Toccata for piano by Iris de Cairos-Rego, inscribed and presented by the composer to her pupil Cecile Weston

MLMSS 11133

fonds

August 1936

Notated Music, Textual Records

9644106

0.01 metres of textual material (1 folder) - printed

Cecile Weston grew up in Neutral Bay, Sydney, attended Frensham Girls’ boarding school and was taught by Iris de Cairos-Rego in 1935 and 1936. The founder of the school, Winifred West, had invited Iris to teach at Frensham for a year in 1935, in her efforts to attract teachers in subjects other than academia. Miss West had a commitment to expanding learning in art, music and drama and sport. Cecile Weston later told her daughter that Iris composed the Toccata while on a train trip from Sydney to the Blue Mountains (hence the subtitle ‘The Train’) and that Cecile was the first to play the composition, as inscribed on the music. The composition is dedicated to Phyllis Clubbe, who was the co-founder of the school with Winifred West. Iris encouraged Cecile to audition for the Sydney Conservatorium, but unfortunately her father did not support Cecile to study at a tertiary level. However, Cecile continued her piano playing through her whole life and kept in touch with Iris, whom she spoke of as being one of her most inspirational teachers.
Reference:
Library Acquisition file

Iris de Cairos-Rego (1894-1987) was born in Marrickville, Sydney. She was a gifted child pianist, who passed the Trinity College senior examination at the age of nine. Her first teacher was her father, the well-known Sydney musician and composer George de Cairos-Rego who sent her to Berlin and London for further tuition in 1907. She returned to Australia in 1910 and began teaching at the new Sydney Conservatorium in 1915. She frequently appeared in concert as associate artist with such fellow musicians as Cyril Monk, the Austral String Quartet and her brother, Rex, a singer and composer. For most of her professional career, she taught at Frensham School at Mittagong in the Southern Highlands of NSW. There she wrote many of her published compositions. Iris also continued to commute regularly to Sydney where she remained in demand for professional engagements as a piano recitalist and chamber musician, and as a frequent ABC broadcaster through the 1940s and 1950s. Iris retired from fulltime teaching in 1951 but remained part of the Frensham community until her death in 1987.
References:
Skinner, Graeme. "de Cairos-Rego, Iris." Dictionary of Sydney, 2011.
Accessed 22 August 2021.
http://dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/de_cairos_rego_iris

Library Acquisition file

Acquired by Elizabeth Jamieson from her mother Cecile Jamieson (nee Weston)

Published sheet music for Toccata (The Train) by the Australian composer Iris de Cairos-Rego, with inscription on the inside front cover by the composer to her pupil Cecile Weston: ‘For Cecile, who was the first to learn this piece’ and signed by Iris de Cairos-Rego. Outside front cover is annotated ‘Cecile Weston, August 1936’. Comprises 8 pages of music for piano. Dedicated to P.A.H. Clubbe. Published in Sydney by Chappell & Co. in 1936.

In copyright:
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