Divall Collection

Collection of music scores and music related material created or collected by the composer, conductor and musicologist Richard Divall from 1961 to 2001.

Performing arts

Key items in the collection

The Divall Collection can be divided into the following 5 groupings.

Music, mainly operatic, in printed, photostat or manuscript form, with modifications and markings by Divall

They include full scores, sets of parts and fragments. Among the composers represented are:

Monteverdi
Handel
Rameau
Bellini
Pergolesi
Rossini
Offenbach
Verdi, Bizet
Wagner.

General opera music, in printed or photostat form, including full scores, vocal scores and sets of orchestral parts

Among the composers are:

Monteverdi
Pergolesi
Mozart
Gluck
Rossini
Offenbach
Gounod
Bizet
Wagner
Verdi
Berg
Tippett.

Australian music transcribed and edited by Divall, in manuscript, printout and photostat form.

The composers include:

Dom Salvado
Carl Linger
Isaac Nathan
Henry Marsh
Stephen Hale Marsh
GW Torrance
F Ellard
Frederick Septimus Kelly
Ross Edwards.

General Australian music in printed or photostat form.

The composers represented include:

Alfred Hill
George Tibbits
Larry Sitsky
Peter Sculthorpe
Richard Meale
Barry Conyngham
Graham Koehne
Andrew Schultz
Kevin Purcell.

There are also albums containing piano pieces and musical magazines and anthologies of the late 19th century and early 20th century.

This grouping consists of scores of orchestral music, programs, theses, correspondence and personal documents.

The composers include:

Bach
Heugel
Weber
Beethoven
Frank
Liszt
Grieg
Vaughan Williams
Prokofiev
Cowie
Maxwell Davies.

Other material comprises a program of the 1924 Melba-Williamson opera season in Australia, correspondence between Divall and the Knights of Malta and the Order of St John, papers concerning a proposal to publish the music of Henry Handel Richardson, and curricula vitae and other personal documents.

About Richard Divall

Richard Divall (1945–2017) was a conductor, composer and musicologist who made significant contributions to opera and colonial music in Australia.

Education and training

Born in Sydney, Divall was educated at Manly Boys High School and the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. He later studied conducting overseas with renowned figures such as Sir Charles Mackerras, Wolfgang Wagner, Nikolaus Harnoncourt and Sir Reginald Goodell.

Career in music

Divall began his professional career in 1969 as a music producer with the Australian Broadcasting Commission. He went on to hold key roles in Australian opera, including:

Music Director of Queensland Opera (1971)
Musical Director of the Victorian State Opera (1972–95)
Principal Resident Conductor of the Australian Opera (1996–2001)

He also had an academic career, serving as Associate Professor of Music at the University of Melbourne from 1991 and later as Senior Associate in the Centre for Australian Music Studies (2000–2005).

Contributions and legacy

Divall conducted more than 120 operas internationally. In 1984 he conducted Don Carlos, the opening opera at the Melbourne Arts Centre. He was passionate about colonial Australian music and was active in reviving and performing historical works.

His orchestrations include more than 40 colonial compositions and the complete songs of Puccini. He also edited music by several Australian composers, including:

Isaac Nathan
Carl Linger
GW Marshall-Hall
Henry Handel Richardson
Frederick Septimus Kelly
Fritz Hart.

Background to the collection

Divall donated his music collection under the Cultural Gifts Program in 2002.

The Divall Collection, which occupies 14 metres of shelving, is kept together within the Music collection. It has been catalogued at the collection level and, in addition, each score has a catalogue entry.

This guide was prepared using these references:

Hannah Francis, Richard Divall, renowned conductor and composer (obituary), Sydney Morning Herald, 17 January 2017.
Campbell Thomson, Richard Divall, conductor enriched the musical life of Australia, Sydney Morning Herald, 27 January 2017.
Richard Divall (conductor), Bach Cantatas website