Talk:Richard Meale

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Gamelan

Was he really the first? What about Percy Grainger? Even Peter Sculthorpe had a very early interest in the gamelan. I'm sure there were others. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 19:42, 5 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

List of works

Listening in 2023 to Meale's pieces, they sound entirely contemporary and brilliant. So I've added a more-or-less complete list of them for anyone wanting to explore them as I have. Erictimewell (talk) 20:44, 9 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

A much fuller treatment

I've added a fused life-and-works account compiled mainly from eulogies and obituaries. I'm now looking at Trove and published books to enrich the account. Erictimewell (talk) 23:23, 14 March 2023 (UTC) It's strange after all the heresy-hunting of the 1980s to hear how like Phillip Glass much of Meale's post-serial music sounds. Anyway I have started a Mer de glace page for the Meale page to refer to for those like me who are still interested. Erictimewell (talk) 08:16, 19 March 2023 (UTC) I'm now adding material from the Hannan and Hooper books and checking the works against Graeme Skinner's 15-page list in the national archive. More broadly I note that virtually all the people Meale interacted with creatively were gay — how to deal with this?; and nearly all his music referred to places or societies via other works of art, though he wanted to be a McLuhanite member of the world tribe — how to deal with this? Erictimewell (talk) 06:13, 21 March 2023 (UTC) Right now there is nothing much about Meale's years at the ABC, and nothing about the where-and-when of his compositions after 1990. Erictimewell (talk) 23:46, 21 March 2023 (UTC) The article is still weak on Meale's time at the ABC, but it is slowly absorbing the lessons of Michael Hannan's superb book. It is also starting to deal with Meale's engagement with late Wittgenstein and postmodernism, which in his case turn out to be much the same. Erictimewell (talk) 00:55, 1 April 2023 (UTC) Most of Hannan's book has now been assimilated. Next come Covell and Hooper's recent book on nationalism in Australian music. After that we might even get a photo out of the national archive.Erictimewell (talk) 09:32, 5 April 2023 (UTC) I've been working mainly on the subsidiary article on Meale's opera Mer de glace. But I also added, then withdrew as tacky, the following addition to Meale's death date: 'Somewhat apart at the funeral was "Jack, who they said was like an adopted son. I can see why, I thought … Richard would have adored you".' Erictimewell (talk) 10:06, 8 April 2023 (UTC) Annotations added for works spun off from Meale's second opera. Erictimewell (talk) 05:20, 9 April 2023 (UTC) Next plan is a comparison of Meale's music and situation with those of Peter Sculthorpe.Erictimewell (talk) 23:47, 14 April 2023 (UTC) I am buying a high-resolution version of a superb photo, now out of copyright, of Meale at the keyboard. It should be available in a fortnight. Erictimewell (talk) 10:47, 21 April 2023 (UTC) I've added a temporary photo, low-res, of Meale at the piano. The photo has too much detail to work as a thumbnail, so I've set it as "wide screen". The high-res photo is going to be supplied by the national Archive in a few weeks. Erictimewell (talk) 22:00, 2 May 2023 (UTC) Added another low-res Adelaide photo. In my opinion these photos are superb period pieces, informative beyond many Wikipedia thumbnails. Alas, their copyright acceptability is in question. Erictimewell (talk) 06:50, 7 May 2023 (UTC) Copyright confirmed thanks to Whpq's detective work. I feel this article has reached a plateau, fit to appear in public. There should be more detailed evaluation of Meale's music, but I need to do more reading first. Erictimewell (talk) 23:02, 10 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]

View from the plateau

Now the article has a certain solidity, it's possible to discuss important but contingent aspects of it. I have added one sentence about the death of Meale's "best friend" pending information from people who knew him personally in the 1970s and later. Obviously all this will have to be backed up with published references. Erictimewell (talk) 07:47, 23 May 2023 (UTC) There is an online reference to "Jack" at Meale's funeral, someone I thought may have been a lover. Contemporaries in Sydney insist there was no such person, but Meale was deeply fond of Matt Bailey, son of a friend and dedicaté of Meales "Arabesque". So there goes another paragraph best left in a footnote. Erictimewell (talk) 08:23, 29 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]