MS 6311 Papers of Albert Arlen (1905-1993) and Nancy Brown (1909-
)
Papers
1924-92
3.58m (25 boxes) + 1 folio box
Available for reference
This descriptive list relates to papers
donated by Albert Arlen and Nancy Brown in 1991, 1993 and 1995 (Boxes 10-22).
The descriptive list for Boxes 1-9 is not in machine readable format and is,
therefore, only available in the Manuscript Reading Room of the
Library.
The papers comprise correspondence, manuscripts and typescripts of
plays, musical scores, programs, photographs, newspaper clippings, memorabilia
and biographical material, mostly relating to the theatrical and musical
careers of Arlen and Brown. The correspondence includes letters from many well
known people in the theatrical, literary and arts scene over many years.
The papers provide a good insight into the extensive careers of both
artists.
Nancy Brown and Albert Arlen both had long and successful careers in the
theatrical and musical fields, Brown as a singer, stage performer and
playwright and Arlen as a composer and playwright.
Nancy Brown
Nancy Brown was born in Brisbane in 1909. In 1923 her parents divorced
and her mother took Nancy, her brother Frank and sister Shirley to live in
England.
In 1925 Nancy attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. Her
first professional role was in 1926 when she was understudy to Rosalind
Courtneidge in The unfair sex at the Savoy Theatre, London. From 1926
to1947 she had roles in a number of stage plays, toured Britain and Ireland as
a solo singer and appeared in several films. During this time she also
travelled to America and Canada with a role in the Nöel Coward production
of Bitter Sweet.
In 1948 Brown returned to Australia where she met Albert Arlen, whom she
married in 1949.
Albert Arlen
Albert Arlen was born Albert Aarons in Sydney on 10 January 1905, his
parents having emigrated from Turkey. From 1929 he was known professionally as
Albert Arlen, changing his name officially by deed poll in 1948. He was
educated at Cleveland Street Public School, Crown Street High School and the
Sydney Conservatorium of Music.
In 1924 Arlen sailed to England. He lived in London, playing with dance
bands and in cinema theatre orchestras. In 1929 he studied at the Ecole Normale
in Paris. Subsequently, he played various roles in London West End repertory
productions, as well as writing his own musical compositions and plays.
In 1939 he joined the R.A.F. and saw service as a pilot in the Middle
East and Far East, before being discharged in 1947 and repatriated to
Australia. While serving with the R.A.F., Arlen continued with his theatrical
pursuits, writing and producing plays and composing musical pieces including
the El Alamein Concerto and Song of England which he
dedicated to Winston Churchill.
In 1949 Brown married Nancy Brown and together they returned to England.
However, they were disillusioned with life in London and decided to return to
Australia, which they were to make their permanent home.
In Australia, Arlen and Brown continued their involvement with the
theatre, collaborating on a number of plays and musicals, including the musical
adaptation of the C.J. Dennis work The sentimental bloke (1961). Arlen
composed extensively during his career and a large number of his works have
been published and recorded. In 1991 he was awarded an Order of Australia in
recognition of his services to music and the performing arts.
Albert Arlen died on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland in 1993.
| Addition July 1991 |
| Addition December 1993 |
| Addition April 1995 |
| Addition 30 April 2001 |
Addition 12 July 1991 |
|
This addition consists of correspondence, photographs and other
papers, mostly relating to the careers of Arlen and Brown. The correspondence
covers the period 1933-80 and comprises business letters and personal letters
from many well known people in the theatrical, literary and arts scene over
this time. The collection also includes newspaper clippings, mostly relating to
theatrical performances, programs, copies of The Terrace Times to
which Arlen contributed a regular column, several typescripts, biographical
material and travel memorabilia. The photographs consist of family photographs,
photographs taken by Arlen in Egypt during World War II and photographs
relating to their careers. There is also a small collection of books, several
annotated by the author. This addition covers the period 1924-90.
