Guide to the Papers of Andrew Ford

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MS 9549

National Library of Australia View Catalogue Record

Collection Summary

Creator
Ford, Andrew, Dr
Ford, Andrew, Dr
Title
Papers of Andrew Ford
Date Range
1978 - 2000
Collection Number
MS 9549
Extent
12.6 metres (18 boxes, 3 cartons, 10 folio boxes, 1 elephant folio packet, 1 oversize item, 2 map folios)
Language of Materials
English
Repository
Special Collections (Manuscripts)

Introduction

Conditions Governing Access

Please refer to the collection's catalogue record for the access conditions (http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn846962).

Conditions Governing Use

Copying and publishing of unpublished manuscript material is subject to copyright restrictions. For such material, written permission to publish must be obtained from the copyright holder(s). Copying of unpublished material for research purposes is permissible 50 years after the death of the creator of the material.

Preferred Citation

Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Andrew Ford, National Library of Australia, [class/series/file number]'.

Provenance

The first consignment was donated to the Library by Andrew Ford under the Taxation Incentives for the Arts Scheme in February 2001. Further papers were received in 2002, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2011.

The Library also holds monographs and many published scores by Ford. See catalogue for details.

Arrangement (First Consignment)

The collection has been organised into 10 series by the Library.

Within series 1-8 and 10 the order of the papers has been imposed by the Library. Within series 9 original order has been maintained.

In the description for series 2-9, the author of texts/libretti is indicated in parentheses and additional information given on scores re dedications, commissions, etc. has been included in square brackets. Occasionally other notes are given if the material is other than a complete score. A list of abbreviations is located at the end of the Collection Summary.

The series containing scores are based on categories established in The new Grove dictionary of music and musicians, 2nd edn. Any system for categorising works will involve some overlap and blurring, particularly when dealing with the music of twentieth-century composers, in which genre distinctions tend to be less clear. Here, for example, there is overlap between solo vocal and stage works; and the distinction between orchestral and ensemble works is also unclear at times.

Abbreviations

a : alto [instrument]

A : alto [voice]

arr. : arranged

b : bass [instrument]

B : bass [voice]

Bar : baritone [voice]

chbr : chamber

cel : celeste

cl : clarinet

Ct : counter tenor

db : double bass

elec : electric

ens : ensemble

fl : flute

hp : harp

Mez : mezzo soprano [voice]

orch : orchestra

org : organ

perc : percussion

pf : piano(forte)

pic : piccolo

qt : quartet

S : soprano

sax : saxophone

str : string

T : tenor [voice]

timp : timpani

trans. : translated

trpt : trumpet

v : voice

va : viola

vc : violoncello

vib : vibraphone

vn : violin

Biographical Note

Andrew Ford was born in 1957 in Liverpool, England and is a composer, broadcaster and writer. Ford studied composition with Edward Cowie and John Butler at the University of Lancaster. He was a fellow in Music, University of Bradford, from 1978 until 1982, during which time he gained considerable experience conducting campus choirs and orchestras. In 1982 his Portraits for piano won the Yorkshire Young Arts Composers' Award.

Ford came to Australia in 1983, and was on staff of the Faculty of Creative Arts at the University of Wollongong for the next 12 years. He was composer in residence at the Sydney Opera House in 1985, with Evos, WA, in 1991, and with the Australian Chamber Orchestra from 1992 to 1994; and was the Peggy Glanville-Hicks Fellow in Composition from 1998 to 2000. Ford has also appeared as a conductor of contemporary ensembles.

Ford has composed for specific performers, such as tenor Gerald English and pianist Lisa Moore, and has received many commissions for works, both within Australia and internationally. He writes in a wide range of genres for concert hall, theatre and radio. Unusual in his output are his operas for young performers (The world knot, 1987-88 and The piper's promise (1986-87).

Ford's music has been performed in Australia, North and South America, Southeast Asia and Europe and has featured at international festivals in Aspen, Houston, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Huddersfield, Ferrara, Istanbul, Seoul and Salzburg. In 1998 he won the Marienberg-Sydney Spring award for the most outstanding original work of that year's Sydney Spring Festival of New Music, and more than 30 of his works have been commercially recorded.

In 1995, Ford left his academic post to pursue broadcasting with the ABC. His 10-part series Illegal harmonies was broadcast in 1997 by ABC Classic FM and later on Radio National. The book Illegal harmonies: music in the 20th century (1997) resulted from the series. Dots on the landscape was jointly commissioned by ABC Classic FM and Radio National and was broadcast in 2001. Ford won Sounds Australia Awards for his broadcasts on music in 1989 and 1990.

