Anna Pope

Michael Giddings, memories from Anna Pope April 2007

I first met Michael in March 1986, when I joined the Adelaide University Choral Society. What a significant year that was – many enduring friendships were made, and it was a time I will never forget. I turned up at the third or fourth rehearsal for Mozart’s Requiem, having joined AUCS in O-week, but having missed the first few rehearsals because of a lack of car (never felt safe catching buses by night). Luckily, Andrew Young offered to drive me home after rehearsals, and so I became a fixture at AUCS.

My 18th birthday party was very soon after this first rehearsal, and I invited a few of the people I had already met at AUCS, even though I barely knew them yet. It was a dress-up party with a “SPY” theme (come as something starting with an S, P or Y!!) Imagine my delight when 3 of my new AUCS acquaintances went to the trouble of turning up, and in clever costumes which showed they had gone to a lot of trouble! Rosemary Byron-Scott as Puss in Boots, complete with boots, tail & whiskers and an academic hat. Bronwyn Timko wore a specially-decorated garbage bag as a packet of Surprise Peas, and Michael Giddings – wonderful and unique – with several boxes and covered by a shaggy purple bedspread… He was of course a Silly Purple Yak – no-one fulfilled the party theme better! The effort he took for someone he barely knew provided a solid foundation for what was to become a very special friendship.

There was something magnetic about Michael – he attracted friends and followers easily and unselfconsciously, naturally becoming one of the social ringleaders of the group. I remember his tall lanky frame always reminded me of the Waltons – almost concave in the chest, although he eventually filled out a bit in his later 20s. His beaky nose was distinctive, and with his small glasses and wavy dark hair, helped to contribute to the “mad professor” image he sometimes liked to adopt. He certainly enjoyed being a bit different and individual, and always seemed very comfortable with his unique character and mild eccentricities. He was certainly a leader, not a follower. But he wasn’t an autocrat – he was a great listener and interested in what everyone had to say. He was very wise and a great teacher, managing to bring fun and whimsy into even the most serious topics. He loved a gossip, and also enjoyed engaging in mischievous arguments and dissections of various ideas and theories. I well remember lots of great hugs, borrowing into Michael’s soft woollen jumpers and smelling his favourite aftershave (Blue Stratos?). We all hugged a lot in those days – completely unselfconsciously and platonically. That is something I miss – when did we get too old to give big long squeezy hugs to all our friends??

I guess it was at the Mozart Requiem Camp (Camp Kursa I believe) at which many of us really started to get to know each other better. There were many enthusiastic freshers, not only Michael, Bronwyn, Rosemary and myself, but Michelle Grady, Airlie McCoy, Catherine Hocking, Kate Murray, Craig Weatherill, Fiona Gray, Sue Wilkinson, etc… Then there were the “oldies”, including Kenneth Pope, the Stobies, Martin Penhale, President Penny Dally, Paddy Magee & Chris Bridge, Chris Stevenson, & Gill & Jon Ridnell, etc. etc… And presiding over all was the inspirational Hilary Weiland, how she got such music out of an unauditioned rabble such as us I will always wonder at!

Michael stood out from the first as someone with real musical cred. A regular organist and student composer, he soon rounded up a number of AUCS members into a small instrumental ensemble. “Ayres & Graces” (I think we chose the name together) rehearsed at the Grote Street Church of Christ, and featured an assortment of instruments, two flutes (Michelle & Anna), several clarinets (Catherine Hocking, Rosemary Byron-Scott, Bronwyn? Kenneth?), 2 violins (Airlie McCoy, Martin Penhale and Jane ?) and a keyboard (Michael?). We performed at a couple of AUCS reviews and at the church. Most of the meetings were more social occasions than rehearsals.

Various groups of us started meeting regularly, sometimes several times a week. There were AUCS rehearsals Wednesday nights, followed by coffee at someone’s house. We would meet in the cloisters for lunch regularly and sometimes at the con – I don’t know when we managed to do our work sometimes! There was lots of time spent at each others houses – parties and sardines in the dark at my mother’s house in Norwood (5 George Street, usually to the strains of Tchaikovsky’s ‘Romeo & Juliet’), swimming in Michelle’s pool (1 Leila St Bedford Park), hanging out at Michael’s or Bronwyn’s on Vasey Street Greenacres, videos and sleepovers at my Dad’s (111 Sheoak Rd), lots of very long talks in the car after we dropped each other home…

I often visited Michael in his home, and there had long chats with Arthur (the Giddings family’s permanent lodger) and Michael’s mum. There were also occasional glimpses of Michael’s Dad, but all of his 5 older brothers and sisters had left home. Michael’s mum provided kind hospitality whenever I was there – lots of tea, hot chocolate and biscuits I seem to remember…

Michael and I became very close. Some people thought we were an item, but really we were just very good friends (although I think we quite enjoyed giving the impression of being a couple at times). We hung out together a lot, and I introduced him to my family, including my Grandfather. He even accompanied me to my cousin Janine’s wedding – it’s nice to have someone to share these special occasions with. We talked endlessly about all sorts of things, but the romantic thing never really took off – stuff like that can ruin a perfectly good friendship , and I guess we eventually realised we had other fish to fry!