Correspondents include Sir Frederick Ashton, Werner Baer, Leslie
Baily, Alan Barker, Arthur Benjamin (Nancy Browns cousin), Alec and
Rosemary Bolton, Harold Bowden, Russell Braddon, Marie Burke, George Campbell,
Gordon Chater, Manning Clark, Cedric Cliffe, Sir Zelman Cowen, George Dreyfus,
George English, Cedric Flower, Hayes Gordon, Doris Geddes, Lynda Gloria,
Radclyffe Hall, Sir Robert Helpmann, Sheila Helpmann, Brett Hilder, Alfred
Hill, Reg Hines, Dulcie Holland, Harold Holt, Tom Hungerford, Frank Hutchens,
Dorothy Gordon Jenner (Andrea), George Johnston, George Kleinsinger, Joyce
Koch, Jack (John) Lanchbery, Evelyn Laye, Vernon Lisle, Edward Lockton, Compton
MacKenzie, John McCallum, Dot Mendoza, Sir Robert Menzies, Charles P.
Mountford, Robert Nesbitt, Beverley Nichols, John Olsen, Pixie OHarris,
Laurence Olivier, Tessie OShea, Jill Perryman, Charles Pettit, Linda
Phillips, Ainslie Roberts, William Ricketts, Frederick Rosse, Edmond Samuels,
Stephen Sondheim, Joyce Owen Starr, Sophie Stewart, Sir Frank and Lady Tait,
Florence Taylor, Wilfrid Thomas, C.K. Thompson, Lloyd Thomson, Tiny Tim,
Geoffrey Townshend, Wendy Toye, Sophie Tucker, Nancy Wake, Joy Warren, Trafford
Whitelock, Thornton Wilder, Emlyn Williams, Bill (William) Willis and Googie
Withers.
Note: the Library has arranged the correspondence into order by
year. |
|
|
| Box
10 |
|
|
| Folder |
|
|
| 46 |
Correspondence, undated and 1933-49 |
| 47 |
Correspondence, 1950-59 |
| 48 |
Correspondence, 1960-69 |
| 49-50 |
Correspondence, 1970-79 |
| 51 |
Correspondence, 1980-88 |
|
|
| Box
11 |
|
|
| Folder/Item |
|
|
| 52-52 |
Congratulatory letters sent to Arlen on his being awarded an
Order of Australia (AM), 1990 |
| 54 |
Biographical material including Arlens Curriculum Vitae,
newspaper clippings and the transcript of an interview with Brown conducted by
the Queensland Performing Arts Trust and the National Library of Australia in
1989 (TRC 2426) |
| 55-56 |
Newspaper clippings, 1958-88 |
| 57-59 |
Programs, 1936-88 (1 folder and 2 packets) |
|
|
| Box
12 |
|
|
| Folder/Item |
|
|
| 60-62 |
Photographs, 1924-80 (3 packets) |
| 63 |
Typescripts. Included are a talk given by Arlen in Cairo in
1945, drafts of two plays by Arlen entitled Promenade (1935) and
The everlasting flame (n.d.), a synopsis by Brown for a musical
based on Around the Boree log and a talk entitled
Watsons Bay as it was by Jack Woodward, 1987. |
| 64-66 |
Miscellaneous papers |
|
|
| Box
13 |
|
|
|
Books, annotated by the author: |
|
Charles Castle, This was Richard
Tauber, 1971 Charles & Elsa Chauvel, Walkabout, 1959
Rosemary Dobson, The three fates & other poems, 1984
Alice Doyle, The Doyles fish cookbook, 1979 Evelyn Lane,
Boo, to my friends, 1958 Cole Lesley, Remembered laughter,
the life of Noel Coward, 1976 Beverley Nichols, The art of flower
arrangement, 1967 Beverley Nichols, The wickedest witch in the
world, 1971 C.K. Thompson, Tiger cat, 1952 Emlyn
Williams, George, 1961 William Willis, Hell, hail and
hurricanes, poems of the sea, 1953 |
|
|
| Box
14 |
|
|
|
Other books: |
|
Australian bush songs, words
by Annie R. Rentoul, music by Georgette Peterson, n.d. Brown, Arlen and
Thomson, The sentimental bloke, 1977 John Hetherington,
Melba: a biography, 1967 Garry Kinnane, George Johnston: a
biography, 1986 Rudyard Kippling, Something of myself, 1937
W. Somerset Maugham, A writers notebook, 1949 Beverely
Nichols, The sun in my eyes, 1969 Dawn Ross (compiler), Pro
Harts Breaker Morant, 1981 (annotated by Hart) Trish Sheppard,
Darlings, Ive had a ball! Andrea, as told to Trish Sheppard,
1978 (annotated by Andrea) Viola Tait, A family of brothers, 1971
John Watney, Mervyn Peake, 1976 |
Addition 6 December 1993 |
|
This addition consists of correspondence, musical scores,
manuscripts and typescripts of plays, programs, newspaper clippings,
photographs, miscellaneous papers and memorabilia, mostly relating to the
careers of Arlen and Brown. This addition covers the period 1928-92.
