Alfred Hill

Alfred Hill studied at Sydney Conservatorium of Music, University of Sydney and University of Music and Theatre Leipzig. Cyril Monk is recorded as having studied under Alfred Hill. The recorded working language is English. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are symphony. Distinctions recorded are Officer of the Order of the British Empire.

• Born — 16 December 1869 • Birthplace — Melbourne, Australia • Died — 30 October 1960 • Known for — Music composition

Alfred Hill was born in Melbourne in 1869. His year of birth is shown in many sources as 1870, but this has now been disproven. He spent most of his early life in Wellington before moving to Germany, where he studied at the Leipzig Conservatory between 1887 and 1891 under Gustav Schreck, Hans Sitt and Oscar Paul. Later he played second violin with the Gewandhaus Orchestra, under guest conductors including Brahms, Grieg, Tchaikovsky, Bruch, and Reinecke. While there, some of his compositions were played with fellow students, and several were published in Germany. These included the Scotch Sonata for violin and piano. Hill returned to New Zealand, where was appointed director of the Wellington Orchestral Society. He also worked as a violin teacher, recitalist, chamber musician, and choral conductor. He was active in the push for a New Zealand Conservatorium of Music, and for the foundation of an institute of Māori studies at Rotorua. During this period he completed his first string quartet, on Māori themes, which later would achieve some familiarity in the United States through regular programming by the Zoellner Quartet in the period surrounding World War I. In 1897 Hill returned to Australia, where he taught for a number of years. He married his first wife, Sarah Brownhill Booth, a New Zealander, on 6 October 1897 in Paddington, New South Wales. They were to have three children, who were given the Wagnerian names Isolde, Tristan and Elsa. In 1921 he divorced his wife, and on 1 October of that year married his former student Mirrie Solomon, also a composer. Alfred Hill's daughter Isolde Hill became a noted opera singer, and granddaughter Patricia Hill, a noted actress. On 1 January 1901 he conducted a choir of 10,000 voices and ten massed brass bands as part of the celebrations of the Federation of Australia in Sydney. After several years regularly travelling between Australia and New Zealand, Hill settled in Sydney in 1911, becoming the principal of the Austral Orchestral College, and the 2nd violin player of the Austral String Quartet. In 1913 Hill founded the Australian Opera League with Fritz Hart, as part of an attempt to create an Australian operatic tradition. Hill was also a founder of the Sydney Repertory Theatre Society, and a foundation council member (later president) of the Musical Association of New South Wales. • Illustration — Alfred Hill (right, seated) with other members of the New South Wales State Conservatorium Quartet (Gerald Walenn, Lionel Lawson and Gladstone Bell) (Photo taken after 1924.) Hill was also active as an organizer of music in Australia. In 1915–16 he co-founded the NSW State Conservatorium of Music and became its first Professor of Theory and Composition, and later deputy conductor to Henri Verbrugghen. When the Australian Broadcasting Commission was formed in 1932, Hill was member of the ABC's Music Advisory Committee. In 1947 he became president of the Composers' Society of Australia.

• Thirteen symphonies: • No. 1 in B-flat major, "Maori" (1901), unfinished • No. 2, in E-flat major, "Joy of Life" (1941) • No. 3 in B minor, "Australia" • No. 4 in C minor, "The Pursuit of Happiness" (arranged from String Quartets Nos. 4 and 17) • No. 5 in A minor, "Carnival" • No. 6 in Bb major, "Celtic" • No. 7 in E minor • No. 8 in A major, "The Mind of Man", for string orchestra • No. 9 in E major, "Melodious", for string orchestra • No. 10 in C major, "Short Symphony" • No. 11 in Eflat major, "The Four Nations", for string orchestra (arranged from String Quartet No. 5) • No. 12 in E-flat major • No. 13 in A minor, for string orchestra • Orchestral music, including: • Linthorpe • The Lost Hunter, Tone poem (1945) • The Sea, Tone poem for orchestra and voices (1941) • The Sacred Mountain • White Flame • Concertos • Piano Concerto in A major • Violin Concerto in E minor (1932) • Viola Concerto (1940) • French horn Concerto in D minor (1947) • Trumpet Concerto (1915) • Seventeen String quartets, including: • String Quartet No. 1 in B-flat, "Maori" (c. 1896; published 1913) • String Quartet No.2 in G minor, "A Maori Legend in 4 Scenes" • String Quartet No.3 in A minor, "The Carnival" • String Quartet No. 4 in C minor • String Quartet No. 5 in Eflat major, "The Allies" (1920) • String Quartet No. 6 in G major, "The Kids" • String Quartet No. 7 in A major (1934) • String Quartet No. 8 in A major (1934) • Illustration — Cover of a booklet containing the words of the musical work "Hinemoa", 18 November 1896 • Eight operas: • The Whipping Boy (1893) • Lady Dolly (1900) • Tapu (1913) • Teora (1913) • Giovanni (1914) • The Rajah of Shivapore (1917) • Auster (1922) • The Ship of Heaven (1923) • Eleven pieces for choir, including: • Hinemoa, cantata (1896) • Mass in E-flat major for mixed chorus and organ (1931) • Make a joyful noise unto the Lord (Psalm 100) for male chorus and piano or organ (1934) • The 3 great pillars for male voices and piano or organ (1934) • 72 Pieces for piano • Other compositions: • Piano Trio in A minor • Violin Sonata No. 2 in A minor • Violin Sonata No. 3 in A minor • Violin Sonata No. 4 in C minor

Listen to Alfred Hill's The Moon's Golden Horn online at ABC Classic FM's classic/amp website.