Dorian Leon Marlois Le Gallienne (19 April 1915 – 27 July 1963) was an Australian composer, teacher and music critic.

Biography

Dorian Le Gallienne was born in Melbourne in 1915. His father, an actor, was born in France, and his mother, a pianist who had studied with G. W. L. Marshall-Hall, was the daughter of the Assistant Astronomer at the

Melbourne Observatory Melbourne Observatory is an observatory located on a hill adjacent to the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. The observatory commenced operations in 1863 and was decommissioned from official Government work in 1945. The observatory has since continu ...

. His parents separated in 1924, and his father lived in England thereafter. He attended

Melbourne Church of England Grammar School Melbourne Grammar School is an Australian private Anglican day and boarding school. It comprises a co-educational preparatory school from Prep to Year 6 and a middle school and senior school for boys from Years 7 to 12. The three campuses are ...

. He was diagnosed with

diabetes Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...

at age 16. After leaving school, he studied with A. E. H. Nickson at the Melbourne Conservatorium and with

Arthur Benjamin Arthur Leslie Benjamin (18 September 1893 in Sydney – 10 April 1960 in London) was an Australian composer, pianist, conductor and teacher. He is best known as the composer of ''Jamaican Rumba'' (1938) and of the '' Storm Clouds Cantata'', fea ...

and

Herbert Howells Herbert Norman Howells (17 October 1892 – 23 February 1983) was an English composer, organist, and teacher, most famous for his large output of Anglican church music. Life Background and early education Howells was born in Lydney, Gloucest ...

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 in 1938. In 1939, he travelled in Europe with

Richard Downing ''Neighbours'' is an Australian television soap opera created by Reg Watson. It was first broadcast on 18 March 1985. The following is a list of characters that first appeared in the serial in 1998, by order of first appearance. All characters w ...

, a future Chairman of the

Australian Broadcasting Commission The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia’s principal public service broadcaster. It is funded primarily by grants from the federal government and is administered by a government-appointed board of directors. The ABC is a ...

(ABC), and with whom he later lived in Melbourne in a mud-brick house at

Eltham Eltham ( ) is a district of South London, southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. It is east-southeast of Charing Cross, and is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. The three ...

. He returned to Australia, where he worked for the Commonwealth Department of Information in the overseas broadcasting service, later joining the ABC. He was employed as music critic for '' The Argus'' and ''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

'', both Melbourne newspapers, from 1950 until his death. In an article called "Why Preference for 'Celebrities'?", he criticised the ABC for its lack of support for local music and musicians in its "Celebrity" subscription concerts. From 1951 to 1953 he undertook further study with

Gordon Jacob Gordon Percival Septimus Jacob CBE (5 July 18958 June 1984) was an English composer and teacher. He was a professor at the Royal College of Music in London from 1924 until his retirement in 1966, and published four books and many articles about ...

in England. He taught harmony 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 ...

Conservatorium between 1954 and 1960. His best known work, the ''Sinfonietta'', was written between 1951 and 1956, and was interrupted by the writing of his only completed Symphony (1953). The ''Sinfonietta'' is of 12 minutes duration and shows the influence of

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 Symphony No. 1 (Shostakovich), First Symphony in 1926 and thereafter was regarded ...

Hindemith Paul Hindemith ( ; ; 16 November 189528 December 1963) was a German and American composer, music theorist, teacher, violist and conductor. He founded the Amar Quartet in 1921, touring extensively in Europe. As a composer, he became a major ad ...

Prokofiev Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''. , group=n ( – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor who l ...

and

Vaughan Williams Ralph Vaughan Williams ( ; 12 October 1872– 26 August 1958) was an English composer. His works include operas, ballets, chamber music, secular and religious vocal pieces and orchestral compositions including nine symphonies, written over ...

. The first two movements were written in Britain, the remainder some years later in Australia. The Symphony was premiered in 1955, the ''Sinfonietta'' in 1956. In 1967 the music critic

Roger Covell Roger David Covell AM FAHA (1 February 1931 – 4 June 2019) was an Australian musicologist, critic and author. He was Professor Emeritus in the School of the Arts and Media at the University of New South Wales, in Sydney, and continued until ...

wrote that Le Gallienne's Symphony was 'still the most accomplished and purposive ... written by an Australian'. Rhoderick McNeill has more recently opined that the Symphony is only eclipsed by Robert Hughes's Symphony as the finest Australian symphony of the period. However, it is little known since the score has never been published and the work has never been commercially recorded (although it can be heard at the Australian Music Centre in Sydney). Another especially significant work of Le Gallienne is his song-cycle, ''Four Holy Sonnets of

John Donne John Donne ( ; 1571 or 1572 – 31 March 1631) was an English poet, scholar, soldier and secretary born into a recusant family, who later became a clergy, cleric in the Church of England. Under Royal Patronage, he was made Dean of St Paul's, D ...

