George Dreyfus AM (born 22 July 1928) is an Australian

contemporary classical New Classical architecture, New Classicism or the New Classical movement is a contemporary movement in architecture that continues the practice of Classical architecture. It is sometimes considered the modern continuation of Neoclassical architec ...

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

and television

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

Early life and orchestral career

Dreyfus was born to a Jewish family in Elberfeld, Wuppertal, Germany. He was the younger of two sons born to Alfred Dreyfus and Hilde Ransenberg. Growing up, his family had what he described as "pots of money, cars, ''Kindermädchen'' anniesand holidays in Switzerland and Czechoslovakia". However, due to the Nazi persecution of Jews, the family was forced to move to Berlin in 1935 and then left Germany entirely. He and his brother arrived in Melbourne in July 1939 and began attending boarding school; his parents followed in December.George Dreyfus : Represented Artist
– Australian Music Centre. Retrieved 25 April 2018. At Melbourne High School, Dreyfus conducted the school choir and played clarinet in the school orchestra. He enrolled in the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music as a

bassoon The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family, which plays in the tenor and bass ranges. It is composed of six pieces, and is usually made of wood. It is known for its distinctive tone color, wide range, versatility, and virtuo ...

ist, and then in 1948 toured for a year playing Italian opera with the

J. C. Williamson James Cassius Williamson (26 August 1845 – 6 July 1913) was an American actor and later Australia's foremost impresario, founding the J. C. Williamson's theatrical and production company. Born in Pennsylvania, Williamson moved with his fami ...

touring orchestra. Dreyfus subsequently played for several years in the house orchestra of His Majesty's Theatre, Perth. He joined the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in 1953, where he played until 1964.MS 2254 Papers of George Dreyfus (1928– )
at the National Library of Australia He was reputedly fired from the orchestra by

Clive Douglas Clive is a name. People and fictional characters with the name include: People Given name * Clive Allen (born 1961), English football player * Clive Anderson (born 1952), British television, radio presenter, comedy writer and former barrister * ...

.Black Pepper Publishing
Retrieved 3 June 2016 A grant enabled him in 1955 to continue his studies at the Imperial Academy of Music in Vienna, where he was taught by Karl Öhlberger.

Composer

Dreyfus began composing in 1956 but did not concentrate on composition until the 1960s after he left the Orchestra. A UNESCO travel grant allowed him in 1966 to travel to Germany for studies with Karlheinz Stockhausen at the in Cologne. In 1972 he won the

Albert H. Maggs Composition Award The Albert H. Maggs Composition Award is a commission-based Australian classical composition award given in order to "encourage and assist composers who might otherwise abandon their efforts for want of means". The award was founded in 1966 by ...

. He has composed numerous film and television scores, including for ''

The Adventures of Sebastian the Fox ''The Adventures of Sebastian the Fox'' is a 1963 Australian children's series. The show combined a string puppet, a mischievous fox named Sebastian, who was placed in real-life settings. It was among the first shows of its kind produced in Austr ...

'' (1963), '' A Steam Train Passes'' (1974), ''

Rush Rush(es) may refer to: Places United States * Rush, Colorado * Rush, Kentucky * Rush, New York * Rush City, Minnesota * Rush Creek (Kishwaukee River tributary), Illinois * Rush Creek (Marin County, California), a stream * Rush Creek (Mono Cou ...

'' (1974), '' Dimboola'' (1979) and '' The Fringe Dwellers'' (1986). It was the score for ''Rush'' which brought him wider recognition and saw him immortalised in the Trivial Pursuit board game. He composed the operas ''Rathenau'' (premiered 1993 at the

Staatstheater Kassel The Staatstheater Kassel is a state-owned and operated theater in Kassel, Germany. History A permanent theatre house existed in Kassel during the first decade of the 17th century. It stood immediately next to the Ottoneum near the State Theatre ...

), ''Die Marx Sisters'' (premiered 1996 at the Bielefeld Opera) and ''The Takeover'' (1970) which had its European premiere in 1997 in Germany. Other operas are ''Garni Sands'' (1966, premiered 1972) and ''Gilt-Edged Kid'' (1970). He also composed the musical '' The Sentimental Bloke'', an adaptation of '' The Songs of a Sentimental Bloke'' with book and lyrics by

Graeme Blundell Graeme Blundell (born 7 August 1945) is an Australian actor, director, producer, writer, playwright, lyricist and biographer Early life Blundell was born on 7 April 1945 in Melbourne; he grew up in the suburb of Clifton Hill. He was educated a ...

