Guide to the Papers of Kenneth Hince
MS 6566
National Library of Australia View Catalogue Record
Collection Summary
- Creator
- Hince, Kenneth
- Title
- Papers of Kenneth Hince
- Date Range
- 1782-2012
- Collection Number
- MS 6566
- Extent
- 4.77 metres (24 ms boxes + 4 archives boxes + 1 medium folio box)
- Language of Materials
- English
- Repository
- Special Collections (Manuscripts)
Introduction
Scope and Contents
The collection consists of files relating mainly to Hince's work as a music critic in the last thirty years. It includes scores, printed material, ephemera, files and music group discussions notes, plus correspondence, correspondence, both business and private, copies of Hince's own letters, letters from readers, composers, musicians, conductors and musicologists, typescripts of Hince's manuscripts on musicians, papers relating to his music collecting and his judging of music competitions, notes of interviews with notable composers, and substantial files on the ABC, The Age and the Australian.
Also included are invitations to review performances, biographical information on performers, tickets, reviews of performances for both The Age and the Australian, record and book reviews, articles for publishing, and a variety of printed material.
Conditions Governing Access
Please refer to the collection's catalogue record for the access conditions (http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn674039).
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Copying and publishing of unpublished manuscript material is subject to copyright restrictions.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 Copying of unpublished material for research purposes is permissible 50 years after the death of the creator of the material.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 Kenneth Hince, National Library of Australia, MS 6566, [class/box number and series and/or file number]'.
Provenance
The papers were purchased by the Library in 1987 and 1994.
Biographical Note
Kenneth Hince, one of Australia's leading dealers in rare and old books, and for many years a music critic for major newspapers, was born in 1926. He studied Medicine and Arts at the University of Melbourne and served in the Royal Australian Air Force and taught languages at Xavier College, Melbourne, before opening his bookshop in Melbourne in 1960. He began his long and successful career as critic the following year, serving as music critic on the Bulletin (1961-64), Australian, (1967-77), and The Age (1977-94).
Item Descriptions
Class 1. Original consignments received 1987 and 1994
This consignemnt comprises manuscript and printed scores, manuscript and printed articles, correspondence, programmes, the constitutions of Australian musical organizations, biographical material, newspaper cuttings and photographs. Most of the material belongs to the period 1895-1969, but there are few letters dating from earlier than 1895. The collection includes files on Hector Berlioz, George Dreyfus, Percy Grainger, Sir James Barrett, Sir Bernard Heinze, Franz Holford, G.W.L. Marshall-Hall and Henty Tate. Correspondents include R. Allen, Ivy Brookes, Frank Clarke, Frederick Earp, M. Phillips Fox, Sir Robert Garran, Edward Grieg, Stefan Haag, Fritz Hart, Harold E. Holt, John Horner, Paul Howard, Andrew McCredie, H. James Martin, Sir Robert Menzies, Sir Stephen J. Morrel, Sir Charles Moses, May Paterson, Donald Peart, Noel Pelly, E. G. Pirane, Henri Verbrugghen and E. Wunderlich. There are also subject files on the Lady Northcote Permanent Orchestra Trust, the Melbourne University Conservatorium, the Australian Elizabethan Theatre and the Heidelberg District Musical Society. Includes a copy of the score of Victoria : cantata by Leon Caron that was performed for the first time at the inauguration of the Melbourne International Exhibition, 1st October 1880.
Series 1. Alphabetical files, 1955 - 94
The series consists of an alphabetical sequence of files maintained by Hince and relating to his work as a music critic. They contain correspondence, both personal and business, copies of Hince's own letters, letters from, and interviews with notable composers including George Dreyfus, Larry Sitsky, Frank Callaway and Dobbs Franks, typescripts of Hince's manuscripts on Percy Grainger, Henry Tate, and others, letters supporting or criticising his reviews, and papers relating to his own activities as a collector of music and a judge of competitions.
Also in the sequence are biographical notes on musicians, information on societies and festivals, concert schedules, music catalogues, record releases, photographs, and a few musical scores. A miscellaneous file of material, mainly dating from the 1960s, is at the end of the alphabetical sequence.
Among the more notable correspondents are: David Ahern, Alfred Brendel, Brenton Broadstock, Colin Brumby, Creighton Burns, Nigel Butterley, Frank Callaway, John Cargher, Ann Carr-Boyd, Max Charlesworth, Clem Christesen, Roger Covell, George Dreyfus, Ross Edwards, Percy Grainger, Sir Bernard Heinze, Jack Hibberd, John Hopkins, Robert Hughes, William Lovelock, James McAuley, Andrew McCredie, John Manifold, Stan Ostoja-Kotkowski, Joseph Post, Peter Sculthorpe, Larry Sitsky, Robert Tear, Kenneth Tribe and Joern Utzon.
