Inner Song: A Biography of Margaret Sutherland
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Inner Song
A Biography of Margaret Sutherland
Jillian Graham
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'.
"Page after page reveals new secrets and struggles of this very important composer and brings to light her achievements and unwavering spirit of creativity. It’s so vivid I thought I was there and I learnt so much about Margaret Sutherland thanks to Jillian Graham’s extensive research and knowledge. Graham writes this story beautifully, engrossingly and with the deepest compassion and admiration for this hero to us all. A wonderful, life-changing read!"
-Elena Kats-Chernin
