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,[1] and continued until shortly before his death to contribute articles and reviews to The Sydney Morning Herald, where he served as principal music critic from 1960 until the late 1990s.

Biography

Published in 1967, Covell's monograph Australia's Music: Themes of a New Society was the first comprehensive study of the history, development and performance of Western serious (classical) music in Australia, and is now regarded as a seminal text in Australian musicology. It has been widely referenced among succeeding generations of Australian composers, practitioners and critics of serious music, and by Australian cultural historians generally.

On Australia Day 1986, Covell was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in recognition of service to music.[2] Seven years later he was awarded the Pascall Prize for Critical Writing, in recognition of his services to music criticism in Australia.[3]

Covell accepted the Long-Term Contribution to the Advancement of Australian Music award at the 2006 Classical Music Awards, presented by the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and the Australian Music Centre, in acknowledgement of his lifetime of distinguished achievement and commitment to Australian music.[4]

In February 2013, Covell received the 2013 Sir Bernard Heinze Memorial Award. This prize is given annually to persons who have made outstanding contributions to music in Australia. [5] He died in Sydney on 4 June 2019.[6]

Bibliography

Non-fiction
  • Australia's Music: Themes of a New Society (Sun Books, Melbourne, 1967)

Libretti
  • Morning-song for the Christ Child: for unaccompanied mixed chorus, with music by Peter Sculthorpe (Faber Music, c1966)
  • Sea chant: for unison voices and orchestra, with music by Peter Sculthorpe (Faber Music, c1968)
  • Autumn Song: for unaccompanied mixed chorus, with music by Peter Sculthorpe (Faber Music, c1972)

Edited
  • The Currency Lass, or, My Native Girl (a musical play in two acts) by Edward Geoghegan (Currency Press, c1976)

References
  1. "School of English, Media & Performing Arts - Prof Emeritus Roger Covell". University of New South Wales. Archived from the original on 20 July 2008. Retrieved 27 June 2008.
  2. "Covell, Roger David". Australian Government. Retrieved 27 June 2008.
  3. "Pascall Prize for Critical Writing". Geraldine Pascall Foundation. Archived from the original on 20 July 2008. Retrieved 27 June 2008.
  4. "2006 Winners - Classical Music Awards". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 5 May 2010.
  5. "Celebrated musicologist and critic Roger Covell to receive Bernard Heinze Memorial Award". Retrieved 29 November 2013.
  6. University of NSW. Retrieved 4 June 2019
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