Guide to the Papers of Margaret Sutherland, 1894-1967

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Summary

Collection number:
MS 2967
Creator:
Margaret Sutherland
Extent:
0.42 metres and (3 boxes + 4 folios)
Language:
English
Preferred citation:
Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Margaret Sutherland, National Library of Australia, MS 2967, [box number and series and/or file number]'.
Availability:
Available
Access conditions:
Available for reference. Not for loan.

Background

Content Summary:
The Sutherland Papers contain some published and manuscript music; press cuttings concerning her work 1925-1930; minutes, notebooks and a petition book of the Combined Arts Centre Movement, 1943-1945; press cuttings and notes concerning mid-day concerts, 1943-1946; 'The development of Australian music', an Australian Literary Fund lecture by Lorna Stirling and a 7" record of satirical songs by Lorna Stirling; a small collection of correspondence; press cuttings (4 vols.) of William Sutherland as well as W.A. Osborne, William Sutherland: a biography (Melbourne: Lothian, 1920); and a small number of publications by her father Alexander Sutherland, her uncles George Sutherland and John Sutherland. The collection has been largely left in original order.
Biographical Note:

Margaret Ada Sutherland was born in Adelaide in 1897 into a musical, artistic and literary family. A resident of Melbourne from 1902, she lived there until her death. In 1914 she was awarded a scholarship to study piano with Edward Goll, and composition with Fritz Hart at the Marshall Hall Conservatorium, where she completed her term of scholarship, after which she taught piano and theory and worked as assistant to Edward Goll.

In 1923 Sutherland went to London and Vienna where she became involved in the musical life of these cities and absorbed the influences of European culture. In England, Sir Arnold Bax became a valued friend and musical mentor. She returned to Australia in 1925. During the late 1920s Sutherland married Melbourne psychiatrist Norman Albiston with whom she had two children. The marriage ended in 1948.

During the Second World War she arranged midday chamber music concerts for the Red Cross and became a member of the Council for Education, Music and the Arts (CEMA). For many years she was associated with the Australian Advisory Committee for UNESCO, and was a member of the Advisory Board for the Australian Music Fund as well as a Council Member of the National Gallery Society of Victoria. She was also instrumental in promoting the plan for the present Victorian Arts Centre, through her involvement with the Combined Arts Centre Movement (CACM).

Margaret Sutherland's only opera, The Young Kabbarli, based on an incident in the life of Daisy Bates, was composed in 1964, and received its first performance at the Theatre Royal, Hobart, in 1965. It was again performed by the State Opera of South Australia, in Adelaide and in Melbourne in 1972, and was honoured as the first Australian opera recorded in Australia. More than half of Margaret Sutherland's compositions are chamber works, reflecting her life-long participation in this form.

In 1976, Graeme Murphy choreographed her orchestral work Haunted Hills in the award-winning Glimpses, which has been performed with great success by the Australian Ballet and The Dance Company (NSW) (now the Sydney Dance Company). In 1969 Margaret Sutherland was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Music from the University of Melbourne in recognition of her contribution to Australian music. She died in 1984.

References: Symons, David, 'Sutherland, Margaret Ada', in Bebbington, Warren (ed.), Oxford Companion to Australian Music (Melbourne: OUP, 1997), pp. 535-537; 'Margaret Sutherland"in Schultz, Andrew (ed.), Biographical Directory of Australian Composers (Sydney: Australian Music Centre, 1996), p. 214.

Immediate Source of Acquisition:

The papers of Margret Sutherland were donated to the Library by her in 1971.

Indexed terms

Names:
Margaret Sutherland

Access and use

Conditions Governing Access:
Please refer to the collection's catalogue record for the access conditions (http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn1869587).
Conditions Governing Use:
Copying and publishing of unpublished manuscript material is subject to copyright restrictions. For such material, written permission to publish must be obtained from the copyright holder(s). Copying of unpublished material for research purposes is permissible 50 years after the death of the creator of the material.
Preferred citation:
Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Margaret Sutherland, National Library of Australia, MS 2967, [box number and series and/or file number]'.
Location of this collection:
Parkes Place
Canberra ACT 2600, Australia
Contact:
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