Peter Sculthorpe

Peter Sculthorpe (born April 29, 1929 in Launceston , Tasmania , † August 8, 2014 in Woollahra , New South Wales ) was an Australian composer who was elected one of Australia's Living National Treasures in 1997.

biography

Sculthorpe attended Launceston Church Grammar School and had piano lessons from the age of nine. At the same time he began to compose. At the age of 16 he began studying at the University of Melbourne , graduating in 1950 with a Bachelor of Music degree in piano.

On his return to Tasmania, he opened a sports shop with his brother. In 1955, his Piano Sonatina was the first work by an Australian composer to be performed at the International Society for Contemporary Music Festival in Baden-Baden. In 1958 he received a Lizette Bentwich Scholarship from Melbourne University, which enabled him to study at Wadham College with Edmund Rubbra and Egon Wellesz . Here he also got to know the composers Peter Maxwell Davies and John Cage .

In 1960 he returned to Australia and taught from 1963 until his retirement at the University of Sydney . His students here included Anne Boyd , Ross Edwards and Barry Conyngham . 1966–67 he was composer in residence at Yale University , 1972–73 he was visiting professor at the University of Sussex .

In 1977 Sculthorpe was named Officer of the British Empire , and in 1990 Officer of the Order of Australia . In 1994 he received the Sir Bernard Heinze Memorial Award for his services to Australian music . In 1997 the National Trust of Australia selected him as one of Australia's 100 Living National Treasures . In 2002 he was elected an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters .

Sculthorpe composed about 350 works in all musical genres from song to choral works to opera, pieces for solo instruments, chamber music and orchestral works, sacred works and film music.

literature

Michael Hannan: Peter Sculthorpe: His Music and Ideas 1929-1979 , University of Queensland Press, 1982
Deborah Hayes: Peter Sculthorpe: A Bio-Bibliography , Greenwood Press, 1993
Peter Sculthorpe: Sun Music: Journeys and reflections from a composer's life , ABC Books, 1999
Graeme Skinner: Peter Sculthorpe: The Making of an Australian Composer , UNSW Press, 2007

Web links

Individual evidence

↑ Australian composer Peter Sculthorpe has died aged 85
↑ A tribute to Peter Sculthorpe, AO, OBE on app.secure.griffith.edu.au
^ Honorary Members: Peter Sculthorpe. American Academy of Arts and Letters, accessed March 22, 2019 .

personal data
SURNAME	Sculthorpe, Peter
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Australian composer
DATE OF BIRTH	April 29, 1929
PLACE OF BIRTH	Launceston , Tasmania
DATE OF DEATH	August 8, 2014
Place of death	Woollahra , New South Wales

[1] Australian composer Peter Sculthorpe has died aged 85

[2] A tribute to Peter Sculthorpe, AO, OBE on app.secure.griffith.edu.au

[3] Honorary Members: Peter Sculthorpe. American Academy of Arts and Letters, accessed March 22, 2019 .