Colin Brumby
Encyclopedia
Colin Brumby is an Australia
n composer
and conductor.
He was born in Melbourne
and studied at the University of Melbourne
Conservatorium of Music, from which he graduated in 1957. He went to Spain
to study advanced composition with Philipp Jarnach
, and to London
to study with Alexander Goehr
. On his return to Australia, he joined the staff of the Music Department at the University of Queensland
, and has been based in Brisbane
ever since. He became Associate Professor with the University of Queensland, from which he retired in 1998.
Brumby was Musical Director of the Queensland Opera Company from 1968 to 1971. While there, he conducted the Australian premieres of works such as Joseph Haydn
's L'infedeltà delusa
and Georges Bizet
's Le docteur Miracle. He also wrote a series of children's operettas. These toured throughout Queensland by the Queensland Opera Company.
In 1969 he won the Albert H. Maggs Composition Award
. In 1971, he received his Doctorate of Music from the University of Melbourne. In 1972 he returned overseas to study composition with Franco Evangelisti
in Rome
. After his return to Australia, Musica Viva Australia
commissioned Brumby to compose a work for the 1974 tour of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields. This was The Phoenix and the Turtle for string orchestra and harpsichord.
In 1981 Brumby was awarded an Advance Australia Award for services to music.
Brumby's music includes operas; concerti for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, trumpet, piano, violin, viola, and guitar; two symphonies; orchestral suites and overtures; chamber works; sonatas for flute, clarinet and bassoon; incidental music for dramatic presentations; film and ballet scores; and songs.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
and conductor.
He was born in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
and studied at the University of Melbourne
University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is a public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. Founded in 1853, it is the second oldest university in Australia and the oldest in Victoria...
Conservatorium of Music, from which he graduated in 1957. He went to Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
to study advanced composition with Philipp Jarnach
Philipp Jarnach
Philipp Jarnach was considered in the 1920s to be one of the most important composers of modern music....
, and to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
to study with Alexander Goehr
Alexander Goehr
Alexander Goehr is an English composer and academic.Goehr was born in Berlin in 1932, the son of the conductor and Schoenberg pupil Walter Goehr. In his early twenties he emerged as a central figure in the Manchester School of post-war British composers. In 1955–56 he joined Oliver Messiaen's...
. On his return to Australia, he joined the staff of the Music Department at the University of Queensland
University of Queensland
The University of Queensland, also known as UQ, is a public university located in state of Queensland, Australia. Founded in 1909, it is the oldest and largest university in Queensland and the fifth oldest in the nation...
, and has been based in Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
ever since. He became Associate Professor with the University of Queensland, from which he retired in 1998.
Brumby was Musical Director of the Queensland Opera Company from 1968 to 1971. While there, he conducted the Australian premieres of works such as Joseph Haydn
Joseph Haydn
Franz Joseph Haydn , known as Joseph Haydn , was an Austrian composer, one of the most prolific and prominent composers of the Classical period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these forms...
's L'infedeltà delusa
L'infedeltà delusa
L'infedeltà delusa , Hob. 28/5, is an operatic burletta per musica by Joseph Haydn. The Italian libretto was by Marco Coltellini, perhaps reworked by Carl Friberth who also took part in the first performance.-Performance history:...
and Georges Bizet
Georges Bizet
Georges Bizet formally Alexandre César Léopold Bizet, was a French composer, mainly of operas. In a career cut short by his early death, he achieved few successes before his final work, Carmen, became one of the most popular and frequently performed works in the entire opera repertory.During a...
's Le docteur Miracle. He also wrote a series of children's operettas. These toured throughout Queensland by the Queensland Opera Company.
In 1969 he won the Albert H. Maggs Composition Award
Albert H. Maggs Composition Award
The Albert H. Maggs Composition Award is a commission-based Australian classical composition award given in order to "encourage and assist composers who might otherwise abandon their efforts for want of means"....
. In 1971, he received his Doctorate of Music from the University of Melbourne. In 1972 he returned overseas to study composition with Franco Evangelisti
Franco Evangelisti
Franco Evangelisti , was an Italian composer specifically interested in the scientific theories behind sound.-Biography:...
in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
. After his return to Australia, Musica Viva Australia
Musica Viva Australia
Musica Viva Australia is the oldest independent performing arts organisation in Australia and the world's largest entrepreneur of chamber music. It was formed in 1945 in Sydney by violist Richard Goldner...
commissioned Brumby to compose a work for the 1974 tour of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields. This was The Phoenix and the Turtle for string orchestra and harpsichord.
In 1981 Brumby was awarded an Advance Australia Award for services to music.
Brumby's music includes operas; concerti for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, trumpet, piano, violin, viola, and guitar; two symphonies; orchestral suites and overtures; chamber works; sonatas for flute, clarinet and bassoon; incidental music for dramatic presentations; film and ballet scores; and songs.
