97

ReseaRch RepoRt

TheOrchestralLedgerintheLouiseHanson-DyerMusicLibrary,UniversityofMelbourne

Alison Rabinovici

IftheUniversitythinksthenew-styleviolinharmfultomusicinAustralia,onlyanactofParliamentforbiddingitwillhelpthem.�

Theauthorofthesewords,pennedin�9�2,wasCharlesEvelynCreasyJensenManby,violinteacher,entrepreneur,inventor,andoccasionalborrowerfromtheUniversityofMelbourneConservatoriumMusicLibrary.ThestoryofthisirascibleandpassionatemanemergedfromthepagesofanorchestralledgerregisterintheraremusiccollectionoftheLouiseHanson-DyerMusicLibrary.Theregisterisdated�9�0,anddetailstheorchestralmusiccollectionoftheConservatoriumofMusicLibrary—scoresandpartsthatarestillonthelibraryshelvestoday.Initspagesarerecordedthenamesofpeopleandorganisationswhoborrowedfromthelibraryover a period of nearly fifty years, from 1911 to 1954. This extraordinary document provides uniqueinformationaboutthoseborrowers:whoborrowedwhat,whenandhowoften.Itisanimportantprimarysourceforinformationaboutprogrammingandperformance,andhencereceptionofmusicinMelbourneovertheperiodinquestion.Asastartingpointforresearchintothelivesofborrowersandthehistoryoftheorchestrasforwhoseusetheyborrowedorchestral parts and scores, the register is invaluable. Through examination of the recorded datesofloansandreturns,theregisterofferseasyaccesstopressreviewsoftheconcertsforwhichthemusicwasused.Theregisterisalsoanimportantsourceofinformationaboutearlytwentieth-centurylibrarysystemsandresources.2

�‘TheUniversityandtheNew-styleViolin,’Music and Dramatic News2(December�9�2):�66.2Foralibrarian’sviewofsuchdocuments,seePeterThompson,‘”DoesitMatteriftheUsersareActuallyDead?”ADatabasetoReconnectwiththeBorrowersandCollectionofaHundredYearOldLibrary,’paperpresentedatVALA2006,�3thBiennialConferenceofVALA–Libraries,TechnologyandtheFuture(previouslyVictorianAssociationofLibraryAutomation), Melbourne,February2006.

98 Context 29 & 30 (2005)

A fieldwork placement for the subject ‘History in the Field’ (Department of History) with Dr Andrew Brown-May and Dr June Senyard offered me the opportunity to complete the first phaseintheconservationmanagementprogramoftheorchestralledgerand,additionally,tobeginresearchbasedoninformationthatemergedduringtheinitialconservationprocess.The project came under the umbrella of Helen Arnoldi, Student Projects Coordinator, Cultural Collections,andEvelynPortek,musiclibrarian.WendyWalters,CoordinatorofConservationPrograms,providedanintroductiontoconservationmethodsandprocedures.

This research report offers first of all, a description of the register, secondly, briefly details the preservation procedure and finally offers a short account of some of the preliminary research that the register has inspired. Although for assessment purposes the project was completed, theregisterasasourceofinformationaboutnetworksestablishedbetweentheUniversityandthe local community remains an on-going research project. In particular, I continue to work on theItalianconnections,thestoryofCharlesManby,andonthehistoryofsomeofthesuburbanorchestrasthatarelistedintheregister.

Apparently,theregisterhasalwaysbeenlocatedintheMusicLibrary.Itisanimpressiveartefact in its own right, and was made by the Melbourne firm of E. Whitehead & Co., ‘Stationers,GeneralPrintersandAccountBookManufacturers.’Alabelonthefrontcovergivesthedateas27August�9�0(seeFigure�).Looselyheldtogetherbetweentwocloth-coveredhard covers by metal rods, the 870 pages (approximately 30cm by 42cm) show the combined effects of age, neglect, inappropriate storage, insect damage, rust and water damage (seeFigure 2). Many of the leaves have badly damaged edges; folding, foxing, creasing is obvious, as is discoloration and a degree of brittleness of many of the exposed page edges. Dusty and disintegrating,itisnotpossibletoturnthepageswithoutriskingfurtherdamage,hencetheneedtocarefullylifteachpage,oneatatime,tobegintheconservationprocess.

