By arts editor Helen Musa

“It’s time for our long-lost son to come home,” says Australian War Memorial artist-in-residence Chris Latham of Sydney-born composer Frederick Septimus Kelly.

His remarkable life and music are being brought back into the spotlight in a concert, Septimus Kelly: Australia’s Chopin.

Latham is pulling out all the stops to mark the 110th anniversary of Kelly’s death on November 13, 1916, at Beaucourt-sur-l’Ancre in France, with a series of events in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra.

He has spent many years researching and promoting Kelly’s work and is, alongside playwright, author and journalist Thérèse Radic, determined to restore the reputation of a musician whose talents have been largely overlooked.

Kelly was something of a Renaissance man, not only a gifted pianist and composer but also an Olympic gold medallist, winning the men’s eight rowing event for Great Britain at the 1908 London Games.

Presented by Flowers of Peace, the Canberra event will combine a book launch, a film screening and a concert, celebrating what Latham regards as a lost musical genius.

At its centre is the launch of To Gallipoli and the Somme: F. S. Kelly; War Hero, Olympic Champion and Pianist Composer, co-written by Radic and British Olympic rower Martin Cross.

When I catch up with Latham, he is busy unpacking 400 copies of the book, freshly arrived from the UK, which he intends to sell and give away.

There will also be a screening of the internationally award-winning short film Elegy, introduced by its co-creator, Michael Walsh.

The musical highlight will be the Australian performances of several of Kelly’s fiendishly difficult piano compositions, including his unfinished Sonata in F minor, performed by virtuosic Canberra pianists Edward and Stephanie Neeman.

Kelly’s 12 Studies and 24 Monographs, conceived as homages to Chopin’s 12 Études and 24 Preludes, are particularly significant. Written after his return from Gallipoli, where he composed his famous Elegy for Rupert Brooke, they were submitted to his publisher in May 1916, shortly before he left to fight in France.

Latham points out that Kelly composed much of this music in his head, rather than at the piano, making some of the works exceptionally challenging to perform.

He is particularly excited about the Neeman pianists’ passion and brilliance, describing Edward as “a savant”. Neeman brings “so much bravura” to the music, Latham says, and is prepared to tackle works that might have daunted other pianists less familiar with Kelly.

The concert will also feature readings from Kelly’s diaries by theatre legend Carrillo Gantner, interspersed with the piano performances.

For Latham, the project is about more than simply reviving forgotten compositions. It is about giving Kelly his rightful place in Australian musical history.

“Our aim is to prove that Kelly was Australia’s Chopin,” he says. “We just want him to be accurately assessed.”

Septimus Kelly: Australia’s Chopin, Wesley Music Centre, November 14. Bookings here.

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