The composer Anthony Briggs a beloved musician, conductor, teacher and friend leaves behind a significant body of work that is worth exploring and celebrating.
Born in Melbourne in 1959, Anthony grew up in St Kilda the eldest of five siblings in a tightknit musical family. When he was nine years old, he won a choral scholarship to St Patrick’s Cathedral Choir in Melbourne where his music education began training with the Choir, attending Cathedral College and singing Mass every Sunday.
Anthony had perfect pitch and came to sing all parts from soprano to bass as his voice developed. He was a fine tenor and even into adulthood he was invited to sing Mass at St Patrick’s Cathedral on high days and holidays. He came to believe his experience in the choir gave him a unique understanding of counterpoint and harmony before he was immersed in his formal education in composition at La Trobe University.
At La Trobe he studied under Keith Humble and Lawrie Whiffen, sang in the Astra choir and established his own choir, Voisus. After graduating with an honors degree, Anthony worked as a lecturer at La Trobe where he was composition supervisor to Eve Duncan and tutor to many others including members of the Melbourne Composers League.
When he was at La Trobe in the 1980s he conducted premieres of many Australian works, working with Astra Choir, Footscray Chamber Orchestra, Melbourne University’s New Audience Ensemble and Elision. He conducted La tete d’ Orpheus by Gordon Stooke, a fellow La Trobe alumni and lifelong friend.
His first commission was a work for Astra Choir performed in 1986 in memory of another friend Anna Rita Herscher. As well as commissioned work he wrote for chamber ensembles and pieces for voice and piano.
He moved to regional Victoria in 1989 – first to Maldon where he focused on composing and trained as a teacher – and in 1998, to St Arnaud where he worked as a high school music teacher influencing many young lives, until he died. Both these places offered him the space and solitude he needed to compose. In turn he is fondly remembered for his contribution to the community of St Arnaud Secondary College including standing up for his colleagues as union member.
On 17 October 1996, the opening night of the Melbourne International Festival at St John’s Southgate, Anthonys work for bass koto – Makura – was first performed by Satsuki Odamura at the launch of the Song of the Wailing Flute, poems by Gina Louis. It was later recorded on CD by Odamura. Anthony and Gina were firm friends writing to each other regularly about art and music until he died.
In 1999, Anthony was commissioned by ABC-FM to compose a piece for the anniversary of the entombment of the Unknown Australian Soldier. Passages from former Prime Minister Paul Keating’s Eulogy at the Funeral of the Unknown Australian Soldier co-written by Don Watson formed the choral text . The resulting composition, They Are Here for choir and euphonium trio reflects his deep understanding of the solemn occasion and his respect for the words, “He is all of them and he is one of us”.
On ANZAC Day 2000, They Are Here, was broadcast live to air from the Australian War Memorial in Canberra solidifying his place as a composer of immense emotional depth. The Oriana Chorale brought the composition to life, providing a fitting tribute to the unknown hero. In the words of Briggs himself, “If I’m the first person to introduce some music on his behalf and in memory of all people who have died, then that’s like juggling many things, and I don’t know what it’s going to be like, but as a composer I think I’ve put it to bed.”
And in 2007, he was selected as Australian composer of the year by Dr Joel Crotty for study by students at Monash University Conservatorium with a concert at dedicated to his work which included performances of Deuteronomy (1989) for soprano and piano, The Friend and the Pitcher (1989) for soprano and clarinet and Thou has wounded my heart (1989) for soprano solo, and Five Songs of Supplication (1994) for soprano and piano.
His works were performed by the Astra Choir under the direction of John McCaughey in 2010, 2011 and 2012. In 2011, this included the first performance of his Credo (2011), part of the Melbourne Festival, held by chance at Lady of Mount Carmel Church Middle Park, the church he attended as a child. The Mass, of which his Credo is part, is one of his best works.
Anthony was great friends with the musical scholar and authority on Gregorian Chant, Father William Jordan. In 2014, a concert to honor the life of Father Bill featuring the Australian Opera Chorus and Chorus Master Anthony Hunt, included a piece for solo organ, Quod dico vobis (1995) and Iche Finde Dich (2014) a setting of the Rilke poem, both written for Bill.
There is no doubt the training Anthony received at St Pats had a huge influence on his work. He was a fine tenor and even into adulthood he was invited to sing Mass at St Patrick’s Cathedral on high days and holidays. He deeply understood ‘ritual’ and some of his most powerful works are imbued with this understanding which comes naturally. He knew how choirs work and wrote many works for choir both accompanied and a capella. He could write a beautiful melody as only a singer can do.
His works for small chamber ensembles are sublime and his settings of the poems including those of Rilke are delicate and haunting. And with Boulevarde Voltaire (2015), an unnerving piece for piano in response to the attack on the Bataclan Theatre in Paris, Anthony’s composing reached new heights.
Anthony’s compositions and the texts he chose are a testament to his profound understanding of the power of music to help us think deeply about the human condition. His commitment to respecting the significance of historical events while infusing them with his artistic expression was a hallmark of his work. His long-lasting musical friendships are a mark of the man. As we remember Anthony Briggs, we celebrate a life and music that will continue to touch many souls.