Figure 1. OrchestralLedger,labelinsidefrontcover.

Research Reports 99

Eachorchestralworkisallocatedanindividual,numberedpage.Eachpageliststhetitle,composer,publisher,shelflocation,cost,hiringcharge,anddetailsofthepartsheld.A‘Remarks’sectionnotesdetailssuchasthenameofthedonorandthedateofdonationordateofpurchase.Thenamesofborrowersarelisted,oftenwiththenameoftheorganisationwithwhichtheywereassociated.Informationislistedincolumns,asshowninFigure3.Despitethedilapidatedstate of the register, no pages are missing from the 475 pages processed to this time.

Figure 3.PagelayoutoftheOrchestralLedger.

TITLE COMPOSER PUBLISHER

COLUMN SHELFNO. SCORES VOCALSCORES

CHORUSPARTS

APROXCOST

HIRINGFEE

DETAILSOFORCHESTRALPARTS

REMARKS

Loanedto:

DocketNo.

Forwardedper.

Date ReceiptNo.

Remarks DateReturned

Remarks

The register first lists symphonies, in alphabetical order according to composer, followed by tonepoemsandsymphonicpoems,concertos,overtures,marches,dances,operaticpreludes,suites,balletmusic,oratorios,andmoreconcertos,also inalphabeticalorderaccordingtocomposer. Sixty-eight of the 470 items were never borrowed; many were borrowed only a fewtimes,andanumberweremuchindemand.Amongtheworksborrowedonmorethanthirty occasions were Beethoven’s Symphony no. 5, Schubert’s ‘Unfinished’ Symphony, the

Figure 2. OrchestralLedger,showingitspoorstateasat2August2006.

�00 Context 29 & 30 (2005)

tonepoemFinlandia by Sibelius (see Figure 4), Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E minor, and overturetoA Midsummer Night’s Dream,theoverturetotheMarriage of FigarobyMozart,theMerry Wives of Windsor overturebyNicolai,theRosamundeoverturebySchubert,Sibelius’sRomance inCandValse Triste, thesecondsetofHungarian DancesbyBrahms(forty-threetimes),theballetsSilviabyDelibesandLe CidbyMassenet,and‘ThreeDancesfromHenry VIII’ by Edward German. Hardly surprisingly, heading the list at a massive sixty-six loans, wasHandel’sMessiah.

Figure 4.OrchestralLedger,page66,recto:TonePoem,Finlandia—Sibelius.

Theconservationprocessinvolvedcarefulseparationofindividualsheetsfromtheregister,brush cleaning and vacuuming with a HEPA-filter industrial vacuum cleaner, and placement of sheets in individual archival quality mylar sleeves (see Figure 5). Dirt and insect remains wereremovedwherepossiblewitheitheravinyleraserorpulverisedvinyl.Wherenecessary,sheetswerestabilisedandtearsmendedwitharchivaltape.

The very process of restoring and preserving the pages of the register involved thedeconstruction of this object, and with that, the potential loss of some of the information that couldbereadfromitasanartefactofmaterialculture,wherethisrelatestoitsconditionpriortotreatment.Butthereisnodoubtthatinordertoaccesstheimportantwritteninformationthat the document contained—inaccessible in its present state—the conservation processandtheconsequentre-formationoftheregisterwascompletelynecessary.Eachpage,andwhere necessary both sides, was photographed after cleaning, so that eventually registerpage information can be accessed as high quality images on CD. The register itself wasphotographedatvariousstagesofwork-in-progresssothatarecordremainsoftheregisterinitsoriginalcondition.

Research Reports �0�

Figure 5.SheetsfromtheOrchestralLedgerafterconservationtreatment.

Working from both the original pages and from photographic images, I am currentlyentering data into an Excel worksheet under the column headings detailed above in Figure 3. The ultimate aim is to make the completed photographic record and searchable databaseaccessibleforresearch.Todate,pagenumber,work,composerandthenumberofborrowersrecorded on 475 pages has already been processed. The complete list of all loan and return information for each page will take much longer to enter, as many works were heavilyborrowed. Figure 6 provides an example of the borrowing record for one popular orchestral work,Sibelius’sValse Triste, first borrowed in 1910 and last borrowed in 1951.

