Issue 3, August 2005

o a r d HH o u s e

An important step in the GraingerMuseum Redevelopment Program has

been undertaken. Two cultural heritagespecialists have been commissioned toanalyse the future role of the GraingerCollection in relation to the role of theMuseum building.

For many years Grainger Museumcurators and researchers have beenaware that the collection has been put injeopardy by the extremely crampedstorage conditions within the Museum.The logical solution is to establish an

offsite repository to store selectedmaterial. However, the relationshipbetween the collection and the building isintegral to the Museum’s high value ofcultural significance.

The Grainger collection is made up ofitems donated by Percy Grainger andmaterial collected after his death in 1961.The Museum also holds collections thatalthough related to music, are not directlyrelated to Grainger. The InformationDivision at the University of Melbourne,the umbrella body that manages the

Hoard House • News from the Grainger Collection • Compiled by Brian Allison and Astrid Britt KrautschneiderLayout and Design: Jacqui Barnett • Produced by Communications and Publications, Information Division, University of Melbourne

Grainger Collection • Telephone: 61 3 8344 5270 • Email: grainger@unimelb.edu.au • Website: http://www.lib.unimelb.edu.au/collections/grainger/

The Conservation of Percy Grainger’s Piano StoolInitial examination of the stool showed the wooden underframe andwinding mechanism to be in good condition. The upholstery of the seatwas another matter entirely. The leather was torn, thin, and worn.Percy’s enthusiastic playing has revealed horsehair and hempcushioning materials inside the seat — he literally loved the seat tobits! The underside of the seat upholstery was also torn and droppingdust and debris whenever it was moved.

After a general clean, the treatment of the stool logically divideditself into two sections: a) stabilisation of the underside of the seatupholstery, and b) the stabilisation of the seating surface.

Treatment of the underside was achieved by positioning the brokenstraps and torn fabric under fine nylon bridal tulle. This was securedwith widely spaced stitches of polyester thread. The tulle and threadwere chosen for their strength, good ageing properties, air circulationand compatible appearance.

Once the underside of the seat was stabilised, the challenge of theseating surface was addressed. This involved making patterns for andcutting leather fills, thinning the edges of the leather pieces to makesmooth joins, and tinting the leather to match the worn seat colour.The leather pieces were adhered to the old leather with a traditionalJapanese adhesive used for centuries for scroll mounting. Japanesetissue paper, sourced from the mulberry tree, was used to bridge aproblematic area of the leather.

ConsultantsCommissioned inLatest GraingerRedevelopment

Plans

Photograph of Grainger wearing one of his towellingclothes creations, c. 1936. Photo Grainger Collection

Ludwig Hirschfeld Mack, Untitled, watercolour and pencil on paper, c. 1950. The University of Melbourne Art Collection

Grainger’s clothing designs of the 1930sexhibit an even more ‘way-out’ use of colourand form than his pre-war designs. He and hiswife Ella created arresting garments thatappear to show an awareness of the effect oncostume design of early modernist artmovements such as the Orphists1 — especiallydesigns by artists such as Sonia Delauney —designs that integrated strong, cadencedshapes with lively primary colourcombinations. continued over

Utopian VisionsLudwig Hirschfeld Mackand Percy Grainger

P ercy Grainger’s spectacular towellingclothes take the spotlight once again in anew exhibition at the University of

Melbourne’s Ian Potter Museum of Art.Utopian Visions features four terry-

towelling costumes from the GraingerCollection displayed alongside some 34 worksby artist Ludwig Hirschfeld Mack(1893–1965). The exhibition’s curator, JoannaBosse, has drawn a fascinating parallelbetween Grainger’s unusual fashion conceptand the modernist paintings and prints ofHirschfeld Mack — tracing both artists’creations back to the leading avant-gardeconcerns of the early 20th century — and thusproviding viewers with a rare insight into theirshared quests for a 20th century utopian ideal.

Percy Grainger’s flamboyance andfreedom of expression in his attitude towardsclothing design is, by now, well known. Duringhis professional career as a concert pianist heconformed to stereotypical protocols thatdemanded a performer wear formal garb, yet inhis private life he delighted in experimentingwith colour, form and the tactile nature ofdifferent fabrics in his dress.

