Peter Sculthorpe (1929 - 2014)

[Mirror Image]

Oh well. Kakadu as a piece of music seems much closer to the kinds of things he was doing in the 60s and 70s than what he was doing later on, especially witu Earth Cry where he used didjeridu extensively.

Yeah, I just don't think much of the instrument, but, as I mentioned, I liked the way he incorporated it into his Requiem. Btw, have you heard this work yet?

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

Yeah, I just don't think much of the instrument, but, as I mentioned, I liked the way he incorporated it into his Requiem. Btw, have you heard this work yet?

I have heard the requiem, but only once and it was a while ago. It didn't make a lasting impression on me.....so I better hear it again some day.

[Mirror Image]

I have heard the requiem, but only once and it was a while ago. It didn't make a lasting impression on me.....so I better hear it again some day.

Yeah, it's not as memorable as many of his other works. I need to revisit it myself.

[Mirror Image]

For anyone interested, I can't imagine it would be that many, I created a page for Sculthorpe and a discussion group dedicated to his music on Facebook. Here is the link:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/372976873313113/

Please feel free to post anything related to Sculthorpe that you wish there. I'm trying to get this thing up and running. To my knowledge, this is the only group dedicated to this composer's music on Facebook or anywhere. So please help me spread the good word about the composer and invite all of your friends.

[foxandpeng]

Pulled from the WAYLT thread.

Kronos Quartet 25 Years
Peter Sculthorpe SQs 11 'Jabiru Dreaming', 8, 12 'From Ubirr'
Kronos Quartet

Wow. These Peter Sculthorpe SQs sound great here. Grabbed me straight from the gate. What powerful works! Particularly 11 and 12. The addition of the dijeridoo is superb, in my opinion. I really need to explore his SQs in more detail. Honestly that good, IMO.

My only criticism is their inability to spell Sculthorpe's surname correctly, and the lack of metadata on Spotify. There are recordings here of Gubaidulina and Glass that I would have missed through lax tagging.

Where has Sculthorpe been hiding all this time? I suggest nowhere, but I am really glad to have found him. Brilliant!

For anyone interested, I can't imagine it would be that many, I created a page for Sculthorpe and a discussion group dedicated to his music on Facebook. Here is the link:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/372976873313113/

Please feel free to post anything related to Sculthorpe that you wish there. I'm trying to get this thing up and running. To my knowledge, this is the only group dedicated to this composer's music on Facebook or anywhere. So please help me spread the good word about the composer and invite all of your friends.

*goes off to find and join the Facebook group*

Edit: Has this been deleted, MI? Can't see it...

[Mirror Image]

Pulled from the WAYLT thread.

Where has Sculthorpe been hiding all this time? I suggest nowhere, but I am really glad to have found him. Brilliant!

*goes off to find and join the Facebook group*

Edit: Has this been deleted, MI? Can't see it...

Yeah, foxandpeng, I deleted the Sculthorpe group as there just wasn't any activity happening in it and I ended up not really feeling like maintaining it. It's good that you're getting into his music, though. He was one of the most outstanding composers I know from Australia. Unfortunately, he doesn't get much attention here on GMG. But, it's not a problem, I'm glad to see you listening to his SQs, which are some of his most important works. One of the main criticisms of Sculthorpe's music is he reuses themes in different guises throughout a plethora of different works, but what people don't understand is he looked at composition as a continuous journey where nothing is forgotten, although there is one work where he threw all of this out of the window and that work is Sun Music. This is an avant-garde work that uses Sculthorpe's own musical symbols and notation. At the world premiere of this work, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra hadn't the foggiest clue how to perform it. Anyway, do check out his tone poems like Earth Cry, Kakadu and Mangrove, which beautifully capture the Australian landscape in sound. I'd also check out Island Dreaming, Memento mori, Port Essington, Sun Music I-IV (of course!), Island Songs Nourlangie, Music for Federation and, one of his crowning achievements, the Piano Concerto.

[T. D.]

I've heard a couple of Sculthorpe pieces live and enjoyed them, the one I recall is For Ubirr, a string quartet + didjeridoo.
Would be interested in the string quartets, but gave up on the idea years ago because recordings are scarce. There's a 10-disc box of collected works that appears to be mostly orchestral, I noticed no SQ on it.

[Mirror Image]

I've heard a couple of Sculthorpe pieces live and enjoyed them, the one I recall is For Ubirr, a string quartet + didjeridoo.
Would be interested in the string quartets, but gave up on the idea years ago because recordings are scarce. There's a 10-disc box of collected works that appears to be mostly orchestral, I noticed no SQ on it.

The ABC Classics box set is a missed opportunity of sorts. None of the chamber works were included, but there is a DVD that I can't watch because of the region its encoded with that talks about his SQs and I think a few of them were performed. To my knowledge, the SQs have never been recorded for ABC Classics. The only series that I've seen (and ended up buying many years ago) was the one on the Tall Poppies label with the Goldner Quartet. I'm quite certain these recordings (there's three volumes in all) are long gone by now. They were difficult to find even when I was looking for them. The solo piano music is quite good, so you may want look into it, T. D. There's a 2-CD set on ABC Classics with Tamara-Anna Cislowska:



I don't really understand your ambivalence about orchestral music, but this is something that Sculthorpe excelled in and should be explored if you're at all curious about the composer.

[T. D.]

There is a release of the string quartets with didjeridoo. 2 CD + 1 Blu-ray with the same contents.

[Mirror Image]

There is a release of the string quartets with didjeridoo. 2 CD + 1 Blu-ray with the same contents.

Yep, but with all honesty, I don't care anything about the didjeridoo. It doesn't add anything to the music. Plus, these SQs that do have the didjeridoo are works where he adds it in as an optional part. I'd stick with the SQs as they are and see if you can track down those Goldner Quartet recordings.

[T. D.]

Agreed, I heard one of the works (For Ubirr) live, and 2 CD wholly with that ensemble doesn't knock me out.
Will look for selected works. I listen to orchestral music, but don't really care for the symphonic genre (donning flame-retardant suit), which narrows the field a bit. Sculthorpe could be a good composer for me in that regard, no labeled "Symphonies" in his oeuvre.

[Mirror Image]

Agreed, I heard one of the works (For Ubirr) live, and 2 CD wholly with that ensemble doesn't knock me out.
Will look for selected works. I listen to orchestral music, but don't really care for the symphonic genre (donning flame-retardant suit), which narrows the field a bit. Sculthorpe could be a good composer for me in that regard, no labeled "Symphonies" in his oeuvre.

[foxandpeng]

Yeah, foxandpeng, I deleted the Sculthorpe group as there just wasn't any activity happening in it and I ended up not really feeling like maintaining it. It's good that you're getting into his music, though. He was one of the most outstanding composers I know from Australia. Unfortunately, he doesn't get much attention here on GMG. But, it's not a problem, I'm glad to see you listening to his SQs, which are some of his most important works. One of the main criticisms of Sculthorpe's music is he reuses themes in different guises throughout a plethora of different works, but what people don't understand is he looked at composition as a continuous journey where nothing is forgotten, although there is one work where he threw all of this out of the window and that work is Sun Music. This is an avant-garde work that uses Sculthorpe's own musical symbols and notation. At the world premiere of this work, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra hadn't the foggiest clue how to perform it. Anyway, do check out his tone poems like Earth Cry, Kakadu and Mangrove, which beautifully capture the Australian landscape in sound. I'd also check out Island Dreaming, Memento mori, Port Essington, Sun Music I-IV (of course!), Island Songs Nourlangie, Music for Federation and, one of his crowning achievements, the Piano Concerto.

Thank you . Always good to have some pointers as to where to go next with a composer, from somebody who knows the landscape. It's a real shame that the FB group had little support, but if he sees little interest even in a forum like this, I guess the foot traffic there would be light too. I shall explore the tone poems once I am a little more familiar with the SQs that I have, I reckon. Cheers!

