Conductor scores

The National Library holds several smaller archives of individual Australian composers, consisting of manuscripts of their works and published versions and some correspondence, biographical material or scrapbooks.

These archives give insights into the lives of composers working in the 20th century.

Major collections of composer scores

Horace Keats Archive

Horace Keats (1895-1945) was a prolific songwriter of the 1930s and 1940s who set the works of many Australian poets to music. The Archive contains autographed music manuscripts (some of unpublished works) consisting of poems set to music, musicals, and piano or orchestral works. It also includes copies of songs by other composers made by Janet Keats, singer and wife of Horace Keats.

A.B. Saunders Archive

A. B. (Albert Bokhara) Saunders (1880-1946) was another prolific songwriter, writing under many pseudonyms (e.g. Clement Scott). It’s a collection of manuscript scores, biographical material and some newspaper cuttings. The archive illustrates the difficulties songwriters could encounter claiming authorship (and royalties) of works they wrote under a pseudonym.

George H. Clutsam Archive

George H. Clutsam (1866-1951) was a pianist (he was Dame Nellie Melba’s accompanist at one time) and composer who lived and worked overseas, chiefly London. He composed songs, operas and later musicals and film music. This archive consists of 50 unpublished autographed music manuscripts, comprising orchestral works and music for film and stage, piano, songs, etc.

Joseph Gillott Archive

Joseph Gillott (died 1939) was a British-born composer who was active in Australia around the time of Federation and wrote patriotic music on that theme and other Australian songs. The archive consists of printed and manuscript music (mainly songs and one musical) together with programs, correspondence and a scrapbook compiled by Joseph Gillott.

Gordon Kerry Archive

A collection of composer Gordon Kerry’s (born 1961) manuscript scores together with concert programs where his works were performed. The collection includes magazines and cuttings containing interviews with him or reviews of his works.

Peter Sculthorpe collection of music scores

A collection of published scores (some photocopied) which belonged to Peter Sculthorpe (1929-2014). Some are composed by Sculthorpe; some are by composers who influenced his work and others are by his pupils (many are inscribed or dedicated to him). A related manuscript collection is ‘The Papers of Peter Sculthorpe’ which documents his career as one of Australia’s most distinguished composers.

Conductor scores

Conductor’s scores are generally manuscript material and annotated with performance marks. They give an insight into a conductor’s interpretation of a work and of the working life of a conductor. Some scores are also inscribed by composers grateful for the conductor’s work, or by performers on their first performance.

Major collections of conductor scores

Dobbs Franks collection of musical scores by Australian and New Zealand composers

Dobbs Franks (born 1933) is an American-born conductor who premiered several new Australian and New Zealand works, and his interpretations are reflected in these scores. The collection consists of conductor scores and parts (manuscript and published) for operas and orchestral music for performances.

Richard Bonynge collection of musical scores

Richard Bonynge (born 1930) is an Australian conductor and pianist working and living overseas. This collection consists of his conductor scores and parts (manuscript and published) for operas, operettas and orchestral music for performances in Europe and Australia, including some arranged for Joan Sutherland and Luciano Pavarotti. There is also a related manuscript collection: the Richard Bonynge and Dame Joan Sutherland Collection.

Richard Divall collection of music scores

Richard Divall (1945-2017) was a conductor and musicologist who actively researched and promoted Australian colonial music. This collection consists of his arrangements and orchestrations of Australian colonial music, scripts for radio broadcast and sets of published scores of European operas and ballets, many annotated by him for performance.

Eugene Goossens collection of music scores

Sir Eugene Goossens (1893-1962) was an English conductor and composer. He established his reputation and career in Britain and America, before coming to Australia in 1947 to conduct the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and direct the N.S.W. Conservatorium of Music. He lived and worked in Australia for nine years. Eugene Goossens' contribution to music in Australia is significant.

The collection comprises approximately 220 volumes of published editions of musical scores, together with a small number of performance parts and handwritten (“copied”) scores. The publications date from around 1920 to the early 1970s. Many of the volumes are rare and inscribed by their composers to Goossens. They are not Goossens’ working scores, rather, they are scores which belonged to him.