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Esther Rofe

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Esther Rofe in 1941

Esther Rofe (14 March 1904[1] – 26 February 2000[2]) was an Australian musician and composer.

Biography

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Esther Rofe was born in 1904 in Melbourne,[3] Australia.

Rofe studied piano with Harold C. Smith and Ada Freeman[3] and violin with Alberto Zelman, Jr.[3] Rofe studied composition with Fritz Hart and A.E. Floyd.[3]

At age 13, Rofe appeared with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. She entered the Royal College of Music in London and studied with Gordon Jacob, Ralph Vaughan Williams and R.O. Morris.[4]

During World War II Rofe worked at the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC), and the Colgate-Palmolive Radio Unit in Sydney where she began arranging and composing music. Rofe began composing for ballet in 1943.

The Esther Rofe Songbook was published in Melbourne in December 1999.[5]

Rofe and her sister Edith moved to Southport where Rofe lived and worked for twenty years by the sea.

Rofe never married, but fostered a child, Carden James Rofe. Carden had two sons – Hamer Rofe and Malcolm Rofe.

Rofe died in 26 February 2000[3] and Hamer Rofe & his ex-wife Cathy Rofe, Malcolm Rofe and his wife Christina Rofe scattered her ashes in the Lune River in Southport Bay.[6]

The Esther Rofe Award was established in her honor at the University of Melbourne in Australia.[7][8]

Honors and awards

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  • 1993 Composer-of-Honour in the School of Music Conservatorium at Monash University.
  • 1998 Australia Day Citizen of the Year award from the City of Boroondara
  • 1998 Became a represented composer at the Australian Music Centre (AMC).

Compositions (incomplete list)

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Piano solo

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  • Choral Prelude II (1927)[9]
  • Echo de Vienne[9]
  • Fugue in Four Voices[9]
  • Für Else (1989)[9]
  • Jester (1962)[9]
  • Londonderry Air[9]
  • Miniature variations (1927)[9]
  • Miniature variations on a theme in A minor (1927)[9]
  • The Island (1938)[9]
  • Pierrette at court (1938)[9]
  • Pro-tem suite (1937) - for one hand[9]
  • Three Part Invention (1927)[9]

Vocal music (solo with piano)

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  • Curtain[9]
  • Dinah's song (1987) – words by Tom Rothfield[9]
  • Five songs of Walter de la Mare (1940) – words by Walter de la Mare[9]
  • Somebody ask: a spiritual for the 1990's (1998) – words by Tom Rothfield[9]
  • Tired Man (1935) – words by Anna Wickam[9]
  • Two songs of William Blake (1936) – words by William Blake[9]
  • Winds of Change (1976)[9]

Chamber music

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  • Duet for two pipes - two woodwinds[9]
  • A Lament (1924) - flute with piano[9]
  • Scherzo (1929) - flute with piano[9]
  • Simple string pieces (with Margaret Sutherland) – string quartet[9]
  • Tune for three pipes – three woodwinds[9]

Ballet

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  • Sea Legend (1943) ballet choreographed by Dorothy Stevenson
  • Terra Australis (1946) ballet choreographed by Edouard Borovansky
  • L’Amour enchantee (1950) ballet choreographed by Laurel Martyn[10]
  • Mathinna (1954) ballet choreographed by Laurel Martyn
  • The Lake (1962) rework of L’Amour enchantee for television

Opera and operetta

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  • Mogarzea (1926) fairy operetta

References

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  1. ^ "Famous Australian March Birthdays". Archived from the original on 1 March 2017. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
  2. ^ Petrus, Pauline (2001). Rofe, Esther. doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.43402. ISBN 978-1-56159-263-0.
  3. ^ a b c d e Suzanne, Robinson. "Esther Freda Rofe (1904–2000)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Retrieved 16 April 2025.
  4. ^ Petrus, Pauline (1995). Esther Rofe, theatre musician and narrative composer: a biographical and historical overview of her life and music. Monash University. Dept. of Music. Retrieved 12 November 2010.
  5. ^ "Rofe, Esther (1904 - 2000)". Archived from the original on 19 February 2011. Retrieved 3 November 2010.
  6. ^ "ESTHER ROFE". Retrieved 3 November 2010.
  7. ^ "Faculty of Music Undergraduate Awards". Archived from the original on 11 October 2010. Retrieved 7 November 2010.
  8. ^ Rubin, Don; Pong, Chua Soo; Chaturvedi, Ravi (2001). The world encyclopedia of contemporary theatre: Volume 3.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x "Esther Rofe [compositions by]". Australian Music Centre. Australian Music Centre. Retrieved 16 April 2025.
  10. ^ "Women in the Theatre: Composer Will Conduct Her Ballet Music". The Age. No. 29601. Victoria, Australia. 11 March 1950. p. 6. Retrieved 22 January 2025 – via National Library of Australia.
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