Composer, musician.
OVERVIEW
An Australian-born composer noted for his string quartet, The Australian Seasons, and his cantata The Pied Piper of Hamelin, Ernest Truman was well known in Sydney for almost three decades as the city's official organist and a leading concert accompanist. As a composer, he worked in both instrumental and dramatic genres, creating at least three major theatrical works: Club Life (1895), The Magic Cloak (1896), and Mathis (1902). His other works included symphonies, concertos, quintets, quartets, trios, songs, and a mass (in D Minor).
BIOGRAPHY
1870-1899: Edwin Philip Truman, a fish, game, and poultry dealer, and his wife Elizabeth Robinson Cranford (née Smith) migrated to Australia with their children sometime around 1875. Although they initially settled in Melbourne, the Trumans soon afterwards moved to New Zealand. Truman taught his children music, with son Ernest showing particular talent, leading to his undertaking formal studies at age thirteen with A. J. Bath of Dunedin. Moving to Sydney in 1885, Ernest studied piano with Julius Buddee. One of his earliest established Sydney engagements was on the bill of Herr Francik's Grand Concert, held on 20 February 1888 at the Hunter's Hill Council Chambers (Sydney Morning Herald 11 Feb. 1888, p.2). That same year, Truman enrolled at the Royal Conservatorium of Music, Leipzig (Germany), where he studied under Salomon Jadassohn and Karl Reinecke (composition), Bruno Zwintscher (piano), and Paul Homeyer (organ). Two of his fellow pupils were Alfred Hill and Hill's brother John, and during his time at Leipzig, he had several of his compositions performed by the Ossian Society and Gewandhaus Orchestra. Prior to graduating with a diploma in 1893, he travelled to London and undertook further studies at the Royal College of Music, qualifying as an Associate Organists and R.C.M. licentiate.
After returning to Australia, he quickly become a popular choice as accompanist for concerts in Sydney, and found also found occasional works as organist at such churches as St Mary's Cathedral; Christ Church St Laurence; and St Patrick's, Church Hill. On 30 June 1894, he married divorcee Nellie Edith Bettye (née Maxey) at the Glebe registrar's office. A more than competent singer, she often accompanied him at recitals.
Truman's return to Australia also saw marked the beginning of an intensive period of composition. In early 1895, he completed the dramatic symphony The Deities (Op 30), which he dedicated to another locally based composer/musician, Signor Hazon. Later that same year, while also reportedly working on a new quintet, a quartet, and a violin concerto (Sydney Morning Herald 23 Mar. 1895, p.4), he undertook a collaboration with A. B. (Banjo) Paterson to create the operetta Club Life. It was produced in December at the Criterion Theatre, Sydney, for two nights. The following year, he worked with Bernard Espinasee on another operetta, The Magic Cloak. Another significant original early work was a mass performed in St Mary's Cathedral (1899).
1900-1910: Another of Truman's operas, Mathis, premiered at the Criterion Theatre, Sydney, on 26 July 1902 (libretto by Clarence M. Leumane). In 1904, three of his compositions were performed in each of three recitals given by Ernest Toy (Bechstein Hall, London) during November. According to Toy, all three songs were well received, with 'Suite' being accorded the most favourable response (ctd. West Australian 24 Dec. 1904, p.12). In addition to his concert work and writing, Truman also operated his own school from a studio situated in George Street, near the city centre.
In 1905, Truman distinguished himself by presenting a concert at Sydney's Y.M.C.A. with the repertoire comprising all his own compostions. The Sydney Morning Herald reports that
'The assured knowledge of Mr Ernest Truman's talent and originality as a composer attracted a fairly large audience to the Y.M.C.A. last night... Much of the music was really good, all of it demanded the closest attention... [however,] the least satisfactory effort was the opening string quartet in C minor, entitled, for not obvious reason, "Les Saisons Australiennes"... The most applauded number was "L'Autumne," at which point the composer was warmly recalled. Other popular pieces included "Nocturne Australienne" in C sharp minor; an original musical setting to verses by British poet, Shelley; and the song "I Dare to Love Thee," (performed by Mrs Ernest Truman). Among those who contributed to the evening were well-known violinist G. Rivers Allpress, vocalist Henry Weir (also president of the Amalgamated Professional Musicians' Association) and Miss Eva Truman' (7 June 1905, p.10).
Appointed city organist in 1909, a position he held for twenty-six years, Truman was required him to organise concert recitals and other musical programmes at the Sydney Town Hall. In Truman's Australian Dictionary of Biography entry, G. D. Rushworth records that Truman presided over 3000 concerts during that period, with most designed to appeal more than to educate, 'although he included more genuine organ music than had his predecessors' (pp.266-267). By then, he had also established his reputation among Sydney's theatrical and concert artists, appearing frequently at music festivals, benefits, and charity events, and as a member of the Sydney College of Music Council (Sydney Morning Herald 12 Feb. 1910, p.2).
1911-1920: Truman began displaying his fondness for opera around the beginning of the 1910s, presenting a number of 'Grand Operatic Organ Recitals' at the Sydney Town Hall. Among the more popular selections from 1913 were Gounod's Faust, Balfe's The Bohemian Girl, Bizet's Carmen, Puccini's La Boheme, and Offenbach's Tales of Hoffman. Among the selections presented as part of the Antarctic Disaster Fund concert (16 February 1913), he included one of his own compositions, 'O God, Our Help in Ages Past,' a fantasia based on the hymn 'St Agnes.' His 'cantata grotesque' (Truman's description) entitled The Pied Piper of Hamelin premiered in Adelaide on 25 September 1913 with the Adelaide Philharmonic Orchestra. The Sydney Morning Herald reports that the Adelaide critics and audience were united in their praise for the work (4 Oct. 1913, p.4). Over the remainder of the decade, he continued to perform with other leading musical organisations, including the Royal Sydney Liedertafel and the Austral String Quartet (under the direction of Cyril Monk).
1921-1948: Highlights of Truman's career during the 1920s included performances of his transcriptions of Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci and the first Australian performances of Puccini's Gianni Schicchi and Il Tabarra (1925). In December 1921, Brisbane's Austral Choir presented Truman's 'Magnificat.' The composer initially attended the performance as guest of the choir, but was persuaded at the last moment to perform two of his own compositions on the city's grand organ (Brisbane Courier 3 Dec. 1921, p.13). On 8 November 1923, Truman married for the second time, his first wife having died in 1917. The second Mrs Truman was twenty-seven-year-old musician (Marie) Millicent Anglés. The following year, he presented a special performance of his Mass in D Minor. Written in 1898, it had not been heard in public for some nine years. During the same concert, his wife sang Truman's 'Ava Maria,' to his accompaniment on the organ.
During the early 1930s, Truman devised a series of concerts devoted to transcriptions of music from Gilbert's and Sullivan's operas. His retirement in 1935 marked the end of an era of free weekly organ concerts in Sydney, and Truman was rarely heard performing again. Truman died in St Vincent's Hospital in 1948, survived by his wife. His only child, a son from his first marriage, predeceased him. During his lifetime, Truman accompanied many distinguished artists, including Dame Nellie Melba, Florence Austral, Peter Dawson, Dame Clara Butt, Laurence Tibbett, and Richard Crooks. He also published a book of songs. Despite being largely well received during his lifetime, Truman's works are now mostly forgotten. His legacy, however, might well be the career he carved out in Australia over more than four decades, providing a continuity of professional and quality concerts, favouring the various art music genres and providing both opportunities for musicians and pleasure for the public.
