Series 2: Ross Edwards further music manuscripts, 1963-2020

MLMSS 11131/Boxes 2X-7X

series

1963-2020

Manuscript Notated Music, Notated Music, Textual Records

9661535

2.04 metres of textual material (6 outsize boxes)

This collection comprises original manuscripts of 31 compositions by Ross Edwards, including sketch material.

BOX 2X
CHAMBER MUSIC
Arafura arioso : arranged for guitar and cello (2013-2015), at the request of Rupert Boyd and Laura Metcalf. Sketch material, manuscript score in ink (4 pages).

Bagatelle for oboe and piano (Sydney, 1968), composed for Ruth Blatt. Manuscript score in pencil (10 pages).

Bright birds and sorrows : for soprano saxophone and string quartet (Balmain, 2015, revised 2017 & 2019), commissioned for Musica Viva Australia, Amy Dickson and the Elias String Quartet by Kim Williams AM. Sketch material, original manuscript score in pencil (49 pages, including some photocopied sections) which was substantially revised and cut down for typeset version, final typeset score and typeset score of possible addition to the final version.

Four inscapes : quintet for flute, pipa, percussion, violin and cello (Balmain & Leura, 2018), commissioned by the Arizona Friends of Chamber Music for the 2020 Tucson Winter Chamber Music Festival where it was premiered in March 2020. Sketch material, original manuscript score in pencil (39 pages, including some photocopied sections), including corrections made in March 2020 following the premiere performance.

BOX 3X
CHAMBER MUSIC (continued)
Love duet : from ‘Bird spirit dreaming’ (2002, arranged 2019) for oboe, saxophone and piano, arranged for Briana Leaman and Joseph Lallo. Manuscript score in pencil (2 pages, incomplete), various corrected typeset draft scores and final typeset score.

Maninya II : string quartet (Pearl Beach, 1982), commissioned by the Petra String Quartet with assistance from the Music Board of the Australia Council and the Tasmanian Arts Advisory Board. Dedicated to Richard Meale. Original manuscript score in pencil (29 pages). This work has been withdrawn. An abridged extract is incorporated into String quartet no. 3 (2012).

Phases (1973) for treble instruments, composed for students in the Music Department, University of Sydney. Copy of lost original manuscript.

Piano quartet (1999 - 2017). Manuscript of added 2nd movement, ‘Sea star dances’ (2017), commissioned by the Australia Piano Quartet. Sketch material, original manuscript in pencil (22 pages), typeset score with manuscript corrections.

Sextet (Adelaide, 1966) for flute, clarinet, horn, harp, viola, cello. Manuscript score in ink with pencil annotations (9 pages).

Sonata for nine instruments (Sydney, 1966-1967). Manuscript score in ink with pencil annotations (31 pages).

String quartet no. 1 (1968-1969). Premiered by the Austral String Quartet, Cell Block Theatre, Sydney, 1969; and performed by the Gaudeamus String Quartet at the ISCM Festival, Basel, 1970. Sketch material, first draft of manuscript score in pencil of first movement, manuscript score in ink of first movement (Adelaide, 1968, 17 pages), revised manuscript score in ink (Adelaide, 1969, 36 pages).

BOX 4X
CHAMBER MUSIC (continued)
String quartet no. 4 (Balmain & Leura, 2019), commissioned for the Australian String Quartet by Professor Ron and Mrs Therese Ridley. Sketch material, manuscript score in pencil (29 pages).

The tranquil mind (Sydney, 2013) for soprano, mezzo soprano, clarinet and cello, composed for the Halcyon Ensemble, Sydney. Text in English from the Bhagavad Gita. Manuscript score in pencil (3 pages), 2 photocopies of manuscript score.

Valley spirit : two nocturnes for cello and piano (Balmain, 2017), commissioned for David Pereira and Tamara Anna Cislowska by Belinda Webster “as a personal memorial to her father”. Sketch material, manuscript score in pencil (12 pages).

Variation on Beethoven’s Ode to joy (2020) for string quartet, commissioned by the Australian Festival of Chamber Music as part of a garland of short pieces by Australian composers in joint celebration of Beethoven’s 250th anniversary and the Goldner’s 25th. Manuscript score in pencil (1 page).

Voice of the rain : for shakuhachi and string quartet (Balmain & Leura, 2016), composed for Riley Lee and the Enigma String Quartet with assistance from the Australia Council. Manuscript score in pencil (5 pages), final score typeset by Bernard Rofe.

CHORAL MUSIC
Bright be yer wakin' : a setting of Cagaran Gaolach, an old Scottish lullaby (Sydney, 2018) for high voice(s) and piano. Words translated from the Gaelic by Malcolm MacFarlane. Manuscript score in pencil (3 pages).

De spiritu sancto : for SATB chorus (Balmain & Leura, 2018), commissioned for The Song Company directed by Antony Pitts, by the Nick & Caroline Minogue Foundation, Peter & Dianne O'Connell and the Perkins Family Fund – a sub fund of Sydney Community Foundation. Latin text by Hildegard von Bingen. Sketch material, manuscript score in pencil (26 pages), typeset score with corrections.

