Guide to the Papers of James Penberthy, 1935-2003

Summary

Collection number:

MS 9748

Creator:

Penberthy, James, 1917-1999 and Reid, David

Extent:

15.4 metres and (19 ms boxes + 21 medium folio boxes + 3 large folio boxes + 1 map folio + 73 sound/av carriers)

Language:

English

Preferred citation:

Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of James Penberthy, National Library of Australia, MS 9748, [series and file number]'.

Availability:

Available

Access conditions:

Available for research. Not for loan.

Background

Content Summary:

The papers document aspects of Penberthy's career as a composer, including his musical compositions, his involvement with musical organisations and his association with other musicians. There are a large number of Penberthy's manuscript music scores in a variety of genres, correspondence, drafts of his writings, including newspaper articles. The main correspondents are Gwen Harwood, Bernard Heinze, Rex Hobcroft and 'Patrick Thomas'. Other correspondents include Don Banks, Frank Callaway, Max Cooke, George Dreyfus, Stephan Haag, Jeff Hanson, Vincent Plush, Ray Powell, Peter Sculthorpe, Jan Sedivka, Larry Sitsky, Jurek Shabelevsky, Peggy van Praagh, Felix Wërder, Thomas Wood and members of his family.

Biographical Note:

Albert James Penberthy was born on 3 May 1917 in Brunswick, Melbourne, the son of Albert Penberthy and Florence Sarah (née Anlezark). His parents were in the Salvation Army, his father a Brigadier.

Penberthy received his early music training from his father, a proficient composer and performer on several instruments. While studying English and history at the University of Western Australia between 1936 and 1937 he worked as a teacher at Wesley College, Perth. Later, between 1938 and 1942 he worked at Trinity Grammar, Melbourne. After completing his war service with the Royal Australian Navy, Penberthy studied composition at the University of Melbourne under a Commonwealth Reconstruction Training Scholarship between 1947 and 1950. At the same time, he served as Musical Director for the National Theatre Ballet. Between 1951 and 1953 Penberthy travelled to England, France and Italy on a Victorian State Government Scholarship. During this time, he studied composition with Nadia Boulanger and conducting with Sir John Barbarolli.

From 1953 to 1973 Penberthy lived in Perth. He became a lecturer in composition for the Adult Education Board, University of Western Australia. In 1953, with Kira Bousloff, Penberthy co-founded the West Australian Ballet and became its first Musical Director. In 1967, together with Guiseppe Bertinazzo, he co-founded the West Australian Opera Company. Penberthy was a member and one time President of the West Australian Branch of the Fellowship of Australian Composers, a founding member of the short lived Composers Guild of Australia, and a founding board member of the Australian Music Centre.

From 1974 to 1982, Penberthy was Principal Lecturer and later Head of Music at the Northern Rivers College of Advanced Education, Lismore. He founded the School of the Arts Conservatorium Centre at the College. In 1971-1974, Penberthy was the recipient of three Commonwealth Music Grants.

A prolific composer, Penberthy wrote over 100 major works. He explored a wide variety of styles and methods of composition, from his earlier music in a traditional European style to works involving chance and computer assisted composition. However, in almost every work there is the presence of extra-musical ideas and in particular the Australian Aboriginal influence.

Penberthy married and divorced four times, to Dorothy (née Kerin) with whom he had one son, David; to Barbara (née Paterson), with whom he had one son, Richard; to Kira Bousloff, (née Abricossova), with whom he had one daughter, Tamara; and to Constance (aka Claire) Bramley.

In 1975 Penberthy was awarded a doctorate in Music from Melbourne University and in 1986 was appointed a member in the General Division of the Order of Australia, for his services to music.

James Penberthy died at Yamba on the north coast of NSW on 30 March 1999.

Bibliographic Reference(s)

• Larry Sitsky. 'Obituary of Dal Stivens', The Age, 13 April 1999

Provenance:

The papers were acquired from Penberthy's son, David Reid, in 2003.

Arrangement:

The papers were in some disorder when received. The correspondence has been sorted chronologically by year. Penberthy had grouped letters from some correspondents and this arrangement has been retained. Penberthy's manuscript music has been grouped into series, according to musical genre.

The general arrangement of the papers has been imposed by the Library.

Container List:

Series	File/Item	Box
1	1-8	1
1	9-11	2
1	12	Folio box 24
2	1-3	2
2	4-10	3
2	11-17	4
2	18-25	5
2	26-32	6
2	33-40	7
2	41	8
3	1-4	8
4	1-3	8
4	4-8	9
5	1-3	9
6	1	10
7	1	10
8	1-2	10
9	1-2	11
10	1-3	Folio box 1
10	4-5	Folio box 2
10	6-9	Folio box 3
10	10-12	Folio box 4
10	13-18	Folio box 5
10	19-21	Folio box 6
10	22-24	Folio box 7
10	25-28	Folio box 8
11	1-3	Folio box 8
11	4-10	Folio box 9
11	11-14	Folio box 10
11	15-19	Folio box 11
12	1	Folio box 11
12	2-6	Folio box 12
12	7-11	Folio box 13
12	12-17	Folio box 14
12	18-31	Folio box 15
12	32-37	Folio box 16
12	38-50	Folio box 17
13	1-15	Folio box 18
13	16-30	Folio box 19
13	31-39	Folio box 20
14	1-4	Folio box 20
14	5-11	Folio box 21
14	12-15	Folio box 22
15	1-3	Folio box 22
15	4-8	Folio box 23
15	9	HW map drawer 21
16	1-26	15
16	27-40	16
16	41-54	17
16	55-67	18
16	68-73	19
17	1-6	11
18	1-6	12
18	7-10	13
18	11-15	Folio box 24
19	1-3	13
20	1	14
21	1	Folio box 24
22	1-4	14
22	5	Folio box 24

Indexed terms

Names:

Reid, David

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-vn1002692).

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 James Penberthy, National Library of Australia, MS 9748, [series and file number]'.

Location of this collection:

National Library of Australia

Parkes Place

Canberra ACT 2600, Australia

Contact:

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