Guide to the Papers of Curt and Marea Prerauer, 1869-2006

Summary

Collection number:

MS 10040

Creator:

Prerauer, Curt, Prerauer, Marea, and Tilleard, Alyn

Extent:

(57 ms boxes + 3 medium folio boxes + 1 map folio)

Language:

English

Preferred citation:

Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Curt and Marea Prerauer, National Library of Australia, MS 10040, [series/file number]'.

Availability:

Available

Access conditions:

Available for research. Not for loan.

Background

Content Summary:

The papers relate to the lives and careers of conductor, vocal coach, music critic and composer Curt Prerauer, and soprano, journalist, music critic and author Marea Prerauer. The papers feature the Prerauers' shared correspondence, including correspondence with composers and other cultural figures such as Peter Sculthorpe, Richard Meale and Patrick White. Other material includes drafts of their music criticism and other writings, manuscripts of music composed by Curt Prerauer, published music owned by the Prerauers, photographs and family papers. The largest series comprises cuttings of their published work.

Papers specifically pertaining to Curt Prerauer include family papers that document his move to Australia, and the details of family property in Germany (later Poland) seized by the Nazis, for which the family sought restitution after World War II.

Marea Prerauer's papers include her creative writing and juvenilia, material relating to her career as an opera singer, letters written to her in her capacity as arts gossip columnist "Marietta", and Arts Editor of The Australian, and cuttings of her work as a journalist after Curt Prerauer's death.

Biographical Note:

For a biography of Curt Prerauer, see Australian Dictionary of Biography - http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/prerauer-kurt-curt-11455.

Marea Wolkowsky was born in Sydney 2 May 1922. From an early age she showed a love and talent for the arts, especially singing and writing. Hearing her sing as a 16 year old, visiting opera singer Alexander Kipnis praised Marea's voice, and encouraged Curt Prerauer to take her on as a student for vocal training. Curt and Marea married in 1942. In the 1950s, the couple lived and worked in Europe, with Curt acting as Marea's manager and accompanist. Marea performed soprano roles in various productions including Alban Berg's Wozzeck, conducted by Erich Kleiber at Convent Garden. Marea sang under her maiden name, but often used the spelling 'Maria' for her first name, as she continued to do throughout her career.

Marea also wrote poetry, fiction and interviews for newspapers and for her own books from a young age. Several of her children's books were published in English and in German, Dutch and Swedish translation, including Australian adventure, Perilous journey : a story of adventure in Elizabethan times, The enchanted pancakes : a fairy tale for children, and The enchanted snakes.

In the 1950s and 1960s the Prerauers translated into German works of Australian literature, including Patrick White's Riders in the chariot (at White's request) and numerous plays, including Ray Lawler's Summer of the seventeenth doll, which was subsequently performed in Germany and Austria. Curt and Marea also wrote a series of radio talks on Australian culture for West German radio.

After returning to Australian permanently, and moving into their new home in Castle Cove in 1960, the Prerauers wrote articles on cultural and musical topics, individually for various publications and together under the name C.M. Prerauer for Nation. The Prerauers promoted the development of a uniquely Australian style of music, and established connections and friendships with emerging Australian composers and musicians including Peter Sculthorpe, Roger Woodward, Richard Meale and Richard Divall.

Following Curt's death in November 1967 Marea continued to write reviews for various magazines and newspapers. In 1971 she started an arts gossip columns under the name 'Musetta' for The Sunday Australian, a column which she carried to other newspapers. In 1975 she became the first Arts Editor of The Australian, a position which she held until 1991. From 1991 to 1999 Marea wrote an arts gossip column under the byline 'Marietta' for The Bulletin, and from the late 1990s until 2006 contributed reviews to Opera magazine.

John Carmody, Warren A. Bebbington, 'Prerauer, Kurt (Curt) (1901 - 1967)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 16, Melbourne University Press, 2002, pp 28-29. Also available online at www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A160033b.htm

Frank Devine, 'Lifetime on and off the stage', The Australian, 31 May 2006.

Diana Simmonds, 'Maria Prerauer, 1922 - 2006', The Bulletin, 7 June 2006.

Evan Williams, 'Excellence in words and music', Sydney Morning Herald, 15 June 2006.

Immediate Source of Acquisition:

Marea Prerauer's nephew Alyn Tilleard donated the papers to the National Library of Australia in two instalments in 2006 and 2007. The National Library of Australia's Curator of Music Robyn Holmes and music historian Graeme Skinner packed the papers and undertook some arrangement and listing of the collection.

Arrangement:

The collection was reasonable order on receipt, much having being filed and retained in original filing systems by Curt and Marea Prerauer. The music, photographs and many publications are exceptions and were in little order. While many files contain a mix of types of papers from various dates, they have not been internally rearranged, and so there is some overlap between series. Some correspondence and loose material has been put in chronological or alphabetical order, by Graeme Skinner and Robyn Holmes when packing the records, and subsequently by National Library of Australia staff members.

Because there was much overlap in the Prerauers' careers, several series relate to their shared work and correspondence. Others series are attributed to either Curt or Marea Prerauer. This series arrangement was decided upon largely due to the long career Marea had in journalism following Curt's death in 1967.

The Library has used the spelling of the Prerauer's names as Curt and Marea, although both were known by different spellings through their careers. Curt Prerauer changed the spelling of his first name from Kurt after he emigrated to Australia in the 1930s. Marea sang and wrote children's books under her maiden name of Marea Wolkowsky, and used Maria Prerauer for her career in journalism.

Indexed terms

Names:

Tilleard, Alyn

Conditions Governing Access:

Available for research. Not for loan.

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 Curt and Marea Prerauer, National Library of Australia, MS 10040, [series/file number]'.

Location of this collection:

National Library of Australia

Parkes Place

Canberra ACT 2600, Australia

Contact:

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