Australian Music and Modernism, 1960-1975

Description

Drawing on newly available archival material, key works, and correspondence of the era, Australian Music and Modernism defines "Australian Music" as an idea that emerged through the lens of the modernist discourse of the 1960s and 70s. At the same time that the new "Australian Music" was distinctive of the nation, it was also thoroughly connected to practices from Europe and shaped by a new engagement with the music of Southeast Asia. This book examines the intersection of nationalism and modernism at this formative time. During the early stages of "Australian Music" there was disagreement about what the idea itself ought to represent and, indeed, whether the idea ought to apply at all. Michael Hooper considers various perspectives offered by such composers as Peter Sculthorpe, Richard Meale, and Nigel Butterley and analyzes some of the era's significant works to articulate a complex understanding of "Australian Music" at its inception.

Michael Hooper is Senior Lecturer in Music at the University of New South Wales, Australia, where from 2012 to 2015 he was an ARC Research Fellow. He is the author of The Music of David Lumsdaine (2012) and Roger Smalley on Music (2018).

As a close study of five significant Australian composers, the work is a useful contribution to the literature. Hooper has extensive access to archives, interviews and correspondence, some which have become newly available. Hooper uses these sources to establish a history of the construction of infrastructure which underlies the explosion of postmodern music in Australia after 1975. * The Modernist Review * The third quarter of the 20th century was a time of particular turbulence for classical composers, when both extreme conservatives and intransigent radicals could have successful careers. Michael Hooper traces the progress of a group of Australian composers in an unstable cultural world of striking polarities - national, international: traditional, progressive. As he shows in telling technical detail, a distinctive musical identity might involve exploring how opposed extremes can either converge or diverge: and by homing in on explicitly Australian contexts that involve painters, writers, academics and even politicians, Hooper's well-documented analyses capture the most memorable qualities of compositions from a time when post-tonal modernism remained a positively mainstream concern. * Arnold Whittall, Professor Emeritus of Music Theory & Analysis, King's College London, UK * Michael Hooper's Australian Music and Modernism: 1960-75 presents a rigorously researched and original account of a decisive but often overlooked period in Australian music. Whereas most current understandings of Australian contemporary music focus on the country's turn towards postmodernist nationalism around 1975, the author demonstrates that this period was preceded by a deep and intimate engagement with international modernism. The book is a must for everyone interested in Australian music or musical modernism. * Bjoern Heile, Professor of Music, University of Glasgow, UK * Replete with rich analytical detail, Hooper's book throws into relief the complexities of a regionally-specific project of becoming musically modern. Most impressively, by tracking shifts in compositional attitudes and techniques, musicological discourse and public reception over a fifteen-year period, Hooper elegantly reveals the ways modernism and nationalism can shape artistic narratives. * Jonathan Goldman, Professor of Musicology, Faculty of Music, Universite de Montreal, Canada * This ambitious book represents a substantial advance in the scholarly documentation of a crucial period in Australia's musical development. * Music & Letters * Australian Music and Modernism is an important contribution to the scholarly literature and a welcome acquisition to the bookshelves of scholars interested in this topic. * Revue de Musicologie *