Ford has reviewed CDs for 24 hours since 1990 and his book Composer to composer: conversations about contemporary music was published in 1993. In 1998 he won the Geraldine Pascall prize for critical writing.

References:

McCallum, Peter, 'Ford, Andrew', The new Grove dictionary of music and musicians, Stanley Sadie (ed.), 2nd edn., vol. 9, p. 86.

'Ford, Andrew', The Oxford companion to Australian music, edited by Warren Bebbington, Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1997, p. 225.

Andrew Ford Home Page http://www.andrewford.net.au

Item Descriptions

Class MS 9549. Original Consignment

3 metres,

The first consignment consists of three main categories: correspondence, Ford's autograph scores and interviews with composers conducted by Ford.

The correspondence has primarily two concerns: Ford's compositions and his book of interviews with composers, Composer to composer, published in 1993. The scores make up the bulk of the collection, but represent only about half of his output to date. The date range is 1981-2000, the greatest number occurring in 1991, 1993-94 and 1999. The set of interviews is also incomplete.

Series 1. Correspondence, 1978-2000

All correspondence has been left in original order, although there does not appear to be any particular sequence to the letters. The order of files was imposed by the Library. The form of correspondence varies, including cards, postcards, letters and faxes.

A large proportion of the letters in files 1 and 2 are in connection with Andrew Ford's book of interviews with composers, Composer to composer: conversations about contemporary music, Sydney: Allen and Unwin, 1993. Thus the majority of letters are in the early 1990s. Major correspondents include: Leanne Bear, Elliott Carter, Brian Ferneyhough (also letter to Ferneyhough from Ford), Alexander Goehr, Oliver Knussen, Vincent Plush, Paul Robinson and Peter Sculthorpe.

The remainder of the correspondence includes letters from performers, composers, poets, recording and broadcasting firms and covers subjects such as copyright, commissions, and performances as well as books and broadcasts by Ford. Most of the letters are written to Ford, but there are also about a dozen from Ford. Although the date range is 1978-1998, the bulk of the correspondence is in the 1980s. Major correspondents include: Sebastian Barker, Henri Bok, Adrian Jack (Institute of Contemporary Arts), Lisa Moore, Stephen Plaistow (BBC), Craig Raine (Faber and Faber), Christopher Reid and Harry Sparnaay.

Letters from composers, 1981-2000 (File 1-2) - Box 1 (MS 9549)
Correspondence, 1978-1998 (File 3) - Box 1 (MS 9549)
Letters from Maria Blakey to Andrew Ford, 1991 (File 4) - Box 1 (MS 9549)

Series 2. Stage works, 1987-1999

The world knot, (children's opera, Devlin), 1987-88 [stage directions, chorus text, few lines of script], 2 pgs (File 1) - Folio-Box 1 (MS 9549)
Whispers, (music theatre, Rodney Hall), 1990 [score and text] (File 2) - Folio-Box 1 (MS 9549)
Casanova confined, (Margaret Morgan), B, tape, 1995 (File 3) - Folio-Box 1 (MS 9549)
Night and dreams - the death of Sigmund Freud, (Margaret Morgan), T, tape, 1999 (File 4) - Folio-Box 1 (MS 9549)

Series 3. Orchestral works, 1990-1999

This series includes works for chamber and string orchestra. Pieces 4-7 were brought together by Ford to form the movements of Manhattan epiphanes as follows:

i Motherwell at the Guggenheim

ii Rothko I

iii Utopia parkway: 13 cornell boxes

iv Rothko II

v Blue poles (the score of which is not included in the collection)

Rothko I, Rothko II and Utopia parkway were earlier performed individually (1994) and all movements may be performed separately. The scores are listed here according to the titles and dates on the manuscripts themselves.