Series 2. Notifications of performances and invitations to review, 1978 - 87 - Box 14, 15, 16
The series consists of notification of performances and invitations to review them, some biographical information on performers, both individuals (including David Helfgott and Roger Heagney) and groups, and tickets for the performances.
Organizations and societies that regularly contacted Hince included: Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Australian Boys' Choir, Astra Chamber Music Society, Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust, Australian Opera, Camerata Opera Group, Camberwell Chorale, Early Music Society of Victoria, Melbourne Chorale, University of Melbourne - Faculty of Music, Musica Viva, Ormond College, Royal Melbourne Philharmonic Society, Rantos Collegium, Victorian Arts Centre, Victorian College of the Arts, and the Victorian State Opera.
Series 3. Reviews (undated) - Box 17, 18
The series contains reviews of concerts, operas, records and books. The performance reviews were written for the Australian and The Age. The books reviewed are by G. W. L. Marshall-Hall and George Dreyfus. Also included in this series are typescript articles on Lorin Maazel and his programming of opera, Hince's visits to Avignon and Linz, and a 32 question quiz on Franz Lehar.
Series 4. Printed material, 1979 - 87 - Box 19
This series consists of press releases, publicity material, programs, catalogues, and information on overseas music festivals, including the International Festival of Music, Lucerne ( 1980-87) and Expo 86 (British Columbia). There are copies of Vienna calling (Sept 82-Oct 84), Canada and Bosendorfer, and World Record Club programs for 1979-81.
Class 2. Consignment received 2019
This consignment comprises scores, correspondence, printed material, ephemera, files and music group discussions notes
Series 1. Music Scores and Sheet Music
Printed bound score Mozart 2 duets for violin and viola, Divertimento for violin, viola and violincello, K Ferd. Heckel, 1850s (File) - Box 21
Annotated inside front cover "Miss J Elliott from her grateful student Maggie Suedin"
Catalogue of the musical manuscripts deposited on loan in the British Museum, 1914 (File) - Box 21
Inscribed inside cover Richard Divall
Boston Musical Institute's Collection: church music, 1841 (File) - Box 21
Bookplate inside cover Archibald Macleod
Gustav Mahler, Symphony No.9, 1952; 9 June 1968 (File) - Box 21
Enclosed program from a performance by the Vienna Philharmonic conducted by Otto Klemperer
The Death of Minnehaha, words: H W Longfellow, Music composed by S Coleridge-Taylor, 1899 (File) - Box 21
Scenes from the Song of Hiawatha
Seven Music magazines, c 1920 - 1947 (File) - Box 22
Australian Musical News, J C Williamson's Theatres Magazines, The Stage Pictorial
Printed sheet music and scores, some bound, 1907 - 1920 (File) - Box 22
Incl The last of his tribe words Henry Kendall, music Christian Hellemann; My old black billy and other songs of the Australian outback words Edward Harrington, music Roy Jeffries; The red road words John K Ewers, music Edward Black; Grace Brothers Lancers written and arranged for Grace Brothers Sydney; Uphold the Sports of our Land, words by Adam Lindsay Gordon;
Program from a performance by the Vienna Philharmonic conducted by Otto Klemperer, 2 June 1968 (File) - Box 22
Bound scores, 1880s (File) - Box 22
Inscribed inside front cover A. [Alice] James, 1888; M C Carey, 106 Sturt Street Ballarat
Symphony no 2 Aspects of Darkness Michael J Easton with playing annotations, 1992 (File) - Folio-Box 29
Bound collection of scores, 1880s (File) - Box 23
Annotated; Inscribed inside front cover A. [Alice] James, 1888
Series 2. Correspondence
Alphabetical files of correspondence relating to music writing, performance and reviewing A - Di (File) - Box 24
The Age - Richard Divall
Series 4. Printed material
Folder of five items of printed material inscribed to Bernard Heinze, 1924 - 1958 (File) - Box 28
Includes AN Ingamells (1924) The hidden significance of music, Publicity Press, Sydney, inscribed by author; The Secret Listener by Ernest Briggs inscribed by the author; Song Book of the Claxtons; The Dream of Gerontius by Cardinal Neuman inscribed by Ernest Briggs; Six poems by J. Rainis
Typescript Ernest Chausson: a study of the discipline of César Franck, a translation by Kenneth Hince of Charles Oulmont Musique de l'amour: Ernest Chausson et la Bande á Franck, not dated (File) - Box 28
Kenneth Hince Music group discussion notes and Records for music group notes, Victorian Council of Education, set of cardboard-bound roneoed notes – Benjamin Britten, Russia old and new, Beethoven etc., 1953 - 1954 (File) - Box 28
Notes that in 1953-54 Kenneth Hince was 'Melbourne music critic for The Observer, Sydney, and is undertaking an MA in music.