Among major borrowers were the ABC orchestras, the Melbourne University Conserva-toriumorchestras,andteachersfromtheConservatorium.MusicwasalsolenttotheMarshall-Hall Conservatorium,Albert Street Conservatorium (Melba Conservatorium), the NewConservatorium(Melbourne),theElderConservatoriumofMusic(Adelaide)andtheNSWStateConservatoriumofMusic(Sydney).MusicwassentinterstatetoorchestrasinAdelaide,Toowoomba, Brisbane, Newcastle, Hobart, Launceston, Sydney, Canberra and Perth, andwithinVictoriatoBendigo,Geelong,Warrnambool,YallournandBallarat.MelbournesuburbanorchestrasincludedthosefromKew,Williamstown,Heidelberg,Malvern,SouthMelbourne,Ivanhoe andAlphington, to the South Suburban Orchestral Society, Zelman MemorialOrchestra,andtheorchestrasoftheMusicians’Union,theVictorianRailwaysInstitute,theVictorianProfessionalOrchestraandanumberoftheatreorchestras.OnoccasionmusicwassentbyseatoNewZealand.

It is obvious from this list alone that there is enormous potential for research projects into many aspects of the musical fabric of early twentieth-centuryAustralia, particularlyinMelbourne.Theresearchoutcomesbasedon the informationultimatelyavailableviaasearchable database and the photographic images promises to be both fascinating and extremely wide-ranginginscope.AcomparativestudyofMelbournesuburbanorchestraswouldseemtobe one possible starting point. While the Zelman Memorial Orchestra has been the subject of abook,3andtheWilliamstownSymphonyOrchestrareceivesabriefmentioninaworkabout

3DonFairweather,Your Friend, Alberto Zelman: The Story of Alberto Zelman and the Zelman Memorial Symphony Orchestra (Melbourne: The Orchestra, 1984).

�02 Context 29 & 30 (2005)

Alla

n &

Co.

Mr.

Chu

rch

13/0

3/19

1012

/01/

1911

Hei

nick

e O

rche

stra

Ade

laid

e6/

02/1

913

7/07

/191

3M

usic

ians

’ Uni

on6/

02/1

913

7/07

/191

3M

rG

.B

riglia

Mel

bour

neG

. Brig

lia31

/03/

1917

1/11

/191

7M

rB

eauc

ham

pJa

s. M

artin

s18

/11/

1918

4/12

/191

8M

rH

esel

ovM

r. W

. R. B

owm

an21

/02/

1919

2/06

/191

9M

rC

has

Man

byM

elbo

urne

3/04

/192

26/

06/1

922

Uni

vers

ity H

igh

Sch

ool

Mel

bour

ne12

/03/

1923

3/08

/192

3Y.

M.C

.A.

Ben

digo

post

7/09

/192

31/

11/1

923

Mis

sJo

anW

ebb

23/0

3/19

249/

02/1

924

Y.M

.C.A

.B

endi

go18

/10/

1924

28/0

2/19

25C

onve

nt o

f Mer

cyF

itzro

y23

/11/

1925

27/1

1/19

25A

udito

rium

Ele

ctric

The

atre

Com

pany

not

cal

led

for

27/0

7/19

2627

/07/

1926

New

cast

le S

ymph

ony

Orc

hest

ra1/

10/1

926

28/0

2/19

27M

rw

.La

mbl

e17

/06/

1927

5/07

/192

7M

iss

Nug

ent

Atk

inso

n sn

. Oak

leig

h (M

rs?)

22/0

3/19

2820

/04/

1928

Con

vent

of M

ercy

Fitz

roy

for

Mis

s Li

neha

m17

/08/

1928

7/12

/192

8M

iss

Nug

ent

???

5/04

/192

98/

04/1

929

Mel

bour

ne S

ymph

ony

Orc

hest

ra15

/02/

1930

28/0

2/19

30V

icto

rian

Pro

fess

iona

l Orc

hest

raM

r. B

riglia

3/04

/193

07/

04/1

930

A.B

.C.

Mr.

P. C

ode

4/03

/193

120

/03/

1931

Laun

cest

on C

once

rt O

rche

stra

Laun

cest

onP

ost t

o M

r. A

.E. F

rost

9/04

/193

118

/08/

1931

A.B

.C.

Mr.

Fra

illon

26/0

1/19

321/

03/1

932

A.B

.C. (

Chi

ldre

ns c

once

rt)

Syd

ney

E. C

happ

le (

rail)

18/0

7/19

355/

08/1

935

Aun

read

able

self

27/0

3/19

3623

/05/

1936

Met

hodi

st L

adie

s’ C

olle

geC

. Zie

bell

4/06

/193

610

/06/

1936

A.B

.C.

Mel

bour

neM

r. B

raid

24/0

6/19

37H

eide

lber

g S

ymph

ony

Orc

hest

raH

eide

lber

gM

r. W

ilkie

21/0

7/19

3823

/01/

1939

Alb

ert S

t Con

serv

ator

ium

Eas

t Mel

bour

ne E

. Sto

ck31

/01/

1940

2/05

/194

0A

lber

t St C

onse

rvat

oriu

mE

ast M

elbo

urne

Mr.

Cra

wfo

rd16

/11/

1943

10/1

2/19

43M

rS

hugg

??

Mr

Leo

Col

lins

(Arm

y)

calle

d fo

r30

/08/

1944

5/10

/194

4M

rH

ecto

rC

raw

ford

T. W

right

21/1

1/19

4411

/12/

1944

Mr

G.

Logi

e S

mith

[Hei

delb

erg

Sym

ph]

post

20/0

5/19

474/

02/1

948

Juni

or S

ymph

ony

Orc

hest

rapo

st14

/02/

1948

19/1

2/19

49B

alla

rat E

ast

Bal

lara

tM

r. F

iddi

an27

/02/

1951

3/11

/195

2

Figure 6.OrchestralLedger,page3�8,Valse Triste—Sibelius.

Research Reports �03

thesuburb,4nocomparativestudyhasbeendoneofamateurorchestralplayinginMelbourne.Someofthequestionsthatcouldbeaddressedmightinclude:

• WhendidorganisedamateurorchestralplayingemergeinMelbourne?• Whatweretheprecipitatingfactors?• Whatfactorscontributedtothesuccess(orlackofsuccess)oftheorchestras?• Whoweretheconductorsandwhatwastheirmusical/socialbackground?• Whatfactorscontributedtothecollapseofsomeoftheorchestras?• Whatfactorscontributedtothelong-termsurvivalofsomeoftheseorchestras(suchas

theZelmanMemorialOrchestra,MalvernSymphonyandHeidelbergSymphony)?• Whatwastheinteraction/interfacebetweenprofessional/amateurmusicians?

Amongthesuburbanamateurorchestras,theWilliamstownOrchestralSocietywasoneof the most prolific and regular borrowers. Also recorded in the register as the Williamstown Symphony Orchestra, it came into existence about 1924.5ItwasconductedbyChristianJohnLauer(�897–�97�),residentinWilliamstownformostofhislife.6Lauerwasanaccountantbyprofession,7andhadbeenastudentofAlbertParkes(bornin�868)forbothviolinandviola.Parkeswasasuccessfulandverybusyteacherandviolinist,andfatherofCecilParkes,billedwhenyoungasMelbourne’schild-prodigyviolinist.Byallaccounts,oneofthereasonsforthesuccessoftheWilliamstownorchestrawasthecohesionofthestringsection,mostofwhomwerestudentsofAlbertParkes.8Perhaps,also,Lauer’sactiveinvolvementwithinthelocalcommunityplayedapart.9

