed firsthand a society and musical culture very different from my own. More specifically, I became aware of the similarities and differences between the classical guitar-playing traditions of the Scandinavian countries, and learned something about the historical and social forces that have created these national identities. In May 1994, my curiosity for this subject deepened after hearing a lecture on the history of the guitar in Denmark presented by Erling M eldrup, Professor of Guitar at the Royal Academy of Music in

12 Arhus, Denmark. 7 M eldrup's lecture highlighted the geographical, historical and social factors which have shaped the development of the guitar in Denmark, and how these have contributed to a contemporary guitar culture in Denmark which is distinct from those found in neighboring countries. From this, I began to wonder about the origins, influences and individuals of the past that have helped shape the history of the guitar in Australia. Thus, shortly after returning to Australia I set about answering some of these questions by undertaking this study. I soon discovered that no comprehensive study of the history of the classical guitar in Australia had been undertaken, and what material did exist on the topic was sporadic and vague. Indeed, references to the guitar in Australian texts, particularly dating from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, are scarce, and thus have limited the process of investigation. Nevertheless, some early documents, namely newspaper and magazine advertisements, reviews and diaries, have revealed something about the genesis of the guitar in colonial Australia. In examining developments after the Second World War, sources of data became more readily available, for as interest in the guitar grew, so too did the number of literary references to the instrument. The formation and activities of the early Australian guitar societies were documented in journals and newsletters of the time. Also, the admission of the guitar into Australian conservatories and universities, together with the Australian Music Examinations Board, (the largest music examination scheme in this country) has been recorded officially. In addition to this, the library of guitar music, journals and letters once belonging to William Morris, co-founder of the first Australian guitar society, has also been an important source of data in this investigation. 8 In order to complete this study many interviews were carried out, and 7 Erling M0eldrup, "Guitar Music in Denmark from its Origins to the Present Day," Soundboard 13 ( 1986): 94-99. 8 After William (Bill) Morris' death, his library of guitar and mandoline music was passed on to one of his former students. Following this, the guitar and mandoline works were then divided, and the guitar music and journals were sold. The William Morris Collection is privately owned in Hornsby, New South Wales.

13 these have been a critical source of data. Where it was possible face-to-face and phone interviews were conducted, but where individuals were no longer living or unable to be contacted, interviews were held with their former students and colleagues. The format of this thesis has been written in accordance with the guidelines in Joseph Gib al di and Walter Achtert, MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 3rd ed. (New York: The Modem Language Association of America, 1988).

14 CHAPTER ONE THE GUITAR IN AUSTRALIA DURING THE NINETEENTH CENTURY During the years spanning the European colonization of Australia, the free settlers of this nation experienced great isolation from the comforts and lifestyle they had known in their homelands. In relocating to settlements on the other side of the globe, they transported with them not only their most treasured material possessions, but also the musical customs and cultures that prevailed in Europe during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Musical instruments, particularly those fashionable in Europe at the time, provided Australia's new middle class with some assurance of the genteel life from which they had been removed. Among the list of instruments introduced to this country were a variety of plucked stringed instruments including the guitar. In Europe during the late eighteenth century, the guitar underwent significant modifications that in turn led to an upsurge of interest in the instrument. 9 From around 1780, not only had players and makers begun discarding the use of double-course strings to reduce tuning and technical problems, and to improve the instrument's sonority, but also guitars began to appear with an additional sixth bass string. In addition to this, the tuning system of E-A-d-g-b-e was well accepted, and the use of treble clef notation had superseded forms of tablature. Numerous physical innovations were also introduced to the guitar: body shapes became more circular in design, and guitars featured inlaid frets made of brass or ivory and "worm gear" machine heads. To a large degree, these changes helped standardise the guitar, and, coupled with favourable socio-economic conditions, this led to an unprecedented upsurge of interest in the instrument throughout Europe. 10 9 10 See Fig.2. Nineteenth Century Guitar. Alexander Bellow, The Illustrated History of the Guitar (USA: Bel win Mills, 1970) 158.

Fig. 2 Nineteenth Century Guitar. Copy of a guitar by Louis Panormo, London c. 183( made by Ian Watchorn, Victoria 1999.

