It is with some trepidation that this work
is undertaken, since there is an underlying fear about objectivity when the writer is the
son of Horace Keats. To forestall any such charge, I hereby place on record my defence:
the greater part of the material before you comes from newspaper articles, letters from
contemporaries and the numerous music publishers corresponded with by my father over the
years. The human side of the biography is from archival material provided by his wife,
Janet, in interviews for ABC Archives and the National Library. Great insight came from
correspondence from the numerous poets whose work my father immortalised in song.
Letters penned by that witty and
distinguished poet of the time, Hugh McCrae, resplendent with the numerous and delightful
illustrations he so frequently added, have been a source of inspiration. These were not
only among my father's proudest possessions but they deserve to be seen by all, for I
believe they form part of our national heritage, and I have passed them onto the Mitchell
Library, Sydney. It is also interesting to see the reaction of McCrae to the songs his
poetry inspired. Fascinating too, are John Cowper Powys' reactions to my father's setting
of his poem Yellow Bracken. There are many others with whom you will become
acquainted as you read, for poetry was the catalyst used to express Horace Keats'
musicality through composition.
Horace Keats was a prominent Australian
musical figure, considered by many as the finest accompanist in Australia during the
period spanning 1917 to 1945, which was the year of his death. Further, he made a
noteworthy contribution to Australian musical composition, and brought to a wider public
the poetry of a number of Australians who otherwise would only have been heard of by a
select few. Indeed, he was to become known as ‘the poet's composer', a well deserved
accolade, and you will appreciate this more when you read of the futile attempts to have
his musical settings of some of Christopher Brennan's poetry published with the aid of the
Commonwealth Literary Fund, the only source of public monies available in that period. The
musical worth of these settings was acknowledged and documented by prominent contemporary
musicians, composers and critics. He argued that this music would bring Brennan's poems to
a wider audience than would otherwise be the case. The argument was in vain. The songs
remained unpublished until 1990 when they were published by my publishing company,
Publications by Wirripang. Despite his success during his life, death was to bring almost
total obscurity.
A journalist of some note who cannot be
named said in 1995, "Oh, I vaguely knew about Horace Keats; he was a shadow somewhere
out there, and I intend to follow up about him one day." Some shadow indeed! This
shadow was very active in the original ABC ensembles which were the embryos of the present
Sydney Symphony Orchestra. Horace Keats was the pianist of the 2FC Ltd Trio and was
musically involved in all the instrumental combinations between this ensemble and the NSW
Broadcasting Company Orchestra of which he was the first conductor. The NSW Broadcasting
Company Orchestra at full strength was known as the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. To my
knowledge these facts have not been acknowledged in histories of the SSO and yet they are
to be read in The ABC Weekly of March 1941. The association of my father with the
ABC continued, with only a short break when he went to the BBC, until some months before
his death.
The lack of interest in my father after his
death is for a number of reasons. Like many of his contemporary composers, he was heard by
a rather select audience that frequented the number of music clubs that proliferated in
the cities. In time, these bodies became fewer. My father was fortunate in that over the
years he had many of his songs broadcast both in Australia and overseas. These broadcasts
increased in number during the last two years of his life. When he died, they ceased. As
one person from the ABC said to my mother, "We have nothing new to hang a broadcast
on." So it was that the songs remained unheard except for an annual airing in the
City of Sydney Eisteddfod in the Horace Keats Memorial Challenge Trophy which commenced
during 1946. This trophy was kindly donated by Mrs W. H. Prehn and is still having names
added to it.
During 1995 and because of the 50th
Anniversary of my father's death and the 100th Anniversary of my father's birth, all of
the Brennan and some of the McCrae songs were published. Upon their release, comments were
made about their apparent difficulty for both singer and accompanist. In their defence, I
would like to say that the bulk of these songs were performed by my father and my mother
both of whom were accomplished musicians. It is only to be expected that the standard
would require a musician of high calibre to perform them. They are not impossible,
however, and, once mastered, give immense satisfaction to performers and audience alike.
It is time that Horace Keats came back into his own. An adjudicator said to me at the Song
by Horace Keats Section in the Macdonald's Performing Arts Challenge, 1995, "These
things take time, however."
Time notwithstanding, I have written this
biography because, as will become evident, Horace Keats does not deserve to be forgotten.
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