Transcriptions
MS3501/1/2/11
108 Quarry Road
Ryde,N.S.W.
2nd April 1956
Dear Professor Bishop,
You were kind enough to help me some time ago in a matter concerning my B.A. thesis on Greek music. And now I am writing to you again with another request and hope I shall not be regarded as a nuisance.
This year the University awarded me a research grant to investigate the intervallic structure of the music of Australian aborigines. The work is intensely interesting and I am fortunate in having Professor Elkin’s large collection of Arnhem Land recordings at my disposal. However, for the purpose of making comparisons I should like to hear tribal music from the other parts of Australia. I have just been able to locate a set of Professor Davies’ recordings at the Australian Broadcasting Commission’s special record library, but would like to supplement these with something more recent.
The librarian of your University, Mr Cowan, informed me some months ago that no records of Australian aboriginal music are obtainable from the University of Adelaide so I have decided to visit Adelaide for a few days (during the week beginning May 14) in the hopes of locating and listening to some records while I am there.
If you could suggest the names of any people who might possess – or who would be likely to know who does possess – aboriginal recorded music, I should be very grateful indeed.
The Department of Anthropology has informed me of a dental surgeon, a Dr. Campbell, who is interested in aboriginal music, but I do not know his address. The same applies to another dental man, a Mr. Barrett (I think) whose name was mentioned the other day at the A.B.C. Then again, I have read an article in a recent issue of the International Folk Music journal by T.G.H. Strehlow on Australian aboriginal songs, but do not know how to get in touch with him.
Assuming then, that some recordings do exist and that their owners would not object to my hearing them in the course of my musical research, I wondered if it could be arranged for them to be left with you at the Conservatorium? There I could come and listen to them at times convenient to you during the period May 14-18.. (This period corresponds to part of my daughters’ school holidays and I intend to leave them with my mother in Melbourne as I pass through).
Once again, I hope that I am not asking too much.
With kind regards to Mrs. Bishop,
Yours sincerely,
Alice Moyle
Back to TopMS3501/1/2/37
Department of Music
The University of Sydney, 13 October ‘56
TO: Mr. R.
Bulmer
Dept. of Anthropology
National University, Canberra ACT
Dear Mr. Bulmer,
I was very interested to hear from Mr J. Bell recently of your collection of New Guinea native music. I am working on Australian aboriginal music this year, under a grant from the Research Committee here and should this be renewed I hope to extend my studies to New Guinea singing.
So far I have heard a little of Professor Elkin’s recordings, also a collection made by Ray Sheridan for the A.B.C. The intervals of the singing, also the function of the musical instruments interest me, particularly. I hope to measure the former, accurately, with graded tuning forks as they are of dimensions unlike those used in European music. As regards the instruments I have not, so far, found much co-ordination between them and the singing – or with each other. Have you?
If you would be so kind as to indicate how much material you have (also the places where your recordings were made) I could then arrange with you, further, about ways and means of hearing them.
Yours sincerely,
Alice Moyle
Back to TopMS3501/1/7/29
The Australian National
University
Box 4
G.P.O.
Canberra
3 April 1961
Dear Mrs. Moyle,
Thank you for your letter. I shall hope to meet you soon and to be able to
talk the matter over.
I wrote to you – at the Department of Music - some weeks ago inviting you to
the Conference mentioned in the annexure. Evidently you did not receive the
letter and I wonder what can have happened to it. I also asked if you would
prepare a paper on aboriginal music. The invitation to come to the
conference still stands of course and if you are able to do so the S.S.R.C.
will send you a formal invitation. Not hearing from you, and discovering
that Trevor Jones was in Adelaide (I had supposed him to be overseas) I then
asked him to prepare the data paper and he consented. May I now ask, if you
can come here over the period 15th – 21st May whether you would be kind
enough to open the discussion of his paper? Please let me know as soon as
possible.
Yours sincerely,
W.E.H. Stanner
MS3501/1/17/9
(Letter to Katy Kunst, undated -
probably mid 1960s)
Dear Katy,
I was delighted to hear from you and am writing to thank you for your letter and your kind thoughts. I only wish you were in talking distance at least as there are so many matters we could discuss together and which it would be more satisfactory than writing letters.