16 By the early nineteenth century a lively interest in the guitar had emerged in all the major musical centres of Europe. In Spain, a wave of interest was led by exponents such as Father Basilio and Don Federico Moretti, and later by the famous virtuosi Fernando Sor and Dionisio Aguado, whose concert performances and compositions did much to promote the guitar throughout Europe. 11 The guitar had also become increasingly popular throughout the German-speaking countries, and especially in Vienna. Home to a wealth of musical activity during the classical and romantic eras, Vienna also attracted virtuosi guitarist/composers including Simon Molitor, Anton Diabelli, Wenzel Matiegka and Mauro Giuliani, and the city became an active centre for guitar publications and guitar construction. 12 Likewise, Paris was also home to a great deal of guitar playing and in turn experienced what the French described "la guitaromanie", an all-embracing mania for the guitar that showed no signs of abating until the 1830s. 13 The popularity of the single six-string guitar throughout continental Europe subsequently gave rise to the instrument in England. According to English guitar historian Stewart Button, the six-string guitar could be found in England before 1806 14 however, interest in it escalated over the next twenty years, largely due to the arrival of many professional guitarists from mainland Europe: The successful introduction of the guitar into England has been comparatively of recent date. Till the peace of 1815, it may be assumed that few persons in this country were acquainted with its full and varied powers. From that time, however, to the present moment, no instrument can be brought in comparison 11 Harvey Turnbull, The Guitar from the Renaissance to the Present Day (UK: Batsford, 1976) 82. 12 Bellow 158. 13 Frederic V. Grunfeld, The Art and Times of the Guitar (New York: Macmillan, 1969) 169. 14 Stewart Button, The Guitar in England. 1800-1924 diss., U of Surrey, 1984, Oustanding Dissertations in Music from British Universities (London: Garland Publishing Inc.,1989) 3.

17 with its rapid advancement in public estimation. No instrument in fifteen years has attained such decided success and extensive circulation. This may in a very great degree be ascribed to the many excellent masters with which the Continent has furnished us; to them must we concede the merit of having given the guitar a character which antecedently was unknown in England, and of having brought it to its present high state of fashionable popularity. 15 Among the guitarists to have performed, taught and composed in Britain before 1820 were the Italians Filippo Verini, Charles Sola and Guiseppe Anelli, as well as the celebrated Spanish virtuoso Fernando Sor. 16 This professional activity did much to spread interest in and knowledge about the guitar throughout Britain, and in tum inspired a growing number of amateur enthusiasts to take up the instrument. After 1820 many more guitarists, notably from Spain, Germany and Poland, settled in London where performing and teaching opportunities burgeoned. 17 Leading guitarists such as Giuseppe Anelli, Giulio Regondi and Ferdinand Pelzer secured royal and aristocratic patronage, and guitar-playing child prodigies such as Luigi Sagrini, Giulio Regondi, Leonard Schulz and Catherine Pelzer also emerged to become favourites with English royalty and nobility. 18 Acceptance of the guitar among English aristocracy did much to popularise the instrument with the growing English middle class, and by 1830s the instrument had reached an unprecedented level of popularity throughout Britain. Although men performed the bulk of professional guitar concerts at this time, large numbers of young female amateurs were attracted to the instrument, particularly as 15 Turnbull 92. 16 Button 8. 17 Button 121. These foreign-born guitarists included Hureta, Jose and R.A. de Ciebra (Spain), Derwort, Eulenstein, Nuske, Neuland and Pelzer (Germany), Hortezky and Sczepanowski (Poland). 18 Button 122.

18 an elegant, intimate and portable means to accompany the voice. 19 Further evidence of this female affiliation is evident in some guitar tutors published in England before 1830 that featured illustrations of young women poised with guitars in hand. In addition to this, both foreign and English-born guitar makers such as Vincenzo Panormo and sons, Joseph Gerard and Thomas Howell established workshops in London where demand was at its highest. 20 Indeed, by the 1830s the guitar had reached a height of popularity in Britain, as manifest in 1833 with the publication of the Giulianiad, one of the first periodicals devoted to the guitar. 21 This upsurge of interest in the guitar in England during the 1820s and 1830s, together with the large number of British immigrants moving to Australia before and during these years, were the significant forces which led to the introduction of the guitar in Australia. During the first sixty years of European settlement, white Australia was dominated by British-born immigrants, chiefly from England but also from Ireland and Scotland. 22 In relocating more than ten thousand miles away British free settlers brought with them their cultural habits and pastimes. Given these circumstances, musical culture in the Australian colonies before 1850 was largely imitative of European, and especially British forms. Thus, the musical styles, instruments and repertoire deemed fashionable in England were also favoured by Australia's free settling immigrants who were intent on copying the latest trends of Europe. In addition to these social and cultural influences, guitars were brought to this country for other reasons. Being relatively compact and light in weight, they were 19 Button 31. 20 Button 218, 256, 269. 21 Turnbull 92. 22 Jan Kociumbus, Oxford History of Australia Volume 2 Cl770-186Q) (Melbourne: Oxford University Press) 86.