Imaginings, solo pf, concertino group (vib, cel, hp, elec org), orch, 1990-91 [sketch] (File 1) - Folio-Box 1 (MS 9549)
The widening gyre, 2 vn, vc, chbr orch, 1993 (File 2) - Folio-Box 1 (MS 9549)
The great memory, vc, orch, 1994 [dedicated to Sue-Ellen Paulsen] (File 3) - Map-Folio [unnumbered] (MS 9549)
Rothko I, 17 solo str, 1994 [to Ross Edwards, for his 50th birthday] (File 4) - Folio-Box 1 (MS 9549)
Rothko II, 17 solo str, 1994 [to Roger Smalley, for his 50th birthday] (File 5) - Folio-Box 1 (MS 9549)
Utopia parkway: 13 cornell boxes, 2 vn, va, vc, db, 1994 [for Leigh Middenway and Robert Durie] (File 6) - Folio-Box 1 (MS 9549)
Manhattan epiphanes: 1. Motherwell at the Guggenheim, solo vn, str orch, 1999 [to Richard Tognetti] (File 7) - Folio-Box 1 (MS 9549)
The furry dance, 1999 [to Leanne Bear and Tor Fromyhr] (File 8) - Map-Folio [unnumbered] (MS 9549)

Series 4. Ensemble works, 1991-1998

Pastoral, to Marcia Doheny and Nick Chapman, Commissioned by the Tasmanian Symphony Chamber Players with funds from the Australia Council, 3 vn, 2 va, 2 vc, db, 1991 [score and sketches] (File 1) - Folio-Box 1 (MS 9549)
Dance maze, ens, 1996 (File 2) - Folio-Box 1 (MS 9549)
The unquiet grave, va, ens, 1997-98 [to Patricia Pollett] (File 3) - Map-Folio [unnumbered] (MS 9549)
Icarus drowning, 2 cl, hp, perc, str qt, 1998 [to Penny Lomax and Maureen Cooney] (File 4) - Folio-Box 1 (MS 9549)
Tattoo, 12 timp, 4 pf, 1998 [to Carl Vine] (File 5) - Folio-Box 1 (MS 9549)

Series 5. 2-4 instrument works, 1985-2000

String quartet, 1985 [foil only, by Southern Printing Services] (File 1) - Folio-Box 1 (MS 9549)
Alchemy, perc qt, 1991 (File 2) - Folio-Box 1 (MS 9549)

[written for the members of Synergy Percussion, 'to Margaret on our 7th wedding anniversary']

Aubade for Alice, fl, vib, 1993 (File 3) - Folio-Box 1 (MS 9549)
Getting blue, a sax, vib, 1993 [for Cesca] (File 4) - Folio-Box 1 (MS 9549)
Jouissance, 2 trpt, vib, 1993 [to Geny, at 40] (File 5) - Folio-Box 1 (MS 9549)
Mondriaan, fl, 3 perc, 1993 [for Kathleen Gallagher and Sue Dennis] [mvts I, III, IV] (File 6) - Folio-Box 1 (MS 9549)
Four winds, sax qt, [sketch] [1984, revised 1999] (File 7) - Folio-Box 1 (MS 9549)
Estampie, (anon. 13th century English, arr. A. Ford), cl, drum, 1999 (File 8) - Folio-Box 1 (MS 9549)
Hymn to the sun, cl, celesta, hp, 1999 [in memoriam Peggy Glanville-Hicks / after Mesamedes of Crete (c.A.D. 130)] (File 9) - Folio-Box 1 (MS 9549)
Winterreise, 4 sleigh bells, 2000 [to Peter Neville] (File 10) - Folio-Box 1 (MS 9549)

Series 6. Solo instrument works, 1981-1995

Composition in blue, gray and pink, solo perc version of 2nd mvt from Mondriaan, for Sue Dennis, 19? (File 1) - Folio-Box 1 (MS 9549)
Portraits, pf, 1981 [I - to George and Topsy Preen; II - to Janet; III - to Linda] [foils only, no title page] (File 2) - Folio-Box 1 (MS 9549)
Like Icarus ascending, vn, 1984 (File 3) - Map-Folio [unnumbered] (MS 9549)
Clarion, a cl, 1990 [to Harry Sparnaay] (File 4) - Folio-Box 1 (MS 9549)
At a slight angle ..., b cl, 1991 [for Bronwen to Margaret] (File 5) - Folio-Box 1 (MS 9549)
... les débris d'un rêve, pic, 1993 (File 6) - Folio-Box 1 (MS 9549)
Becalmed, b fl, 1993 [to Laura Chislett] (File 7) - Folio-Box 1 (MS 9549)
Memorial, vc, 1994 [to Belinda Webster] (File 8) - Folio-Box 1 (MS 9549)
Rough magic, hp, 1996 [In memoriam Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971)] (File 9) - Folio-Box 1 (MS 9549)
Dark side, db, 1995, rev. 1998 [to Nigel Butterley, on his 60th birthday] [photocopy of original version, other version, sketches, all three undated, date from The new Grove] (File 10) - Folio-Box 1 (MS 9549)