Singing the love : for SATB chorus and woodblock (Balmain & Leura, 2018), commissioned through Musica Viva Australia for The Choir of King’s College Cambridge by Jennifer Seabrook as a gift to Ray Turner. A setting of Psalm 100 in English. Sketch material, manuscript score in pencil (15 pages), two photocopies of manuscript score with corrections, two typeset scores with manuscript corrections, one email between Ross Edwards and Bernard Rofe.

BOX 5X
CHORAL MUSIC (continued)
Vespers for Mother Earth (Balmain & Leura, 2020) for 8 voices and 11 instruments. Includes text by Hildegard von Bingen and text adapted from the Prithvi Sukta. Words in Latin, English and various Indigenous languages. Contains detachable movements including two solos: ‘To invoke the morning’ for shakuhachi and ‘Orison’ for cello. Commissioned by Judith Neilson for performance and video recording in the new Phoenix Gallery, Chippendale, in November 2020. Sketch material, manuscript score in pencil (109 pages), incomplete typeset score with manuscript corrections.

Wabiny : for female chorus, flute and dancer (Balmain & Leura, 2019), commissioned for the Methodist Ladies’ College Chorale in Western Australia and their director, Dr Robert Faulkner, for the 2020 World Choir Games in Flanders, Belgium. Words from the Whadjuk Noongar language. Sketch material, manuscript score (9 pages, including some photocopied pages), photocopy of manuscript score, typeset score with manuscript corrections (missing page 10).

BOX 6X
OPERA
Christina’s world : a chamber opera in one act for 5 voices and 12 instrumentalists / libretto by Dorothy Hewett (Pearl Beach, University of Wollongong, Darlinghurst, 1983-1989, revised 1992), commissioned by Stuart Challender for The Seymour Group Ensemble. Revived by the State Opera of South Australia in August 2019. Manuscript full score in ink (145 pages, including some photocopied sections).

ORCHESTRAL MUSIC
Dances of life and death : for wind orchestra (2017), commissioned by the Sydney Conservatorium Wind Symphony and conductor John P. Lynch. Sketch material for ‘2. Chorale’, typeset score for ‘1. Ecstatic dance’ with manuscript corrections (32 pages), spiral bound typeset score for the whole work with manuscript corrections in pencil (82 pages).

Entwinings : for string orchestra (Balmain & Leura, 2016), commissioned for the Australian Chamber Orchestra by Rob and Nancy Pallin. Sketch material, manuscript score in pencil (33 pages, including some photocopied sections), photocopy of manuscript score, typeset score with manuscript corrections in pencil (not all pages included), typeset score with minor manuscript corrections in red ink.

BOX 7X
ORCHESTRAL MUSIC (continued)
Eternal light : Lux Aeterna (2017) for bagpipes, chorus and orchestra. In its original context it formed the climax of ‘The Diggers’ Requiem’, a tribute to the centenary of the end of WWI, premiered in Amiens, France and jointly commissioned by the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Australian War Memorial. Project conceived and directed by Christopher Latham. Sketch material, original full manuscript score in pencil (18 pages), 2 photocopies of manuscript score.

The trenches are empty now : for orchestra (2015), from ‘The Gallipoli symphony’. An orchestral version of Edwards’ string quartet ‘Gallipoli’ (2013). Photocopy of typeset score for string quartet with annotations for orchestral version (9 pages), typeset score adapted for orchestra (8 pages, incomplete).

PIANO MUSIC
Lake dreaming : three meditations for two pianos (Balmain & Leura, 2017), commissioned by Dr Graham Williams for the Brown and Breen Piano Duo and the Lifeflow Meditation Centre, Adelaide. Sketch material, manuscript score in pencil (41 pages), photocopy of manuscript score (incomplete, missing pages 38-41), typeset score by Bernard Rofe with manuscript corrections in red ink.

Monos II : for solo piano (London, 1970). Premiered by Roger Woodward at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London, 1971. Sketch material, manuscript score in pencil (13 pages in spiral bound book).

SOLO INSTRUMENT MUSIC
Melbourne arioso : for solo guitar (Leura, 2016), commissioned by Melbourne Recital Centre for Xuefei Yang, with the support of Maria Sola. Sketch material, manuscript score in pencil (two copies, 6 pages each) and final printed score.

Monos I : for solo cello (London, 1970, revised 1978). Premiered by Florian Kitt at Schubersaal, Vienna, 1972. Sketch material, manuscript score in pencil (two copies, 4 & 6 pages), photocopy of manuscript score in pencil with performer’s annotations of fingering and bowing in pencil (6 pages), photocopy of manuscript score in ink with manuscript corrections (8 pages), two photocopies of corrected manuscript score in ink.

Music for flute solo (1963). Manuscript score in ink (5 pages).

Alphabetical by title, within genre

English, Latin, Noongar / Nyoongar language W41

In copyright:
Please acknowledge:: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales and Courtesy copyright holder

Copies of all final typeset scores of compositions by Ross Edwards are available at the Australian Music Centre for comparison with the original manuscripts.