of Stuart Challender
1991
II
I
I
!
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"
AUSTRAUAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION
SYDNEY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
SYDNEY TOWN HALL, FRIDAY 20 DECEMBER 1991
IN MEMORY OF STUART CHALLENDER AO
Michael Kirby
Stuart
Challender deserves
more
than
spare words
to
search for our feelings on an occasion such as this.
-
certainly my prose
of
grief
and
-
cannot capture the
thankfulness,
complex
of anger mingled with
for the triumph of a singular human spirit, which
together at this moment.
like Stuart,
the
thoughts
of
deserves
this
another musician to
assembly by the mystery of
and discordancy that is music.
If I were a composer
this occasion I would write my piece in the form of
to parallel Stuart Challender's life.
conductor,
provide
Gustav Mahler,
programme notes
to
in his
Like that
Third Symphony,
chart the
stages
I
of the
, capturing in this way Stuart's journey.
will
for
remember
the movements.
that
the
Third contains Mahler's
They progress
through the merry
marches in" past "What the flowers in the meadow tell
and "What the animals in the forest tell me"
-
1 -
and "What
tells me
through to "What the morning bells tell
II
with that most important message of all:
"What
for Stuart Challender could take up much
The first movement would be "What the time
In this case, it would be a lyrical
movement
For
full of
Stuart's
tuneful
melodies
childhood was
of
one of
the
As we all.: know,
of his family's love.
joy and
happy
that love
A few weeks ago I came
unquestioning to the end.
June, in the hospice at his' bedside peeling
Just as she had when he was a little
for him.
-':' 'Always
there when needed.
Uncompromis ing
love
and
I met his sister Darea when, first among his fellow
, he walked forward earlier this year to receive from
insignia
of
After the ceremony,
Government House
enjoyed a
,orlsu.m~ng
Officer of
As
the
sails
a
Order of
in the sunshine amidst the
June,
moment's respire
him.
the
Darea,
Stuart and his
from the struggle that
backdrop against the
of Utzon' s
!
I
glistening
building which Stuart
I'
"
helped to make a place of authentic musical,
architectural,
Beethoven's
irteen.
beauty.
as
His father it was who took
<
Pastoral Symphony in Hobart when he
This
planted
the musical
idea.
His
was a stalwart who lived to a great age and never
her support and pride for her gifted progeny.
So
melodies of the first movement of my symphony
strong and refreshing - full of confident life.
second movement on
"What the di!3covery of manhood
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would
but
necessarily
start
it would end with
Challender
had
to
with confusion
and
strength and passion.
discover
himself
That
first.
took him along the familiar road that most of us take
our life when we confront major crises and r
death:
the shock of realization;
confusion;
the anger of rage;
r
to
reconciliation r
acceptance
journey daring
It was
a
journey r
the feeling of
and the painful
and internal peace.
adolescence
and early
telescoped and much rougher r
was to make again in his last years.
third movement r
full
of
fearsome melodies r
of
and fright, would portray "What the discovery of
of death tells t;ls".
call upon the
who~e
Angry and noisy this movement
orchestra within
(and upon lost
wandering outside). '
'::, The
last movement' would
us" •
portray
It would finish with
brief but ultimately triumphant.
in peace:
"What human
life
trumpets to signal
a
It would also surely
the voice of the soloist merging with the
just
A message
as
of
Mahler
love
finished
and
Phe Song of
the
reconciliation with all
Christian if you like, certainly spiritual, would
my musical tribute to its close.
is what we should have today in this place.
all,
a
place where most of us
first
It
heard a
played by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra years ago:
Challender was
sails
beside
still
a
the Harbour and when
boy at play,
beyond
fear
the flowers in the meadows in Tasmania.
:1
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I
0sut I am no symphonist.
All I can offer are words.
In
of the death of any human being - but particularly
and a strong spirit such as Stuart Challender be hUmble.
We should remember this in the midst
1.8tbulent public events.
It is no time for an excess of
~,
It is a time for modesty of language and just enough
prepare our thoughts for music which will transport
the world of
the
spirit
where
Stuart
and his
often travelled with us.
to know Stuart Challender about ten years ago.
saw him walk onto the podium, first as conductor
Australian Opera and then,
later,
as Chief Conductor
1
Sydney Symphony Orchestra.
~i:tfUl
~~se
appearance
as
he
Will we ever forget his
strode to the platform amidst
which increasingly went beyond the formal and ended
ecstasy of appreciation and affection?
large hands.
His
His big
His masterful eye would soon be
into the force that would take the orchestra, with
instruction,
lly and
through the passages so
intelligently prepared beforehand.
His
raw
friend
and
boundless.
was
Promethean.
Prometheus was
the
mankind who, according to the Ancients defended
against Zeus at a time when that angry God wanted to
human race.
prometheus stole the fire of heaven,
forth to elevate human beings to the level of the
This is what music does.
·us f
mere humans,
humans f
Stuart
to a
Challender,
in music.
