Currency Companion to Music and Dance in Australia

John Whiteoak and Aline Scott-Maxwell, editors

Currency House Inc., in association with Currency Press, Sydney, 2003; 735pp.

Reviewed by Graham Strahle

Following on from Currency’s Companion to Theatre in Australia (1995), this new work is rare for an encyclopaedia in that it treats two artforms together. At first one might question the merits of doing this, but on inspecting the more than 370 articles here one discovers that there are many advantages to be gained and that this is indeed a reference work of unique value.

In particular the benefits are apparent in the coverage of Aboriginal and immigrant traditions, in which of course treatment of music in isolation so often leads to artificial distinctions. One of the finest articles in the book is ‘Aboriginal traditions,’ which provides an impressively detailed discussion of how song and dance are woven together in traditional ritual. The book is worth having just for this extensive 12-page article, which is thoroughly researched and regionally specific, looking also at ceremonial contexts, song forms, percussion, voices and instruments. There are no less than four essays on women’s music. The authors include Linda Barwick, Allan Marett, Robin Ryan, Grace Koch and Helen Payne. Related articles elsewhere on indigenous adaptations, Aboriginal protest songs and songs in land claims make this book extremely strong as a reference on indigenous culture.

The book’s focus in these and other articles does tend to fall on music more than it does on dance. However, this is not intentionally so and more a reflection, as the editors John Whiteoak and Aline Scott-Maxwell state in their preface, of how research in Australia has favoured music over dance.

Another of the book’s valuable contributions is the more than 50 articles addressing migrant traditions in Australia. From African and Albanian to Ukrainian and Vietnamese traditions, these likewise seek to provide a fully integrated discussion of music and dance. Their success varies though, with some articles doing the job admirably (for example ‘Slovene traditions’) while others are neglectful towards dance (for example ‘Hungarian traditions’). One would have wished for greater consistency, but again the limitations of existing research make this so.

The wide cultural span of the book continues on other fronts, and indeed its value is that it considers the full landscape of music as practised through all levels and segments of Australian society. There is an exceptional diversity of topics presented, from bush bands and busking to children’s music, environmental music, football songs, funerary music and place-name songs. So the list goes on. There is even a fascinating article by Alan Saunders and Graham Pont on ‘Eating, drinking and music,’ which looks at the history of music in restaurants, festivals and musical banquets (opera gastronomica). Other useful subjects to be covered are the record industry, copyright, music in advertising, political music and the ABC’s contribution to music. These all receive well written articles, though some tend to be introductory and less exhaustive in scope.

More familiar areas such as jazz, opera, orchestras and popular music are well covered. In particular, the numerous, meticulously researched articles by Whiteoak, on improvisation, brass bands, blues and other areas of popular music, stand out strongly and testify to his considerable work toward this book. Australian composition is comprehensively treated in the article ‘Composing music,’ written by Helen Gifford, Zoe Sweett, Joel Crotty, David Symons and several others. This is up-to-date, balanced and valuably broad in its perspective, with excellent discussions on extreme complexity, new tonality, new romanticism, Asian influences and popular influences.

One feels that better integration could have been achieved on several topics where music and dance coincide. Postmodernism, for instance, could have been dealt with more valuably in a single discussion instead of splitting it into two articles (‘Postmodern dance’ and ‘Postmodernism in music’) because the issues raised, not surprisingly, have much in common. Similarly, ballet might have been consolidated into one article rather than having two separate ones (‘Ballet’ as dance and choreography, and ‘Ballet music’). More surprisingly, there are two further articles dealing with hybrid work between the two artforms, ‘Music-dance collaboration’ and ‘Dance-music collaboration.’ One integrated discussion would surely have been preferable since the two articles, again unsurprisingly, cover very similar issues. They are, however, cross-referenced.

Perhaps inevitably in a work like this, one can point to various holes and omissions. The article on ‘Government policies on popular music’ is admirable but begs for more: it could have been complemented by another addressing government policy in classical and other styles of music. An article on ‘Subsidy’ does help plug this gap though, in focussing on the Australia Council.

Given that there are several articles on choirs, one devoted to solo singers also seems warranted. This might have avoided some of the country’s finest singers being left out, including Marilyn Richardson, Elizabeth Campbell, John Wegner and Clare Gormley. In ‘Popular music,’ Helen Reddy, John Farnham and Kylie Minogue all make their way in, but Terry Britten as composer-producer does not, and neither do Robyn Archer, Caroline O’Connor or Janet Seidel in ‘Cabaret.’

Under ‘Orchestras,’ the Australian Chamber Orchestra receives only the briefest mention and no reference is made there of Richard Tognetti. Omitted are Lisa Moore and Stephanie McCallum in ‘Piano-playing,’ Ron Grainer and Delia Derbyshire in ‘Electronic music,’ and Robert Stigwood in ‘Entrepreneurs.’ Neville Cardus, though only a temporary Australian resident while he worked for the Sydney Morning Herald, goes conspicuously unacknowledged in ‘Criticism and Journalism.’

In the article on early music, Geoffrey Lancaster and Genevieve Lacey are overlooked, and one feels coverage should have been extended to early music’s influence on the mainstream of concert music, looking for example at Ensemble of the Classic Era and the TSO. A cross-reference to the article on ‘Renaissance and Baroque dance’ is missing.

In ‘Research and writing,’ Michael Burden and John Phillips should have been cited for their work on Purcell and Bruckner respectively. Tertiary and school education in music are all well treated, but the TAFE system is overlooked, apart from passing mention of the former Flinders Street School of Music. One notes also that the MCA goes unmentioned.

Actual errors appear to be few. Some text appears to be missing toward the end of ‘Broadside ballad,’ and composer Graeme Koehne’s name is spelt incorrectly once in ‘Ballet music.’

These quibbles aside though, this new book possesses a wealth of new information that more than justifies its place alongside other standard references on Australian music. At least as importantly, it points the way towards further inquiry on two closely related artforms that are so rarely considered together.

Music Forum Vol 10 No 4