Margaret Sutherland: Quartet In G Minor (1936) - I

Abstract

Margaret Sutherland is represented by two compositions, both of them recorded in Sydney in 1946. The Quartet in G minor( House Quartet) for clarinet [or violin], horn [or viola], cello and piano was completed in 1936; the Fantasy Sonata for saxophone was performed, probably for the first time, at a CEMA (Council for the Encouragement of Music and the Arts) concert in 1946. These recordings have the added value of the composer playing the piano part and taking a leading role in the crafting of the performance. Sutherland spent much of her professional life playing chamber music, so it comes as no su rprise that the genre provided her with a vehicle for her own distinctive musical voice. Margaret Sutherland was born in Adelaide in 1897, moving to Melbourne in 1901. Amongst the celebrities in her family were her Aunt Jane who was a member of the Heidelberg School of painters, and Alexander Sutherland who is credited with having built, described (in the Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria) and utilised a tinfoil phonograph, making what were, in effect, Australia's first sound recordings. In 1904, Sutherland studied music with Mona McBurney who, in 1896, had gained a B.Mus from the Melbourne University, the first Australian university to admit women (1880). Her next teacher (from 1913) was Edward Goll, a Czech pianist of considerable local reputation. For a short time she also studied with Fritz Hart and Marshall Hall, whose untimely death from peritonitis truncated what Sutherland felt would have been a period of crucial work. She valued Marshall Hall's energy and enthusiasm. Recognising her gift as a pianist, Henri Verbrugghen, the first Director of the NSW Conservatorium and a close friend of Goll, invited Sutherland to Sydney to perform. In 1923, Sutherland replaced Goll for twelve months while he visited Europe. In 1924 and 1925 she was able to follow him, probably studying briefly with Professor Dorothy Howell at the Royal Academy in London. She spent a short time with John Ireland and, in the most productive and influential association to that time, with Sir Arnold Bax. It was under his influence that she completed her Violin Sonata (1925), a composition she first performed at the Society of Women Composers concert in London with the Australian violinist and one-time prodigy Leila Doubleday. Returning to Australia in 1926, she was profoundly affected by a sense of isolation, reporting later that 'the barrenness, the absolute vacuum at home, hit me and hurt me', but it did not stop her composing. Neither did marriage to an unsympathetic psychiatrist and the new responsibilities that came with children interfere, although there was a period immediately after 1926 when she composed very little. The publication of her Violin Sonata perhaps figured prominently and centrally in her own selfevaluation. The expatriate, Louise Hanson-Dyer's L'Oiseau Lyre publishing house, operating out of France, accepted the work, triggering a renewed energyforcomposition. A moreorless continuous stream of works appeared until the composer's infirmity precluded work, the last things coming out in 1967. The 'House Quartet', the Quartet in G Minor, is an early work (1936), its title evocative of Percy Grainger's quirky jingoism. It has flexible instrumentation and is cast in four contrasting movements. It forms part of the discovery of a personal musical language which is amongst the most distinctive of any Australian composer. The Fantasy Sonata is a somewhat enigmatic work, unlisted in the standard references to Sutherland's music. It was recorded by the composer with Melbourne clarinettist and saxophonist Thomas (Tom) White, who also played the oboe at CEMA concerts. Two copies of the score are held in the National Library of Australia's manuscript section in a collection documenting the activities of the Australian Musical Association, which operated out of Australia House in London in the 1950s. It is likely that the work was given a first London performance at that time. Show more