His
In its mysterious ways it
new plane
our
Prometheus,f
Prometheus
enthusiasm,
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of existence every
his
was
our
strength,
his
i
concentration, his dedication, won him the respect and
the
of
love
his
followed- triumphant
'i
at an absurdly young age, was on the
'I
:1
orchestra
Success
and the
fame.
orchestras of the world wanted him.
blooming
i
:1
his
extraordinary international
was
1
increasing
of
public.
His career,
r--
in this
way he
The
ii
'I
'I
leading
I
Yet just as his
:\
discovere'd the awful
i
of the illness that was finally to claim his life.
It was at this time that I
got to know him best.
il
He
:\
the news of his infection with the HIV virus.
effect upon his spirit was obvious.
1\
He was
"
and too well informed to be ignorant of the
On the
1\
he was surrounded by an orchestra and public which
11
and admired him giving him the zest and energy
II
course of the infection in all
its detail.
I,
ambition required.
But in the privacy of solitude he
il
living with a condition which would probably
down in the midst of this very success.
this
discovery
friends.
he
felt
he
had to
\1
The bitter
'il
I
share with
,I
'I
His rage and frustration were all too
They were shared by us, his friends, who felt anger
\
I
that such a specially gifted spirit might be lost.
For a time the magic relief of AZT restored him to his
His spirit lifted.
The invitations came in as
This buoyed him up.
Against hope, he held out
self.
>X "re,ml" sian.
i
!
He clung onto life, to which he had so much
He did so with ,a desperation which derived from
of gifts and talents that he had not yet even
I
I
i'lI
Stuart Challender was now going through his second hard
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The
Discovery.
shock of
Rage.
Confusion.
realisation.
Hurt
and
And eventually,
Reconciliation.
at the very end, acceptance and peace.
At milestones
on this
But unlike
riddles.
the
journey he posed for me
cruel
interrogator
three
Turandot:,
in
he answered them all, ultimately, himself.
The first was whether he should take an initiative to
-'support people living with HIV and AIDS who, because of their
public
position,
might find
could not easily seek out counselling but
comfort
with him about
and support
this
idea
from each other.
and with
helping him at the time.
the
Eventually,
I
talked
counsellor who was
he concluded (rightly
as I felt) that, in death, there is the ultimate democracy:
t:umh.l.ing down
n Sceptre and crown come t:umb.l.ing
made"
And .in t:he dust: Lie equa.l made/'
fY.it:h t:he JXJor
JiT.it:h
jXJor crook'd scythe and spade"
He abandoned that idea.
·He
He told me later how he continued to
'participate
participate in support
- -strength
strength ef
of
fellow men
sustained him in a
,'People
(People
of
no
And of
and women,
way that
different
Australians -shared this
sessions.
he
had
how the
love and
struggling with HIV,
not
backgrounds
imagined possible.
-
many
ordinary
respecters
respectors of a world-famous conductor -
ordeal.
They accompanied each other on the
journey of discovery.
Then, one afternoon,
-'message to
newspaper
paper
telephone
him.
in Melbourne
medical condition.
just out of court, I had an urgent
The second riddle.
was
threatening
What should he 9-0?
'legal rights to stop such publication?
.to him of
the
legal
difficulties
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to
A Sunday
"expose"
his
Would he have any
As a friend, I talked
and
the
problems
of
the haemorrhage of the information, once out.
of revealing it myself", he said.
"I
He sought my
admired this very private man and knew the high store
"It might do some good for
upon his personal realm.
- and in any case I'd rather tell' it my way than have
come out in a shabby expose", he said.
It pained me that
under this pressure by an invasion of his personal
at a time when he was suffering pressure enough.
But
resolve to face squarely the issue and to do it honestly
manfully conunanded respect.
man
something beyond
As you are
This was Stuart Challender,
even Stuart Challender
here,
you
know what
all that needed to be told.
for
his
family.
But he did
followed.
the
He
It was painful for him
it.
And in a
beautiful
with the gentle interventions of his friend David
he told it again to a
national audience of millions.
message that people living with AlPS are human
first.
They are on the six continents.
life.
They are in
They have every sexual pattern.
and sisters.
They
Stuart Challender said that
effort of self-revelation made him feel freer than ever
It is a tragedy that he felt a prisoner until such
released
in such circumstances.
But
it
It was worth a million advertisements about AIDS
I hope it will continue to bring its message of
for
compassion and
support
for
the
anonymous
in our country and beyond who are afflicted with
wholly unpredictable and terrible condition.
Then came the third riddle.
He presented it to me just
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,i
I
before he died.
"It'
5
a
visited him at the Sacred Heart
wonderful
place
here,
considering
His
he said to me with a wry smile.
He had taken on the grey colour of
had been reduced.
death.
In
But from
his
fact,
his
face
shone
brightness and clarity.
appearance
luminous
He had a high sense of
Do you
We talked around the problem.
should do it?"
any loss of clarity of thought,
The
artist . in
His
Far from
concentrated by the fast approaching end.
sharpened.
was
eyes of
tlThey want to do another interview with me.
