The Rite of Spring: 75 Years of ABC Music Making

For three generations the ABC's symphony orchestras were a jewel in the crown of Australian culture, allowing audiences to hear Rubenstein, tauber, Szell, Beecham, Schwarzkopf, Rostropovich and Klemperer in their primes, while providing career-long employment for Australia's own leading classical musicians.

Much less well known is the fact that for many years the ABC's in-house musical ensembles also included full-time dance bands, a military band and wireless choruses of uncommon distinction.

In this ground-breaking study of the complete gamut of ABC music-making, well-known author and music critic Martin Buzacott describes how, often against the odds, the ABC's musical founders - including Sir Charles Moses, Sir Bernard Heinze and William G. James - created a culture of musical excellence whose legacy remains with us today.

Based on unprecedented access to the ABC's archives and personal interviews with many leading Australian musicians, the Rite of 75 Years of ABC Music-Making takes a fascinating journey through a musical history in which all Australians have shared.