Series 7. Choral works, 1991-1992

A mermaid [text], 2 p. [Maria Blakey's writing on front, [part?] of libretto for The laughter of mermaids, (M. Blakey), SSATBarB, 1991] (File 1) - Folio-Box 2 (MS 9549)
Laughter of mermaids, (M. Blakey), SSATBarB, 1991 (File 2) - Folio-Box 2 (MS 9549)
In somnia, T, SATB, ens, 1992 [to Richard Meale, at 60] (File 3) - Folio-Box 2 (MS 9549)

[Commissioned by Sydney Philharmonia with financial assistance from Performing Arts Board of Australia Council]

Series 8. Solo vocal works, 1984-1997

See also Series 2 for stage works.

A terrible whiteness, Mez, pf, 1984 [to Elizabeth Smart] (File 1) - Folio-Box 2 (MS 9549)
Epithalamium, (W. Shakespeare), T, vn, bell, 1991 [to Susie and Richard] (File 2) - Folio-Box 2 (MS 9549)
Epithalamium, (W. Shakespeare), Mez, str qt, 1998 [for Anne Sofie von Otter and the Brodsky Quartet] (File 3) - Folio-Box 2 (MS 9549)
Harbour, song cycle, (Margaret Morgan), T, 17 solo str, tubular bell, 1992 (File 4) - Folio-Box 2 (MS 9549)
A salt girl, (Onakatomi no Yoshinobu, trans. Kenneth Rexroth), high v, pf, 1994 (File 5) - Folio-Box 2 (MS 9549)
Dutch Uncle, (Christopher Reid), T, hp, Oct 1995 [no.6 of ?] (File 6) - Folio-Box 2 (MS 9549)
The past, Ct, fl, str, didgeridoo, 1997 (File 7) - Folio-Box 2 (MS 9549)

Series 9. Sketches, 1982-2000

Where sketches were together with complete scores, they have been kept with the scores. The sketches have been kept in original order, even when there is a complete score for a work in another series. Thus there are two packets of sketches and three individual sketches.

Pieces within the two packets have not been individually numbered. Most sketches are undated.

First packet (File 1) - Folio-Box 2 (MS 9549)

Dark side: [two unlabelled pages]

The very end of harvest, 2000

Rothko: [1 unlabelled page]

Gloucestershire wassail

This endris night [reverse of Gloucestershire wassail]: [unlabelled pages, numbered 47-48, 51-52]

Harbour: [2 unlabelled pages]

Ringing the changes

Imaginings, 2nd movt.

Joseph Lieber (The song of the cub)

The boar's head carol, 1989 [reverse of Joseph Lieber]

Seven Australian birds discover the music of the twentieth century

Season Song II [reverse of Seven Australian birds]

Corpus Christi carol

Susanni [reverse of Corpus Christi carol]

The laughter of mermaids

In the bleak mid-winter

The furry dance

Second packet (File 2) - Folio-Box 2 (MS 9549)

III. Female nude

Dark side

Four winds

Composition in blue, grey and pink

Winterreise

Season song, SATBarB,1982 [sketch] (File 3) - Map-Folio [unnumbered] (MS 9549)
Volition, voices, bs cl, wd blks, marimba [sketch] (File 4) - Map-Folio [unnumbered] (MS 9549)
[sketch numbered 1-6], 2 pgs, 1 Feb 1994 (File 5) - Folio-Box 2 (MS 9549)

Series 10. Interviews with composers, c. 1992-1993

This series consists of interviews with composers conducted by Andrew Ford, primarily for his book, Composer to composer: conversations about contemporary music, (Sydney: Allen and Unwin, 1993). Seventeen of the composers interviewed appear in the book, which includes 30 composers (Knussen and Kueris are not included). Since they were not intended for broadcast, the interviews are often informal in style and most of them simply start without any preamble, title or date information. Unless otherwise stated, interviews are on 90 minute cassettes (although they may not use the whole tape). The sound quality of the recordings is good.

See also series 1/1-2 for correspondence with composers concerning the book.

