
Sir Bernard Thomas Heinze,
AC, FRCM (1 July 189410 June 1982) was an Australian conductor, academic, and Director of the
New South Wales State Conservatorium of Music.
He conducted all the orchestras run by the
ABC, most particularly the
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (MSO) is an Australian orchestra based in Melbourne. The MSO is resident at Hamer Hall. The MSO has its own choir, the MSO Chorus, following integration with the Melbourne Chorale in 2008.
The MSO relies on fun ...
, of which he was chief conductor from 1933 to 1950. Also, he was chief conductor of the
Royal Melbourne Philharmonic from 1927, becoming Honorary Life Conductor in the 1960s, and continuing his association with the RMP until 1978.
In addition he was guest conductor of the
Adelaide Symphony Orchestra in 1939. Discouraged by Australian audiences' lack of interest in music, he founded Children's Concerts. He also initiated the Young Performers Awards, which continue to showcase emerging international talent.
He introduced Australian audiences to the works of
Anton Bruckner
Joseph Anton Bruckner (; ; 4 September 182411 October 1896) was an Austrian composer and organist best known for his Symphonies by Anton Bruckner, symphonies and sacred music, which includes List of masses by Anton Bruckner, Masses, Te Deum (Br ...
,
Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his First Symphony in 1926 and thereafter was regarded as a major composer.
Shostak ...
,
Béla Bartók
Béla Viktor János Bartók (; ; 25 March 1881 – 26 September 1945) was a Hungarian composer, pianist and ethnomusicologist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century; he and Franz Liszt are regarded as Hunga ...
and
William Walton
Sir William Turner Walton (29 March 19028 March 1983) was an English composer. During a sixty-year career, he wrote music in several classical genres and styles, from film scores to opera. His best-known works include ''Façade'', the cantat ...
, and promoted Australian composers. In 1949 he became the first Australian ever to be knighted for services to music. Through teaching and performance, not least via broadcasting, he played a central role in his country's artistic activities. In his later years he was, quite simply, the most influential single man in Australian music, one critic having declared: 'there is not a fibre of our musical life that has not been modified by his career.'
Biography
Bernard Heinze was born in
Shepparton
Shepparton () (Yorta Yorta language, Yortayorta: ''Kanny-goopna'') is a city located on the floodplain of the Goulburn River (Victoria), Goulburn River in northern Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, approximately north-northeast of Mel ...
,
Victoria on 1 July 1894, the son of Benjamin Heinze, a German-born watch-maker and jeweller, and his Yorkshire-born wife, Minnie Heinze, née Greenwell. Educated at
St Patrick's Catholic College, Ballarat, Heinze received violin lessons at an early age, under the guidance of Walter Gude (1904–12) first in Ballarat, and later at the
University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...
under
Franklin Peterson, before being awarded the (Sir William) Clarke Scholarship at the
Royal College of Music
The Royal College of Music (RCM) is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including pe ...
in London (1913).
World War I interrupted Heinze's studies and his career was put on hold; he received a commission in May 1916 with the British Royal Garrison Artillery Special Reserve Regiment and fought at
Arras
Arras ( , ; ; historical ) is the prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais department, which forms part of the region of Hauts-de-France; before the reorganization of 2014 it was in Nord-Pas-de-Calais. The historic centre of the Artois region, with a ...
,
Ypres
Ypres ( ; ; ; ; ) is a Belgian city and municipality in the province of West Flanders. Though
the Dutch name is the official one, the city's French name is most commonly used in English. The municipality comprises the city of Ypres/Ieper ...
, the
Somme __NOTOC__
Somme or The Somme may refer to: Places
*Somme (department), a department of France
* Somme, Queensland, Australia
* Canal de la Somme, a canal in France
*Somme (river), a river in France
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Somme'' (book), ...
and
Passchendaele.