One of the best places for “bonding” was my Mum’s holiday place on Hindmarsh Island. One memorable trip we blithely piled 8 of us into my Dad’s Valiant – 4 in the back and 4 in the front (that was in the days of good old bench seats). I let Chris Stevenson drive, although changed my mind when he veered all over the road at the appearance of a spider on the windscreen.

The island was a great place for relaxing, partying, eating drinking, playing games and the occasional boat trip. On one memorable boat trip Bronwyn Timko and Sara Hopkins encountered sheiks and camels on the peninsular (the result of too much white wine “cooler” I expect). Their stories got more and more dramatic with each telling…

One time, we arrived at the island, only to find that I had forgotten the keys. No windows could be found to break into, so Michael volunteered to climb on the roof and go in through the skylight in the bathroom – never quite sure how he managed it – it was a steep drop. We were all pretty crazy in those days!

Several dinghy strandings also occurred, and the never-to-be-forgotten break-down on the Goolwa-Adelaide journey at about 3am one Sunday morning. Michelle, Sara, Bronwyn, Michael and myself spent a few hours stranded in the middle of nowhere. Finally Michael and Michelle got a lift into Goolwa, where they walked towards the beach and found the house of an old teacher of Michael, who let him use his phone to call the RAA… Back at the car, some hysteria and more wild stories filled the time until help arrived, after which we returned to Vasey Street in time to finish our ethno-musicology assignments, due at 9am next morning. Actually, Bronwyn & I finished the assignments in time, Michael didn’t finish his until 2 days later, but only had 4 marks deducted for lateness, and still did better than me 😉 A smart cookie!

Mozart Requiem was one of the best concerts any of us will ever experience. St Peter’s Cathedral was full to overflowing, with over 100 being turned away. The atmosphere was electrifying, and we sang our hearts out, producing a great musical performance which audience and choir alike will never forget. We were on a high from start to finish, and the event would have to be one of the best AUCS concerts ever!

In second term 1986, Hilary asked Michael to play organ for the AUCS concert. The piece was Carissimi’s “Jephte”, and the venue was Flinders Street Baptist Church. Michael played well, despite his music being blown away at one point. He also sang bass for the other pieces in the performance, always a great addition to any bass-line. Occasionally he was asked to sing in semi-choruses for the group, and his contribution was always valued. And any time there was a social occasion, Michael was there, along with the large enthusiastic group of AUCS socialisers. By the end of the year, we were many of us firm and inseparable friends.

By 1987, the instrumental group “Ayres and Graces” had metamorphosed into a vocal group which Michael named “Cantemus Gaudentes” (A bit of a mouthful, but with an appropriate meaning “Sing joyfully”). Again performing in the AUCS reviews and at Grote Street Church of Christ, we got the chance to sing arrangements and original pieces composed by Michael. This year many new faces joined the regular coffee goers and party crowd – Geoff Coates, Peter Kelsall & Michael Flaherty, to name but a few… Trips to Hindmarsh Island continued, as well as many parties and get togethers… Endless games of “500”…

In about 1988, 7 of us enthusiastic AUCSters had a joint birthday party at party at George Street Norwood. There was Michael, Kenneth, Kathy, Carol Rohde, Andrew Cohen, Judith & myself, and Kenneth’s mum Dalece made a very special piano cake!

Around this time, Michael moved out of home, and set himself up in the cottage next to the Grote Street Church of Christ. Notorious for being the house that “wasn’t there”, Michael had trouble receiving post, and once posted a letter from himself from the GPO, 200 metres up the road. It took 9 days to arrive at his house! However, the anonymity of the house was not in evidence on the night when Michael was locked out of the house, and we were forced to break in through a side window. The police soon arrived for an explanation, having been alerted by taxi-drivers from the bus station across the road. Obviously Michael & I must have looked very suspicious at the time!

Now he had his own place, Michael explored his love of cooking, producing many strangely-coloured curries, and his renowned ”blue rice”. His beautiful black-and-white cat Tessa was later joined by Tabby Helen, Michael’s main companions at home. He was there for so many of the significant occasions of our lives – my 21st, where he dressed up as ?? [photo], Kenneth’s 21st…[photo], our engagement party, and that bridal shower where he tried on my paper bra [photo]! He sang for Kenneth’s and my wedding in 1990 [photo], and then at Rosemary Byron-Scott’s and Daryl Zeuner’s in 1992 [photo]. By this time, he was living in Horsham, but he made the effort to catch up with friends whenever possible.

His diagnosis of leukaemia came as huge shock. Many weeks spent in hospital must have been awful for him, but he seemed to cope magnificently. I remember visiting him at the RAH and in Ballarat, and it all seemed so unbelievable that he could be taken from us. Just before his death, he was expected to use a wheelchair, and we managed to organise for him to get to the AUCS concert to hear Elijah (conducted by Carl Crossin), in Elder Hall where we had performed so often ourselves. They had just installed a lift, and, appropriately, Michael was the first wheelchair-user to use it! He enjoyed the concert, but found it tiring and it was back to the hospital afterwards. And that is my last memory of him.

But the strongest memory I have is of a healthy Michael, a complex and fun person, full of a love of life and infinitely talented and insightful. He is much missed…