Esther Rofe
Esther Rofe (14 March 1904[1] – 26 February 2000[2]) was an Australian musician and composer.
Biography
[edit | edit source]Esther Rofe was born in 1904 in Melbourne,[3] Australia.
Rofe studied piano with Harold C. Smith and Ada Freeman[3] and violin with Alberto Zelman, Jr.[3] Rofe studied composition with Fritz Hart and A.E. Floyd.[3]
At age 13, Rofe appeared with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. She entered the Royal College of Music in London and studied with Gordon Jacob, Ralph Vaughan Williams and R.O. Morris.[4]
During World War II Rofe worked at the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC), and the Colgate-Palmolive Radio Unit in Sydney where she began arranging and composing music. Rofe began composing for ballet in 1943.
The Esther Rofe Songbook was published in Melbourne in December 1999.[5]
Rofe and her sister Edith moved to Southport where Rofe lived and worked for twenty years by the sea.
Rofe never married, but fostered a child, Carden James Rofe. Carden had two sons – Hamer Rofe and Malcolm Rofe.
Rofe died in 26 February 2000[3] and Hamer Rofe & his ex-wife Cathy Rofe, Malcolm Rofe and his wife Christina Rofe scattered her ashes in the Lune River in Southport Bay.[6]
The Esther Rofe Award was established in her honor at the University of Melbourne in Australia.[7][8]
Honors and awards
[edit | edit source]- 1993 Composer-of-Honour in the School of Music Conservatorium at Monash University.
- 1998 Australia Day Citizen of the Year award from the City of Boroondara
- 1998 Became a represented composer at the Australian Music Centre (AMC).
Compositions (incomplete list)
[edit | edit source]Piano solo
[edit | edit source]- Choral Prelude II (1927)[9]
- Echo de Vienne[9]
- Fugue in Four Voices[9]
- Für Else (1989)[9]
- Jester (1962)[9]
- Londonderry Air[9]
- Miniature variations (1927)[9]
- Miniature variations on a theme in A minor (1927)[9]
- The Island (1938)[9]
- Pierrette at court (1938)[9]
- Pro-tem suite (1937) - for one hand[9]
- Three Part Invention (1927)[9]
Vocal music (solo with piano)
[edit | edit source]- Curtain[9]
- Dinah's song (1987) – words by Tom Rothfield[9]
- Five songs of Walter de la Mare (1940) – words by Walter de la Mare[9]
- Somebody ask: a spiritual for the 1990's (1998) – words by Tom Rothfield[9]
- Tired Man (1935) – words by Anna Wickam[9]
- Two songs of William Blake (1936) – words by William Blake[9]
- Winds of Change (1976)[9]
Chamber music
[edit | edit source]- Duet for two pipes - two woodwinds[9]
- A Lament (1924) - flute with piano[9]
- Scherzo (1929) - flute with piano[9]
- Simple string pieces (with Margaret Sutherland) – string quartet[9]
- Tune for three pipes – three woodwinds[9]
Ballet
[edit | edit source]- Sea Legend (1943) ballet choreographed by Dorothy Stevenson
- Terra Australis (1946) ballet choreographed by Edouard Borovansky
- L’Amour enchantee (1950) ballet choreographed by Laurel Martyn[10]
- Mathinna (1954) ballet choreographed by Laurel Martyn
- The Lake (1962) rework of L’Amour enchantee for television
Opera and operetta
[edit | edit source]- Mogarzea (1926) fairy operetta
References
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External links
[edit | edit source]- Australian Dictionary of Biography: Esther Freda Rofe (1904–2000) by Suzanne Robinson.
- Australian Music Centre: Esther Rofe (1904-2000): Represented Artist
- Selected Australian performances of Esther Rofe's works are listed at AusStage: Esther Rofe
- Spotify playlist: Esther Rofe
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