I
large
his acuteness was
him did
not
wish
to
again when, as he knew, his interview with David Marr
a triumph of human will over gross adversity.
What did he wish to say, I asked?
orchestras and music in Australia.
precious friends,
He had a lot to say
His special world.
Mary Valentine, the Sydney Symphony
The ABC,
the soloists, the Australian Opera.
to the end he was so grateful.
music
and the· need to
Corners had been about himself.
for
So many things
cherish and
love
But now he
it.
felt
talk about the future of music in his country.
a
And
felt a commitment to talk about the need to have an
to wrongful discrimination in Australia.
An end to
against homosexual and bisexual citizens.
An
unwarranted discrimination against people with HIV and
A need for
where
law reform especially in his own State,
irrational prejudice
still thrives even in
Parliament which continues to oppose law reform.
An end
prejudice against women and men and against any person for
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I
,
.:I
over which that person has no control.
end to
it,
He
he said.
s these thoughts.
Boldly.
Once again,
riddle was
this
gle
of
the
to
us
fulfil
his
Through his
He died
commitment to
heroic final
through
Through
few months.
Through
to
conunitment to
Yet, in a sense, his life
saying them
past
a
solved by him.
he could say these things.
been
felt
There
his
the
the
the
long
long
painful
journey to
English National
return to Tasmania,
whose
shared pride in his international success but whose
persisted in prejudice
the
final
and resisted reform.
triumphant
production
What was this conduct telling us?
of
And
Oer
It was telling us of
the spirit of a human being is greater even than global
and how, ultimately, that spirit will triumph over this
and by science, mutual support and education consign
a footnote to human history.
I end as I started.
in the
lender
contemplation
brought
of
It is in music and not in words -
that
us
our thoughts
with music.
of
the
we
music
will
on this
which
find
occasion.
the
Stuart
truest
So let
it
A recording taken from a performance in
Hall of the Opera House in June 1990 of Mahler's
Resurrec~~on
Symphony.
Rosamund
Illing
and
Campbell with the Sydney Philamonia Choir join the
Symphony Orchestra under Stuart Challender's baton.
is there at the helm.
By the
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recording he is
here
A century ago,
in words that are apt, Mahler described
a letter how he came upon this concluding movement of the
This is what the great Gustav wrote 1 :
I had .long contemp.lated br.ing.ing .in the
cho.ir .in the .last movement, and on1y
on.ly the fear
fo.r.ma1 .im.itat.ion of
that .it wou1d
wou.ld be taken as a fo.z::ma.l
Beethoven made my hes.itate aga.in and aga.in.
Hemor.ial
Then BU.low
Bu.low d.ied, and I went to the .Afemor.ial
Serv.ice.
The mood .in wh.ich I sat and
ut:ter1y .in the
pondered on the departed was ut:ter.ly
sp.ir.it of what I was work.ing on at the t.ime Then t:he Cho.ir, up .in the organ 10ft,
.loft, .intoned
[the} Resurrect.ion chora.le
chora1e - It f.lashed on me
J.ighten.inq, and everywhere became p.la.in and
1.ike l.ighten.inq,
c.lear .in my m.indl
It was a f.lash that: a.l.l
creat.ive art.ists wa.it for - 'conce.ived by the
Ho.ly Ghost:' I
HoLy
- And Mahler went on: 2
"After
NAfter aLl,
a1.l, a mus.ic.ian's nature can hard.ly be
expressed .in
_in words.
It wou.ld be eas.ier to say
h.im than about others what .is d.ifferent: about h.lm
h.imse1f wou.ld
wou1d
but what th.is d.ifference .is he h.imse.lf
probab1y be .least ab.le to say.
probab.ly
• .• [the
mus.ic.ian}
[h.is a.iDls} .l.ike a
mus..lc..lan} moves towards [h.ls
s.leepwa1ker - he does not know what road he .is
s.leepwa.lker
tak.ing
tak..lng (perhaps past yawn.ing abysses), but he
heads towards the d.istant 1.1ght,
.l..lght, whether .it be
eve.r-rad.iant star or a seduct.ive w..l.l.l
w.i11 of the
the ever-rad.iant
w..laplN
w.ispl"
',Stuart
'.Stuart Challender,
wisps.
,WiSpS.
like every human,
sought will
He took that road past dangerous chasms.
an ever radiant star.
of
the
He became
The light of his star burns bright in
',our memory.
So we,
his
loving
family
and
friends
and his
fellow
citizens reflect with gratitude upon his life in the private
stillness of our own minds:
helped in our thoughts by the
mUsic of Gustav Mahler and by the baton of Stuart Challender,
,Whom
whom we honour together today in this familiar place.
- 10 -
K Martner (ed) Se.lected Letters of Gustav Hah.ler,
Faber & Faber, London, 1979, 212 (letter by Mahler to
Febru~ry 1897.
Dr Arthur Seidl, 17 Febru~ry
I.b.id.
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