. ''The Sentimental Bloke'' premiered at the Melbourne Theatre Company in December 1985. He also contributed music to ''

Manning Clark's History of Australia – The Musical ''Manning Clark's History of Australia – The Musical'' is an Australian musical by Tim Robertson and Don Watson with John Romeril with music by Martin Armiger and George Dreyfus with David King. Written to coincide with the Australian Bicente ...

'' which premiered in 1988. In 1984, he published his autobiography ''The Last Frivolous Book'', and in 1998 a book of essays. His memoir ''Don't Ever Let Them Get You!'' (Black Pepper, 2009) includes essays on his music and a complete catalogue of works. In 2011 he published ''Brush Off!'' about his struggles with Opera Australia to get his opera ''Gilt-Edged Kid'' performed. In 2019, at the age of 90, Dreyfus disrupted the opening night of '' Rigoletto'' at the State Theatre in Melbourne when he attempted to use a megaphone from the front row to protest against the company for not having performed his work. George is currently touring Melbourne with his quartet and performing his best works to the community with funding from The Pratt Foundation. He most recently performed at The Festival of Jewish Arts and Music, where at the age of 91 he is still performing the bassoon part in the arrangements he made for quartet.

Honours and awards

ARIA Music Awards

The

ARIA Music Awards The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...

is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of

Australian music The music of Australia has an extensive history made of music societies. Indigenous Australian music forms a significant part of the unique heritage of a 40,000- to 60,000-year history which produced the iconic didgeridoo. Contemporary fusions of ...

. They commenced in 1987. ! , - ,

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

, ''Rush - The Adventures of Sebastian the Fox and Other Goodies'' , Best Classical Album , , ARIA Award previous winners. , -

Don Banks Music Award

The Don Banks Music Award was established in 1984 to publicly honour a senior artist of high distinction who has made an outstanding and sustained contribution to music in Australia. It was founded by the Australia Council in honour of Don Banks, Australian composer, performer and the first chair of its music board. , - , 1992 , George Dreyfus , Don Banks Music Award , , - He was recipient of the first Creative Arts Fellowship at the Australian National University in 1967. Dreyfus' first composition, ''Trio for flute, clarinet and bassoon'', Op. 1 (1956) won the APRA Serious Music Award in 1986."George's greatest score", ''

Limelight Limelight (also known as Drummond light or calcium light)James R. Smith (2004). ''San Francisco's Lost Landmarks'', Quill Driver Books. is a type of stage lighting once used in theatres and music halls. An intense illumination is created when ...

'', July 2008, p. 8 In 1992 was made a Member of the Order of Australia for his services to music. In 2002 he was awarded the ''

Bundesverdienstkreuz The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellect ...

1. Klasse''. At the

APRA Music Awards of 2013 The Australasian Performing Right Association Awards of 2013 (generally known as APRA Awards) are a series of related awards which include the APRA Music Awards, Art Music Awards, and Screen Music Awards. The APRA Music Awards of 2013 was the 3 ...

he was recognised for his Distinguished Services to Australian Music.

Personal life

Dreyfus was formerly married to the academic and writer Kay Dreyfus. He has two sons and a daughter, Federal Labor MP and Australian Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus, Jonathan Dreyfus, who has followed in his father's footsteps as a composer and Michelle Ball, a social worker. A portrait of George Dreyfus by artist

Brian Dunlop Brian Dunlop (1938–2009) was a still life and figurative painter born in Sydney, Australia. He won the Sulman Prize in 1980 for ''The Old Physics Building (genre painting)''. He was a finalist in the 2004 Archibald Prize with ''Brian Kenna: ...

was entered in the 1995 Archibald Prize competition.''George Dreyfus'' (composer) by Brian Dunlop
1995. 1 painting : oil on canvas], National Library of Australia

Notes

References

Roger Covell Roger David Covell AM FAHA (1 February 1931 – 4 June 2019) was an Australian musicologist, critic and author. He was Professor Emeritus in the School of the Arts and Media at the University of New South Wales, in Sydney, and continued until ...

: "George Dreyfus", ''

Grove Music Online ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language ''Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and theo ...

'', ed. L. Macy (Accessed 13 March 2007), (subscription access)

External links

Profile
at the National Library of Australia
List of works
at the National Library of Australia
Complete Catalogue of Works
(incl. extensive bibliography) by Michael Magnusson, ed. Jonathan Dreyfus (undated, probably 2004) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dreyfus, George 1928 births 20th-century classical composers APRA Award winners Australian classical bassoonists Australian male classical composers Australian film score composers Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to Australia Living people Male film score composers Members of the Order of Australia Musicians from Melbourne Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Australian opera composers People educated at Melbourne High School Winners of the Albert H. Maggs Composition Award 20th-century Australian male musicians 20th-century Australian musicians