Correspondents include John W. Burton, Douglas Byng, Sheila
Helpmann, Jack (John) Lanchbery, John McCallum, Keith Michell, John Olson, Sir
Robert Southey, Enid Tardent, Ric Throssell and Nancy Wake.
Note: the Library has arranged the correspondence into order by
year. |
|
|
| Box
15 |
|
|
|
Folder |
|
|
| 67 |
Family correspondence, 1962-85 |
| 68 |
General correspondence, 1945-79 |
| 69 |
General correspondence, 1980-91 |
| 70 |
Correspondence with Jack (John) Lanchbery, 1981-91 |
| 71 |
Correspondence with Angus and Robertson regarding the musical
version of The Sentimental Bloke, 1951-60 and draft manuscript of a
contribution by Arlen to Angus and Robertsons publication The world
of the sentimental bloke, 1976. |
| 72 |
Correspondence relating to the production of Arlens
The girl from Snowy River by the Canberra Repertory Society, 1959-60.
There are letters from Dr J.W. Burton who was Manager of Albert Arlen
Australian Productions. |
| 73 |
Manuscripts and typescripts of talks given by Nancy
Brown |
|
|
| Box
16 |
|
| Folder |
|
|
| 74 |
Financial records and contracts, 1943-88 |
| 75-77 |
Biographical material |
| 78 |
Original musical score for The sentimental bloke,
written by Brown, Arlen and Lloyd Thomson, 1953-54 (1 packet) |
|
|
| Box
17 |
|
| Item |
|
|
| 79-80 |
Original scores for music composed by Arlen, mostly undated.
Titles include The faithful swan (1966), An Australian
ballad, And it came to pass (1987), Ballad for
Australians (dedicated to Dame Joan Sutherland), The song of
England (1944, dedicated to Winston Churchill) and Angelo
the goldsmith (1 packet) |
| 80 |
Original scores for music composed by Arlen, mostly undated.
Titles include The Alamein concerto (1944), Clancy of the
Overflow (1948), Requiem for a Siamese cat, Night
Club, Wander-thirst, Did you ever go
fishin?, My heart is singing for you, The Tui
waltz, Flying high, Cherry trees (1964),
There are moments, Liebchen my Weibchen, These
things London means to me, Dear friend, Neglectful
Edward, Theyre always dancing in Brazil, The
gossips (1979), Fellers of Australia,
Mediterranean, Blue Peter, The Lords
Prayer and How shall I sing Australia? (1
packet) |
| 81 |
Manuscripts and typescripts of plays written by, mostly undated.
Titles include The Magic Mirror, Two grains of rice,
Pussycat, Stars in your eyes, Counterfeit
by Arlen and Cyril Butcher and Oh! Gosh by Arlen and Brown (1
packet) |
|
|
| Box
18 |
|
| Item |
|
|
| 82-83 |
Manuscripts and typescripts of plays written by Arlen, mostly
undated. Titles include The broom tree, A portrait of a
woman, Whats a nice girl like you doing in a place like
this (1978), Welcome mate!, The end of the
section, The devil to pay, Tomorrow when apricots
grow, The Nile is red, Camille (a new adaptation
from the Dumas play), and Music of the years by Arlen and Lloyd
Thomson (2 packets) |
| 84 |
Typescripts and original musical score for the musical
Marriages are made in heaven written by Brown, Arlen and Lloyd
Thomson (1 packet) |
|
|
| Box
19 |
|
| Folder/Item |
|
|
| 85 |
Typescripts and original musical scores for the musicals
Oh! Gosh written by Brown and Arlen, and Omar written
by Brown, Arlen and Lloyd Thomson (1 packet) |
| 86 |
Manuscripts and typescripts of writings by Brown. Included are
poetry and two plays entitled The working mans bidet and
Outrageous fortune. |
| 87 |
A small collection of sheet music, including Arlens
compositions The girl from Snowy River, The Austra-laise, The day when I
married you and I heard a blackbird in a tree (1 packet) |
| 88 |
Typescript of Hiroshima by John Hersey,
