The collections
Manuscripts of a composer: the Humble Collection
Composer Keith Humble |
Composer, pianist, conductor and teacher, Keith Humble was one of the finest Australian musicians of the twentieth century. Making use of the Cultural Gifts Program, his wife, Jill Humble, has donated to the Library a large collection of his manuscripts and papers. They are the most important music collection to come into the Library since the Antill Papers were acquired in 1992. Born in Geelong in 1927, Keith Humble first achieved fame as a brilliant jazz pianist who led his own ensembles. He went to England in 1949 and spent most of the next 20 years overseas. In Paris he studied under the composer René Leibowitz, who had been a pupil of Webern, and Humbles early compositions showed the strong influence of Webern and the Second Viennese School. While in Paris, he founded and directed Le Centre de Musique as a forum for the discussion and presentation of new music, and later worked with a theatre improvisation group. |
In 1967 Humble returned to Australia and taught at Melbourne University. He also spent some months each year at the University of California, San Diego. In 1974 he became the foundation Professor of Music at La Trobe University. He resumed his career as a concert pianist, founded the Australian Contemporary Music Ensemble, encouraged the study of electronic music and went on to compose some of his most ambitious works. Humbles Sonata in C for Violin and Piano was first performed in the foyer of the National Library in 1985. His Symphony of Sorrows was performed just before his death in 1995.
The comprehensive collection of original compositions forms the core of the collection donated by Mrs Humble. The music has been sorted and catalogued by John Whiteoak, a former colleague of Humble at La Trobe University. It is grouped into arrangements, controlled improvisations, early composition, choral music, chamber music, Nunique theatre music, orchestral music, piano music and songs. The Nunique music was composed for musical theatre performances, in Paris in 1968, and later in Melbourne. The idea of Nunique theatre supported Humbles belief that music should be essentially written for immediate performance, whereas music written for posterity was likely to be sterile.
In addition to the manuscripts, there is an extensive range of papers such as research and teaching materials, lectures, reviews, programs, posters and publicity material. These papers provide valuable source material on Humbles ideas and theories, his teaching methods and his career as a pianist and composer.
It is very unusual for a composers working life to be so well and meticul-ously documented. In their compre-hensiveness and variety, the papers of Keith Humble are comparable to those of his close friend Don Banks, which are also held in the Library.
Please address any comments and enquiries to The Editor, Gateways: lkirwan@nla.gov.au