So much is happening now in the field of Australian Aboriginal Music and I am becoming very closely involved in the Institute. I am still the research officer in Ethnomusicology with the Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies and they have now allowed me to have a secretary (or part-time typist) working with me at Ryde. As there is no building – other than the administration offices in Canberra – the Institute is trying to find rooms for me in Sydney University. Donald Peart has no room in the Music Department and now they are trying to find a place somewhere else. In time they hope to have a large building in Canberra and – if it is not too long to wait – I shall be able to work there.
There is so much to do these days and I do nothing else but Aboriginal musical notations, reports to Council etc. as well as writing. Since I returned from the field I have written 2 large papers. One is to be published in a book about the Aborigines and the other is on Groote Eylandt songs. I read one in September to the Musicological Society of Australia (newly founded). I am now preparing the paper for publication. I have not given up the idea of continuing my studies in another country, but at the moment there is too much to do in Australia (and the Institute pays me well for doing it – more than I could earn in the Music Department as a Teaching Fellow!). And if I am to be attached to the Sydney University as a Research Fellow the Institute will still continue to pay my salary, so I do not think it would be prudent for me to leave Australia until I can obtain leave of absence from the Institute.
I have already written to Dr Mantle Hood about working some time at UCLA. He
is interested in all I have told him and has written to say that I may come
and work at the Inst. of Ethnomusicology as a Research Fellow without
salary. This would mean I should need to get a grant and I do not wish to
leave the Institute yet. (They would not give me a grant to go outside
Australia just yet.) But I like the idea of Honolulu very much and if my
research takes me into Oceania I shall certainly be contacting Barbara
Smith. There is so much more to write. I shall send you information about
records.
Much affection,
Alice
MS3501/1/29/11
14th May 1967
Dear Ken,
A short trip to Canberra and Brisbane last week has delayed my letter, which
I hoped to get off before leaving (but didn’t). By now your two tapes should
have arrived (4.13. and 4.14). I have copied them and while in Canberra was
able to arrange for the Institute to have copies of 4.13 and the earlier two
tapes of the Warlpiri ceremony (4.3 and 4.4). In due course I shall see that
the Archive also gets a copy of 4.14.
Messrs McCarthy and Boydell have remarked on the quality of your
transcriptions and seem to be really impressed with all the stuff you have
sent them. And of course I enlarged on the valuable work you have done on
‘Honey Ant’!
Thank you indeed for that 80 pages of new material. Not only have you been
able to retrieve from Dinny about another 20 odd song-texts but you have
provided me with extremely useful comparative melodic material. (If there is
time for you to send me Sam’s versions of Yurampi singing I shall copy the
tape and return it promptly - I see you leave the N.T. on 28th May.
There seems to be no end to the information we can glean about just one song
series – given your ability to communicate with the singer, that is.
There appears to be quite a crowd of mythical beings involved in what seems
to be one of the more important “sex lure” series. I prefer Tindale’s “sex
lure” to Elkin’s “love-magic”, as it seems to be a closer description of the
actual beliefs involved.
I am not sure if you mean me to keep the 80 carbon pages or whether you wish
me to have them copied and then returned to you. They shall be safe here,
anyway until I hear from you again about this.
Your Butoba seems to be reproducing close to the “original” pitch signal, or
to the pipe we have here which “toots” an “A” like yours. Many thanks for
your magnificent performances!
I have enclosed the material you left to me relating to the Yungulparli or
Kantuwara. I look forward to hearing the related songs when the Institute
sends me copies.
Incidentally I am asking Boydell to send you a set of my Arnhem Land L.P.s
(5). Sally and the boys may like to hear them and/or you may like to give
them away as pieces of Australiana when you get home. Glad the Mornington
Island trip was OK. It must have been an interesting diversion – best of
luck for the trip ahead and good wishes to you all.
Sincerely, Alice Back to Top
MS3501/1/46/25
20 July 1969
Dear Elizabeth,
Just a line to say that I’ve had no luck with the Carnegie application.
Consequently I have now applied for some assistance with travel to the
Australian Humanities Research Council which administers the Myer Foundation
Grant-in-Aid. Once again, I gave your name as a reference. This time
referees were not asked to write initially but if you should get a letter
from the secretary, you will know what it is all about. It will be a great
relief to have the whole business settled.
