Papers of Rex Hobcroft, 1907-2005 [manuscript]
- Bib ID:
- 2701547
- Format:
- Manuscript
- Author:
- Hobcroft, Rex, 1925-2013
- Related Online Resources:
- Finding aid at National Library of Australia
- Access Conditions:
- Available for research. Not for loan.
- Description:
-
- [1907-2005]
- 13.80 m. (84 boxes) + 3 fol. boxes.
- Summary:
-
MS 8019 comprises a large collection of files relating to Rex Hobcroft's early life and various stages of his career. The bulk of the files date from 1961 and contain correspondence, notes and a large collection of printed material in the form of programs, brochures and flyers. There is also a collection of reports on music related issues, music school handbooks and brochures and a copy of Hobcroft's unpublished autobiography titled "Australia's Con man" (380 p.). A number of the files relate to Hobcroft's time as Director of the New South Wales State Conservatorium of Music, 1972-1982, and as Artistic Director of the Sydney International Piano Competition, 1976-1990. They contain correspondence, programs, reports, voting sheets and cuttings. There are also scrapbooks for the 1977, 1981, 1985 and 1988 competitions.
Correspondents include Don Banks, John Brodie, Don Burrows, Stuart Challender, Miriam Hyde, Wilfrid Lehmann, James Penberthy, William Primrose, Harold Schonberg, Peter Sculthorpe, Larry Sitsky, Storry Walton and Roger Woodward. There is also a large collection of letters and cards from the poet Gwen Harwood to Hobcroft, 1962-1995, which include a number of manuscripts and typescripts of poems by Harwood, some of them dedicated to Hobcroft. The collection documents the various phases of Hobcroft's career in music and the organisations and projects with which he has been associated. It provides a good insight into the musical infrastructure in Australia from the late 1960s to the early 1990s, musical politics and the staging of piano and other musical competitions (79 boxes).
The Acc06.015 instalment comprises letters, speeches, radio scripts, programs, invitations, newsletters and newspaper cuttings mostly from 1995-2005. The instalment includes letters from Perpetua Hobcroft (née Durack), 1977-1997, a typescript life of Jorgen Jorgensen (2 v.), and six framed Royal Opera Covent Garden programs, 1907-1937. The papers in Boxes 1-4 are filed in accordance with the arrangement of the original collection (5 boxes, 3 fol. boxes).
- Biography/History:
-
Musician. During World War II Rex Kelvin Hobcroft served as a pilot with the RAAF, 1943-1945, and, following the war, was employed as a commercial pilot, 1945-1946. Hobcroft was appointed foundation Head of the Piano Department of the Queensland Conservatorium of Music, 1957-1961, and then foundation Head of the Music Department of the University of Tasmania in 1961-1970. He was also the foundation Director of the Tasmanian Conservatorium of Music, 1963-1971. From 1972-1982 Hobcroft was Director of the New South Wales State Conservatorium of Music. He was also co-founder, Vice-President and Director of the Sydney International Piano Competition between 1976 and 1990. In 1990, he was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for service to music.
- Notes:
- Manuscript reference no.: MS 8019, MS Acc06.015.
- Related Material:
-
- Rex Hobcroft interviewed by Hazel de Berg in the Hazel de Berg collection; Located at; National Library of Australia Oral History collection ORAL TRC 1/908-909.
- Interview with Rex Hobcroft, pianist and former director of the NSW Conservatorium of Music and co-founder of the Sydney International Piano Competition; Located at; National Library of Australia Oral History collection ORAL TRC 4673.
- Cited In:
- Guide to collections of manuscripts relating to Australia ; E946.
- Index/Finding Aid Note:
- Finding aid available in the Special Collections Reading Room and on the Internet at: http://www.nla.gov.au/ms/findaids/8019.html
- Subject:
-
- Hobcroft, Rex, 1925-2013 -- Archives
- Australian Music Examinations Board
- Sydney International Piano Competition of Australia
- Air pilots -- Australia -- Archives
- Musicians -- Australia -- Archives
- Music school administrators -- Australia -- Archives
- Music -- Australia
- Music -- Australia -- Philosophy and aesthetics
- Piano music -- Competitions -- Australia
- Music -- Political aspects -- Australia
- Music -- Instruction and study -- Australia
- Conservatories of music -- Australia
- Australia -- Intellectual life -- 20th century
- Time Coverage:
- 1907-2005
- Occupation:
- Other authors/contributors:
- Harwood, Gwen, 1920-1995
- Terms of Use:
- Copying permitted for research purposes.
- Copyright:
-
Copyright Undetermined
If you wish to copy or order copies, contact us. For access conditions return to the record display above.
- Reason for copyright status:
- A Manuscript Collection may have a range of formats and dates.
Copyright status was determined using the following information:
- Material type:
- Literary Dramatic Musical
Copyright status may not be correct if data in the record is incomplete or inaccurate. Other access conditions may also apply. For more information please see: Copyright in library collections.
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