'', for low voice and piano. He also wrote music for

Tim Burstall Timothy Burstall AM (20 April 1927 – 19 April 2004) was an English Australian film director, writer and producer, best known for hit Australian movie '' Alvin Purple'' (1973) and its sequel '' Alvin Rides Again'' (1974). Burstall's films f ...

's film ''The Prize'' (1960), which won a bronze medal at the

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival (, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival held in Venice, Italy. It is the world's oldest film festival and one of the ...

, and worked with Burstall on two other films. He died of diabetes-induced heart disease in 1963, and was buried in the Eltham cemetery next to the artists' colony

Montsalvat Montsalvat is an artists' community in Eltham, Victoria, Eltham, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Established by Justus Jorgensen in 1934, the colony is set among gardens on five hectares (12 acres) of land, and is home to dozens of bu ...

. A second symphony remained incomplete at the time of his death. The Dorian Le Gallienne Award was founded to commemorate his life in music, and is awarded every two years to a composer resident in

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

. The first award, in 1965, was to Helen Gifford.Australian Music Centre: Helen Gifford
/ref>

Works

* ''Contes heraldiques'', or The sleepy princess (ballet, 1947) * ''Beloved, let us love one another'' *''Blue Wrens'' (piano) * ''The Cactus of the Moon'' * Duo (violin and viola; 1956) * ''Fanfare'' * ''Farewell! Thou art too dear for my possessing'' * ''Fear no more the heat o' the sun'' * ''Four divine poems of John Donne'' (1950) * ''Four nursery rhymes'' * ''Go, heart'' (words by James Wedderburn) * ''How oft when thou, my music'' (Shakespeare, sonnet no. 128) * ''I had a little nut-tree'' * Incidental music to ''

Macbeth ''The Tragedy of Macbeth'', often shortened to ''Macbeth'' (), is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, estimated to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the physically violent and damaging psychological effects of political ambiti ...

'' (piano) * Incidental music to ''

Othello ''The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice'', often shortened to ''Othello'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare around 1603. Set in Venice and Cyprus, the play depicts the Moorish military commander Othello as he is manipulat ...

'' (oboe and guitar) * ''Jinker ride'' (piano, with Robert Hughes) * ''Legend'' (2 pianos) * ''Most blessed of mornings'' (short introit for SATB a cappella choir) * Nocturne (piano) * ''No longer mourn for me'' (Shakespeare, sonnet no. 71) * ''O rose, thou art sick'' (SSATB a cappella choir) * Overture in E flat (1952) * ''Peta White''; ''Grey goose and gander'' (two traditional songs) * ''The Rivals'' (piano) * Sinfonietta (1956) * ''Solveig's cradle song'' (from

Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright, poet and actor. Ibsen is considered the world's pre-eminent dramatist of the 19th century and is often referred to as "the father of modern drama." He pioneered ...

's ''

Peer Gynt ''Peer Gynt'' (, ) is a five-Act (drama), act play in verse written in 1867 by the Norwegian dramatist Henrik Ibsen. It is one of Ibsen's best known and most widely performed plays. ''Peer Gynt'' chronicles the journey of its title character fr ...

'') * Sonata (flute and piano; 1943) * Sonata (piano; recorded by Trevor Barnard) * Sonata (violin and piano; 1945) * Sonatina in E minor for piano duet (1941) * Symphonic study (piano, 1940?) * Symphony in E (1953) * ''There was a king'' * Three piano pieces * Three psalms (SATB choir and organ) * Trio for oboe, violin and viola (1957) * ''Voyageur'', ballet (1954)

References

Sources

Australian Music Centre

Music Australia

Music Australia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Le Gallienne, Dorian 1915 births 1963 deaths Musicians from Melbourne Australian film score composers Australian male film score composers 20th-century Australian classical composers Australian music educators Australian people of French descent Alumni of the Royal Academy of Music Academic staff of the University of Melbourne Australian music critics Australian women music critics 20th-century Australian male musicians

Biography

Works

See also

References

Sources