OnerathercharmingcharacteristicofLauerwashisunfailinghabitofarrivinginpersonatthemusiclibrarytocollecttheorchestralscoresandparts.�0Onecanimaginehimtakingthetram from his city office down Elizabeth Street to the Conservatorium during his lunch time, ormakinghiswaythereafteradayatwork.Theorchestra’srelativesuccessmayhavehadsomethingtodowiththeconcertprogrammes,whichwerealwaysofitemsfromthe‘mostborrowed’list.Anotherpossiblereasonfortheorchestra’ssuccesswasthelong-standingParkesfamilyconnection,withAlbertParkesasteacherofmanymembers,KinsgleyParkesasorchestralleaderandCecilParkesassoloistwiththeorchestraonmanyoccasions.Perhapsahighlightofthe orchestra’s history was the performance in 1934 of the MessiahintheWilliamstownTownHall.Pressreviewsreportthat�,200peopleattendedtheperformance,whichwasorganisedbyLaueraspartofthe‘BacktoWilliamstown’celebrationsofthatyear.��

4SeeGregorMcShane,Prodigy: Cecil Parkes, Melbourne’s Violin Virtuoso (Auckland:BrickRow,�99�).5‘OrchestraEmerging:Williamstown’sInterestingBody,’Australian Musical News�6(July�927):�8.6 Biographical dates in this report are drawn from the following sources: ‘Digger Federation Index: Victoria, 1889–1901’ and ‘Digger Death Index: Victoria, 1921–1985,’ State Library of Victoria (CDRom), ‘Cemetery Index’ State Library of Victoria, and the website of the National Archive of Australia, <http://www.naa.gov.au>.7Sands & McDougall’s Melbourne & Suburban Directory(Melbourne:SandsandMcDougall,variousyears).8‘OrchestraEmerging,’�8.9 Lauer was the Honorary Organiser of the ‘Back to Williamstown Celebrations’ in 1934 (Williamstown Courier, 6 October 1934: 5), and was president of the Williamstown Lawn Tennis Association, 1932–1937 (Williamstown Advertiser, 25 June 1932,6March�937).�0Lauer’sandtheWilliamstownorchestra’sborrowingsintheorchestralregisteralwaysindicate‘self’inthe‘Forwardedper’column.��‘TheMessiah,’Williamstown Courier, 24 November 1934: 1.

104 Context 29 & 30 (2005)

AcomparisonwiththeMalvernSymphonyOrchestrawouldbeenlightening,asitwasformedat roughly the same timeas theWilliamstownorchestra,was similarly successful(ifnotmoreso),andthepersonnelofthestringsectionwere, inthemain,studentsoftheconductor,WilliamMallinson.Areadingofcontemporaryreportsandreviewsoftheseamateurorchestraspointstotheirroleasafertilegroundforthedevelopmentofplayersontheirwaytowards a professional career as orchestral players. It also indicates a lively mix of amateur andprofessionalorsemi-professionalplayerswithintheranksofthesuburbanorchestras.

SuspectingthattheremightbeaninterestingItalianlinkwiththeUniversity,Iselectedthenamesof ‘A.DiGilio’and‘G.Briglia’ formoredetailedresearch.Bothwereviolinistsand conductors, and with their stories, a fascinating chapter in Melbourne’s musical andimmigration history emerged. August Di Gilio (1897–1950) was listed as a borrower, sometimes withnootherdetails.By�930,hisnamewaslistedagainstKewSymphonyOrchestra.Thename of Guiseppe Briglia (1878–1960) first appeared in 1915 as a borrower, but by 1930 the name‘Briglia’wasassociatedwiththeVictorianProfessionalOrchestra.ThiscouldpossiblyhavebeenCarloBriglia,sonofGiuseppe.

BoththeBrigliaandDiGiliofamilieswerepartoftheItaliansettlementofCarltoninthe�880sand�890s,Brigliaarrivingwithhisfamilyin�900andDiGiliobeingborninCarltonin�897.ManyofCarlton’sItalianimmigrantsweremusiciansfromthevillagesofMariscovetereand Viggiano in the Basilicata region of southern Italy. These villages were noted in theperiod 1860 to 1880 for the migration of musicians—largely violinists and harpists—to major urbancentresoftheworldtoperformasitinerantstreetmusicians.Thisinvolvedakindofcontractingsystemforchildmusicians,whowereapprenticedorindenturedtoapadrone,ormaster, by parents, and the plight of these child street musicians became a major topic in both theFrench,ItalianandAmericanpressinthe�860sand�870s.�2TwodocumentedpadronioftheperiodinbothFranceandAmericawereAgostinoDiGiliaandAntonioBriglia,bothfromMariscovetere.BrigliaappearedtohavebeenparticularlynotoriousandhisactivitiesarewelldocumentedintheAmericannewspapers,ofteninaparticularlysensationalistmanner(seeFigure7).�3TheNew York TimesreportedthatoneofthetwolittlegirlswhowerebroughttoAmericabyBrigliafromCalabriawas:

