Promoting high culture

The evolution of the Brisbane Musical Union, 1872–98

Authors

  • Kenneth Morgan Brunel University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1017/qre.2020.2

Keywords:

Brisbane Musical Union (BMU), R. T. Jefferies, high musical culture, classical music

Abstract

This article analyses the musical work of the Brisbane Musical Union (BMU) between its founding in 1872 and the consolidation of its position by 1898. During this period, the BMU benefited from the dedicated leadership of its main conductor, R. T. Jefferies, who drew upon his high standing as a violinist, ensemble player and conductor in Brisbane to present regular choral concerts, mainly comprising oratorios, with an amateur choir. Despite financial challenges, difficulties over rehearsal and concert venues, periodic problems concerning the choice of repertoire, an insufficient number of available professional musicians and competition from rival local musical societies, Jefferies’ work with the BMU promoted an important aspect of high musical culture to the public and laid the foundations for further development of classical musical performance in Brisbane.

Author Biography

  • Kenneth Morgan, Brunel University

    Kenneth Morgan was educated at the University of Leicester; New College, Oxford; King’s College, Cambridge; and the University of Pennsylvania. He is Professor of History in the Department of Politics and History at Brunel University, London and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. His publications cover British imperial history, Australian history and music history. He has published research articles in Musicology Australia. He is also the author of Bristol and the Atlantic Trade in the Eighteenth Century (Cambridge University Press, 1993); Slavery, Atlantic Trade and the British Economy, 1660–1800 (Cambridge University Press, 2000); Fritz Reiner: Maestro & Martinet (University of Illinois Press, 2005); Slavery and the British Empire: From Africa to America (Oxford University Press, 2007); Australia: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press, 2012); A Short History of Transatlantic Slavery (I. B. Tauris, 2016); Matthew Flinders, Maritime Explorer of Australia (Bloomsbury, 2016); and Navigating under the Southern Cross: The European Discovery of Australia (Bloomsbury, 2021).

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The other was a piece of the same name by Alan Walters: see Bebbington, ‘Music in 19th-century Brisbane’, 273.

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Erickson, ‘Bands and orchestras’, 133.

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Published

2020-06-01

Issue

Vol. 27 No. 1 (2020)

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Morgan, K. (2020). Promoting high culture: The evolution of the Brisbane Musical Union, 1872–98. Queensland Review, 27(1), 21-38. https://doi.org/10.1017/qre.2020.2