A celebration of Australian composer Raymond Hanson in his 100th anniversary year.

If I mentioned the names Peggy Glanville-Hicks, Robert Hughes, Dorian Le Gallienne, Miriam Hyde, Dulcie Holland and Raymond Hanson – how many of these names would you recognise? All of these individuals are highly respected Australian composers who wrote music predominantly in the middle of the twentieth century and during this decade they all will be celebrating their centenary birthdays.  In addition, their compositional life and influences align with international counterparts that include Igor Stravinsky, Serge Prokofiev, Dimitri Shostakovich, Benjamin Britten and Samuel Barber.

Through their music and cultural influence these Australian composers from the mid-20th century worked hard to facilitate a change in how Australians appreciated and perceived classical music. For example, Melbourne based composer Dorian Le Gallienne (1915-1963) was primarily a music critic for The Argus and The Age and at times was known to write in support of local acts in favour of imported artists in the hopes to encourage our emerging culture. Le Gallienne’s friend and colleague Robert Hughes (1912-2007) was arranger and composer for the Melbourne Symphony and importantly Chairman of APRA for many years. In addition, through The Fellowship of Australian...