Guide to the Papers of Frank Hutchens, 1905-1965

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Summary

Collection number:
MS 2066
Creator:
Frank Hutchens
Extent:
0.46 metres and (various)
Language:
English
Preferred citation:
Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Frank Hutchens, National Library of Australia, MS 2066, [series/file/item number]'.
Availability:
Available
Access conditions:
Available for research. Not for loan.

Background

Content Summary:
The collection consists largely of albums containing letters received by Hutchens, newspaper cuttings relating to his work and his career, programs of broadcasts and concerts given by Frank Hutchens, programs of performance of Hutchens' compositions, and photographs. Also included in the collection are two travel diaries; Hutchens' O.B.E., Bard of Cornwall and Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music certificates; and copies of Hutchens' compositions.
Biographical Note:

Frank Hutchens was born at Leeston, New Zealand on 15 January 1892. Very early in his life he showed considerable musical talent and in 1904 it was arranged for him to play for Paderewski. As a result of Paderewski's encouragement, Hutchens went to England in 1905 to study at the Royal Academy of Music.

At the Royal Academy of Music Hutchens studied piano with Tobias Matthay and composition with Frederick Corder. During this period he won many prizes, including the Sterndale Bennett Scholarship (1906), the Heathcote Long Prize for piano (1906), the Thalberg Scholarship (1908), the Hine Prize for composition (1908) and the Chappell Gold Medal for Piano (1910). In 1908, at the age of sixteen, he was made a sub-professor of the Royal Academy of Music the youngest ever to receive the appointment.

In 1912 Hutchens came to Australia and in 1916 was appointed a professor at the New South Wales State Conservatorium of Music. He continued to teach there until his death in 1965. He was also an examiner for the Australian Music Examinations Board during the same period. He therefore exercised an enormous influence over the development of musical education in Australia.

Hutchens is particularly noted for the many two-piano recitals he gave with Lindley Evans. Hutchens and Evans gave their first recital in Sydney on 22 April 1924 and from that time on became celebrated duo-pianists. On the same date in 1954 and 1964 they commemorated their thirtieth and fortieth anniversaries as a duo-pianist team with very successful concerts in the Sydney Town Hall, the proceeds from which went towards the Hutchens-Evans Scholarship Fund. This fund was set up by the two pianists in 1954 to aid talented music students.

Besides being a pianist and teacher, Hutchens was also a composer. He wrote many piano pieces, including compositions and arrangements for two pianos, chamber and orchestral music, songs and choral works.

In 1939 Hutchens was elected a Fellow of Royal Academy of Music. In 1960 he was made a Bard of Cornwall, and in 1962 he received the O.B.E. for his services to music. He died in Sydney on 18 October 1965 as the result of a car accident.

Reference:JOBSON, Sandra, ed. Frank Hutchens; notes on an Australian musician. Sydney, Wentworth Books, 1971.

Provenance:

The Hutchens Papers were presented to the National Library by Mrs Joyce Hutchens and were received in three consignments in October 1967, November 1967 and January 1987.

Indexed terms

Names:
Frank Hutchens

Access and use

Conditions Governing Access:
Please refer to the collection's catalogue record for the access conditions (http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn1487584).
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 Frank Hutchens, National Library of Australia, MS 2066, [series/file/item number]'.
Location of this collection:
Parkes Place
Canberra ACT 2600, Australia
Contact:
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