Bernard Heinze
Encyclopedia
Sir Bernard Thomas Heinze, AC
(1 July 189410 June 1982) was an Australian Professor of Music, conductor, and Director of the New South Wales State Conservatorium of Music
.
He conducted all the orchestras run by the ABC
, most particularly the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
, of which he was chief conductor from 1933 to 1950. He was chief conductor of the Royal Melbourne Philharmonic
from 1927, becoming Honorary Life Conductor in the 1960s, and continuing his association with the RMP until 1978.
He was also Guest Conductor of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra
in 1939. Discouraged by Australian audiences' lack of interest in music, he founded Children's Concerts. He also initiated the Young Performers Awards, which continue to showcase emerging international talent.
He introduced Australian audiences to the works of Anton Bruckner
, Dmitri Shostakovich
, Béla Bartók
and William Walton
, and promoted Australian composers. He was the first Australian to be knighted for services to music, in 1949. He played a central role in shaping Australia’s musical life through teaching and performance, habits of listening, broadcasting and composition. At his retirement, Bernard Heinze was hailed as the most influential figure in Australian music, critics declaring: 'there is not a fibre of our musical life that has not been modified by his career.'
on 1 July 1894, the son of Benjamin Heinze a German born watch-maker and jeweller and his Yorkshire wife, Minnie née Greenwell. Educated at St Patrick's College, Ballarat
, Heinze received violin lessons at an early age, under the guidance of Walter Gude (1904–12) in Ballarat
and at the University of Melbourne
under Franklin Peterson before being awarded the (Sir William) Clarke Scholarship at the Royal College of Music
in London (1913).
World War I interrupted his studies and his career was put on hold; he received a commission in May 1916 with the British Royal Garrison Artillery Special Reserve Regiment and fought at Arras
, Ypres
, the Somme and Passchendaele.
With the advent of peace, Heinze studied in Paris at the Schola Cantorum, under Vincent d'Indy
. He returned home in 1923. At the youthful age of 32, he succeeded William Laver as Ormond Professor of Music at the University of Melbourne. He held this professorship till 1957, and played a crucial role in the creation of the Faculty of Music. Thus he influenced governmental education policy for the successful introduction of music to the state curriculum.
One of Heinze’s great achievements came with the advent of wireless radio. As director-general of music with the new National Broadcasting Service at 3LO-3AR (forerunner to the ABC), he was able to inspire a generation of Australians to the love of orchestral music that was until then largely a luxury confined to the upper classes.
Heinze envisaged a central professional full-time orchestra in Melbourne. After Alberto Zelman
's death in 1927, he was offered the conductorship of the Melbourne Philharmonic Society (later the Royal Melbourne Philharmonic
); many of the players of the RMP's orchestra also played in Fritz Hart's Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
. This led to the loss of the RMP Orchestra's separate identity. From 1932 to 1937, Heinze was co-chief conductor of the MSO with Hart, and sole chief conductor until 1950. The MSO was renamed the Victorian Symphony Orchestra in 1949, reverting to its original name in 1964.
In 1929 Heinze was appointed music adviser to the Australian Broadcasting Commission. There he oversaw the inception of its State orchestras, celebrity concerts, youth concerts and fine music broadcasting.
His last appointment of significance was as director of the New South Wales State Conservatorium of Music
(1956–66) succeeding Sir Eugene Goossens
, who had resigned in scandal. After leaving the directorship in 1966, Heinze continued to conduct the main Australian orchestras on a regular basis until the late 1970s. He also conducted overseas orchestras: on 14 January 1947, he was the conductor of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra
in the professional concerto debut of the 14-year-old Glenn Gould
, who played Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4
.
He died on 10 June 1982, aged 87, in Bellevue Hill
, Sydney, survived by his wife Valerie née Hennessy.
He was knighted in 1949, the first Australian musician to receive this honour.
Sir Bernard was named the 1974 Australian of the Year
.
On Australia Day 1976, he was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia
for his services to Australian music.
, now given by the University of Melbourne Faculty of Music Orchestra. In 1992, the Friends of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra were invited to suggest a possible recipient for the award, and have nominated one person per year since then.
Recipients of the award have included: Sir Frank Callaway
, Beryl Kimber, John Hopkins
, Yvonne Kenny
, Don Burrows
, Richard Mills
, Peter Sculthorpe
, Richard Gill
, Jonathan Mills, Graeme Koehne
, Richard Divall, Richard Tognetti
, Graham Abbott and Richard Bonynge
.
Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, "for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for meritorious service"...
(1 July 189410 June 1982) was an Australian Professor of Music, conductor, and Director of the New South Wales State Conservatorium of Music
Sydney Conservatorium of Music
The Sydney Conservatorium of Music is one of the oldest and most prestigious music schools in Australia...
.
He conducted all the orchestras run by the ABC
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
, most particularly the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra is an orchestra based in Melbourne, Australia. It has 100 permanent musicians. Melbourne has the longest continuous history of orchestral music of any Australian city and the MSO is the oldest professional orchestra in Australia...
, of which he was chief conductor from 1933 to 1950. He was chief conductor of the Royal Melbourne Philharmonic
Royal Melbourne Philharmonic
Royal Melbourne Philharmonic is a 120-voice choir and orchestra in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It was established in 1853, and is reportedly Australia's oldest surviving cultural organisation....
from 1927, becoming Honorary Life Conductor in the 1960s, and continuing his association with the RMP until 1978.
He was also Guest Conductor of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra
Adelaide Symphony Orchestra
The Adelaide Symphony Orchestra was founded as a 17 player radio ensemble in 1936, in Adelaide, South Australia. The orchestra reformed in 1949 as the 55 member South Australian Symphony Orchestra. It reverted to its original and present title, the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, in late 1974, and...
in 1939. Discouraged by Australian audiences' lack of interest in music, he founded Children's Concerts. He also initiated the Young Performers Awards, which continue to showcase emerging international talent.
He introduced Australian audiences to the works of Anton Bruckner
Anton Bruckner
Anton Bruckner was an Austrian composer known for his symphonies, masses, and motets. The first are considered emblematic of the final stage of Austro-German Romanticism because of their rich harmonic language, complex polyphony, and considerable length...
, Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich was a Soviet Russian composer and one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century....
, Béla Bartók
Béla Bartók
Béla Viktor János Bartók was a Hungarian composer and pianist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century and is regarded, along with Liszt, as Hungary's greatest composer...
and William Walton
William Walton
Sir William Turner Walton OM was an English composer. During a sixty-year career, he wrote music in several classical genres and styles, from film scores to opera...
, and promoted Australian composers. He was the first Australian to be knighted for services to music, in 1949. He played a central role in shaping Australia’s musical life through teaching and performance, habits of listening, broadcasting and composition. At his retirement, Bernard Heinze was hailed as the most influential figure in Australian music, critics declaring: 'there is not a fibre of our musical life that has not been modified by his career.'
Biography
Bernard Heinze was born in Shepparton, VictoriaShepparton, Victoria
Shepparton is a city located on the floodplain of the Goulburn River in the north east of Victoria, Australia approximately north-east of Melbourne. It is the fifth largest city in Victoria, Australia. The estimated population of Shepparton's statistical area is 48,926.It began as a sheep station...
on 1 July 1894, the son of Benjamin Heinze a German born watch-maker and jeweller and his Yorkshire wife, Minnie née Greenwell. Educated at St Patrick's College, Ballarat
St Patrick's College, Ballarat
St Patrick's College was founded by the Christian Brothers in 1893. It is a Roman Catholic day and boarding school, located in Ballarat, Australia. It provides education for boys from Year 7 to Year 12, with an emphasis on sporting and academic programmes...
, Heinze received violin lessons at an early age, under the guidance of Walter Gude (1904–12) in Ballarat
Ballarat, Victoria
Ballarat is a city in the state of Victoria, Australia, approximately west-north-west of the state capital Melbourne situated on the lower plains of the Great Dividing Range and the Yarrowee River catchment. It is the largest inland centre and third most populous city in the state and the fifth...
and at the University of Melbourne
University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is a public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. Founded in 1853, it is the second oldest university in Australia and the oldest in Victoria...
under Franklin Peterson before being awarded the (Sir William) Clarke Scholarship at the Royal College of Music
Royal College of Music
The Royal College of Music is a conservatoire founded by Royal Charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, England.-Background:The first director was Sir George Grove and he was followed by Sir Hubert Parry...
in London (1913).
World War I interrupted his studies and his career was put on hold; he received a commission in May 1916 with the British Royal Garrison Artillery Special Reserve Regiment and fought at Arras
Battle of Arras (1917)
The Battle of Arras was a British offensive during the First World War. From 9 April to 16 May 1917, British, Canadian, New Zealand, Newfoundland, and Australian troops attacked German trenches near the French city of Arras on the Western Front....
