Alfred Hill (composer)

Alfred Francis Hill CMG OBE (16 December 1869 – 30 October 1960) was an Australian-New Zealand composer, conductor and teacher.

On 1 January 1901 he conducted a choir of 10,000 voices and ten massed brass bands as part of the celebrations of the Federation of Australia in Sydney.

Hill was also a founder of the Sydney Repertory Theatre Society, and a foundation council member (later president) of the Musical Association of New South Wales.

[4] Hill composed and conducted music for the Hugh McCrae play The Ship of Heaven, which was produced by the Independent Theatre in 1933.

He wrote more than 500 compositions, including 13 symphonies (of which 11 are arrangements of previously written string quartets), eight operas (including The Weird Flute), numerous concertos, a mass, 17 string quartets and other chamber works, two cantatas on Māori subjects (Hinemoa and Tawhaki) and 11 other choral works, and 72 piano pieces.

[8] While mostly neglected nowadays, he is still very well known on both sides of the Tasman for a short song "Waiata Poi", which was recorded by many singers including Peter Dawson.

Eleven pieces for choir, including: Listen to Alfred Hill's The Moon's Golden Horn online at ABC Classic FM's classic/amp website.