Inner Song: A Biography of Margaret Sutherland

(Hardback)

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Did Margaret Sutherland achieve more for Australian music than any other composer Margaret Sutherland was one of the most innovative and influential Australian composers. In the first half of the twentieth century, her desire to be both serious composer and mother was atypical, and she faced significant challenges - public and private - in blending these roles. Against the backdrop of an unhappy and unsupportive marriage and a society not yet ready to accept her creative ambitions and strong views on Australia's musical development, she remained admirably steadfast in pursuing her goals. Sutherland created over two hundred compositions, ceaselessly campaigned on behalf of Australian music and musicians, and led the initial push to construct what is now Arts Centre Melbourne. In her attempts to redefine beauty in music she used idiosyncratic musical language, being at the mercy of 'sound pictures' and 'floating ideas'. This book tells her remarkable story, laying bare something of Sutherland's inspiring 'inner song'.

Reviews

"Margaret Sutherland is a major historical figure in the compositional landscape, who has not received the scholarly attention she deserves. It is excellent to see this beautifully written, acutely incisive work by Jillian Graham filling that gap." --Linda Kouvaras

Author Bio

Jillian Graham is a freelance writer, editor and researcher, focusing on the experiences of Australian women composers. Graham was awarded the 2018 Redmond Barry Fellowship and was shortlisted twice for the Hazel Rowley Literary Fellowship. A trained musician, she sings in the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Chorus.