Bennett, Richard Rodney (1) [90 min. cassette] (Item 1) - Box 1 (MS 9549)
Richard Rodney Barnett (Item NLA.MS-SAV004172) - Cassette-Box 223
1 item, BASF FEI90, Compact cassette tape
Boulez, Pierre (1) and (2) [60 min. cassette] (Item 2) - Box 1 (MS 9549)
Boulez Uncut (Item NLA.MS-SAV004173) - Cassette-Box 223
1 item, BASF LH 60, Compact cassette tape
Boulez, Pierre (3) [60 min. cassette. Side B is a recording of something else, perhaps a panel discussion. Speakers have not been identified.] (Item 3) - Box 1 (MS 9549)
Boulez 3 (Item NLA.MS-SAV004174) - Cassette-Box 223
1 item, BASF LH 60, Compact cassette tape
Butterley, Nigel (3) [90 min. cassette] (Item 4) - Box 1 (MS 9549)
Butterley 3 (Item NLA.MS-SAV004175) - Cassette-Box 223
1 item, BASF 90, Compact cassette tape
Cage, John [90 min. cassette] (Item 5) - Box 1 (MS 9549)
CAGE (Item NLA.MS-SAV004176) - Cassette-Box 223
1 item, TDK SA90, Compact cassette tape
Carter, Elliott [90 min. cassette] (Item 6) - Box 1 (MS 9549)
Carter (Item NLA.MS-SAV004177) - Cassette-Box 223
1 item, Sony 90, Compact cassette tape
Conyngham, Barry [90 min. cassette] (Item 7) - Box 1 (MS 9549)
Conyngham (Item NLA.MS-SAV004178) - Cassette-Box 223
1 item, TDK AD90, Compact cassette tape
Donatoni, Franco [90 min. cassette] (Item 8) - Box 1 (MS 9549)
Donatoni (Item NLA.MS-SAV004179) - Cassette-Box 223
1 item, TDK D90, Compact cassette tape
Goehr, Alexander [90 min. cassette] (Item 9) - Box 1 (MS 9549)
Goehr (Item NLA.MS-SAV004180) - Cassette-Box 223
1 item, Sony EF90, Compact cassette tape
Henderson, Moya [90 min. cassette] (Item 10) - Box 1 (MS 9549)
Moya Henderson (Item NLA.MS-SAV004181) - Cassette-Box 223
1 item, TDK 90, Compact cassette tape
Knussen, Oliver (1) [90 min. cassette] (Item 11) - Box 1 (MS 9549)
Knussen 2 (Item NLA.MS-SAV004183) - Cassette-Box 223
1 item, Sony EF 90, Compact cassette tape
Knussen, Oliver (2) [90 min. cassette] (Item 12) - Box 1 (MS 9549)
Mozart 28 + 36, Bruggen, Janacek Sinfonietta, Gerswin bits, Knussen 1 (Item NLA.MS-SAV004182) - Cassette-Box 223
1 item, Sony 90, Compact cassette tape

More info on case

Kueris, [?][90 min. cassette] (Item 13) - Box 1 (MS 9549)
Kueris (Item NLA.MS-SAV004184) - Cassette-Box 224
1 item, Sony EF90, Compact cassette tape
Lim, Liza [90 min. cassette] (Item 14) - Box 1 (MS 9549)
Lim (Item NLA.MS-SAV004185) - Cassette-Box 224
1 item, Sony EF90, Compact cassette tape
Nyman, Michael [90 min. cassette] (Item 15) - Box 1 (MS 9549)
Nyman (Item NLA.MS-SAV004186) - Cassette-Box 224
1 item, TDK D90, Compact cassette tape
Reich, Steve [90 min. cassette] (Item 16) - Box 1 (MS 9549)
Reich (Item NLA.MS-SAV004187) - Cassette-Box 224
1 item, TDK SA90, Compact cassette tape
Ruders, Poul [90 min. cassette] (Item 17) - Box 1 (MS 9549)
Ruders (Item NLA.MS-SAV004188) - Cassette-Box 224
1 item, TDK D90, Compact cassette tape
Saariaho, Kaija [90 min. cassette] (Item 18) - Box 1 (MS 9549)
Saariaho (Item NLA.MS-SAV004189) - Cassette-Box 224
1 item, Sony EF90, Compact cassette tape
Sculthorpe, Peter [interview for Mainstream] [90 min. cassette] (Item 19) - Box 1 (MS 9549)
Sculthorpe Interview (Item NLA.MS-SAV004190) - Cassette-Box 224
1 item, BASF 90, Compact cassette tape

More info on case

Stockhausen, Karlheinz [90 min. cassette] (Item 20) - Box 1 (MS 9549)
Stockhausen (Item NLA.MS-SAV004191) - Cassette-Box 224
1 item, Sony EF90, Compact cassette tape
Tavener, John [90 min. cassette] (Item NLA.MS-SAV004192) - Cassette-Box 224
1 item, Sony EF90, Compact cassette tape

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