Perservering with Percy (Grainger)

An evening with John Amis, Tuesday 11 October

British broadcaster, author and critic, John Amis is presenting an anniversary lecture which draws on his own historic interview with Percy Grainger for the Grainger Museum.

Tuesday 11 October, 6.00 – 7.00pm
Leigh Scott Room, first floor, Baillieu Library
University of Melbourne
Free admission
About John Amis

(1922–)

Six weeks in a bank was enough for him to decide to live by and with music. Working with orchestras (London Philharmonic, Symphony and Royal Philharmonic), organising concerts for Myra Hess at the National Gallery and for Michael Tippett, whose secretary and friend he was, concert manager for Thomas Beecham, music critic in London for The Scotsman, organiser of the Summer School of Music with William Glock at Bryanston and Dartington for 34 years, broadcaster on radio and TV for 40, during which time he interviewed 500 of the most famous or interesting (or both) musicians from Hindemith to Bernstein, from Cage to Swann, from Stravinsky to Stockhausen. Amis featured in the radio and TV quiz show ‘My Music’, still heard on Australian radio even though it started in 1968.

His books include an autobiography A miscellany, an anthology Words about Music and My Life in Music 1945–2000, articles and profiles, A Photographer at the Aldeburgh Festival (Nigel Luckhurst) and Musicians on Camera (Lelia Goehr). In The Gramophone David Cairns wrote of ‘My Music’ that ‘Amis is that rare phenomenon, a brilliant talker, mimic and story-teller who writes as vividly as he speaks … the book is monument to one of the most remarkable figures in our musical life.’

Percy Grainger (1882–1961)

The Australian born composer was also a pianist with an international career. His records of Chopin, Grieg, Brahms and his own music are still available. Grainger is the only well-known composer most of whose oeuvre is derived from folk material. Benjamin Britten said that Grainger was an arranger of genius.

Above: Portrait of John Amis by June Mendoza AO CBE.

Write of Fancy: The Golden Cockerel Press

Exhibition: Leigh Scott Gallery, Baillieu Library, 8 August to 16 October 2011

As part of the Month of Print, Write of Fancy: The Golden Cockerel Press showcases the Library’s exceptional collection of Golden Cockerel books from the English fine press. The Golden Cockerel Press, which operated between 1920 and 1960, was one of the longest running private presses, surviving major historical events such as the Depression and World War 2. One of the reasons for its longevity was the vision of its three owners, each of whom had a distinctive influence, which can been seen in the eclectic range, comprising of 211 books. With an example of at least one binding of all of the books produced by the Press, the collection of Golden Cockerel Press books at the Baillieu Library, University of Melbourne is probably the only complete set in Australia.

Eric Gill, Venus and Cupid with the Golden Cockerel, 1928, Frontispiece from volume 1 of Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales, London: Golden Cockerel Press, 1929 Special Collections, Baillieu Library

John Buckland Wright, Tailpiece for John Keats, Endymion: A poetic romance, London: Golden Cockerel Press, 1947, Special Collections, Baillieu Library

The Home

The Home: An Australian Quarterly was first published in February 1920. Published by Art in Australia Ltd, The Home’s target market was Australian middle-class women readers. It was established in an effort to help underwrite the publication of Art in Australia and other publishing projects. Initially produced by a team of editors, including Sydney Ure Smith (art editor), Bertram Stevens (literary editor) and Julia Lister (fashion editor), The Home suffered early losses, but finally provided the financial stability needed by Art in Australia Ltd.

The Home is known for its promotion of graphic art and advertising in Australian magazines, particularly the influence of its magazine covers. It proclaimed to be ‘modern’, which it was to an extent, but ignored movements such as cubism, futurism and surrealism. It did promote women in a more modern context. The magazine continued into the 1940s, but found strong competition from new magazines like Vogue and Fashion and Society. It finally ceased publication  in 1942.

Although it was not a literary magazine, The Home published the work of many of Australia’s leading writers. Contributors included Dorothea Mackellar, Furnley Maurice, Nettie Palmer, Norman Lindsay, Lionel Lindsay, Joan Lindsay, Kenneth Slessor, Mary Gilmore, Arthur Adams and David Unaipon. Katharine Susannah Prichard’s novel The Wild Oats of Han was serialised in The Home during 1926 and 1927.

The cover image of this issue, vol. 2, no. 4, December 1, 1921, is by Bertha Sloane, an artist and cartoonist. She trained in commercial art in Sydney with Albert Collins and worked under him at Smith and Julius art studio, part of the Ure Smith companies.

‘Laird of Art’

This eclectic bag from the Grainger Museum’s Costume and Textiles collection was made by Percy Grainger at the age of 12. After his mother, Rose, died, Grainger published a limited edition book called Photos of Rose Grainger, which included a chronology of her life. The 1894 entry notes:

‘Received from her son, as a birthday gift … several of his compositions presented in an elaborately decorated cover or bag sewn by him and consisting of cardboard, lace, scrapwork, kitchen curtains, part of a stocking, small stars of silver paper, etc.’

Grainger’s interest in textiles and experimental fashion design may well have begun with this piece. Two outfits worn by Grainger and illustrating his forward-thinking ideas about fashion are currently on loan from the Museum to the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) for the ManStyle exhibition on until November 2011. One is an unstructured silk suit made by the Rogers Peet Company in 1921 and the other is Grainger’s ‘Laird of Art’ outfit (above right) which he and his wife Ella made from towelling and fringing in the 1930s.

September: The Month of Print at the Baillieu Library

The 2011 international print conference, ‘IMPACT 7: Intersections & Counterpoint’, is being hosted by Monash University from 27 to 30 September. Prior to the conference, as part of a ‘month of print’ which celebrates the printing arts across Australia, the Baillieu Library is hosting a number of events to watch out for. Our program starts with an exhibition in the Leigh Scott Gallery, titled ‘Write of Fancy: The Golden Cockerel Press’. The exhibition will run between August and October and showcases the Library’s exceptional collection of Golden Cockerel books from this English fine press which operated between 1920 and 1960.

Print Matters at the Baillieu is a one day symposium inspired by the Baillieu Library’s Print Collection. A panel of experts with topics ranging from Ovid to Indigenous art has been assembled for this free event, to be held on the 3 September in the Elisabeth Murdoch lecture theatre. For more details about this event, and a full program, please see the Print Collection website at: www.lib.unimelb.edu.au/collections/special/prints.

The Baillieu Library is also hosting a lunch-time talk by this year’s Ursula Hoff intern, printmaker Karen Ball. Her discussion, ‘Distressed Damsels and Life’s Little Misadventures: Fugitive Book Engravings from the Time of Charlotte Bronte’ will take place in the Leigh Scott Room on 26 September at 1.30pm.

Put these dates in your diary to revel in a taste of the Baillieu Library’s treasures.

Rembrandt van Rijn, ‘Man drawing from a cast’, c.1652, etching, image: 8.9 x 6.9 cm, gift of Dr J. Orde Poynton, 1959, Baillieu Library Print Collection, University of Melbourne, reg. no. 1959.3713.

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