Browse Items (337 total)

At the turn of the twentieth century, when Australia’s first permanent orchestras were beginning to emerge, the University of Melbourne employed Walter Barker as Victoria’s first university level harp teacher. Barker established himself in Melbourne…

Printing-out paper print.

Photo: 9.2 x 5.7 cm
Phot and board: 10.2 x 6.2 cm

Portrait of Rose Grainger when she was a young lady. This photograph depicts her side profile and she is wearing a dark collar high necked dress with a row of buttons…

Printing-out paper print.

Photo: 9.2 x 5.7 cm
Photo and board: 10.2 x 6.2 cm

Portrait of Rose Grainger, mother of Percy Grainger, as a young women. This photograph depicts her side profile and she is wearing a dark collar high necked dress…

This chart for teaching singing was made by Samuel McBurney (b. Glasgow, UK 1847, d. Melbourne 1909), who taught sight singing and ear training at the Conservatorium of Music at the University of Melbourne in the late nineteenth century. Probably the…

Sepia toned black and white photograph.

13.7 x 8.5

This portrait showcases the side profile of Percy Grainger. He is wearing a suit, vest and tie.

This opera score was inscribed prior to Melba’s adoption of her famous stage name in December 1887. A derivation honouring her native city of Melbourne, the name was selected to sound Italian and be easily remembered.

Despite her success as Elsa…

Sepia toned black and white photograph.

10.7 x 8.3 cm

This photograph captures Percy Grainger wearing a grass skirt and jewellery in the form of armbands and necklaces, and holding a pole. The grass skirt and armbands were created by artists in…

Sepia toned black and white photograph.

10.8 x 8.1 cm

This photograph captures Percy Grainger wearing a grass skirt and jewellery in the form of armbands and necklaces. The grass skirt and armbands were created by artists in Oceania, and…

Steel, PVC pipe, plastic sheet, globes, ink, electronics, speakers.

One of Grainger and Cross’s last experiments before
Grainger’s death in 1961 was an attempt to create a more
immediate and accurate form of Free Music through the
use of…

Steel, brass, wood, accordion reeds, blower fans, linear bearings.

In their original Reed box experiments, Grainger and
Cross approximated the effect of gliding musical
pitches by using closely-spaced microtones. They
detuned harmonium reeds to…