compelledbyBrigliatoplaytheviolinalldayinthestreets,andtogivehimallthemoneysheearned;thatheallowedhertoeatonlyonceaday,givingherthenonlybread,andnotenoughofit;healsocompelledthemtoundressandsleepinthesameroomwithhimself.14

In Melbourne a decade later, police reports expressed concern about the number of young Italianchildmusiciansonthestreetswhoseparentsorguardians‘refusedtogiveanyparticularsregardingthemselvesortheiroffspring.’15

�2JohnE.Zucchi,The Little Slaves of the Harp: Italian Child Street Musicians in Nineteenth-century Paris, London and New York(Montreal:McGill–Queen’sUP,�992).�3 See, for example, ‘Child Slavery: A Brutal Italian Task-master Brought to Grief—Parents Selling their Children—anItalianFagin,’Daily Evening Bulletin,30July�873;‘ThePadroneSystem,’ Chicago Tribune,28February�886:9;‘ThePadroneSystemFlourishesinChicago’sItalianSection,’Owyhee Avalanche,2�January�898.14‘Briglia:ThePadrone,’New York Times, 14 July 1878: 12.15PolicereportbyConstableRobertWardley,‘RelativetoItalianBoysSingingandPerformingintheStreets,’No.�Division,RussellStreetStation,Melbourne,�7August�888,reproducedin[‘FromOurArchives’]‘ItalianBoysBuskingintheStreets—�888,’Italian Historical Society Journal��.�(January/June2003):32.

Research Reports 105

TheabsorbingworkofJohnZucchionitinerantItalianmusiciansinLondon,ParisandNew York suggests strongly that an exploration of the same themes in the Australian context wouldbeworthwhile.�6Itismyintentiontofurtherpursuethisaspectofyoungmusiciansperforming in the streets of Melbourne. Preliminary exploration raises further questions about thecircumstancesofthesettlementofmusiciansfromtheBasilicataregioninCarltonaroundtheturnofthecentury.

The exceptional talent of August Di Gilio (see Figure 8) on both violin and flute was recognisedearlyinMelbourne.HewonanumberofprizesattheSouthStreetEisteddfod

�6Zucchi,Little Slaves of the Harp.

Figure 7. ‘ThePadroneSystem,’ Owyhee Avalanche,2�January�898.

�06 Context 29 & 30 (2005)

(Ballarat),�7gainedadiplomafromtheUniversityofMelbournein�922,�8andbecameahighlyrespectedteacherandviolinist,�9bothwithintheItalianandinthebroadermusicalcommunityofMelbourne.GiuseppeBrigliawasalsohugelyactivewithintheItaliancommunity,andwidelyrespected,bothforhispersonalandhismusicalqualities.HissonCarlo,alsoaviolinist,continuedthetraditionofaddingtotherichnessofmusicallifeinMelbourne.

Among borrowers who appeared at first sight to be unaffiliated with either the University or a suburban orchestra, Charles Manby (1870–1944) was certainly one of the more interesting (seeFigure9).Englishborn,ManbywasateacherattheConservatoriumfrom�903to�907andagainfrom�930to�939.20Heappearstohavehadanacrimoniousrelationshipwithuniversityauthorities,andwasnothingifnottactlesswithhisopinionsinprint.Manby’smainclaimto

�7‘BallaratCompetitions,’Australian Musical News 2.5 (1912): 124.�8 University of Melbourne: The University Conservatorium of Music—Prospectus, 1926 (Melbourne: TheUniversity,�926).�9AngeloCandelaandRomildaLauricella,transcriptionof‘InterviewwithAngeloCandela’(Melbourne,1985), Monash University Collection.20Peter J.Tregear, The Conservatorium of Music University of Melbourne: An Historical Essay to Mark Its Centenary, 1895–1995 (Parkville:CentreforStudiesinAustralianMusic,�997).

