Raymond Charles Hanson AM (1913-1976) was an Australian composer and teacher whose music drew strongly on the theories of Paul Hindemith. Hopes of evangelical missionary work were ended by the Depression, and Hanson, largely self-taught, served four and a half years in World War II before formal study with Alex Burnard at the NSW State Conservatorium of Music. Joining its staff in 1948, he lectured there until 1962, influencing future composers Nigel Butterley, Richard Meale and Barry Conyngham, and performers including Don Burrows, Larry Sitsky and Roger Woodward. Underappreciated in his lifetime, deemed too radical then too conservative, he was fifty-four before his first commission. He was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia shortly before his death. His catalogue of over one hundred works, spanning symphony, opera, concerti and piano music, has since been steadily reassessed and recorded.