Many of Grainger’s early experimentaltowelling designs articulate a certainplayfulness and daring practically unheard ofin 1910. Although there is little evidence in hiswritings of a personal (or utopian) desire forsome kind of universal clothing reform, he wasclearly reacting to the oppressive dressconventions of the Edwardian middle-class.He created garments that allowed him greaterflexibility of movement and it is commonlysupposed that he regularly jogged throughLondon’s parks in his novel attire.

Grainger Collection and Museum,recognised that concise guidance onpossible options for the collection andbuilding use was required. The consultantscommissioned to undertake thisassessment are Dr Kevin Fewster, AM,Director of Sydney’s Powerhouse Museumand the museum sector’s representativeon the Collections Council of Australia. Hewill be assisted by Melbourne-basedarts/heritage communications specialist,Robyn Oswald-Jacobs.

Brian AllisonGrainger Collection Curator

The Grainger Museum underconstruction, c. 1938. Photo Grainger Collection

The result was satisfying; visual cohesion was achieved and thestool is strong enough to stand up to the rigours of display in themuseum. The surface of the leather seat is still extremely delicate andwill never be able to be sat upon (and why should anyone other thanPercy?!) On a more serious note, the treatment preserves the stool andits original materials for the appreciation of future museum visitors.

Megan Phillips

Grainger’s piano stool showing the corner rebuilt using leather fills.Photo by Megan Phillips

Student Projects at the University of MelbourneThe establishment of the Centre for Cultural Materials Conservation at the University of Melbourne has enabled new student-focussedprograms for the research and conservation of the University’s cultural collections. Students in the Centre’s Master of Arts by Coursework (Cultural Materials Conservation) are introduced to the various collections held within the University during the courseand items from the collections are incorporated into a range of teaching subjects. Students then use objects from the University’scollections for extensive research and conservation treatment projects. The following is a report by Megan Phillips, a second yearstudent who spent 50 hours conserving one of Percy Grainger’s piano stools as her major work for semester 1, 2005. The stool’ssignificance lies primarily in its historical connection to Grainger’s life as an internationally acclaimed composer and concert pianist.

In his unpublishedautobiographical writings,the Aldridge-Grainger-

Ström Saga (1933), PercyGrainger wrote: ‘The IcelandicSaga of Grettir the Strongimmediately became, & hasalways remained, the strongestsingle artistic influence in mylife, providing me … with anideal example of what Nordic artshould be …’ Grainger read the1869 translation by WilliamMorris and Eirikr Magnusson.

William Morris (1834–1896)— medievalist, poet, designerand socialist — exertedinfluence over Grainger’screative life, which is rarelydiscussed.

In the Aldridge-Grainger-Ström Saga, Grainger proceedsto explain that reading Grettirmotivated him to remove wordsof Southern European, Normanand Classical Roman originsfrom his lexicon. He aimed tocelebrate Anglo-Saxon and OldNorse characteristics within theEnglish language. Thus in hiswriting, museums became ‘past-hoard-houses’, memory became‘call-to-mindments’, andquartets became ‘four-somes’ (toname but a few). As a young

boy reading Grettir, he wouldhave absorbed the way Morrissolved the problem of dealingwith Icelandic words withoutdirect English translations bycreating compound words. Acertain kind of skirmish becamea ‘spear-storm’ and medievalIcelandic menservants became‘home-men’. One name he usedfor warrior was ‘axe-breaker’ —a hero who would wield a ‘war-flame’ (or sword).

Both men venerated theNordic sagas with an almostreligious fervour. But languageand myth were not their onlyareas of common interest.Grainger became very active inthe revival of early music andsourced much of his informationand musical examples from thepioneer of early music revival,Arnold Dolmetsch, whom healso befriended.

Decades earlier, WilliamMorris discovered a strongaffinity with Dolmetsch — hiscraftsmanship and his love formedieval music. Morris helpedhim become a member of theArt Workers’ Guild andencouraged him to exhibit aharpsichord in the 1896 Arts andCrafts Exhibition. Dolmetsch is

said to have played to Morris onhis death bed.

It is in the theoriesunderpinning the Arts and Craftsmovement where Morris’greatest influence on Graingercan be seen. Grainger’s motherRose collected Arts and Craftsstyle furniture and decorativearts from about 1901. Two of theladder-back chairs in theGrainger Collection come fromthe workshop of Ernest WilliamGimson (1863–1919), one ofMorris’ greatest devotees.

