John Antill's Symphony on a City (1959) and its place within the Australian symphonic repertory of the 1950s

John Antill's Symphony on a City (1959) and its place within the Australian symphonic repertory of the 1950s

John Antill is often perceived as being a 'one work' composer owing to the prominence and success of Corroboree. The remainder of his large output is largely neglected. Symphony on a City, commissioned by and dedicated to the City of Newcastle in 1959, is described by James Murdoch (1972) as a major work that has been performed only once. Roger Covell (1967) wrote that the symphony 'should be heard again, because in it Antill does find, even if only momentarily, other ways of representing energy at high voltage'. Perhaps this is the work that could provide a counter-balance to the predominance of Corroboree in Antill's work.
This paper describes the formal and stylistic aspects of the symphony, relates it to Corroboree and Antill's overall orchestral output and then places the work against the backdrop of Australian symphonies of the 1950s and the wider international context. The symphony emerges as one of the more important Australian symphonic works of its period and worthy of preservation and revival.

© Musicological Society of Australia