Helen Gifford facts for kids

Helen Margaret Gifford (born 5 September 1935) is a famous Australian composer. She creates many different kinds of music. In 1996, she received the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM). This award recognized her great contributions to music as a composer. In 2016, she also won a special award for "Distinguished Services to Australian Music" at the APRA Music Awards.

About Helen Gifford

Helen Gifford was born in Melbourne, Australia. Her family had roots in Scotland and Cornwall. She went to Tintern Junior School and Melbourne Girls Grammar. Later, she studied music at the University of Melbourne Conservatorium. She earned a Bachelor of Music degree in 1958.

Early Career and Awards

Helen Gifford studied with talented teachers like Roy Shepherd and Dorian Le Gallienne. She won the Dorian Le Gallienne Award in 1965. In 1973, she received a Senior Composer's Fellowship. She even worked as a composer for the Australian Opera starting in 1974.

In the 1960s and early 1970s, Helen traveled to India and Indonesia. These trips greatly influenced her music. Her unique style often includes sounds from Balinese and Javanese music.

Recognitions and Achievements

Helen Gifford has received many honors for her work. On Australia Day in 1996, she was given the Medal of the Order of Australia. This award was for her "service to music as a composer." In 2016, she won the Art Music Award at the APRA Music Awards of 2016. This award was for her "Distinguished Services to Australian Music." Helen Gifford is also a recognized artist at the Australian Music Centre.

Helen Gifford's Compositions

Helen Gifford has written many pieces for different groups and instruments. She often gets "commissions" to write music. This means someone asks her to create a new piece for a specific event or performer.

Notable Works and Inspirations

In 1993, the ELISION Ensemble asked Helen to compose Music for the Adonia. This piece was for a singer, Deborah Kayser. It also featured instruments like flute, clarinet, percussion, harp, and guitar. The music was inspired by the ancient Greek festival called Adonia. This festival was held for women in Athens.

In 1999, she wrote As Foretold to Khayyam for pianist Michael Kieran Harvey. This was for ABC Classic FM. That same year, she created Choral Scenes: The Western Front, World War I. This 50-minute work was for a choir and instruments. It used poems in English, French, and German from that time.

Helen also composed Catharsis in 2002 for the Astra choir. This piece included poems by famous writers like Anna Akhmatova. In 2003, she wrote Spell Against Sorrow for a singer and guitar. This work used text from three poems by Kathleen Raine.

Award-Winning Pieces

Her piece Menin Gate (2005) was written for pianist Michael Kieran Harvey. It won an APRA/AMC Classical Music State Award for Victoria in 2006.

In 2014, Helen composed Desperation for violist Phoebe Green. This piece was first performed at a concert called "Helen Gifford at 80."

In 2015, she created Undertones of War. This music was inspired by Edmund Blunden's book of the same name. Pianist Michael Kieran Harvey performed it for the first time.

List of Works

Helen Gifford writes music for many different settings. This includes music for the stage, orchestras, and smaller groups of instruments (called chamber ensembles). She also writes for solo instruments.

• Carol: As dew in Aprille (1955) for voice and piano
• Fantasy (1958) for flute and piano
• Piano sonata (1960) for solo piano
• Skiagram (1963) for flute, viola and vibraphone
• Phantasma (1963) for string orchestra
• Red autumn in Valvins (1964) for soprano or mezzo-soprano and piano
• Chimaera (1967) for orchestra
• Fable (1967) for harp
• Imperium (1969) for orchestra
• Sonnet (1969) for guitar, flute and harpsichord
• Of old Angkor (1970) for French horn and marimba
• Regarding Faustus (1983)
• Iphigenia in Exile (1985)
• Music for the Adonia (1993) for chamber ensemble
• Plaint for lost worlds (1994) for flute, clarinet and piano
• Point of Ignition (1995) for mezzo-soprano and orchestra
• Choral Scenes: the Western Front, World War I (1999)
• As foretold to Khayyám (1999) for piano solo
• Catharsis (2001) for choir with soloists and speaker
• Spell Against Sorrow (2003) for soprano and guitar
• Menin Gate (2005) for piano solo
• In Focus (2005): seven pieces for solo piano
• The Tears of Things (2010) for speaker and choir
• Shiva the auspicious one (2012) for piano solo
• Parvati and Celebrations of the Apsaras (2013) for clarinet solo
• Desperation (2015) for viola solo
• Undertones of War (2015) for piano solo
• Ancestress (2018) for viola and piano