With the advent of peace, Heinze studied in Paris at the Schola Cantorum, under
Vincent d'Indy
Paul Marie Théodore Vincent d'Indy (; 27 March 18512 December 1931) was a French composer and teacher. His influence as a teacher, in particular, was considerable. He was a co-founder of the Schola Cantorum de Paris and also taught at the Pa ...
. He returned home in 1923. When only 32 years old, he succeeded
William Laver as Ormond Professor of Music at the University of Melbourne. He held this professorship till 1957, and played a crucial role in the creation of the Faculty of Music. Thus he influenced governmental education policy for the successful introduction of music to the state curriculum.
One of Heinze's great achievements came with the advent of wireless radio. As director-general of music with the new National Broadcasting Service at 3LO-3AR (forerunner to the ABC), he was able to inspire a generation of Australians to the love of orchestral music that was until then largely a luxury confined to the upper classes.
Heinze envisaged a central professional full-time orchestra in Melbourne. After
Alberto Zelman's death in 1927, he was offered the conductorship of the Melbourne Philharmonic Society (later the
Royal Melbourne Philharmonic); many of the players of the RMP's orchestra also played in
Fritz Hart's
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (MSO) is an Australian orchestra based in Melbourne. The MSO is resident at Hamer Hall. The MSO has its own choir, the MSO Chorus, following integration with the Melbourne Chorale in 2008.
The MSO relies on fun ...
. This led to the loss of the RMP Orchestra's separate identity. From 1932 to 1937, Heinze was co-chief conductor of the MSO with Hart, and sole chief conductor until 1950. The MSO was renamed the Victorian Symphony Orchestra in 1949, reverting to its original name in 1964.
In 1929 Heinze was appointed music adviser to the Australian Broadcasting Commission. There he oversaw the inception of its State orchestras, celebrity concerts, youth concerts and fine music broadcasting.
His last appointment of significance was as director of the
New South Wales State Conservatorium of Music (1956–66) succeeding Sir
Eugene Goossens, who had resigned in scandal. After leaving the directorship in 1966, Heinze continued to conduct the main Australian orchestras on a regular basis until the late 1970s. He also conducted overseas orchestras: on 14 January 1947, he was the conductor of the
Toronto Symphony Orchestra
The Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) is a Canadian orchestra based in Toronto, Ontario. Founded in 1906, the TSO gave regular concerts at Massey Hall until 1982, and since then has performed at Roy Thomson Hall. The TSO also manages the Toron ...
in the professional concerto debut of the 14-year-old
Glenn Gould
Glenn Herbert Gould (; né Gold; 25 September 19324 October 1982) was a Canadian classical pianist. He was among the most famous and celebrated pianists of the 20th century, renowned as an interpreter of the keyboard works of Johann Sebastian ...
, who played Beethoven's
Piano Concerto No. 4.
He died on 10 June 1982, aged 87, in
Bellevue Hill, Sydney, survived by his wife Valerie née Hennessy.
Honours
Bernard Heinze became a Fellow of the Royal College of Music in 1931.
He was knighted in 1949, the first Australian musician to receive this honour.
Sir Bernard was named the 1974
Australian of the Year
The Australian of the Year is a national award conferred on an Australian citizen by the National Australia Day Council, a not-for-profit Australian Government-owned social enterprise. Similar awards are also conferred at the state and territor ...
.
On Australia Day 1976, he was appointed a Companion of the
Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...
for his services to Australian music.
Sir Bernard Heinze Memorial Award
The Sir Bernard Heinze Memorial Award was inaugurated following the death of Sir Bernard Heinze in 1982, and is given annually to a person who has made an outstanding contribution to music in Australia.
References
Sources
ABC: Dimension in Time
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heinze, Bernard
1894 births
1982 deaths
Academic staff of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music
People from Shepparton
Companions of the Order of Australia
Australian Knights Bachelor
Conductors (music) awarded knighthoods
Australian of the Year Award winners
20th-century Australian conductors (music)
People educated at St Patrick's College, Ballarat
British Army personnel of World War I
Royal Garrison Artillery officers
Burials at Brighton General Cemetery
Chief conductors of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra