Sutherland, Margaret (1897 - 1984)

Margaret Sutherland’s life’s work as a composer saw her produce over 90 compositions and attain renown as a pioneer of ‘new music’ and of women’s involvement in music. Her only opera - the Young Kabbarli (1964), based on Daisy Bates - was the first Australian opera recorded in Australia.

Sutherland’s work promoting music and the arts included her years (1943-1956) as an initiator, organiser and secretary for the Combined Arts Centre Movement, a group which worked to promote the formation of a cultural centre in Melbourne after World War II, and her membership of many other councils and organising bodies such as the council of the National Gallery Association of Victoria (1950s-1960s).

Recognition of Sutherland’s prolific life as a composer and champion of the Arts in Australia has included an honorary Doctorate of Music from the University of Melbourne (1969), the Queen’s Silver Jubilee Medal (1977), and her appointment as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire on 13 June 1970 and an Officer of the Order of Australia on 8 June 1981.

Related People

• Bates, Daisy May (1863 - 1951)

  Margaret Sutherland's one-act opera 'The Young Kabbarli' was based on an incident from the life of Daisy Bates

• Wright, Judith Arundell (1915 - 2000)

  Margaret Sutherland's one-act opera 'The Young Kabbarli' was based on poetry by Judith Wright and John Shaw Neilson

Books

• Symons, David, The music of Margaret Sutherland, Currency Press, Sydney, 1997. [ Details... ]

Newspaper Articles

• 'A lifetime of music', Age, 13 June, p. 14. [ Details... ]
• 'Composer too long neglected', Age, 20 November, p. B4. [ Details... ]

Theses

• Graham, Jillian, 'Composer, wife and mother : Margaret Sutherland as conflicted subject', M.Mus, University of Melbourne, 2001, 77 pp. [ Details... ]

Online Resources

• 'Margaret Sutherland', in Resources from the Australian Music Centre, http://www.amcoz.com.au/comp/s/msutland.htm. [ Details... ]

See also

• 'Records of the Australian Musical Association', National Library of Australia, http://www.nla.gov.au/ms/findaids/7996.html. [ Details... ]
• Lake, Marilyn and Kelly, Farley (eds), Double Time: Women in Victoria - 150 Years, Penguin Books Australia Ltd, Ringwood (Vic.), 1985, 476 pp. [ Details... ]
• Lofthouse, Andrea (ed.), Who's who of Australian women, Methuen Australia, North Ryde (NSW), 1982, 504 pp. [ Details... ]
• Pendle, Karin (ed.), Women & music : a history, Indiana University Press, Bloomington, 1991, 358 pp. [ Details... ]
• Radi, Heather (ed.), 200 Australian Women: A Redress Anthology, Women's Press, Sydney, [1988], 258 pp. (Also available at http://www.200australianwomen.com/) [ Details... ]
• Sztar, Adele, Australian women composers [videorecording], Adele Sztar, Australia, 1983. [ Details... ]