Alfred Hill
Alfred Francis Hill (born December 16, 1869 in Melbourne , † October 30, 1960 in Sydney ) was an Australian composer , conductor and music teacher.
Although born in Melbourne, Hill spent most of his early years in New Zealand . In 1887 he traveled to Germany to study at the Leipzig Conservatory . Gustav Schreck , Hans Sitt and Oscar Paul were his teachers there until 1891 . Hill later played under the second violins of the Gewandhaus Orchestra for a while , including in concerts conducted by famous composers such as Carl Reinecke , Johannes Brahms , Max Bruch , Pjotr Tchaikovsky and Edvard Grieg .
After Hill returned to New Zealand, he worked there as a violin teacher and chamber musician and as a conductor of various choirs and orchestras. Since 1897 he lived again in Australia, where he worked as a music teacher for several years.
After several years of regular commuting between Australia and New Zealand, Hill finally settled in Sydney in 1911. There he became chairman of the Austral Orchestral College and played the viola in the Austral String Quartet . In 1913 he founded the Australian Opera League together with Fritz Hart and thus made a significant contribution to the creation of an independent Australian opera business. Hill was also a co-founder of the Sydney Repertory Theater Society and the Musical Association of New South Wales , which he later headed as President. During another stay in New Zealand he was involved in the creation of the New Zealand Conservatorium of Music and in the establishment of a foundation for the study of the Māori in Rotorua .
In 1916 Hill was appointed first professor of music theory and composition at the NSW State Conservatorium of Music . From 1937 he finally devoted himself only to composing.
Alfred Hill died in 1960 at the age of 90. He left behind more than 500 works, including 17 string quartets , 13 symphonies , numerous concerts , a mass and 8 operas . Stylistically, his music is strongly influenced by European music and mainly influenced by German music, as well as that of Grieg and Antonín Dvořák . There are occasional echoes of the music of the Māori, whose melodies Hill collected and researched throughout his life.
His wife Mirrie Hill (1889–1986) was also a respected composer.
Web links
- CV, list of works, discography and literature on Alfred Hill at the Australian Music Center
literature
- John Mansfield Thomson: A distant music. The life and times of Alfred Hill . Oxford University Press, Auckland 1980, ISBN 0-19-558051-6 .
Individual evidence
- ^ JM Thomson: Hill, Alfred. In: Grove Music Online (English; subscription required).
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Hill, Alfred |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Hill, Alfred Francis (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Australian composer, conductor and music educator |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 16, 1869 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Melbourne |
| DATE OF DEATH | October 30, 1960 |
| Place of death | Sydney |