Morris expressed aphilosophy of the designer ascraftsperson. He believed thatthe artist should be directlyinvolved in the production of thefinished object and amass theskills to facilitate this process.Percy Grainger was intimatelyinvolved in the production of hispublished editions. He oftendirected the layout of his scoresand supplied his ownidiosyncratic language forexpression and dynamics. Butmore importantly, he designedthe covers for his sheet music,learning calligraphy anddeveloping his own very fluidgraphic style.

In his beadwork designs,Grainger again follows a ‘Morris-ian’ approach to developingdesign and fabrication skills. Hemethodically pulled examples ofethnographic beadwork apart tolearn the complex knotting andthreading techniques.

Brian AllisonGrainger Collection Curator

Henry Tate (1873–1926)knew and respectedPercy Grainger, and it is

fitting that the majority of Tate’smanuscript collection is housedwithin the Grainger Collectionarchives — since Graingerintended his Museum to be amajor repository for Australianmusic in addition to his ownworks.

After Tate’s death in 1926,many ‘old music friends’ visitedhis widow, Violet Tate (neeMercer), and came away withmusic manuscripts they wishedto ‘borrow’, but some were neverreturned. In 1932, a very goodfriend of Tate’s, the authorKatharine Susannah Prichard,wrote that, in her opinion, manyTate manuscripts were found‘practically in a dustbin’ [in ahouse in South Yarra]. AfterViolet’s death in 1963, herbrother, Ivan Mercer, dividedTate’s collection betweensurviving family members andmanuscripts were actually storedunder the beds, where theMercer family kept importantpapers!

In 1978, the Mercer familydonated part of Tate’s collection

Percy Grainger and the Spirit of William Morris

William Morris. Photo courtesy of theDomestic Textile Corporation

Henry Tate (1873–1926): From Under the Bed to Preservation

Henry Tate, c. 1920. Photograph courtesy of the

Mercer Family

T he spirit of Percy Grainger was well andtruly alive during the 15th NationalConference of the Australian Society

for Music Education held at the University ofMelbourne, 3 to 7 July 2005. With the theme of‘A Celebration of Voices’, the conferenceattracted over 300 music educators, performersand composers, both international and fromaround Australia. This conference is hostedevery two years by a different state chapter, thisyear being the first time the conference hasbeen held in Melbourne since 1991.

Grainger’s contribution to music educationis perhaps not as well known as other aspects ofhis life. He was head of the music departmentof New York University in 1932–1933, wherehe gave a course of lectures on ‘The ManifoldNature of Music’. For a number of yearsGrainger tutored at the annual InterlochenSummer School, a rare film of which is in theGrainger Museum titled Youth Builds aSymphony. This 27-minute film from 1943features Grainger playing and discussing‘Country Gardens’, conducting a freepercussion piece and demonstrating hisrenowned physical fitness when he takes a highjump onto the stage for an orchestral rehearsal.

A Celebration of Voices

where he remained until retirement in 1957. Itwas in his retirement that he worked mostactively on the ‘Colour Chord’, providing setsof instruments for various children’s centresand schools.

Hirschfeld Mack’s own particular interestslay in the field of colour theory and design, asis demonstrated by the artworks on display inthis exhibition — with their bright colours andemphasis on geometric figures. He alsoexplored the dynamic relationships betweencolour, light, music and movement inperformances he referred to as ‘Colour LightPlays’. An accomplished musician andcraftsman, the influence of his Bauhaustraining and fascination with colour is againdemonstrated in his innovative approach toinstrument design.

In 1971 and 1980 Hirschfeld Mack’s wifeOlive donated his collection of instruments tothe Grainger Museum. His personal papersand many artworks were donated to theUniversity of Melbourne Archives and the IanPotter Museum of Art respectively.

Utopian Visions: Ludwig Hirschfeld Mackand Percy Grainger is showing at the IanPotter Museum of Art at the University ofMelbourne until 30 October 2005.

Astrid Britt Krautschneider

Grainger Collection Assistant Curator

1 French art movement, developed and derivedfrom Cubism but focussing more on theapplication of colour in painting and influencedby music.