Figure 8. AugustDiGilio,portraitintheAustralian Musical News,January�926,page�9.

Research Reports �07

Figure 9.CharlesManby,portraitinthe Australian Musical News, �9�8,page30.

fame was the invention of a fretted ‘resonant hollow stopped [H.S.] fingerboard’ for which he registeredthreepatentsonthreecontinents.2� The fretted fingerboard was cause for much of thecontroversyamonghiscolleagues,andwiththeuniversityauthoritiesinthe�920s.22

Manby’s new fingerboard was not only fretted (see Figure 10), but was also colour coded (seeFigure��),andrelateddirectlytothepublicationofhisSérénade Italienne,whichappeared

2�CharlesManby,‘AnImprovedFingerboardforViolinsorLikeStringInstruments,’GreatBritain:Patentno. 7732, 1912; ‘Finger-Board for Violins or Like String Instruments,’ United States: 1914, ‘Improvements in and Relating to the Fingerboards of Violins, and Like Stringed Instruments,’ Australia, 1924.22Seevariousarticlesthroughout�922,inparticular:‘TheManbyPositiveSystem:SomePointedCriticismbyS.GibsonandtheAnswerbyC.Manby,’Australian Musical News 11 (1922): 373–75; C. Manby, ‘Violin MethodCriticised:FactsofInterestandValuetoViolinStudentsBroughtoutbytheControversy,’Australian Musical News�2(�922):��6; ‘ViolinMethodControversy:TheEditor’sJudgement,’Australian Musical News 12 (1922): 153–55.

�08 Context 29 & 30 (2005)

in�9��,withpositionsmarkedandprintedincolours(seeFigure�2).23AcopyofthisworkisheldintheLouiseHanson-DyerMusicLibrary,raremusiccollection.ItbearsannotationsinManby’sownhand.Preliminary findings indicate that Charles Manby was an important figure in music pedagogy in Australia, specifically in violin teaching. His contribution to the field of music education was significant and has not as yet received the attention it deserves.

The 1910 orchestral register is, indeed, a most exciting document. It promises to be a fertile sourceforinformationaboutandresearchintomanyaspectsofAustralianmusicperformanceand reception in the first half of the twentieth century. Early indications suggest thatinformationintheregisterwilladdmateriallytoanewassessmentoftheroleoftheUniversityConservatoriumofMusicwithinthemusicallifeofMelbourne.Awebofconnectionbeginstoemerge,placingtheConservatoriumlibraryatthecentreofavitalandenergeticmusicallifeoutsidetheuniversity,aswellaswithinthewallsofacademia.TheLibraryappearstohavebeenanimportantsourceofmusicforbothamateurorchestrasandprofessionalmusicians,bothfromaneducatedBritishorGermantradition,andfromtheItaliancommunity,whowereprofessionalmusiciansalthoughmanyofthemlackedaformalmusiceducation.ThestoryoffamiliessuchastheDiGiliosandtheBrigliasshowsalsothegradualengagementofayoungergenerationwithformalmusicaleducationandwithmusicalemploymentacrossawidespectrumoftraditionsandgenres.Theorchestralregisteritselfmayyetprovetobeaninvaluabledocumentinitsownright.

23Manby sent a copy of his new work to the Federal Government Copyright Office on 25 August 1911, andcopyrightwasregisteredasof��Septemberthatyear.NationalArchivesofAustralia,seriesaccessionnumberA�336/�(literarycopyrightno.2068).

Figure 10. The fingerboard from a Manby violin.

Research Reports �09

Figure 11. AManbyviolinintheworkshopofRogerBuckmaster,Melbourne,showingthecolouredandfretted fingerboard (photographed with permission of Roger Buckmaster).

��0 Context 29 & 30 (2005)

Figure 11. CharlesManby,Sérénade Italienne, copyheld in theLouiseHanson-DyerMusicLibrary,UniversityofMelbourne.