Remembering Peter Sculthorpe (1929-2014)

The Australian composer Peter Sculthorpe died on August 8, 2014. The Sydney Morning Herald wrote that “for many, Sculthorpe defined what it meant to be an Australian composer and defined a uniquely Australian sound.”

Sculthorpe spoke during the opening ceremony of the 2007 IAML conference in Australia, which was reported in the IAML Electronic Newsletter (No. 25, July 2007, beginning on p. 8, with pictures). For the occassion of the conference, IAML Australia commissioned an arrangement of String Quartet No. 10 with didgeridoo and this was performed during a concert. The piece was in honor of his honorary grandson, William Barton.

Numerous tributes for Sculthorpe have been collected by the Australian Music Centre. Please visit the AMC’s artist page for more on his life.

ABC Radio had an interview with him when he turned 80 in 2009. The National Library of Australia has an archived web exhibit on him.

You can hear samples of Sculthorpe’s music from the AMC.

Below is Irkanda IV (1961) for violin and string orchestra, performed by the Kammerorchester Metzingen. According to the AMC, “Irkanda is an Australian native word meaning 'a remote and lonely place'.”