I've heard a couple of Sculthorpe pieces live and enjoyed them, the one I recall is For Ubirr, a string quartet + didjeridoo.
Would be interested in the string quartets, but gave up on the idea years ago because recordings are scarce. There's a 10-disc box of collected works that appears to be mostly orchestral, I noticed no SQ on it.

If you are a Spotify user, there are at least seven Sculthorpe SQs that I've been able to find so far. I appreciate that not everyone is a fan of streaming, but if you do, then there they are

[Mirror Image]

Thank you . Always good to have some pointers as to where to go next with a composer, from somebody who knows the landscape. It's a real shame that the FB group had little support, but if he sees little interest even in a forum like this, I guess the foot traffic there would be light too. I shall explore the tone poems once I am a little more familiar with the SQs that I have, I reckon. Cheers!

Sounds like a good plan as any!

[calyptorhynchus]

Agreed, I heard one of the works (For Ubirr) live, and 2 CD wholly with that ensemble doesn't knock me out.
Will look for selected works. I listen to orchestral music, but don't really care for the symphonic genre (donning flame-retardant suit), which narrows the field a bit. Sculthorpe could be a good composer for me in that regard, no labeled "Symphonies" in his oeuvre.

Well Sculthorpe was about to break the habit of a lifetime and was writing a symphony for the 2015 100th anniversary of the ANZAC landings on Gallipoli but unfortunately his final illness supervened.

[Madiel]

Technically you can probably get Tall Poppies albums direct from the record label as they sell things through their website, though I've no idea in practice how well that would go. They also supply links to a couple of other options (the Australian Music Centre and Buywell Music) but to be honest I don't know how well those would operate either! I know Buywell but I can't recall if I've actually bought something from them.

They do also list some international distributors on the Tall Poppies website as well.

That's all for CDs of course. There's always iTunes etc.

[T. D.]

This could be interesting, I'm listening on Spotify:

Am I mistaken, or is this a witty cover? Anne Sofie von Otter, a big star, represented by an otter in lower right corner? If so, she must have quite a sense of humor!

[Mirror Image]

Technically you can probably get Tall Poppies albums direct from the record label as they sell things through their website, though I've no idea in practice how well that would go. They also supply links to a couple of other options (the Australian Music Centre and Buywell Music) but to be honest I don't know how well those would operate either! I know Buywell but I can't recall if I've actually bought something from them.

They do also list some international distributors on the Tall Poppies website as well.

That's all for CDs of course. There's always iTunes etc.

Looks like that Buywell site is the way to go:

https://buywellmusic.com/search?q=Sculthorpe

[calyptorhynchus]

I've just discovered a recording of Sculthorpe's last quartet (No.18) by the Flinders Quartet. I was previously only aware of the version with didjeridoo by the Del Sol Quartet. Both versions are great, but I prefer the string quartet only version which has a wonderful clarity and poignancy.

Unfortunately it's only available on an ABC Classics double CD which, apart from SQ 18, is made up of various works from other ABC Sculthorpe releases. So it would probably be mostly duplicating other discs in the collections of Sculthorpe fans. However, you can hear it on Youtube.

[kyjo]

I've just discovered a recording of Sculthorpe's last quartet (No.18) by the Flinders Quartet. I was previously only aware of the version with didjeridoo by the Del Sol Quartet. Both versions are great, but I prefer the string quartet only version which has a wonderful clarity and poignancy.

Unfortunately it's only available on an ABC Classics double CD which, apart from SQ 18, is made up of various works from other ABC Sculthorpe releases. So it would probably be mostly duplicating other discs in the collections of Sculthorpe fans. However, you can hear it on Youtube.

Yeah, I listened to that quartet recently as well. It's an effective work, if too consistently slow and melancholy for my taste. It would have been nice to have at least one quick movement for contrast. Overall, I prefer his supremely evocative orchestral works.