On Thursday I leave with a film unit to film (with synchronised sound)
Aboriginal dancing on Groote Eylandt! We are hoping that another group will
be able to come over from the mainland at the same time. The project is a
costly one, but if we get the material we want, should be worth it.
We have a young ethnomusicologist working here – a Dr. Margaret Kartomi. She
was awarded her PhD in East Germany for a thesis on Indonesian music. She is
an Australian married to an Indonesian – a very good combination for
Australian ethnomusicology! She joins in our seminars and has added to their
interest. When Stephen Wild arrives there will be quite a team of us at
Monash.
Since writing to you last I have had replies from both Merriam and Mantle
Hood. Merriam will be taking leave in 1970. He had hoped to go to New Guinea
but his hopes are fading. I hope to meet him in Indiana in the fall of 1970.
As you say, I shall probably get all I want at UCLA. Prof. Hood has written
very cordially and says he will be happy to set up a program for my
particular needs. He adds that Melograph Model C will be of value to my
research. As soon as I get back from Groote Eylandt I shall proceed to make
contact with Charles Seeger. It may be advisable for me to spend some months
at UCLA before moving across to Indiana and later to New York. I hope to
return home via Europe, especially to visit some of the Archives and to see
Katy Kunst.
As soon as I can raise the funds to travel, I shall write again.
Cheerio and best wishes
Alice Back to Top
MS3501/1/52/31
1ST August 1970
Professor D.R.Peart
Department of Music
University of Sydney
Dear Donald,
Thank you for your letter of 20th July and for responding once again to my
call for a reference. Not long after lodging the application for a
Churchill, I received notice of an award from the Myer Foundation of $500 –
and for this I also owe you some thanks.
My congratulations to the A.M.S. on the grant to reprint Musicology I. This
is good news.
Best wishes and kindest regards,
Yours sincerely,
Alice
MS3501/1/54/32
TO: Mrs Jill Lowrey
Department of Music
Monash University
Clayton, Victoria 3168
AUSTRALIA
Weyburn Hall
947 Tiverton Av.
Los Angeles 90024
California U.S.A.
20th December, 1970
Dear Jill,
I am afraid I have left it too late to wish you a Merry Christmas as I
believe you have already left Monash for your holiday leave. At least I can
say “Happy New Year” to you both with sincerest wishes for a fruitful and
rewarding 1971. Events have crowded in, one on top of the other, and within
the last fortnight I have been able to meet Katy Kunst, who is on her way to
Australia (Sydney, to see her son) and Prof. and Mrs. Peart, who have now
gone on to Mexico, and to arrange a trip to Victoria, B.C. Canada to spend
Christmas with the Geoffrey O’Gradys. I leave tomorrow for a long bus ride
which will last for 1 ½ days!
This is a hurried, unsatisfactory note merely to say that the UCLA tapes
arrived safely and that work has started on them in real earnest. The audio
man (Mike Moore) at the Institute is everything an audio man should be. It
is a pleasure to work with him- to say nothing of Melograph C which
impresses me greatly.
Have met Charles Seeger several times and marvel at his active, youthful
appearance despite his years. He comes to all the Hood seminars dressed in
flashing flowery shirts and keeps a heated argument going with about 3
people at once! But his hearing is not the best and there are some mighty
funny moments!
Please use the above address until further notice. Things are likely to
reach me quicker here than via the Institute.
More soon.
Love,
Alice
MS3501/1/97/1
Mr Patrick Saul, Director 1st
August, 1978
British Institute of Recorded Sound
29 Exhibition Road
London SW7
United Kingdom
Dear Mr Saul,
I shall be in England for about a month from 23rd August. I am taking a
short holiday following my retirement from my present position as Research
Officer in Ethnomusicology at this Institute. This does not mean that my
work in Aboriginal music is coming to an end. On the contrary, I look
forward to devoting more of my time to writing and research from now on.
I shall phone you shortly after my arrival and look forward to visiting your
Institute. Particularly, I should like to discuss with you the plans for the
transfer of the Torres Strait cylinders (Myers) to tape and matters
mentioned to you in my letter of 21st October, 1977. I understand that there
are some difficulties in identifying some of the Australian cylinders. If
this is indeed the case I should be glad to give any assistance I can in
sorting them out. In fact, I should be quite happy to spend most of my time
in London to this end.
I should appreciate a line from you before I leave.
