AUSTRALIA ~ The Antipodes

AUSTRALIA ~ The Antipodes
I love a sunburnt country / A land of sweeping plains / Of ragged mountain ranges / Of droughts and flooding rains / I love her far horizons / I love her jewel-sea / Her beauty and her terror / The wide brown land for me / ~ Dorothea Mackellar (1885-1968)

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Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Different But Not Too Fancy!


This headstone appears at Mornington Cemetery.
John Tallis studied in Paris with Marcel Dupre and Madame Bascouret in the late 20s and early 30s, and subsequently at the Royal College of Music in London.
(His father worked at J.C.Williamsons' theatre productions, so he was away from home a great deal, but home enough for John to be fascinated with his world.
Details of his life are HERE!)
On John's return to Australia, he concentrated on writing music for ballet and for small forces.
In 1995 he was the Composer-of Honour in the Department of Music of Monash University.
Anna Pavlova, the ballerina, filmed some of her dancing in the gardens of Grosvenor - the Tallis family's two storey Italianate mansion on the corner of Glenferrie and Toorak Roads.
The Tallis family's holiday home was Beleura at Mornington - (Dame Nellie Melba stayed here as a guest!) now open to the public, but no parking is allowed there.
A special meeting point is arranged (at the Mornington Regional Art Gallery) and a Beleura bus transports visitors from the meeting point to the site.
I especially love this snippet of John's life at Grosvenor:
Mr. Straub, the horologist, came over from Camberwell once a week to wind the many clocks in the house.
Wonderful details of John Tallis' amazing life - written by John Tallis - are HERE!
+
The Age presents a fascinating insight into the reclusive, bachelor later lifestyle of John Tallis.

Music creator
Moving to his own rhythms
He lives with music


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8 comments:

VioletSky said...

I had the same problem with my family post today - too many stories to tell; too interesting to ignore!

diane b said...

A nice touch for a composer. I wonder if my son in law will have a marker like that.

Herding Cats said...

What an interesting stone. I like the fact that it has one of his compositions engraved on it.

Gattina said...

That's a nice gravestone, very original !

Deb said...

My grandfather has a musical moteif on his gravestone and I quite often come across others engraved with notes. Sounds like John Tallis led an interesting life.

CaT said...

maybe i can become a horologist as well. hahahaha

Julie said...

I wonder how many practising horologists there are in Camberwell today ... or indeed in Australia. Love that little touch. You pepper your stories each week with these little beauties, Gemma.

That house is indeed a sight to behold. I think I would love especially to wander the gardens. John Tallis was there for over 40 years - wow!

Fascinating that private cars are not allowed. I can see how arriving in a coach would retain the air of exclusivity that Mr Tallis obviously enjoyed.

Terrific post, yet again, Gemma.
Thank you.

Francisca said...

A totally fitting headstone for a man with a passion for music. That it is his own composition makes it all the more unique.

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