William Garnet James (28 August 1892 – 10 March 1977) was an Australian

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

and

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 ...

and a pioneer of music broadcasting in Australia.

Early years

James was born in

Ballarat Ballarat ( ) is a city in the Central Highlands (Victoria), Central Highlands of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 Census, Ballarat had a population of 116,201, making it the third largest city in Victoria. Estimated resid ...

in 1892. He studied piano at the Melbourne University Conservatorium, graduating in 1912. On the recommendation of the visiting pianist

Teresa Carreño María Teresa Gertrudis de Jesús Carreño García (December 22, 1853June 12, 1917) was a Venezuelan pianist, soprano, composer, and conductor. Over the course of her 54-year concert career, she became an internationally renowned virtuoso pia ...

, he headed overseas to study in London and Brussels with

Arthur De Greef Arthur De Greef may refer to: * Arthur De Greef (composer) Arthur De Greef (10 October 186229 August 1940) was a Belgian pianist and composer. Life and career Born in Louvain, he won first prize in a local music competition at the age of 11 a ...

, a former pupil of

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...

and

Camille Saint-Saëns Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns (; 9 October 183516 December 1921) was a French composer, organist, conductor and pianist of the Romantic music, Romantic era. His best-known works include Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso (1863), the Piano C ...

.Music Australia website. It is around this period that James composed his ''Six Australian Bush Songs'', which were dedicated to Dame

Nellie Melba Dame Nellie Melba (born Helen Porter Mitchell; 19 May 186123 February 1931) was an Australian operatic dramatic coloratura soprano (three octaves). She became one of the most famous singers of the late Victorian era and the early 20th century, ...

. After being rejected for military service, James worked for the

British Red Cross The British Red Cross Society is the United Kingdom body of the worldwide neutral and impartial humanitarian network the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. The society was formed in 1870, and is a registered charity with more ...

during the

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. In 1915, he made his public debut as a pianist with the

Queen's Hall The Queen's Hall was a concert hall in Langham Place, London, opened in 1893. Designed by the architect Thomas Knightley, it had room for an audience of about 2,500 people. It became London's principal concert venue. From 1895 until 1941, it ...

Orchestra. By this time he had begun to publish his compositions, and in 1916 his ballet music ''By Candlelight'' was performed in concert at the

Savoy Theatre The Savoy Theatre is a West End theatre in the Strand in the City of Westminster, London, England. The theatre was designed by C. J. Phipps for Richard D'Oyly Carte and opened on 10 October 1881 on a site previously occupied by the Savoy Pala ...

, London.

ABC career

In 1923 James returned to Australia, eventually taking up a teaching position at the Melbourne University Conservatorium. In the late 1920s, he joined the newly formed Australian Broadcasting Company, the forerunner of the

Australian Broadcasting Commission The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-owned ...

(ABC). He became the latter's first Director of Music in 1931, a position he would hold until his retirement in 1957. It was during his tenure that the ABC established its state orchestras. From 1935, James made regular overseas trips to persuade international artists to perform in Australia with the newly formed ABC orchestras. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, when such exchanges became impractical, the ABC instead organised local talent competitions, which James adjudicated. James's selection of repertoire for concert performances was conservative, possibly because he felt contemporary composers might not have a broad enough appeal for radio audiences.

Compositions

James wrote many pieces for voice,

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...

and piano, but his most enduring pieces are still his 15 ''Australian

Christmas Carol A Christmas carol is a carol (a song or hymn) on the theme of Christmas, traditionally sung at Christmas itself or during the surrounding Christmas holiday season. The term noel has sometimes been used, especially for carols of French ori ...

s'' in three sets, in which traditional Christmas themes were given

outback The Outback is a remote, vast, sparsely populated area of Australia. The Outback is more remote than the bush. While often envisaged as being arid, the Outback regions extend from the northern to southern Australian coastlines and encompass a n ...

settings, such as "The Three Drovers". ABC staff writer John Wheeler wrote the lyrics for these carols. The ''Australian Christmas Carols'' can still be found in music catalogues today. A fourth set of ''Australian Christmas Carols'' was written in the 1970s and given to the

Wayside Chapel The Wayside Chapel is a charity and parish mission of the Uniting Church in Australia in the Potts Point area of Sydney, Australia. Situated near Sydney's most prominent red-light district in Kings Cross, the Wayside Chapel offers programs an ...

, Kings Cross. They have since disappeared. Outback themes were common in his secular songs as well, in compositions such as "Bush Song at Dawn", familiar to many Australian children of the 1950s and 1960s through the school songbooks of the period. Other compositions by James have rustic English themes ("A Warwickshire Wooing") or claim

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

inspiration (''Six Maori Dances'').

Honours and recognition

James was awarded the Coronation Medal in 1937. He was appointed an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in the 1960 Birthday Honours for "service to Australian culture".

Personal life

James was married twice. His first marriage, in 1921, was to the Russian opera singer Saffo Buchanan, née Drageva (known professionally as Saffo Arnav who had just emerged from an anulled marriage to

Jack Buchanan Walter John Buchanan (2 April 1891 – 20 October 1957) was a Scottish theatre and film actor, singer, dancer, producer and director. He was known for three decades as the embodiment of the debonair man-about-town in the tradition of George G ...

), by whom he had a son and a daughter. Buchanan died in 1955, and in 1960 James married again, to widow Caroline Mary Dally-Watkins, née Skewes. They divorced in 1967.

Footnotes

References

"William G. James (1892–1977)

Australian Music Centre The Australian Music Centre (AMC), formerly known briefly as Sounds Australian, is a national organisation promoting and supporting art music in Australia, founded in 1974. It co-hosts the Art Music Awards along with APRA AMCOS, and publishes '' ...

William G. James
Music Australia website. *

External links

melody: William G. James, words: John Wheeler; ingeb.org

James/Wheeler (1948); Tom Wills tww.id.au {{DEFAULTSORT:James, William Garnet 1892 births 1977 deaths 20th-century Australian musicians 20th-century classical composers Australian classical composers Australian classical musicians Australian male classical composers Australian Officers of the Order of the British Empire 20th-century Australian male musicians