Yours sincerely,
Alice Moyle
MS3501/1/100/24
G E [Groote Eylandt]
5/9/79
Dear Grace
Your letter of 3rd August arrived yesterday and although the Festival is now
in full swing I hasten to answer it.
In regard to you being the Australian representative at IASA, Cambridge, UK,
next year, I am all for it. Nothing would please me more than to have you
there, contributing and absorbing all the latest ideas in this area. As you
know, the whole concept of sound archiving and cataloguing of recordings is
relatively new and few people anywhere have got as far as we have. I was
quite sure of this when I attended the IASA technical sessions at Mainz in
1977. The general sessions included ethnomusicology for the first time at
Mainz and, as I think I told you, Frank Gillis of Indiana Archives of
Traditional Music read a paper – his point was that you can never have too
much documentation for sound-recorded material. Ann Briegleb is the sound
archivist/librarian at the former Institute of Ethnomusicology UCLA. I think
this is now the Ethnomusicology Section of the Music Department. She did a
survey of Sound Archives in Europe. If you are interested it is on one of my
shelves - see Selected Reports of the Inst. of Ethnomusicology, UCLA (years
ago I lent this article to a senior technical officer, who shall be
nameless). What I am trying to say is that the IASA people are aware of
developments in this field and as the Australian representative I can’t
think of anyone better equipped than you are.
Of course I should like to go, too. I gave it some thought many months ago
but my grant for work on Groote Eylandt goes on until October 1980 and I
can’t be away in July - I’ve made plans to return here May-July 1980. It’s
good that your own plans fit in so well.
Yes. Write to the woman in charge by all means. Tell how you would like to
read a paper on the Cataloguing of Australian Aboriginal Music and that the
joint authors of this paper are A.M.M. and G.K.! Explain that I shall be
engaged in field work all the time, but that I am anxious that the paper be
read by you- or whatever you want to say….
I was surprised to hear that an Australian Branch of IASA has not been
formed yet. On second thoughts - it is probably just as well, as the
“foundation steering committee” was not a representative body and at many of
the meetings Prue, Laurel and I were the only members present! Yes, I would
be prepared to represent the Institute if asked. But, being “retired”, as a
staff member, this may not be acceptable. If you represent Australia at
Cambridge next year, then you should represent the AIAS on the
steering-committee-to-be. I shall make the point when I get back. Thank you
so much for all the information. Yes, I know David Lance would handle things
well. He is a competent person in many areas, though there are some with
more expertise in fewer areas.
I was very interested in your former letter of 20th August. Since receiving
it, I have heard from Cherie Trevaskis that she has accepted a job as a
choreologist with a Ballet Company in Munich. She has worked with them
before and they have asked her to come back. This has been a disappointment
to me as she had hoped to come to Groote Eylandt to see the Dance Festival.
There are groups here from Lockhart (all women!), Aurukun, Roper and Rose
Rivers as well as the people here from Umbakumba and Angurugu. I’ve been
filming (!) with my own little movie camera Filmosonic. Highlight was when a
dog started chewing my film microphone! You need six hands for filming with
sound. I only wish you were here with me.
I can see there is a big job growing with the computerised catalogue. Hold
on to it. You are first in and that means you are always going to know more
about it than the next one. I like the new format, it is single a vertical
rather than a horizontal spread, isn’t it? Can’t the ladies in the punch
room do it themselves? If you marked each horizontal segment with a red ink
\\?? Only a suggestion. I’m not as far ahead as you are. Have heard from Ian
Donaldson. He will be at the Adelaide Symposium.
More later.
Love,
Alice
MS3501/1/129/13
5 November 1986
Dear Judith,
I hope your return to Groote went off smoothly and that you are now once
more happily ‘in situ.’ I still look forward to hearing from you about the
accommodation situation as I have now decided to come to Angurugu (if I am
allowed) arriving on Friday the 19th of December leaving on Monday 26
January 1987. I have not been able to obtain a grant from the Institute so
will be funding myself. I could not do this without the considerable
discount available at this time for plane fares. I am now hoping there will
be some very reasonable accommodation available for the 5 weeks. Please tell
me if I should still write for permission to Bobby Nunggumadbarr – or
Minabuda?
