Peter Sculthorpe (1929 - 2014)

[Karl Henning]

I still get the "all the proper composers died out long ago" wheeze, now and again.

Never a caning, though;  I allow that.

[Mirror Image]

"He began piano lessons at 7 and started composing shortly afterward. His piano teacher, he recalled later, was not pleased: She informed him that all the composers were dead and caned him across the knuckles."
- the NY Times obituary

I've heard this quote many times before. Peter Sculthorpe is one of my absolute favorite composers. I believe his music was a genuine extension of who he was as a human being. It's so interesting to chronicle his music from the experimental, abrasive Sun Music I-IV to the free-flowing, almost minimal soundscape of Memento mori. He seemed to be a composer who was constantly pushing himself into new directions even until his passing. I'm forever grateful for this man's existence and how much of a blessing his music was for so many of us.

For those who haven't bothered exploring Sculthorpe's music, my only question is what are you waiting for? You're truly missing out. He didn't become one of Australia's most influential composer by composing 'pretty little ditties'. His music has substance and I urge anyone interested in 20th Century music to give him a chance.

[calyptorhynchus]

ABC Classics have recently released a 2 CD set of Sculthorpe's solo piano music that contains more pieces than the 1990s Tall Poppies disk.

https://shop.abc.net.au/products/sculthorpe-complete-works-solo-piano-2cd

I don't know what the cheapest way to buy it is for those not in Oz, but remember when you look at the price that $1 Aus is 85c US.

The ABC just got its budget cut hugely by our wonderful government so it could do with some sales.

[calyptorhynchus]

I've listened to these disks now and his piano music is very good, it doesn't sound like much to begin with, but after a while something of real substance and power emerges quietly (bit like australian landscapes) 

The last work on the disks (and chronologically) is a substantial suite entitled Riverina, depicting the landscape and history of central southern New South Wales around Wagga Wagga. It's a very very moving final work of his.

[calyptorhynchus]

And I've just found out that a 2 Cd set including his previously unrecorded last String Quartet (No.18) was released just before the composer's death last year.



I won't overload the thread with superlatives, but suffice it to say no-one should be disappointed in this quartet.

[snyprrr]

And I've just found out that a 2 Cd set including his previously unrecorded last String Quartet (No.18) was released just before the composer's death last year.



I won't overload the thread with superlatives, but suffice it to say no-one should be disappointed in this quartet.

errrr.... 'The Complete SQs with digidooo'??.... really??....the Del Sol are a very adventurous group... check out their album 'Ring of Fire'...

[Mirror Image]

And I've just found out that a 2 Cd set including his previously unrecorded last String Quartet (No.18) was released just before the composer's death last year.



I won't overload the thread with superlatives, but suffice it to say no-one should be disappointed in this quartet.

I've definitely have had my eye on this set along with the solo piano music.

[calyptorhynchus]

errrr.... 'The Complete SQs with digidooo'??.... really??....the Del Sol are a very adventurous group... check out their album 'Ring of Fire'...

Got something against didgeridoos

Seriously Sculthorpe has been a pioneer on incorporating the instrument into different ensembles and the orchestra in the works since the 60s. His method of composition allows for the reuse and re-composition of material from different pieces in other works, and the composition of different versions of the same piece for different forces. I don't doubt there is a version for pure string quartet of 18 (and the others), but on this recording to you can enjoy this version (didgeridoo quartet or quintet with two cellos one played by the didg, or however you want to think about it.)

[The new erato]

I need to bring to your attention the "Outstanding" classification of the new Sono Luminus disc of string quartets with didgeridoo, which also for a 2 CD set with an additional Blue-Ray audio disc is ridiculously cheap (at least on prestoclassical where I just ordered it.)

http://recordreview.co.uk/outstanding.php

[calyptorhynchus]

This looks promising too

https://shop.abc.net.au/products/peter-sculthorpe-abc-recordings-10cd-1dvd

(Sorry, can't get the image url to work).

My only reservation is the DVD entitled "the String Quartets", I am investigating whether it is actually has performances of the SQs or is a documentary with excerpts.

[calyptorhynchus]

Yep the DVD is only a documentary with excerpts. Still, this boxed set would be good value for another who doesn't have many discs of PS's music.

[calyptorhynchus]

I have just been watching Sculthorpe's opera for television, Quiros (1982).

The opera deals with the life of the Spanish/Portuguese navigator Pedro Fernández de Quirós (1565–1614), who in two expeditions never quite managed to get to Australia, despite wanting to, and who died whilst trying to organise a third expedition.

I would describe the opera as a masterpiece, it's about 1 hour and 5 minutes long, very well structured, with various ensembles, choruses, set-piece 'arias' and so forth (and some rhythmic speech). The libretto is good (never thought I'd write that about an opera) and of course the score is fantastic, and any fans of Sculthorpe will immediately recognise various characteristic textures, rhythms and themes. (The music is played by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Myer Fredman).

The piece was filmed by the Australian Broadcasting Commission in 1982, and is an astonishingly well-produced production, with good costumes and good acting. The ABC has had no money for the last 20 years and has become so low-brow it is almost blind. It's impossible to imagine the ABC producing anything like this nowadays ('anyone for more Downton Abbey?')

The source is a videotape of the TV broadcast from the time, the picture quality is not great, but the sound is surprisingly good. I got it from

www.operapassion.com (searching for 'Quiros')

There's a DVD and a download, I'd go for the download because when I ordered the DVD it arrived and I started playing it and it turned out to be Tchaikovsky's Queen of Spades. I complained and they told me that Quiros was actually on the disk, after the Tchaikovsky (no, I don't understand either).

[Mirror Image]

Cross-posted from the 'Purchases' thread:

Just bought:



I never heard this film work by Sculthorpe and his Island Songs for saxophone and orchestra is also a completely new work for me. Oh, and Amy Dickson is quite easy on the eyes.

https://www.youtube.com/v/46VWPIi_gP0

[Mirror Image]

It's been almost another year since the last post and I'm glad that I can continue to promote Sculthorpe's music here on GMG. He really is a great composer with a unique sound-world that's entirely his own. I love the new Sculthorpe poll that Jessop (ComposerOfTheAvantGarde) created. His enthusiasm for this music I hope will catch on as I've been beating members here over the head with my non-stop, ongoing blather about this music for the past six years now and it hasn't helped anything.

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

Sun Music I to IV highly recommended!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

Wonderful painting of the aussie legend

[Mirror Image]

Wonderful painting of the aussie legend

Indeed. A great painting and one that truly reflects Sculthorpe (according to his own thoughts):

https://www.youtube.com/v/ysascrWdeGo

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

Check out this performance of Kakadu with an additional introductory section!

[Mirror Image]

Check out this performance of Kakadu with an additional introductory section!

I didn't like it, Jessop. In all honesty, I'm not a fan of the didgeridoo. I thought he incorporated the instrument beautifully into his Requiem, but hearing it in Kakadu sounded tacked on to me. Plus, he didn't originally write this work with the instrument in mind anyway. I think only later (perhaps after he met William Barton) that he added it to the piece as an optional added-on instrument.

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

I didn't like it, Jessop. In all honesty, I'm not a fan of the didgeridoo. I thought he incorporated the instrument beautifully into his Requiem, but hearing it in Kakadu sounded tacked on to me. Plus, he didn't originally write this work with the instrument in mind anyway. I think only later (perhaps after he met William Barton) that he added it to the piece as an optional added-on instrument.

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.