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Peter Sculthorpe

1977 (printed 2002)
Lewis Morley

gelatin silver photograph on paper (sheet: 40.2 cm x 30.4 cm, image: 32.9 cm x 24.2 cm)

Peter Sculthorpe AO OBE (1929 - 2014) is Australia's best-known composer. Born in Launceston, Tasmania, and educated in Melbourne and Oxford, Sculthorpe gained a Harkness Fellowship to study in the US in 1966 and became composer-in-residence at Yale University. In the late 1960s he was appointed Reader in Music at Sydney University, and now holds a personal chair as its Professor in Musical Composition. His major works include Sun Music 1 (1963), Sun Music Ballet (1968) and Rites of Passage (1974). Sculthorpe has received a plethora of local and international honours and awards and has been designated an Australian Living Treasure.

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2002
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
© Lewis Morley Archive LLC

The National Portrait Gallery respects the artistic and intellectual property rights of others. Works of art from the collection are reproduced as per the Australian Copyright Act 1968 (Cth). The use of images of works from the collection may be restricted under the Act. Requests for a reproduction of a work of art can be made through a Reproduction request. For further information please contact NPG Copyright.

Peter Sculthorpe

'Brings in the sun'

Portrait story: 2 minutes

Legendary Australian composer, Peter Sculthorpe, describes the development of his career.

Listen: Peter Sculthorpe

In their own words

Recorded 1967

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Peter Sculthorpe