Stage works
- The Wise Shoemaker (lib. Brumby), children’s operetta (1968, BrisbaneBrisbaneBrisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
) - Rita and Dita and the Pirate (lib. Brumby, after the brothers Grimm), children’s operetta (1969, Brisbane)
- Rita and Dita in Toyland (lib. Brumby), children’s operetta, 1 Act (1970, RockhamptonRockhampton, QueenslandRockhampton is a city and local government area in Queensland, Australia. The city lies on the Fitzroy River, approximately from the river mouth, and some north of the state capital, Brisbane....
) - The Two Suitors (lib. Brumby), children’s operetta, 1 Act (1970, Rockhampton)
- The Seven Deadly Sins - a New Concept of Music Theatre (lib. Brumby, Thomas ShapcottThomas W. ShapcottThomas William Shapcott AO is an Australian poet, novelist, playwright, editor, librettist, short story writer and teacher.- Biography :...
, Meryn Moriarty), 2-act opera (1970, Brisbane) - The Marriage Machine (lib. Brumby), 1-act opera (1972, Sydney); 1985 arranged for orchestra
- La Donna (lib. David Goddard), 1-act opera (1988, Sydney)
- Summer Carol (lib. Thomas Shapcott), 1-act opera (1991, CanberraCanberraCanberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
)
Orchestral works
- The Phoenix and the Turtle (1974; string orchestra and harpsichord)
- Litanies of the Sun
- Fibonacci Variations
- Paean (1982; a showpiece for the Sydney Symphony during the Australian Broadcasting CorporationAustralian Broadcasting CorporationThe Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
's 50th Anniversary celebrations in 1982) - South Bank Overture (1984; commissioned for the 1984 opening of the Concert Hall in the Queensland Cultural CentreQueensland Cultural CentreThe Queensland Cultural Centre is a multi-venue centre located at South Bank, Brisbane, capital city of Queensland. It consists of the Queensland Performing Arts Centre , the Queensland Museum, the State Library of Queensland , the Queensland Art Gallery and the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art...
) - Borromeo Suite
- Scena for cor anglais and orchestra
- Mediterranean Suite, string orchestra
- Concertino, viola and string orchestra (1960)
- Viola Concerto Tre aspetti di Roma, viola and orchestra (1990)
Choral works
- Victimae Paschali (commissioned by Pro Musica in Brisbane)
- Three Baroque Angels (commissioned for the 30th Intervarsity Choral FestivalInterVarsity Choral Festival (Australia)The Australian InterVarsity Choral Festival is an annual event in which members of university choirs from all state capitals of Australia and the national capital Canberra meet for two weeks to rehearse, socialise and perform combined concerts...
) - Cantata Charlie Bubbles' Book of Hours (for an Australian UNESCOUNESCOThe United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
Seminar on Music Education) - This is the Vine (for the 40th International Eucharistic CongressInternational Eucharistic CongressIn the Roman Catholic church, a Eucharistic Congress is a gathering of clergy, religious, and laity to bear witness to the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, which is an important Roman Catholic doctrine...
) - Cantata The Ballad of Sydney Hospital (commemorating the Bicentenary of the Sydney Hospital)
- Aquinas: Two Eucharistic Texts [O salutaris hostia; Tantum ergo] for solo or unison choir and organ
- From All That Dwell (Isaac Watts) for two-part choir with keyboard
- The Fruitless Fig (text by Brumby) for SATB choir and organ
- Give Judgment for Me, O Lord (Psalm 26) for SATB choir and organ
- How Lovely Are Thy Dwellings Fair! (John MiltonJohn MiltonJohn Milton was an English poet, polemicist, a scholarly man of letters, and a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell...
) for SATB choir and organ - In Praise of the Virgin (13th century British text) for SATB choir a cappella
- Iustorum animæ (Scripture) SATB a cappella
- Nine Tenebræ Responsories, 3 vols., for 2-part choir and organ
- O My People (the Reproaches) for 2-part choir and organ
- Prisquam gallus cantet (Matthew 26:75) SATB a cappella
- Stabat mater dolorosa (Traditional sequence) for SATB choir and organ (or strings)
- Ten New Carols for Advent and Christmas
- Teach Me, O Lord (Psalm 119:33-40) for SATB choir and organ
- Three Sacred Rounds (4-part)
- Two Easter Anthems (text Brumby) for SATB choir and organ
- Unto Us A Boy Is Born (traditional text) for SATB choir and keyboard
- * All Glory, Laud and Honour, choral prelude
Chamber works
- The Seven Ages of Man, wind quintet
- String quartet
- Piano quartet
- Bassoon quintet
- 4 Exotic Pieces, flute and harp
- Suite for contrabass quartet
- 4 Aphorisms, clarinet and piano
- 4 Miniatures, flute and piano
- 4 simple duos, descant recorders
- Abendlied, viola and piano (2001)
- Berceuse, Chaconne, Nocturne, viola and piano
- Etude, solo viola
- Mediterranean Suite, viola quartet and double bass (1956)
- Passacaglia, viola ensemble (7 violas) and piano
- Sonatina, viola and piano (1982)