Title: Grainger Museum

URL: https://grainger.unimelb.edu.au/

Description: Grainger's thoughts of establishing an autobiographical museum began in the early 1920s, initially in response to the sudden death of his mother Rose. In a letter to his friend Balfour Gardiner, dated 3 May 1922, Grainger mentioned the idea for the first time: 'All very intimate letters or notes should be deposited in an Australian Grainger Museum, preferably in birth-town Melbourne'. The project developed for some years in Grainger's mind. In the 1955 Museum Legend Aims of the Grainger Museum , Grainger set forth his intentions. Basically, he wanted to stress the creative side of music (composition), rather than the interpretive side (performance). Originally called the 'Music Museum and Grainger Museum', and later the 'Grainger Museum', the building was constructed in two stages between 1935 and 1939, facing Royal Parade on the University of Melbourne campus in Parkville. It was officially opened in December 1938. The Grainger Museum is the only purpose-built autobiographical museum in Australia. The building is in a simple Moderne style with some Arts and Crafts characteristics. It was designed by the University's architect, John Gawler of the firm Gawler and Drummond, in close consultation with Grainger, who funded the construction, staffing and upkeep during his lifetime. The Museum contains not only a large quantity of material from his own life, but much material concerning his musical contemporaries, particularly the lesser-known ones, such as his Frankfurt Group of composers. After many initial hindrances, such as the use of the building for storage and other purposes during and after the Second World War, most of the exhibits (including complex display legends) were finally established during Grainger's last visit to Australia in the mid 1950s, although he never completed the project to the extent that he had hoped. During the 1960s the museum was opened to the public on a regular basis for the first time and in 1966 briefly became the setting for concerts and workshops for jazz and avant-garde music. The following 20 years were a period of consolidation. An extensive programme of cataloguing the Museum's holdings - begun in the mid-1970s by the then curator, Dr Kay Dreyfus - resulted in the publication of several important volumes, including three music catalogues and the seminal book The farthest north of humanness: Letters of Percy Grainger 1901-14. As well as the permanent displays, temporary exhibitions highlighting different aspects of the collection were presented and concerts and cultural events were held. Almost since its opening in the 1930s the Museum suffered from problems caused by the building's location and design. In 2003 the building was closed to the public and the collection relocated to offsite storage. This enabled a major problem of building conservation works to be undertaken under the supervision of heritage architects Lovell Chen Pty Ltd, resulting in improved facilities for the collection, visitors and staff. These works have been funded by the University of Melbourne, the University Library and several generous gifts and bequests. The Museum building reopened to the public on Sunday 17 October 2010 with a new suite of exhibitions, curated by Grainger Museum staff and designed by Lucy Bannyan of Bannyan Wood Pty Ltd. The Grainger Museum is now part of the University of Melbourne Library.

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