Henry Krips stories

A National Song: his Land o’ Mine Henry Krips presented his composition Land o’ Mine to student audiences for singing at schools’ orchestral concerts. The song seemed to me to be an agreeable alternative to other national anthems/songs. Perhaps it could be dusted off for a fresh look/performance sometime soon.

Conducting Viennese Waltzes A Viennese patriot himself, Krips helped produce a unique orchestral sound and lilt for the performances of Viennese waltzes, partly by his gracious and perhaps ostentatious swaying to the music as he conducted it, his feet often reaching the edge of the podium.

First aid to a Broken Piano string During a thunderous passage of fortississimo playing, the concerto soloist broke one of the piano strings, which curled around and about the piano in an alarming manner. The soloist continued unperturbed. During a quieter passage, Maestro Krips quietly caught the offending string, wound it into a coil and inserted in to a safe place on the piano.

Amateur musicians: Their part our musical culture Henry’s son, Henry junior attended Adelaide Boys High School in the mid-late1950s. Henry Krips senior and his wife strongly supported the general activities of the school, and especially the school orchestra, conducted by SASO organist Alan Tregaskis. I played trombone as a hobby at the time and Tregaskis asked fellow teaching staff, including me, to swell the student ranks for the end-of-year Final Assembly performance in the Adelaide Town Hall. After the assembly Krips congratulated Tregaskis backstage, them came over to me and thanked me for supporting the students in this way. He told me that the practical participation of amateur musicians was very important for the cultural life of the community. In particular, it provided a richer source of talent to feed into the professional ranks of musicians who, in turn, would enrich the community’s musical culture. “Bravo!” he said.