Melbourne Conservatorium of Music - Theses
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ItemThe first sixty years of music at St. Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne, c. 1887-1947( 1983)The choral foundation of St. Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne is unique in Australia and one of very few outside the British Isles. The tradition of the Daily Office sung by a professional choir of boys and men has long existed in English cathedrals and collegiate chapels, but the transference of the tradition, even to British colonies in the nineteenth century, was anything but automatic. The revival of English choral music which had followed in the wake of the Oxford Movement earlier in the century must have provided considerable impetus at the time, but musical foundations were less easily set up in new places than maintained in the old ones. St. Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne was opened for worship on January 22, 1891 with a new organ partly installed, an organist newly arrived from England, and a surpliced choir seated in the chancel. The choral foundation had been conceived as an integral part of the cathedral from the start, for it was the wish of the Chapter that the cathedral use "conform as far as possible to what is understood as cathedral use in England". It is a mark of the confidence of early Melbourne that, before the building was finished, an organist could be appointed and a choir formed, the revenue for which would have to come from general funds not yet available. There were no endowed canonries and no endowments for a choir school. There was also no resident cathedral community, no residential canons, in fact no one who lived on the site at all. The Bishop's palace and the deanery were both some distance away, the precentor lived away and, since the school was not a boarding school, there were no masters living in the close. All of these things were to make the daily choral worship more difficult than in a traditionally appointed cathedral with close and canons houses, deanery and palace and perhaps even accommodation for the lay clerks. Such difficulties were the price to be paid for a new cathedral on a central site in a city area already established. The object of this study is to examine the background to, and early development of, the musical foundation of St. Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne up to the end of Dr.A.E.Floyd's time there as organist in 1947. The study is based largely on accounts in The Church of England Messenger, a limited number of cathedral records, and two A.B.C. radio broadcasts on A.E.Floyd. These have been supplemented to a small extent with conversations with surviving musical associates of Floyd. A fuller account must await less restricted access to the cathedral records and the availability of Dr. Floyd's papers and library which have recently passed into the hands of his son, Dr. John Floyd, of Mornington. (From Introduction)
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ItemMusic in state-supported education in New South Wales and Victoria, 1848-1920( 1978)This investigation considers the development of class music teaching in New South Wales and Victoria during the first seventy-two years of state-supported primary education. Looking firstly at the English background to this study, the principal music teaching methods (which resulted from the English choral singing movement of the mid-nineteenth century) as well as the subsequent development of music teaching in English elementary schools are discussed. The promotion of school music is then considered on a broadly chronological basis in each state and a number of themes are seen to emerge in relation to developments in school music policy and practice during the period. The major themes include such issues as whether music should be part of the ordinary school curriculum or an extra-curricular subject, whether musical instruction should be given by generalist or specialist teachers, and which method should be employed for teaching children to read music. Other major themes include the controversy between protagonists of the respective staff and tonic sol-fa notations, the issue of teacher training in music for ordinary class teachers, and the relationship of curriculum content to the aims and objectives of school music. In addition comparisons are made, and parallels drawn, between developments in both states and also between the respective states and school music in England. The final chapter demonstrates the relevance of many of the historical themes for music education today. There is a drawing together of the main themes which enables certain trends in school music policy and practice as well as certain problems and deficiencies which emerged during the period 1848-1920 to be clearly identified. These are then considered in relation to the contemporary school music scene. The findings are that certain aspects at present represent a continuation of former policies and practices while other aspects represent a departure from the traditions of the past. For example, the recent introduction of the "new" Kodaly method represents a continuation of the movable doh solmisation system which has in fact been a traditional feature of school music teaching in New South Wales since the nineteenth century. On the other hand, the phasing-out of prescribed music curricula in both states in favour of school-based curriculum planning represents an obvious departure from tradition. In addition there are certain problems and deficiencies in primary music education at present which have either persisted since 1920 or have re-emerged from the past. For example, the low priority afforded to music in the primary curriculum and the lack of musical competence among generalist teachers have become almost traditional features of primary education in both states. There is also a re-emergence of the problem of inadequate musical training for primary teachers in many pre-service teacher training courses at present. The thesis concludes by citing a recurring problem from the past, namely the lack of co-ordination between various aspects of school music policy, as the most serious problem to be overcome if primary school children are to receive effective and worthwhile music education in the future.