Glanville-Hicks, Peggy
Glanville-Hicks, Peggy
Glanville-Hicks, Peggy, Australian-born American composer; b. Melbourne, Dec. 29, 1912; d. Sydney, June 25, 1990. She entered the Melbourne Cons, in 1927 as a composition student of Hart. In 1931 she went to London and studied with Benjamin (piano), Morris and Kitson (theory), Vaughan Williams (composition), Jacob (orchestration), and Lambert and Sargent (conducting); she then pursued further training with Boulanger in Paris and with Wellesz (musicology and advanced composition) in Vienna (1936-38). In 1938 she married Stanley Bate, but they divorced in 1948. In 1939 she went to the U.S. and in 1948 became a naturalized American citizen. From 1948 to 1958 she wrote music criticism for the N.Y. Herald Tribune, and also was active in contemporary music circles. In 1956 and 1958 she held Gugggenheim fellowships. After living in Athens (1959-76), she returned to Australia. She utilized serial techniques in her music but not without explorations of early and non-Western modalities.
Works
DRAMATIC Opera : Caedmon (1933); The Transposed Heads (1952-53; Louisville, April 3, 1954); The Glittering Gate (1957; N.Y., May 14, 1959); Nausicaa (1959-60; Athens, Aug. 19, 1961); Carlos Among the Candles (1962); Sappho (1963); Beckett (1989-90). B a l l e t : Hylas and the Nymphs (1935); Postman’s Knock (1938); Killer-of-Enemies (1946); The Masque of the Wild Man (Spoleto, June 10, 1958); Triad (Spoleto, June 10, 1958); Saul and the Witch of Endor (CBS-TV, June 7, 1959; also for Orch. as Drama)) A Season in Hell (1965; N.Y., Nov. 15, 1967); Tragic Celebration: Jephthah’s Daughter (CBS-TV, Nov. 6, 1966). ORCH.: Meditation (1933); 2 sinfoniettas (1934, 1938); Piano Concerto (1936); Flute Concerto (1937); Prelude and Scherzo (1937); Sinfonia da Pacifica (1952-53; Melbourne, June 25, 1954); 3 Gymnopedies (1953); Estruscan Concerto for Piano and Chamber Orch. (1954; N.Y, Jan. 25, 1956); Concerto Romantico for Viola and Orch. (1956; N.Y, Feb. 19, 1957); Tapestry (1958). CHAMBER: String Quartet (1937); Sonatina for Alto Re-corder or Flute and Piano (1939); Concerto da Camera for Flute, Clarinet, Bassoon, and Piano (1946; Amsterdam, June 10, 1948); Sonata for Harp, Flute, and Horn (1950); Sonata for Solo Harp (1950-51); Sonata for Piano and Percussion (1951; N.Y, May 6, 1952); Concertino Antico for Harp and String Quartet (1955; Washington, D.C., Jan. 17, 1958); Musica Antiqua for 2 Flutes, Harp, Marimba, Timpani, and 2 Percussion (1957; Sydney, Jan. 21, 1982); Prelude and Presto for Ancient American Instruments (1957); Girondellefor Giraffes for 6 Instruments (1978). VOCAL: Pastoral for Women’s Chorus and Clarinet or English Horn (1932-33); Poem for Chorus and Orch. (1933); In Midwood Silence for Soprano, Oboe, and String Quartet (1935); Song in Summer for Chorus and Orch. (1935); Choral Suite for Women’s Chorus, Oboe, and Strings (1937); Aria Concertante for Tenor, Women’s Chorus, Oboe, Piano, and Gong (1945); Dance Cantata for Tenor, Narrator, Speaking Chorus, and Orch. (1947); Thomsoniana for Tenor or Soprano, Flute, Horn, Piano, and String Quartet (1949); Letters from Morocco for Tenor and Orch. (1952; N.Y, Feb. 22, 1953); songs. OTHER: Film scores.
Bibliography
D. Hayes, P. G.-H.: A Bio-Bibliography (Westport, Conn., 1990); W. Beckett, P. G.-H. (Pymble, Australia, 1992).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire