Guide to the Papers of Miriam Hyde, 1930-1996

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Summary

Collection number:
MS 5260
Creator:
Hyde, Miriam
Extent:
5.55 metres and (10 archives boxes + 4 ms boxes + 7 medium folio boxes)
Language:
English
Preferred citation:
Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Miriam Hyde, National Library of Australia, MS 5260, [series/subseries/file/item number]'.
Availability:
Available
Access conditions:
Available for research. Not for loan.

Background

Content Summary:
The two main components of the collection comprise original musical scores written by Hyde and 166 detailed letters she wrote to her family while studying at the Royal College of Music in London (1932-1935). There are several files of general correspondence from members of the music profession or relating to it. Individual correspondents include Edgar Bainton, John Carmichael, Selma Epstein, David Galliver, Ruth Gipps, Hilary and Charles Groves, Rex Hobcroft, Gordon Jacob, Derek Jones, Max Keogh, David Lockett, Mary Mageau, Joseph Rezits, Peter Sculthorpe, Victor Sangiorgio and Kendall Taylor. Organisational correspondents include the Australian Broadcasting Commission, Australian Music Examiners Board, Canberra School of Music, Music Teachers' Association and the National Film and Sound Archive. There are also notebooks containing drafts of Hyde's poetry, a detailed journal kept by Hyde on board ship while travelling from Adelaide to London (1932) and correspondence with Currency Press regarding the publication of her autobiography Complete accord.The 2021 consignment comprises correspondence between Miraiam Hyde and her husband Marcus Edwards, including during their courtship and engagement and when Edwards was a prisoner of war in Germany during World War II plus travel diaries and music scores.
Biographical Note:

Miriam Hyde was a composer, musician and poet. Born in Adelaide on 15 January 1913, she received her early musical tuition from her mother. In 1925 she was awarded an Australian Music Examinations Board (AMEB) scholarship to study at the Elder Conservatorium of Music, Adelaide, under William Silver. She graduated from the Conservatorium with a Bachelor of Music in 1931, at the age of eighteen. In that year she won the Elder Scholarship for three years study at the Royal College of Music, London, which she undertook from 1932 to 1935. During her time at the College, she won three composition prizes and performed two of her concertos with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the London Symphony Orchestra. She also made several broadcasts with the BBC, including her Concerto No. 1.

Hyde returned to Adelaide in 1936. As part of South Australia's centenary celebrations in that year, her overture, Adelaide, was conducted by Sir Malcolm Sargent in the Centennial Hall. She also wrote some of the incidental music for the pageant 'Heritage'.

Following her marriage to Marcus Edwards, Hyde lived mostly in Sydney. She was a musical examiner with and on the Advisory Board of the AMEB for 37 years and a councillor of the Music Teachers' Association of New South Wales, of which she was made a life member in 1987. In addition to this she has been a recitalist, lecturer and tutor at numerous workshops.

In 1988, Hyde's 75th year, her composition 'Valley of Rocks' was among seven Australian works in the Sydney International Piano Competition and was chosen by 23 of the 38 competitors. Also in this year there were celebratory programs on the ABC and recitals in Perth, Adelaide, Port Lincoln and Sydney.

Economy Press published three of Hyde's books of poetry: The bliss of solitude, [1941], A few poems, [1942] and Dawn to dusk, [1932-1947). Her autobiography,Complete accord, was published by Currency Press, Sydney in 1991, with the royalties being devoted to the scholarship that she won in 1931.

In 1980, Hyde was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) and she was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in 1991. In Hyde's 80th year (1993) Macquarie University conferred upon her an HonDLitt. and in 1995 she was awarded an HonFMusA by the AMEB. In 2003, tributes for Hyde's 90th birthday included a celebratory concert of her works, organised by the ABC and presented at the Eugene Goossens Hall in Sydney.

Hyde was Patron of the Blue Mountains Eisteddfod, the Inner West Eisteddfod, the Music Teachers Associations of South Australia and New South Wales and the Australian Musicians' Academy. She was made an Honorary Life member of the Fellowship of Australian Composers and of the Strathfield Symphony Orchestra. In May of 1997, she presented a recital of her own works at the Royal College, London, some 62 years after her studies there. In 1996, Film Australia covered the story of her domestic and professional roles, for SBS Television. In 2002, Hyde received a Fellowship in composition from the Australian Society of Musicology and Composition (F Comp. ASMC). In the same year, she was presented with an award from the Australian Music Centre for her 'Long-term contribution to the advancement of Australian music'.

Compositions publisehd by The Keys Press include: Lengthening shadows (piano, 1974), published in 2002; Evening in Cordoba (piano, 1987), published in 2000; Sonata in B minor (viola, 1937), published in 1999; Passing thoughts; scherzino (viola, 1946), published in 1998; Nocturne (Flute, 1994), published in 2001; Nightfall, and, Merrymaking (Oboe and piano, 1955), published in 2000; Sonata in F minor (clarinet, 1949), published in 2000; Fantasy-trio in B minor (violin, cello/viola and piano, 1930), published in 1999; Trio in G major (flute, clarinet and piano, 1948), published in 2000; The ring of new bells (piano, 1959), published in 2000; Brownhill Creek in spring (piano, 1942), published in 2001; Firewheel (piano, 1932), published in 1999; Concert Study No. 3 in C# Minor (1935), published in 2002.

Immediate Source of Acquisition:

The collection was donated to the Library by Miriam Hyde in a number of instalments from 1976 to 1996. A further instalment was donated to the Library by Hyde's daughter Christine Edwards in 2021.

Arrangement:

The papers have been received in a number of instalments and as a consequence there was no obvious order to the collection. The Library has grouped them into three series: Correspondence, Music manuscripts and Papers.

Hyde's letters written to her family from London during the period 1932-1935 (folders 15-55) have been arranged chronologically. While making notes for her autobiography in the 1980s, Hyde numbered the envelopes of the letters. When the letters were processed, it was noted that the following numbers were either not used or the letters were not included: 84, 86-92, 94-95, 97 and 99.

Access and use

Conditions Governing Access:
Access conditions may apply to this collection, please refer to the collection's catalogue record for further information (http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn2622064).
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 Miriam Hyde, National Library of Australia, MS 5260, [series/subseries/file/item number]'.
Location of this collection:
Parkes Place
Canberra ACT 2600, Australia
Contact:
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