Michael Francis Hannan (born 1949) is an Australian composer, keyboardist, and

musicologist Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some mu ...

. Described in ''

Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians ''Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians'' is a major reference work in the field of music, originally compiled by Theodore Baker, PhD, and published in 1900 by G. Schirmer, Inc. The ninth edition, the most recent edition, was published in 20 ...

'' as a composer "exceptionally gifted for the exploration of tonal, polytonal, and atonal techniques", Hannan is also the author of a critical biography of the Australian composer

Peter Sculthorpe Peter Joshua Sculthorpe (29 April 1929 – 8 August 2014) was an Australian composer. Much of his music resulted from an interest in the music of countries neighboring Australia as well as from the impulse to bring together aspects of Aborigin ...

. He has been a music professor at

Southern Cross University Southern Cross University (SCU) is an Australian public university, with campuses at Lismore and Coffs Harbour in northern New South Wales, and at Coolangatta, the most southern suburb of the Gold Coast in Queensland. It is ranked in the top ...

since 1986.

Life and career

Hannan was born in

Newcastle, New South Wales Newcastle ( ; Awabakal: ) is a metropolitan area and the second most populated city in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It includes the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie local government areas, and is the hub of the Greater Newcastle area, w ...

. He studied musicology at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

where he received his BA in 1972 and his PhD in 1979, followed by a diploma in music composition in 1982. He then spent a year in Los Angeles on a

Fulbright The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

scholarship carrying out postdoctoral research on

ethnomusicology Ethnomusicology is the study of music from the cultural and social aspects of the people who make it. It encompasses distinct theoretical and methodical approaches that emphasize cultural, social, material, cognitive, biological, and other dim ...

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

as well as studying composition with

Elaine Barkin Elaine "Ray" Barkin née Radoff (December 15, 1932 – February 22, 2023) was an American composer, writer, and educator. Early life Elaine Radoff was born in The Bronx, New York City, lived in the Amalgamated Houses, attended Bronx High School ...

. During the 1970s and early 1980s he also worked as commercial composer and arranger, rock performer, piano accompanist, music journalist and music editor.Hannan, Michael (2001)
"The future of tertiary music training in Australia"
''Music Forum'', Vol. 7, No. 3, pp. 14–17. Retrieved 13 November 2015. In 1986 Hannan was appointed to the Northern Rivers College of Advanced Education (now

) to develop a BA program in contemporary popular music (the first in Australia) and in 1987 became head of the college's Performing Arts and Music Divisions. As of 2015 he remains an adjunct professor of music in the Southern Cross University School of Arts and Social Sciences.Slonimsky, Nicolas and Kuhn, Laura (2001)
"Hannan, Michael (Francis)"
''

''.

Schirmer Books G. Schirmer, Inc. is an American classical music publishing company based in New York City, founded in 1861. The oldest active music publisher in the United States, Schirmer publishes sheet music for sale and rental, and represents some well-know ...

. . Online version. Retrieved 16 November 2015 . Hannan's early academic career was particularly associated with the work of Australian composer

. He first became interested in Sculthorpe's piano compositions while still a high school student in New South Wales and decided to write his final year music essay on the composer, which according to musicologist Graeme Skinner proved to be "the most thorough and perceptive analysis of Scunthorpe's output to date 967.Skinner, Graeme (2007)
''Peter Sculthorpe: The Making of an Australian Composer''
pp. 537–538; 570; 672. UNSW Press. One of Hannan's instructors at the University of New England summer school had arranged a meeting with the composer which in turn led to Hannan working as Sculthorpe's assistant from 1969 to 1971 and for other shorter periods throughout the 1970s. Sculthorpe dedicated his three pieces composed for solo piano in 1971, ''Snow'', ''Moon'', and ''Flowers'', to Hannan who went on to write his undergraduate honours dissertation on Sculthorpe's piano music. In 1980–1981 Hannan studied composition under Sculthorpe and in 1982 published ''Peter Sculthorpe: His music and ideas, 1929–1979''. The book was the first published biography of Sculthorpe and primarily focused on a critical analysis of Sculthorpe's compositional techniques and their origins. Hannan's own compositions explore tonal as well as

polytonal Polytonality (also polyharmony) is the musical use of more than one key simultaneously. Bitonality is the use of only two different keys at the same time. Polyvalence or polyvalency is the use of more than one harmonic function, from the same key, a ...

