As a musicologist he edited over 150 works of early Maltese composers especially from the period of the knights, including the complete sacred music and operas by Nicolas Isouard (1773–1818). He was editing the sacred music and operas of Girolamo Abos (1715–1760).
Four volumes in his editions of 24 works of Michelangelo Vella [de; fr; it; mt] have been published by Lyrebird Press [Paris/Melbourne]. Divall was associated with several residential colleges of the University of Melbourne, first Queen's College (of which he was a fellow) and later Newman College (where he was a member of the SCR)[clarification needed]. In 2014, he was appointed an honorary research fellow at the University of Divinity, Melbourne, and in September 2014 a visiting professor of music at King's College London.[9]
For 45 years, Divall pioneered the study of, and edited and published many volumes of early Australian music. He was the chairman of the Marshall-Hall Trust,[10] and was completing an edition of the complete works of the English baroque composer Michael Christian Festing, and the complete sacred music of Girolamo Abos.[11] Divall worked in several fields at Monash, was a member of the committee for the construction of the new Sir Zelman Cowen School of Music, as well as assisting the staff and students at that school. In 2015 he was the co-producer of the ANZAC Commemorative CD Gallipoli – A Tribute, which was sponsored by the Ian Potter Foundation and Monash University.[12]
Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 29 by Charles Edward Horsley (Melbourne: Lyrebird Press, 2008)[13]
Edited works by Gluck, Rameau, Handel, Wesley, Bellini, Verdi, the complete sacred music of Nicolo Isouard, and the complete works of Michael Christian Festing (1705–1752).
Maria Stuarda by Gaetano Donizetti, sung in English; Elizabeth I – Nance Grant, Mary Stuart – June Bronhill, Earl of Leicester – David Parker, Lord Talbot – John Bolton-Wood, Lord Cecil – Barry Clark, Ann Kennedy – Janet Dawson, Victorian State Opera, Victorian State Opera Orchestra and Chorus. Melbourne 24 July 1976, conductor: Richard Divall[15]
Divall was awarded honorary degrees from Monash and Australian Catholic University and a PhD in theology by the University of Divinity [Catholic Theological College] in church history and 18th century Maltese sacred music. He was an officer of the Order of Australia (2009), an officer of the Order of the British Empire (1981) and was awarded a Spanish knighthood in 2008.
He was a fellow of Queen's College, Melbourne, and was on the SCR of Newman College at the University of Melbourne. He was a Knight of Malta in solemn religious profession and was active in hospitaller and charitable works in that order.
^Richard Divall (December 2001). "The Marshall-Hall Trust"(PDF). Review. No. 14. Archived from the original(PDF) on 30 March 2018. Retrieved 16 April 2018.
