Dorothy Freed facts for kids
Dorothy Whitson Freed (born February 10, 1919 – died April 1, 2000) was a very talented New Zealander. She was an author, a composer, and a music historian. She did a lot to help music libraries and wrote many books and articles about music and resources in New Zealand.
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Early Life and Family
Dorothy Freed was born in Dunedin, a city in New Zealand. Her father, James Gerald Stokely Doorly, was a sailor, an explorer who went to Antarctica, a musician, and a writer. Her mother was Forrestina Muriel Whitson. Dorothy was the younger of two daughters.
When she was a child, her family moved from New Zealand to Williamstown, which is a suburb of Melbourne, Australia. She went to school in Melbourne. In 1936, when she was 17, she moved back to New Zealand. There, she found work helping with office tasks and media. She married William Ian Freed in 1940, and they had three children together.
Learning and Studying
While Dorothy was raising her three children, she decided to go to Victoria University College. She wanted to study how to compose music. She learned from a well-known composer named Douglas Lilburn. In 1958, when she was 39 years old, she earned her Bachelor of Music degree in composition.
In 1959, she became a qualified librarian and started her career in Wellington. She also continued to learn more about composing music. From 1964 to 1966, she traveled to London. There, she studied with other composers like Peter Racine Fricker and Elisabeth Rutyens.
Her Career and Contributions
Dorothy Freed worked as a music librarian from 1959 until she retired in 1986. She worked very hard and also supported other New Zealand composers. One important thing she did was help start SOUNZ, which stands for the Centre For New Zealand Music. This is an online library where you can find many music scores, CDs, books, and other resources. It also has information about composers, helping to keep New Zealand music alive and well-known.
In 1982, she also started the New Zealand part of the International Association of Music Librarians. She then became its president. This group holds meetings every year, works on projects with different libraries, and publishes journals. All of these activities help to make the library community in New Zealand stronger.
Awards and Special Recognition
Dorothy Freed received several awards for her amazing work. In 1958, she won an award from the New Zealand Broadcasting Service and APRA (Australasian Performing Right Association) for a New Zealand song. She also won the Phillip Neill Memorial Prize for composition. This award celebrates the achievements of music students in New Zealand.
In 1980, APRA recognized her again for her outstanding services to music. In 1991, she received a Lilburn Trust Grant. This grant was given to her for her important work in music librarianship and for helping music in New Zealand.
In the 1998 Queen's Birthday Honours, Dorothy Freed was given a special title. She was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her services to music. This is a high honor in New Zealand.
Her Legacy
Towards the end of her life, Dorothy Freed wrote two personal memoirs. A memoir is like a story of your life. One was called “A Grandmother’s Story,” and she wrote it for her granddaughters. It tells about her early life, her marriage, her time at Victoria University, and her career as a musician and librarian.
Her other memoir was called “I Seem To Have Forgotten The Elephants.” This book has 32 shorter stories from different parts of her life. Dorothy never planned to publish these memoirs, but they are available on her personal website. Her grandniece helps to keep this website running.
Selected Works
Dorothy Freed composed many pieces of music. Here are a few examples:
- A Farewell, for a singer and piano
- A Nursery Tale, (Goldilocks and the Five Bears) for brass instruments and a narrator
- Aquarius March, for a brass band
- Deserted Beach, for a soprano singer and string instruments
- Good Woman of Szechuan, for flute
- I Sing of a Maiden, for a choir
- Lament for Te Wano, for a choir
- Little Red Hoodingride, for a narrator, piano, drums, and horn
- Mary Had a Baby, for a choir with a soloist
- Prelude, for piano
- Rondo, for piano
- Sounds and Winds of Wellington, for a narrator and a small group of musicians
- String Quartet No. 1, for a string quartet
- Suite for String Orchestra, for a string orchestra
- The Chinese Terracotta Soldiers, for piano
- The Friendly Beasts, for a choir with a soloist
- The Sea Child, for a singer and piano
- Variations for Woodwind Quintet, for a woodwind quintet
- Variations on a Fanfare, for an orchestra
