Guide to the Papers of Dudley Glass, 1920-2002

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Summary

Collection number:
MS 7606; MS ACC06.195
Creator:
Dudley Glass
Extent:
(20 ms boxes + 1 carton + 2 medium folio boxes + 2 large folio boxes + 1 map folio + 53 sound/av carriers + 2 digital carriers)
Language:
English
Preferred citation:
Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Dudley Glass, National Library of Australia, [class/series/file number]'.
Availability:
Available
Access conditions:
Available for research. Not for loan.

Background

Content Summary:
The MS 7606 collection contains a range of material documenting the broad spectrum of Glass' career, including: a large component of draft compositions and scripts for musicals and operas; music manuscripts of individual songs and instrumental pieces; personal documents and biographical notes; business, semi-official and personal correspondence; draft articles and radio and television scripts; travel brochures and photographs.
Biographical Note:

Born in Adelaide in 1899, but spending the greater part of his life in England, Dudley Glass was a respected composer, musician, music and travel writer, broadcaster and lecturer who worked in Great Britain, Europe and the United States. At different points in time he was a regular contributor to The Herald (Melbourne), The Times (London) and Everybody's Weekly (London). He was appointed music and art critic for The Irish Times in 1964.

Glass wrote most of his compositions in the 1920s and 1930s, during which period he created the music for the operetta 'The Beloved Vagabond', which was staged in London, Melbourne and Sydney. Some years later he was both composer and lyricist for the production 'Drake of England', broadcast by the ABC to coincide with the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. In addition to his involvement in musical productions, Glass published over a hundred songs, piano pieces and choral works. Glass' smaller compositions include the anthem 'Australia, Land of Ours', a pageant to honour a visit to Australia by the United States fleet, scores for two Australian films, and musical settings for Edward Lear's Nonsense Songs and Beatrix Potter's Peter Rabbit.

As an author Glass published a number of books, including The Spanish Goldfish (1934), Australian Fantasy and The Book about the British Empire (both 1936), as well as a book of verse for children entitled Round the World with the Redhead Twins (1933). Glass also presented lectures on behalf of the Royal Society of Arts, Royal College and Academy of Music, Commonwealth Institute and London County Council, and was presenter of the monthly series of BBC broadcasts to the Empire 'Let's Go to the Theatre' and 'Men Who Make the Shows'. During World War II, Glass presented over a thousand lecture-concerts to British troops, and toured on behalf of the National Council of YMCAs and the American Red Cross.

Glass died in London in 1981.

Provenance:

The papers were purchased from Mr Dick Glass and Mrs Nancy Tracy, first cousins of Dudley Glass, in February 1987. Further papers were added in 2006.

Access and use

Conditions Governing Access:
Please refer to the collection's catalogue record for the access conditions (http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn2869865).
Conditions Governing Use:
Copying and publishing of unpublished manuscript material is subject to copyright restrictions. For such material, written permission to publish must be obtained from the copyright holder(s). Copying of unpublished material for research purposes is permissible 50 years after the death of the creator of the material.
Preferred citation:
Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Dudley Glass, National Library of Australia, [class/series/file number]'.
Location of this collection:
Parkes Place
Canberra ACT 2600, Australia
Contact:
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