19 suitable and inexpensive instruments to transport vast distances by sea and land. Furthermore, owing to their portability, guitars were transported as personal luggage, and a useful means of accompaniment for song and dance during long journeys to Australia: We had thirty passengers in the 'tween deck amongst whom were two who played the violin, one the guitar and one the flute, and he was also a first rate drummer. We soon made a very good skin out of an empty flour cask and a couple of pieces of calf skin and so we had quite a good little music band. 23 Despite an extensive search, only a small number of nineteenth-century Australian texts make mention of the guitar, and there is no known illustrated evidence of the instrument dating from the nineteenth century. This small volume of references suggests that although the guitar was present in colonial Australian society, it was not highly popular or valued, particularly when compared to the piano. Despite the difficulties and expense, from the earliest years of European settlement, pianos were transported to Australia in large numbers, often for reasons beyond their capacity for music making. 24 As a precise and sophisticated musical mechanism, the piano was a definitive symbol of bourgeoisie life, and thus sought after by many middle class Australian colonists. This sentimental devotion to the piano, however, was not emulated in an attraction for the guitar largely because the guitar did not engender sufficiently the status and values of "civilised" Europe. The comparatively lower status of the guitar may in part account for the instrument's rare appearance in public musical life in colonial Australia and why it was seldom documented in early Australian literature. Whilst bands and chamber music groups flourished throughout the Australian colonies, these ensembles rarely, if ever, employed the guitar. Much of the earliest 23 David Proctor, Music of the Sea (London: OHMS, 1992) 75. An excerpt taken from Af mit Livs Historie. Cl824-191Q) by C.F. Hansen. Manuscript in the Danish National Maritime Museum, Kronberg Denmark. 24 Roger Covell, Australia's Music: Themes of a New Society (Melbourne: Sun Books, 1967) 21.

20 European music making in this country was ceremonial, 25 and therefore employed instruments traditional and suitable for military and liturgical purposes; and although opera and chamber music concerts were staged before 1850,26 these performances almost always comprised voice, piano, string and wind instruments. Thus, the guitar's absence from these conventional bands and ensembles restricted the extent of guitar playing, and meant the instrument was seldom part of public musical life in the Australian colonies. More commonly, the guitar was played in the home as a means of private entertainment. An additional factor that affected the extent of guitar playing in Australia during the colonial years was the instrument's susceptibility to Australian conditions. Musicologist Anthony Baines summarised this dilemma stating that "although the guitar is sonorously one of the most perfect instruments, it tends to be structurally not the most robust" .27 An examination of guitars surviving from the first half of the nineteenth century reveals that although many were well made, these instruments were smaller, lighter and generally less sturdy, especially when compared to modern-day classical guitars. Constructed almost entirely from wood (metal tuning pegs and frets not standard features until the 1830s), guitars were prone to damage when transported long distances by land and sea, especially if not well protected in a solid case. Once in Australia, European-made guitars were also subjected to harsh and dramatic climatic changes. Over time, heat and humidity weakened glues, and European timbers unaccustomed to these conditions, may have easily warped and cracked. Australian folk music historian John Manifold argued that during the colonial era the guitar's appearance in the Australian bush was rare probably because it proved "too bulky" or "too fragile" for survival. 28 25 Covell 8. 26 Covell 12. 27 Anthony Baines, European and American Musical Instruments (London: Batsford, 1966) 49. 28 John Manifold, "The Bush Band," Australian Tradition Sept. 1973: 21.

21 Evidence supporting the fragile condition of the guitar, especially in pioneering Australia, is found in an old Victorian goldfield ballad The German Girls, which tells of a girl who "sat in the Union bar with her old crack'd guitar". 29 In addition, there were very few skilled craftsmen who could adequately repair instruments in Australia during the colonial times. The Guitar in Australia: 1830s Although it is possible that the guitar arrived earlier, the instrument is first known to have been present in Australia during the 1830s. According to Manifold "the guitar had reached Australia as early as 1835: not from Portuguese Indonesia or the Spanish islands of the Pacific, where it had been known since the 17th century, but from Spain, via England" .30 Unfortunately, Manifold did not further substantiate this claim, however his proposed date of arrival and country of origin are congruent with prevailing social and cultural patterns previously discussed, and with evidence located in this investigation. An insight into the guitar, its music and status in colonial Australia is found in Annabella Boswell's Journal, an account of a young woman's life in colonial New South Wales from 1834 to 1848. 31 On the 16th April 1836, the young Annabella wrote to her uncle: "I am learning to play the guitar; I found it very difficult at first. It made my fingers sore and my arms ache, but now my fingers have got quite hard at the points, and I am getting on quite well with it" .32 Annabella and her sister had recently been placed in the care of a guitar-playing gove

THE GUITAR IN AUSTRALIA DURING THE NINETEENTH 14 CENTURY The Guitar in Australia: 1830s 21 The Guitar in Australia: 1850-1890 23 Guitar Activity in Sydney during the 1890s 26 CHAPTER TWO THE CLASSICAL GUITAR IN AUSTRALIA DURING THE 33 TWENTIETH CENTURY: 1900-1950 Len Williams: A Pioneer of the Classical Guitar in Australia 36 CHAPTER THREE