Since talking to you by telephone when you were in Adelaide I have had a
rather debilitating attack of ‘flu.’ This has put me back a bit, but I still
believe my pacemaker is a wizard! I hope you are not finding the going too
hard after your time in Adelaide. And I also hope you won’t find my visit
too much of a burden – this simply must not be. I’m now off to my home as I
find a 9:30 to 2:30 pm day quite long enough.
More later.
Much love from Alice
MS3501/1/129/18
14 November 1986
(Letter to Ray Keogh)
Dear Ray,
I was delighted to receive your note today. Thank you for your latest news-
I liked the “Sugar Babies” bit- and I wish you all the best for the thesis.
Your query about the Torres Strait Cylinders can be easily answered. After
years of negotiation, including scaling ladders and investigating the dusty
corners of the British Institute of Recorded Sound in London (1978!), I
finally managed to engineer an agreement between AIAS and the BIRS (now the
British Library National Sound Archive) which has resulted in a full set of
tape copies of the T.S. cylinders being deposited in our Sound Archive here.
If you are able to get hold of the AIAS journal Australian Aboriginal
Studies look up 1985(2) pages 53-57 where I have given a preliminary
listing. There is also a “Note on early sound recordings in the AIAS
Archive” in 1983 (2) pp79-80.
With best wishes,
Yours sincerely,
Alice Moyle
MS3501/1/139/8a
Mr Graham Wiggins 1 May 1989
24 Caldercott Road
Abingdon
OX 14 5HB
England
Dear Graham,
I am writing, apologetically and belatedly, to acknowledge the copy of your
article published in Physics Bulletin, Vol. 39(7), 1988:266-69. I was
delighted to know that some of your valuable work on the didjeridu
(didgeridoo) has been published.
These past two years or more I have made one or two minor excursions into
hospital. I am glad to say that everything has returned to normalcy, but my
correspondence continues to lag behind very badly.
Owing to my lack of physics, I am unable to comment intelligently on the
results of your work but, according to your thesis, presented to Boston
University College of Liberal Arts, and your subsequent experiments, it
seems to me that you have gone much further into the subject of vocal track
resonance than anyone else has done in this particular field.
There is a young brass musician from the States presently visiting the
Institute and is just about to depart for Yirrkala, north east Arnhem Land
to study the traditional music of that area. I took the liberty of showing
him your thesis and your published article. He asked me for copies which I
gave to him, letting him know, at the same time, that I would write to you
to inform you of his interest.
I understand that he will be in the north for several months. Should you
wish to check any of your findings with him, I suggest you address your
letter to
Stephen Knopoff
c/- AIAS
and mark your letter ‘please forward.’
I am wondering whether you are still in England and if this letter will
reach you there.
I hope the Australian didjeridu has helped you in some way to advance along
your scholarly path.
With best wishes for further successes
Yours sincerely,
Alice Moyle
ALICE MOYLE
HONORARY RESEARCH FELLOW
MS3501/1/141/14
21 February, 1990
Dear Richard,
I have greatly appreciated this pre-view of your beautiful little review. I
wish I could claim it, but its yours, not mine.
Vive les-Moyles!
All the best to you and yours,
Alice
(Richard’s ICTM review of Goyulan (M.C.R.) in Yearbook No. 21 which was
addressed to ‘Dr. Alice Moyle’!)
MS3501/1/142/2
9 March, 1990
(Letter to Ken Hale)
Dear Ken,
Thank you for your letter of 1/2/90. As you see, I have quoted you in the
enclosed copy of my letter to Kerry Brown. I’ve also given her your address.
I hope this is okay.
David Nash is enthusiastic about the ISLT project and feels that we should
make sure that the Aborigines are not left out of it.
Of course, I remember your paper in the Kassler/Stubington (eds.)
festschrift. It was both a surprise and a joy to me. (Now I am wondering
whether you saw the little note of gratitude which I added that year to my
Christmas greeting card!).
You may be interested to know that your ‘Remarks on creativity in Aboriginal
verse’ receive a brief mention by Stephen Wild in his ‘Recreating the
jukurrpa: adaptation and innovation of songs and ceremonies in Warlpiri
society’, Oceania Monograph No. 32 (Songs of Aboriginal Australia) M.
Clunies Ross, T. Donaldson and Stephen Wild, eds.) University of Sydney,
1987. I’m sure this is only the beginning.
All the best to you and again many thanks,
Alice