Una Mabel Bourne
Una Mabel Bourne (23 October 1882 – 15 November 1974) was an Australian pianist and composer.
Early life[edit]
Una Mabel Bourne was born at Mudgee, New South Wales,[1] the daughter of James George Bourne and Margaret Webber Bourne. Her father was a shopkeeper. She was raised in Melbourne. Una Bourne's musical abilities were evident early in life; she performed on piano in professional venues before her teens.[2] She studied with Benno Scherek in Australia,[3] and in several European cities as a young woman.[4]
Career[edit]
"Miss Bourne has an excellent technique and plays with refinement and distinction," an English critic wrote of a performance at London's Bechstein Hall in 1906.[5] Bourne joined Nellie Melba's touring entourage in Australia in 1907, 1909, and 1912,[6] both as an accompanist and performing solo.[2] After 1912, she moved to England, where she gave concerts and toured. She performed for Queen Mary of Teck in 1914, and during World War I she gave benefit concerts and concerts at hospitals.[7]
In 1915 she began making recordings with the English Gramophone Company. She also made player-piano rolls in the United States, and gave performances for women's clubs[8] and radio audiences. During World War II she was based in Melbourne again, where she performed and opened a conservatory.[4]
Bourne's art songs and compositions for piano are considered "light and dainty", and include March Grotesque, Petite Valse Caprice, Gavotte, Humoresque, and Wiegenlied, which was dedicated to Nellie Melba.[9][10]
Personal life[edit]
Una Mabel Bourne lived for many years with her friend and colleague, soprano Mona McCaughey, who died in 1964. Bourne died ten years later, in 1974, aged 92 years.[4] Some of her papers, including original compositions in manuscript, are archived in the State Library of Victoria.[11] There is a scholarship named for Una Bourne at University of Melbourne.[9]
References[edit]
- ^ Eileen Dorum, Composers of Australia: A Chronological Guide to Composers Born before 1950 (I.C. & E.E. Dorum 1997): 34. ISBN 9780958896528
- ^ a b "Miss Una Bourne: A Wonder-Child" Dominion (29 April 1909): 3.
- ^ "Miss Una Bourne" Weekly Times (10 June 1899): 14. via Trove
- ^ a b c Peter Burgis, "Bourne, Una Mabel (1882–1974)" Australian Dictionary of Biography (National Centre of Biography, Australian National University).
- ^ W. H. W., "London Concerts" Musical News (13 October 1906): 322.
- ^ "Stephen Pleskun, A Chronological History of Australian Composers and their Compositions (Xlibris 2012). ISBN 9781465382269
- ^ "Una Bourne's Overseas Success" Barrier Daily Truth (23 May 1941): 7.
- ^ "Miss Una Bourne" The Mercury (31 January 1929): 8. via Trove
- ^ a b Larry Sitsky, Australian Piano Music of the Twentieth Century (Greenwood Publishing 2005): 94-95. ISBN 9780313322860
- ^ Larry Sitsky, Australian Chamber Music with Piano (ANU Press 2011): 40-41. ISBN 9781921862403
- ^ Music manuscripts and papers, Una Mabel Bourne, State Library of Victoria.
External links[edit]
- A recording of Una Mabel Bourne is included on Women at the Piano: An Anthology of Historical Performances, Vol. 1 (Chandos 2008).
- Recordings of Una Mabel Bourne are included on Edvard Grieg: The Piano Music in Historic Interpretations (Simax 1992).
