Antill, John (1904-1986), was an Australian composer and music administrator who won wide recognition with his orchestral work Corroboree, inspired by the unusual instrumental music and rhythms of Australian Aboriginal culture. Antill may have started planning the work after attending a corroboree (Aboriginal ceremonial assembly) near Botany Bay in 1913, but he only began composing the score in the mid-1930’s. Antill carried out much important research into native Australian music and culture while writing Corroboree. The English conductor Sir Eugene Goossens conducted the first performance in 1946 with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. The music of Corroboree was also used for a ballet, first performed in 1950 by the National Theatre Ballet, Sydney. Antill’s other works include operas, ballets, choral pieces, and orchestral works, among them a harmonica concerto (1967).
John Henry Antill was born on April 8, 1904, in Ashfield, near Sydney. At the age of 10, he began singing in the choir of the city’s St. Andrew’s Cathedral. He studied at the New South Wales State Conservatorium. Gaining experience in amateur theater companies and orchestras, he joined the Australian Broadcasting Commission in 1936 as a conductor and music presentation executive. He remained with the organization until his retirement in 1969. Antill died on Dec. 29, 1986.