UtopianVisionsfrom front page

Born in Germany, Ludwig Hirschfeld Mackstudied painting and art history in Munich.After serving in World War 1, he commencedstudies at the newly opened Weimar BauhausSchool of Art, Design and Architecture. In itsshort existence, the Bauhaus developed areputation for its progressive attitude toarchitecture and design. He left Germany dueto the rising fascist regime and moved toLondon in 1936. After the commencement ofWorld War 2, Hirschfeld Mack was interned asan enemy alien and deported to Australia. In1942 Dr James Darling (headmaster ofGeelong Grammar School) used his influenceto have Hirschfeld Mack released andappointed Art Master at Geelong Grammar,

to the Grainger Museum.Sometime after it was received,all items were listed on a cardsystem. In 2003, the currentcurator, Brian Allison, gave mepermission to sort the collectioninto categories in preparation fora permanent catalogue number.

I had trouble in recordingdetails of Tate’s works at theMuseum. The pencilled musical

notations in some instances havebeen nearly obliterated from thepage over time, and fading wordsare difficult to read. Tate, likemany other composers, wasalways skimping on manuscriptpaper due to his precariousfinancial situation. In order toprotect many of the torn andperishing works, the Mercerfamily recently purchasedarchival sleeves for preservation,and this task is now complete.

Since my Master of Music(Preliminary) catalogue of 2003, Ihave completed a comprehensiveAustralia-wide catalogue, whichlists all Tate’s compositions. Thiscatalogue was compiled from theGrainger Museum/TateCollection, Tate’s own lists of hismajor works, musician and Tate’sfriend Gibson Young’s article inEaglefield Hull’s Dictionary ofModern Music and Musicians(1924), Vida Lenox’s annotationsin Australian Musical Possibilities(1924), and Anne Harper’sextensive listing in her 1994 BA(Hons.) thesis. Furthermore, Ihave added works located in avariety of manuscript collectionsdiscovered in the State Library ofVictoria, Mitchell Library of

Sydney, National Library ofAustralia in Canberra, Dr A.E.Floyd’s collection in the GraingerMuseum and the residual of theMercer collection. During thisresearch, I found manymanuscripts ‘borrowed’ fromViolet Tate, which had beenthought lost. Two catalogues willbe available shortly (GraingerMuseum Collection andAustralia-wide).

In Manuscripts: A Miscellanyof Art and Letters No. 3 (1932),Prichard wrote ‘A Reverie — AMemory of Henry Tate’ andasked:

Why isn’t Tate’s musicbetter known? Has it beenforgotten? What has becomeof the songs andcompositions for orchestraand piano Henry Tatewrote?

How many other early Australiancomposers have suffered thisfate? A few musicologists aretrying to alleviate the situationand, due to recent MusicologicalSociety of Australia debate onAustralian musicological studies,I hope that more researchers willcome forward.

Christine Mercer

In celebration of both the ASMEConference and Grainger’s role as a musiceducator, the Grainger Collection’s AssistantCurator Astrid Krautschneider, prepared twodisplay cases of memorabilia for the foyer of theFaculty of Music.1 Photographs of Graingerworking with students were displayed as well ashis soprano saxophone, much to the delight ofconference delegates.

Undoubtedly Grainger would haveparticularly enjoyed the Young ComposersConcert held in Melba Hall on the penultimatenight of the conference. A regular event at

ASME conferences since 1995, the YoungComposers Project provides secondary schoolstudents with an invaluable opportunity towork with experienced composers, peopleinvolved in the music industry and youngcomposers’ peers from around the nation.

Six young composers, one representingeach Australian state, performed works withThe WhizBang Orkestra, a contemporarypopular ensemble from Ballarat High School.The six works ranged from film music(complete with film) to a jazz ballad to big bandworks. A highlight of the concert was thepremiere of a new work commissioned for theconference from Melbourne composer LachlanDavidson, titled ‘A Way Back’. The concert wassponsored by Billy Hyde Music, one of thelargest Australian companies working in musiceducation. In recognition of this support theconcert was dedicated to Billy Hyde(1918–1976) with a work in his memory, titled‘Song for Billy’, and performed by its composerBrian Brown to open the concert.

Dr Ros McMillanConference Convenor and President of the

Friends of the Grainger Museum

1 These cases are now on display in the BaillieuLibrary’s 3rd floor lift foyer.

Publicity photograph of Percy Grainger with one of hisstudents at the National Music Camp, Interlochen,

c. 1942. Photo Grainger Collection

The University of Melbourne’sBaillieu Library recently displayedan exhibition titled Kelmscott: A Medieval Adventure in the Age of the Machine, an investigation of William Morris’ remarkableKelmscott Press.