2004 Classical Music Awards Winner - Miriam Hyde

Miriam Hyde

The 2004 Special Award for Distinguished Services to Australian Music was awarded to Miriam Hyde.

Below is the tribute presented to Miriam at the Awards ceremony by Richard Meale.

Miriam Hyde Tribute

Our Distinguished Service to Australian Music Award goes to someone who once wrote:

"I like to feel that music, and my music can be a refuge for what beauty and peace can still be omnipresent. In other words, the triumph of good over evil. I make no apologies for writing from the heart"
And no apologies are required, for we are speaking about Miriam Hyde. A fine composer whose presence is deeply felt in the world of Australian music.

An inspired composer, accomplished recitalist and committed educator, Miriam can justifiably claim credit for elevating the position of Australian women composers in a way which is unprecedented. With Dulcie Holland, Margaret Sutherland and Peggy Glanville-Hicks, she had made a indelible impression.

For almost a century, she has been prolific. Her first composition, Evening Primroses, was written at the age of four on a return from a trip to the seaside with her father. Ever since she has drawn on her life's experiences and given expression to its bliss and pain through her music. Her best known work: Piano Sonata in g minor, for example, was written while her husband, Marcus Edwards, was a POW in Germany.

Many of her early pieces still survive. Reverie, written when she was 13, is still a popular work with students, and on the Australasian Music Examinations Board (AMEB) syllabus.

Her works include many for piano, more than fifty songs (many of which, set to her own poems, have won prizes, e.g. Elfin Fantasy, Winter Willow Music, Sunrise by the Sea), chamber music, sonatas for viola, clarinet and flute, four overtures and other orchestral works. Her Happy Occasion Overture was performed in the inaugural concert of the Australian Youth Orchestra, in the Sydney Town Hall (1957).

Miriam is a veteran award winner - a testament to her considerable skill and contribution to the Australian music world. In 1925 she won an Australian Music Examinations Board (AMEB) scholarship to study at the Elder Conservatorium of Music, Adelaide, under William Silver. On her graduation, she won the Elder Scholarship for three years study at the Royal College of Music, London, which she undertook from 1932 to 1935. During her time at the College, she won three composition prizes and performed two of her concertos with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the London Symphony Orchestra. She also made several broadcasts with the BBC.

In 1980, she was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) and she was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in 1991.

In 1988, Hyde's 75th year, her composition Valley of Rocks was among seven Australian works in the Sydney International Piano Competition. Amazingly, it was chosen by 23 of the 38 competitors - a high commendation indeed and from the heart.

Shortly before her 90th birthday, Miriam was awarded the APRA - AMC Award for Long-Term Contribution to the Advancement of Australian Music. It was a portent of things to come. We make no apologies for honouring her this year with the Award for Distinguished Service to Australian Music. In her autobiography, Miriam wrote: "There is a special joy in creating music with fingers…the first script may look very sketchy but, the composer may smile on, making a happy ending."

For this and a life time of happy endings, ladies and gentlemen, I present, the composer, recitalist, educator, who music lovers have taken to their hearts: Miriam Hyde.