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THIBAUD PAVLOVIC-HOBBA violin
WILMA SMITH violin
HELEN IRELAND viola
ZOE KNIGHTON cello

with

AGATHA YIM, POLYPHONIC PICTURES filming and editing
THOMAS GRUBB, MANO MUSICA sound engineering, editing and mastering

Filmed March 2022 at Villa Alba Museum, Kew

This project was made possible through support from the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria, Australia Council, Playking Foundation and Besen Family Foundation

FQ MARGARET SUTHERLAND FESTIVAL

Margaret Sutherland’s legacy is felt all over Melbourne. Most notably in the existence of our Arts Centre, which is now being developed into an Arts precinct, realising Margaret’s vision as a nucleus of creative activity spilling into the streets of Melbourne. She was a tireless campaigner for contemporary music and composers, and the improvement in the standards of music education. She helped found the Council for the Encouragement of Music and the Arts which later became the Australia Council for the Arts. To say she was the matriarch of Australian music in the 20th century is no exaggeration.

Margaret was born in Adelaide in 1897, studied in Melbourne, and then set sail to the UK where she studied with Arnold Bax and “a most interesting Woman composer” whose name will remain a mystery. Her fascination with Bartok, Stravinsky and Debussy is evident as she fought against what she described as the “barrenness” of contemporary musical life with so many working in musical styles which were a pale reflection of late Romanticism.

So much of Margaret’s output is for chamber ensembles and she had an uncanny ability to pair unlikely instruments together. It’s staggering to think that Margaret only received two paid commissions in her lifetime, that her (ex)husband thought her compositional ambitions a sign of mental illness, and that she still had the energy and conviction to stay true to her musical ideals. Margaret’s compositional voice is supremely intelligent and heartfelt.

MARGARET SUTHERLAND (1897-1984)
Quartet for clarinet and string trio (composed 1967)

I. With conviction, yet freely
II. Scherzo with verve and spontaneity
III. Poignantly
IV. Decisively

with Justin Beere, clarinet

The quartet for clarinet and string trio was written just after her third string quartet in 1967 (which was one of the two paid commissions) and the crossover of themes is noticeable. Her harmonic language and nods to Bartok, Hindemith and Debussy abound with the skittish second movement scherzo bearing her hallmark razor sharp wit.

MARGARET SUTHERLAND (1897-1984)
String Quartet No. 2 “Discussion” (composed 1954)

The second string quartet was written in 1954 and originally given the title “Discussion”. As its name suggests, her intention was the sharing of material between instruments and celebrating the conversational nature of chamber music. Written in a single movement approximately 10 minutes long, it has a rondo form which brings back the opening theme again and again.

MARGARET SUTHERLAND (1897-1984)
Serenade for oboe and string quartet (composed 1950)

I. At a moderate pace, jauntily
II. Blues: Slowly, as in a dream
III. With gusto

with Ben Opie, oboe

“Serenade” for oboe and string quartet was written in 1950 at a time when she was exploring extensively setting the words of Judith Wright to music. This piece is altogether lighter in character with the middle “blues” movement being the heart of the work.