, Ypres
Ypres
Ypres is a Belgian municipality located in the Flemish province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Ypres and the villages of Boezinge, Brielen, Dikkebus, Elverdinge, Hollebeke, Sint-Jan, Vlamertinge, Voormezele, Zillebeke, and Zuidschote...
, the Somme and Passchendaele.
With the advent of peace, Heinze studied in Paris at the Schola Cantorum, under Vincent d'Indy
Vincent d'Indy
Vincent d'Indy was a French composer and teacher.-Life:Paul Marie Théodore Vincent d'Indy was born in Paris into an aristocratic family of royalist and Catholic persuasion. He had piano lessons from an early age from his paternal grandmother, who passed him on to Antoine François Marmontel and...
. He returned home in 1923. At the youthful age of 32, he succeeded William Laver as Ormond Professor of Music at the University of Melbourne. He held this professorship till 1957, and played a crucial role in the creation of the Faculty of Music. Thus he influenced governmental education policy for the successful introduction of music to the state curriculum.
One of Heinze’s great achievements came with the advent of wireless radio. As director-general of music with the new National Broadcasting Service at 3LO-3AR (forerunner to the ABC), he was able to inspire a generation of Australians to the love of orchestral music that was until then largely a luxury confined to the upper classes.
Heinze envisaged a central professional full-time orchestra in Melbourne. After Alberto Zelman
Alberto Zelman
Alberto Zelman was an Australian musician and conductor, and founder of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra....
's death in 1927, he was offered the conductorship of the Melbourne Philharmonic Society (later the Royal Melbourne Philharmonic
Royal Melbourne Philharmonic
Royal Melbourne Philharmonic is a 120-voice choir and orchestra in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It was established in 1853, and is reportedly Australia's oldest surviving cultural organisation....
); many of the players of the RMP's orchestra also played in Fritz Hart's Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra is an orchestra based in Melbourne, Australia. It has 100 permanent musicians. Melbourne has the longest continuous history of orchestral music of any Australian city and the MSO is the oldest professional orchestra in Australia...
. This led to the loss of the RMP Orchestra's separate identity. From 1932 to 1937, Heinze was co-chief conductor of the MSO with Hart, and sole chief conductor until 1950. The MSO was renamed the Victorian Symphony Orchestra in 1949, reverting to its original name in 1964.
In 1929 Heinze was appointed music adviser to the Australian Broadcasting Commission. There he oversaw the inception of its State orchestras, celebrity concerts, youth concerts and fine music broadcasting.
His last appointment of significance was as director of the New South Wales State Conservatorium of Music
Sydney Conservatorium of Music
The Sydney Conservatorium of Music is one of the oldest and most prestigious music schools in Australia...
(1956–66) succeeding Sir Eugene Goossens
Eugène Aynsley Goossens
Sir Eugene Aynsley Goossens was an English conductor and composer.-Biography:He was born in Camden Town, London, the son of the Belgian conductor and violinist Eugène Goossens and the grandson of the conductor Eugène Goossens...
, who had resigned in scandal. After leaving the directorship in 1966, Heinze continued to conduct the main Australian orchestras on a regular basis until the late 1970s. He also conducted overseas orchestras: on 14 January 1947, he was the conductor of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra
Toronto Symphony Orchestra
The Toronto Symphony Orchestra is a Canadian orchestra based in Toronto, Ontario.-History:The TSO was founded in 1922 as the New Symphony Orchestra, and gave its first concert at Massey Hall in April 1923. The orchestra changed its name to the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in 1927. The TSO...
in the professional concerto debut of the 14-year-old Glenn Gould
Glenn Gould
Glenn Herbert Gould was a Canadian pianist who became one of the best-known and most celebrated classical pianists of the 20th century. He was particularly renowned as an interpreter of the keyboard music of Johann Sebastian Bach...
, who played Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4
Piano Concerto No. 4 (Beethoven)
Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major, Op. 58, was composed in 1805–1806, although no autograph copy survives.-Musical forces and movements:...
.
He died on 10 June 1982, aged 87, in Bellevue Hill
Bellevue Hill, New South Wales
Bellevue Hill is an eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Bellevue Hill is an affluent suburb, located 5 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Municipality of Woollahra....
, Sydney, survived by his wife Valerie née Hennessy.
Honours
Bernard Heinze became a Fellow of the Royal College of Music in 1931.He was knighted in 1949, the first Australian musician to receive this honour.
