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Peter Sculthorpe (1929-2014)

Sep. 08, 2014

Peter Sculthorpe (1929-2014)

It is with deep sadness that Schott Music notes the recent passing of Peter Sculthorpe, Australia’s foremost composer since Percy Grainger. Sculthorpe died on the morning of August 8 in Sydney at the age of 85. He was born in Launceston, Tasmania in 1929 and studied at the University of Melbourne and Wadham College, Oxford. 

Noted for his ability to musically convey the Australian landscape, Sculthorpe was inspired by nature, Indigenous and Aboriginal music, and sounds of the wildthroughout his career. Moreover, “his skill lay in the ability to synthesize these elements into music all his own, melancholic and desolate, but wonderfully colored and rhythmically vital” (The Independent). Another remarkable quality of Sculthorpe was his dedication to composing as a mouthpiece for social justice. For example, his 2003 Requiem was borne out of his concern for women and children killed as a result of the war in Iraq. Other social issues of concern to Sculthorpe that he embodied in his works were the plight of those seeking asylum in Australia (String Quartet No. 16) as well as climate change (String Quartet No. 18).

A recipient of Australia’s highest honors, Sculthorpe was appointed an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in ­­­1977, an Officer of the Order of Australia in 1990, and among many other distinctions and awards was a recipient of honorary doctorates from the universities of Tasmania, Melbourne, Sussex, Griffith and Sydney.

Sally Cavender, Vice-Chairman of Faber Music, writes:

Peter joined Faber Music in 1965, our founding year, and our relationship with him throughout these 49 years has been a joy and a pleasure from that time until now. His music is absolutely distinct, individual and lyrical, and expresses the warmth and simplicity of the man himself. His loss will be felt by his many pupils who now number amongst Australia’s most successful composers, and by Australian musical culture at large which he so profoundly influenced and reflected.


Peter Sculthorpe – composer profile

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