Australian Music Centre | Breaking sound barriers

Image: Malcolm Williamson  
© Photo by Josef Weinberger Ltd.

Malcolm Williamson's organ works: "fascinating music, ripe for rediscovery." So announces the 2014 AMC Resonate article dedicated to the works of Australian composer, Malcolm Williamson.

Perhaps you know the works of composer Malcolm Williamson (1931-2003) and this article has just prompted you to dust off some records or CD's of his music, or, if you are like me and under 50 years old, there is a fair chance you haven't heard of Malcolm or his music.

The man was, according to all sources, a controversial figure, musically and socially, but brilliant enough to catch the attention of the Monarch and international classical music scene.

In the 1960's he was referred to as "the most commissioned composer in Britain" and was the Master of the Queen's Music from 1975 until his death in 2003, receiving a CBE in 1976 and made an Officer of the Order of Australia 1987.

Born and educated in Sydney, Malcolm was a child prodigy and ended up at the Sydney Conservatorium studying composition with Sir Eugene Goossens. He had written extensively for the ABC Orchestras and musical forces of all sizes and types, before he was summoned to London for the biggest role of his life.

When you play or listen to his work, there is a fierce independence underpinned by a solid technique. And while it seems 'of its time', the 1950's and 60's avant garde, you still get a glimpse and appreciation of the intellectual prowess that Malcolm would have needed to back up his compositions to critics and his peers.

Moving to London in 1975 proved a double-edged sword. Malcolm continued to be prolific, admired and commissioned, but slowly became excluded from major Royal events, rumoured to have fallen out of favour with the Royal Family. When he died in 2003, the Master of the Queen's Music was relatively unknown.

Since then, his music has rarely been heard on our radios and in concert programs. This is a great shame, especially given his popularity and fame when he was alive. Also, some of it is beautiful. It's tonal and easy to listen to.

Malcolm was a colourful character and his personal life is well documented. He was openly gay at a time when such things weren't necessarily accepted, and was famous for wearing a Gay Rights badge to garden parties in the presence of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

Douglas Lawrence AM recalls Malcolm as someone who was personable with a great depth of knowledge and feeling for music:

"We stopped once for a conversation on Princess Bridge just near Flinders Street Station and ended up talking for an hour. There was no bias in his way of the thinking and he epitomised the Aussie larrikin" recalls Douglas.

"I learnt his Organ Concerto [Completed in 1961 and dedicated to Sir Adrian Boult.] His music is technically very difficult, but can be rewarding for the listeners and the performers. He obvious had something to say as a composer and it was a great achievement to be appointed Master of the Queens Music."

The sleeve to his 1984 biography, Malcolm Williamson: A mischievous music by Anthony Meredith and Paul Harris describes him as "an outspoken opponent of pretension, bigotry and aggression", as well as being deeply religious and generous. On the flip side, he could be outrageous and impossible.

And in my humble opinion, an Australian thrust into British high society and the public eye in the 1960's was always going to ruffle feathers.

He wrote extensively for organ, both solo and in many combinations, as well as with choirs and orchestras. As an organist himself, Malcolm writes with a finely attuned sense of the instrument, and his outputs includes works based on well-known plainchants, secular works - including Epitaphs for Edith Sitwell (a close personal friend of Malcolm's) and Elegy - JFK, both are very atmospheric - as well as other works on sacred themes, including a Mass of a Medieval Saint (first performed at St Thomas' Fifth Avenue), and I even noted 19 pieces of incidental music for a production of a morality play!

Lovers of ballet may be interested that Malcolm wrote the score for the famous work inspired and depicting the lyrebird from The Australian Ballet's 1964 production The Display which premiered at the Adelaide Festival for Robert Helpmann (apparently inspired in part by Katherine Hepburn).

The job of collecting and preserving Malcolm's legacy including published works, original scores and recordings sits with Josef Weinberger publishing firm which is based in the UK, more specifically, Lewis Mitchell, who is himself Australian, and reckons that now is the perfect time to bring Malcolm's music back to life.

Given the personality that shines in every bar of his compositions, Malcolm must have been a very entertaining, erudite, educated and informed dinner guest. Vale.

If you have any stories about Malcolm, please contact Organ Australia magazine by emailing editor@organaustralia.org.au. They are keen to publish them in their next edition and share with Malcom's agent who is working towards a revival of some of the large-scale compositions of this largely forgotten composer.