Sir Bernard was named the 1974 Australian of the Year
Australian of the Year
Since 1960 the Australian of the Year Award has been part of the celebrations surrounding Australia Day , during which time the award has grown steadily in significance to become Australia’s pre-eminent award. The Australian of the Year announcement has become a very prominent part of the annual...
.
On Australia Day 1976, he was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia
Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, "for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for meritorious service"...
for his services to Australian music.
The Bernard Heinze Award
The Sir Bernard Heinze Award Award, in the form of a medallion, was inaugurated following the death of Sir Bernard Heinze in 1982, and is given to a person who has made an outstanding contribution to music in Australia. The award is jointly administered by the Friends of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and the University of Melbourne School of Music. It is presented each year at a Sir Bernard Heinze Memorial Concert held in the Melbourne Town HallMelbourne Town Hall
Melbourne Town Hall is the central municipal building of the City of Melbourne, Australia, in the State of Victoria. It is located on the northeast corner of Swanston and Collins Streets, in the central business district. It is the seat of the Local Government Area of the City of Melbourne...
, now given by the University of Melbourne Faculty of Music Orchestra. In 1992, the Friends of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra were invited to suggest a possible recipient for the award, and have nominated one person per year since then.
Recipients of the award have included: Sir Frank Callaway
Frank Callaway
Sir Frank Callaway was an influential music educator and administrator in Perth, Western Australia.-Early life:...
, Beryl Kimber, John Hopkins
John Hopkins (conductor)
John Hopkins OBE is a Yorkshire-born, British conductor and administrator. Hopkins moved to New Zealand in 1957 and to Australia in 1963. He conducted the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra in 1987 in one of New Zealand's first Orchestral Composers' Reading Workshops...
, Yvonne Kenny
Yvonne Kenny
Yvonne Kenny AM is an Australian soprano, particularly associated with Handel and Mozart roles.Born in Sydney, she first studied at the University of Sydney in science, hoping to become a biochemist, but decided to pursue a career in music instead...
, Don Burrows
Don Burrows
Donald Vernon Burrows, AO, MBE is an Australian jazz and swing musician, playing the clarinet, saxophone, and flute....
, Richard Mills
Richard Mills
Richard John Mills AM, DMus BA Qld, is an Australian conductor and composer. He currently works as Artistic Director of the West Australian Opera and Artistic Consultant with Orchestra Victoria...
, Peter Sculthorpe
Peter Sculthorpe
Peter Joshua Sculthorpe AO OBE is an Australian composer. Much of his music has resulted from an interest in the music of Australia's neighbours as well as from the impulse to bring together aspects of native Australian music with that of the heritage of the West...
, Richard Gill
Richard Gill (conductor)
Richard James Gill OAM is an Australian conductor who has earned awards for his work. He conducts choral, orchestral and operatic works, and has been involved in music training and education...
, Jonathan Mills, Graeme Koehne
Graeme Koehne
Graeme Koehne is an Australian composer and music educator. He is best known for his orchestral and ballet scores, which are characterised by direct communicative style and embrace of triadic tonality...
, Richard Divall, Richard Tognetti
Richard Tognetti
Richard Leo Tognetti, AO is an Australian violinist, composer and conductor. He is currently Artistic Director and Leader of the Australian Chamber Orchestra and Artistic Director of the Maribor Festival in Maribor, Slovenia....
, Graham Abbott and Richard Bonynge
Richard Bonynge
Richard Alan Bonynge, AO, CBE is an Australian conductor and pianist.Bonynge was born in Sydney and educated at Sydney Boys High School before studying piano at the Royal College of Music in London. He gave up his music scholarship, continuing his private piano studies, and became a coach for...
.
Sources
- ABC: Dimension in Time
- Brighton Cemetery
- http://www.australianoftheyear.org.au/pages/page97.asp
- http://voice.unimelb.edu.au/view.php?articleID=3961
- http://uninews.unimelb.edu.au/view.php?articleID=644
- http://www.stateart.com.au/sota/news/default.asp?fid=2987
- http://uninews.unimelb.edu.au/view.php?articleID=2771
- http://voice.unimelb.edu.au/news/3637/
- http://www.move.com.au/artist.cfm/662
- http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/programs/literary/pla/adprize/judges2003.html
- http://www.musicaustralia.org/apps/MA?function=showDetail¤tMapsRecord=ANL:MA~1182619&itemSeq=1&total=9&returnFunction=viewTheme&