A Distant Music: The Life And Times Of Alfred Hill 1870-1960
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Worn/faded, no tears
Pages: Good
Markings: Previous owner
This authoritative biography chronicles the remarkable life of Alfred Hill, one of the most significant yet underappreciated composers in Australasian musical history, tracing his journey from his birth in 1870 through nine decades of artistic and cultural contribution. John Mansfield Thomson presents a richly detailed portrait of a musician who bridged two worlds — the colonial concert halls of Australia and New Zealand and the broader currents of late Romantic European composition — weaving together personal narrative with sweeping historical context. The work illuminates Hill's deep engagement with Māori musical traditions, a pioneering and controversial aspect of his compositional identity that set him apart from his contemporaries. Thomson's prose is measured and scholarly yet never dry, drawing on extensive archival research to reconstruct the social and cultural landscapes that shaped Hill's output across symphonies, string quartets, and operas. A Distant Music stands as an essential record for anyone seeking to understand the foundations of classical music in the Antipodes and the complex interplay between settler culture and indigenous artistic heritage.
Author: John Mansfield Thomson
Format: Hardback
Published: 1980, Oxford University Press
Genre: Biography
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Worn/faded, no tears
Pages: Good
Markings: Previous owner
This authoritative biography chronicles the remarkable life of Alfred Hill, one of the most significant yet underappreciated composers in Australasian musical history, tracing his journey from his birth in 1870 through nine decades of artistic and cultural contribution. John Mansfield Thomson presents a richly detailed portrait of a musician who bridged two worlds — the colonial concert halls of Australia and New Zealand and the broader currents of late Romantic European composition — weaving together personal narrative with sweeping historical context. The work illuminates Hill's deep engagement with Māori musical traditions, a pioneering and controversial aspect of his compositional identity that set him apart from his contemporaries. Thomson's prose is measured and scholarly yet never dry, drawing on extensive archival research to reconstruct the social and cultural landscapes that shaped Hill's output across symphonies, string quartets, and operas. A Distant Music stands as an essential record for anyone seeking to understand the foundations of classical music in the Antipodes and the complex interplay between settler culture and indigenous artistic heritage.