 While the building of the museum proceeded , the Graingers visited England for several months in 1936 , during which Grainger made his first BBC broadcast . In this , he conducted " Love Verses from The Song of Solomon " in which the tenor soloist was the then unknown Peter Pears . After spending 1937 in America , Grainger returned to Melbourne in 1938 for the official opening of the Museum ; among those present at the ceremony was his old piano teacher Adelaide Burkitt . The museum did not open to the general public during Grainger 's lifetime , but was available to scholars for research . 
