Peter Joshua Sculthorpe AO OBE (born 29 April 1929) is a noted Australian composer. He is known primarily for his orchestral and chamber music, such as Kakadu (1988) and Earth Cry (1992), which evoke the sounds and feeling of the Australian bushland and outback. He has also written 17 string quartets, using unusual timbre effects, works for piano, and two operas.

Life

Sculthorpe was born and grew up in Launceston, Tasmania. He began writing music at age seven. As a young composer, he independently discovered the whole-tone scale, and was disappointed when he learned that others, such as Debussy, had already used it. By thirteen, he had decided to make a career of music, despite many (especially his father) encouraging him to enter different fields, because he felt the music he wrote was the only thing that was his own. Much of Peter Sculthorpe's music has resulted from an interest in the music of Australia's neighbours as well as from the impulse to bring together aspects of native Australian music with that of the heritage of the West.

In early adulthood, he wrote a piano sonatina for an ABC competition; however, the piece was rejected because it was too modern. For many years, Sculthorpe has conducted master classes and lectured at the University of Sydney, where he is now an emeritus Professor. He has stated that he wants his music to make people feel better and happier for having listened to it?hence, he has typically avoided the dense, atonal techniques of many of his contemporary composers.

His Requiem is possibly his most serious, substantial work to date. It was premiered in March 2004 in Adelaide by the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and Adelaide Chamber Singers conducted by Richard Mills, with didgeridoo soloist William Barton, to critical acclaim.

In 2003, the SBS Radio and Television Youth Orchestra gave the premiere of Sydney Singing, a composition by Sculthorpe for clarinet solo (Joanne Sharp), harp solo (Tamara Spigelman), percussion solo (Peter Hayward) and string orchestra. This performance was released on SBS DVD in July 2005.

In 1982 a painting of Peter Sculthorpe by artist Eric Smith won the Archibald Prize.

Sculthorpe is a represented composer of the Australian Music Centre.

Honours

In the Queen's Birthday Honours List of 1970, he was named a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE). This was upgraded in 1977 to Officer status (OBE).

In the Australia Day Honours of 1990, he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO).

He is an Australian Living Treasure.

Works

Orchestral

• The Fifth Continent for speaker and orchestra (1963)
• Sun Music I (1965)
• Sun Music II (1969)
• Sun Music III (1967)
• Sun Music IV (1967)
• Love 200 (a collaboration with Tully) (1970)
• Music for Japan (1970)
• Small Town for solo oboe, two trumpets, timpani and strings (1976)
• Port Essington for string trio and string orchestra (1978)
• Mangrove (1979)
• Earth Cry (1986)
• Kakadu (1988)
• Memento Mori (1993)
• From Oceania (2003)
• Beethoven Variations (2006)
• "Songs of Sea and Sky"- also arranged for different instruments such as flute and clarinet.

Concertante

• Piano Concerto (1983)
• Earth Cry, for didgeridoo and orchestra (1986)
• Nourlangie, for solo guitar, strings and percussion (1989)
• Sydney Singing, for clarinet, harp, percussion, and strings (2003)
• Elegy, for solo viola and strings (2006)

Mangrove, for orchestra

Vocal/Choral

• Requiem
• Birthday of Thy King

Opera

• Rites of Passage (1974)
• Quiros (1982)

Chamber/Instrumental

• Sonata for Viola and Percussion (1960)

• Requiem for cello alone (1979)

• From Kakadu for solo guitar (1993)

• Into the Dreaming for solo guitar (1994)

• 16 string quartets

Piano

• Between Five Bells
• Rose Bay Quadrilles
• Piano Sonatina
• Nocturne
• Djilile
• Mountains
• Song for a Penny
• Night Pieces [Snow, Moon, Flowers, Night, Stars]
• Thoughts from Home - Composed to form part of the Gallipoli Symphony for Anzac Day 2015

External links

• Biography of Peter Sculthorpe - maintained by the Australian Music Centre
• Biography of Peter Sculthorpe - maintained by the Tasmanian Composers Collective
• Big Idea - Interview with Peter Sculthorpe (ABC Radio National)
• Guide to the papers of Peter Sculthorpe - held by the National Library of Australia
• http://nla.gov.au/nla.pic-an24878621 Peter Sculthorpe Art Collection held by Pictures Branch, National Library of Australia, Canberra
• {http://opera.stanford.edu/composers/S.html Opera Glass]

References

• Elizabeth Silsbury (March 5, 2004). "Sculthorpe Requiem". The Advertiser.

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