n.d. |
|
|
| Box
20 |
|
| Item |
|
|
| 89 |
Two scrapbooks. One is of the 1937 production of Arlens
play The son of the eunuch and includes the program, publicity
material, newspaper clippings, photographs and several watercolour sketches of
costumes for the play, which were designed by Mervyn Peake. The other contains
material relating to performances of Arlens musical composition The
song of England (1 packet) |
| 90 |
Programs, 1928-91 (1 packet) |
| 91 |
Photographs, 1928-77 (1 packet) |
|
|
| Box
21 |
|
| Folder/Item |
|
|
| 92 |
Newspaper clippings, 1948-93 |
| 93-94 |
Miscellaneous papers, 1932-83. They include miniature cards with
watercolour set design ideas for the production of Stars in your
eyes (1932), 2 first day covers (1983) of a series of stamps featuring
The Sentimental bloke and a register of members of Shopwindow Theatre
(c1970). |
| 95 |
Memorabilia. Included are Browns autograph book (1924),
Arlens Order of Australia medal which was presented to him in 1990,
Arlens war medals, a commemorative plaque presented to Arlen by the 7th
Battalion of the Royal Australian Regiment for his musical composition The
Austra-laise, an official Bicentenary commemorative medallion given to
Brown and a strand of glass beads (1 packet) |
|
|
| Box
22 |
|
|
|
Books: |
|
|
Howard and Wyndham pantomimes,
1888-1948 and Summer seasons, 1933-1948 (annotated by A. Stewart
Cruikshank, Chairman of Howard and Wyndham) Brown, Arlen & Thomson,
The sentimental bloke, 1977 Alice Doyle, Doyles fish
cookbook, 1992 (annotated by Doyle) Gordon Smith, Mervyn Peake: a
personal memoir, 1984 (annotated by Robert Ray) |
Addition 12 April 1995 |
|
|
| Box
22 |
|
| Folder |
|
|
| 96 |
Manuscript and typescript of Happenings,
reminiscences by Arlen of some of his lifes experiences. Also included is
a copy of The sentimental bloke by Arlen, Brown and Thomson,
1977 |
| 97 |
Biographical details for Brown, a copy of a libretto by Richard
Tauber entitled Old Chelsea, published in 1943, a CDROM of a 1943
recording of Old Chelsea featuring Brown, correspondence and a
catalogue for an auction held by the Australian Opera, 1986. |
Addition 30 April 2001 |
|
|
| Box
23 |
| |
| Folder |
| |
|
| 99 |
Correspondence ,1985-94 |
| 100 |
Finance and insurance papers, 1948-91
|
| 101 |
Papers relating to Air Force service,
1940-91 |
| 102 |
Papers relating to Order of Australia
award to Arlen, 1990 |
| |
|
| Item |
|
| |
|
| 103-05 |
Arlen's diaries, 1980-81, 1983-87 |
| |
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| Box
24 |
| |
|
| Item |
|
| |
|
| 106-111 |
Arlen's diaries 1988, 1992 |
| 112-121 |
Brown's diaries, 1971, 1977-81,
1985-87, 1990 |
| |
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| Box
25 |
| |
|
| Item |
|
| |
|
| 122-123 |
Arlen's writing and scores |
| 125 |
Stage design sketches, manuscripts of '
The Othello strain' and 'Williw', annotated photocopy of ' The Congo' by Vachel
Lindsay and annotated photocopy of 'Queen of Chelsea' |
| 126 |
'The silent minute, gleanings'
collected by Albert Arlen |
| 127 |
Arlen's membership certificates for The
British Authors' and Composers Association, 1937, The Songwriter's Guild (of
Gt. Britain), 1947 and The Performing Right Society, Limited, 1936. Also an
invitation to the opening of the Oral History and Sound Recording Room and
Studies at the National Library, 1989 |
| 128 |
Metal stamp for The Sentimental
Bloke |
| |
|
| Folio |
| |
|
| Item |
|
| |
|
| 124 |
'Sugar cane' and start of 'Big rivers'
scores by Arlen |
September 1999 Last Updated May 2001 |