, and

atonal Atonality in its broadest sense is music that lacks a tonal center, or key. ''Atonality'', in this sense, usually describes compositions written from about the early 20th-century to the present day, where a hierarchy of harmonies focusing on a s ...

techniques and are often leavened with humour, e.g., the radiophonic works ''Alphabeat'' and ''Slonimsky Variations'' and ''Beespeak'' and ''Cat's Night Out'' for trumpet and digital manipulation. His piano compositions frequently involve pieces for pianos whose interiors have been altered in some way, including burning pianos. His 2003 ''Burning Questions'', a radiophonic work commissioned by

ABC Radio National Radio National, known on-air as RN, is an Australia-wide public service broadcasting radio network run by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). From 1947 until 1985, the network was known as ABC Radio 2. History 1937: Predecessors an ...

included the sounds of a burning baby grand piano, the observers' reactions, and Hannan playing Beethoven's ''

Moonlight Sonata The Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, marked ''Quasi una fantasia'', Op. 27, No. 2, is a piano sonata by Ludwig van Beethoven. It was completed in 1801 and dedicated in 1802 to his pupil Countess Giulietta Guicciardi. The popular name ''Mo ...

'' on the piano prior to setting it alight. The sounds of nature, especially bird calls, have also figured prominently in his later work.''Southern Cross University News''. (31 October 2005)
"SCU composer presents piano concert"
Retrieved 15 November 2015.

Recordings

* ''Voices'' (1995). Australian works for solo piano (includes Hannan's ''Resonances I'').

Roger Smalley John Roger Smalley (26 July 1943 – 18 August 2015) was an Anglo-Australian composer, pianist and conductor. Professor Smalley was a senior honorary research fellow at the School of Music, University of Western Australia in Perth and honorary ...

(pianist). Label:

Tall Poppies Records Tall Poppies Records is an Australian record label founded in September 1991 by Belinda Webster. It focuses on recording solo and chamber music in the classical genre. It is particularly dedicated to promoting the work of Australian composers ...

* ''Cello Dreaming'' (1998). Australian works for solo cello (includes Hannan's ''Raja'').

David Pereira 250px David Pereira (born 21 September 1953) is an Australian classical cellist, considered one of the finest working today. He was Senior Lecturer in Cello at the Canberra School of Music from 1990 to 2008. Later he worked there as a Distingui ...

(cellist). Label: Tall Poppies Records *''Terrains'' (2001). Piano music by Peter Sculthorpe and Michael Hannan (includes Hannan's ''Piano Collage I'' and ''II'', ''Desert Dance'', ''Cicadas'', ''Cageian Loops'', ''Circle Journey'', ''Valley of the Winds'', and ''Piano Chant''). Michael Hannan (pianist). Label: Tall Poppies Records

Books

*Hannan, Michael (1982). ''Peter Sculthorpe: His Music and Ideas, 1929–1979''. University of Queensland Press. *Hannan, Michael (2003). ''The Australian Guide to Careers in Music''. University of New South Wales Press. *Hannan, Michael (2014). ''The Music of

Richard Meale Richard Graham Meale, AM, MBE (24 August 193223 November 2009) was an Australian composer of instrumental works and operas. Biography Meale was born in Sydney. At the time the Meale family lived in Marrickville, an inner suburb of Sydney. Meale ...

'' (''Australian Composers'' series). Wildbird Music.

References

External links

Audio feature: ''Burning Questions''
on

Image: Peter Sculthorpe rehearsing a piece with Michael Hannan, Sydney, 1982
Raymond De Berquelle Collection, National Library of Australia *Hannan, Michael (2011)
"Scoring ''Essington'': Composition, Comprovisation, Collaboration"
''Screen Sound: The Australasian Journal of Soundtrack Studies'', No. 2, pp. 48–63 {{DEFAULTSORT:Hannan, Michael 1949 births Living people Australian composers Australian pianists Australian musicologists 21st-century pianists Fulbright alumni