Larry Sitsky
Encyclopedia
Lazar Sitsky AM, usually referred to as Larry Sitsky, born 10 September 1934, is an Australian composer, pianist
, and music educator and scholar. His long term legacy is still to be assessed, but through his work to date he has made a significant contribution to the Australian music tradition.
(formerly Tientsin), China, of Russian-Jewish émigré parents. He demonstrated perfect pitch
at an early age, by identifying notes or chords played in a different room. He studied piano from an early age, gave his first public concert at the age of nine, and started writing music soon thereafter. His family was forced to leave China during Mao's
rule. They came to Australia in 1951 and settled in Sydney
. He had sat for Cambridge University
Overseas Matriculation before leaving China. His first studies at university were in engineering, at his parents' insistence. This was not successful and "he convinced his parents to allow him to pursue his passion, music". He obtained a scholarship to the New South Wales Conservatorium of Music
, where he studied piano, briefly with Alexander Sverjensky
but mainly with Winifred Burston
(a student of Ferruccio Busoni
and Egon Petri
), and composition, graduating in 1955. In 1959, he won a scholarship to the San Francisco Conservatory, where he studied with Egon Petri for two years. Returning to Australia, he joined the staff of the Queensland Conservatorium of Music, after being accepted sight unseen based on a recommendation from Petri. His Australian studies and his subsequent studies in the United States
, "combined with the Russian heritage from his early studies in China, [make] him a unique repository of piano techniques and tradition which is acknowledged internationally".
A grant from the Myer Foundation
in 1965 enabled him to conduct research into the music of Ferruccio Busoni, on whom he has written extensively. In 1966 he was appointed Head of Keyboard Studies at the Canberra School of Music
, was later Head of Musicology and was Head of Composition Studies. He is currently Emeritus Professor of the Australian National University
in Canberra
.
Sitsky has always performed as well as composed, and as a student won performance awards. He believes that composers should perform, believing that "without this communion with a live audience, music-making all too easily becomes over-intellectualised, sterile and arid". As a performer, he champions twentieth-century repertoire.
In terms of composition, Sitsky has regularly changed his musical language in order to "express himself in ways that are not familiar and 'easy'".
Larry Sitsky attracted attention when he, among others, criticised the Keating
government for giving successive artistic fellowships to the pianist Geoffrey Tozer
. He explained that his criticism was not personal against Tozer, who was a friend of his, but that it was a matter of principle.
A biography of Sitsky was published in the USA in 1997.
in 1968, and again in 1981; the Alfred Hill Memorial Prize for his String Quartet in 1968; a China Fellowship in 1983; a Fulbright Award
in 1988-89, and an Advance Australia Award for achievement in music (1989). He has been awarded the inaugural prize from the Fellowship of Composers (1989); the first National Critics' Award; and the inaugural Australian Composers' Fellowship presented by the Music Board of the Australia Council. This last award gave him the opportunity to write a large number of compositions (including concerti for violin, guitar, and orchestra), to revise his book Busoni and the Piano, and to commence work as a pianist on the Anthology of Australian Piano Music.
In recognition of his various achievements, he was made Professor (Personal Chair); the Australian National University
also awarded him its first Higher Doctorate in Fine Arts in 1997. In 1998, he was elected Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities
.
He was made a Member of the Order of Australia
(AM) in 2000 for service to music as a composer, musicologist, pianist and educator. In 2000, he also received the Centenary Medal
for service to Australian society through music.
.
He has had works commissioned by many leading Australian and international bodies, such as the ABC
, Musica Viva Australia
, the International Clarinet Society, the Sydney International Piano Competition, Flederman and the International Flute Convention. His collection of teaching pieces, Century, has been published by Currency Press, and he also has an open contract to publish anything he wishes with his New York publisher, Seesaw Music Corporation.
In August 2011, Sitsky announced plans to write a series of operas based on the stories of Enid Blyton
. The works will be premiered by the ANU School of Music
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
, and music educator and scholar. His long term legacy is still to be assessed, but through his work to date he has made a significant contribution to the Australian music tradition.
Life and career
Larry Sitsky was born in TianjinTianjin
' is a metropolis in northern China and one of the five national central cities of the People's Republic of China. It is governed as a direct-controlled municipality, one of four such designations, and is, thus, under direct administration of the central government...
(formerly Tientsin), China, of Russian-Jewish émigré parents. He demonstrated perfect pitch
Absolute pitch
Absolute pitch , widely referred to as perfect pitch, is the ability of a person to identify or re-create a given musical note without the benefit of an external reference.-Definition:...
at an early age, by identifying notes or chords played in a different room. He studied piano from an early age, gave his first public concert at the age of nine, and started writing music soon thereafter. His family was forced to leave China during Mao's
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung , and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao , was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution...
rule. They came to Australia in 1951 and settled in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
. He had sat for Cambridge University
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
Overseas Matriculation before leaving China. His first studies at university were in engineering, at his parents' insistence. This was not successful and "he convinced his parents to allow him to pursue his passion, music". He obtained a scholarship to the New South Wales Conservatorium of Music
Sydney Conservatorium of Music
The Sydney Conservatorium of Music is one of the oldest and most prestigious music schools in Australia...
, where he studied piano, briefly with Alexander Sverjensky
Alexander Sverjensky
Alexander Borisovich Sverjensky was a Russian-born Australian pianist and teacher....
but mainly with Winifred Burston
Winifred Burston
Winifred Charlotte Hillier Crosse Burston was an Australian pianist and teacher.She was born near Caboolture, Queensland, of English-born parents, raised in Brisbane, and taught by her mother, an accomplished pianist. She studied first in Berlin from 1908, under Theodore Bohlmann...
(a student of Ferruccio Busoni
Ferruccio Busoni
Ferruccio Busoni was an Italian composer, pianist, editor, writer, piano and composition teacher, and conductor.-Biography:...
and Egon Petri
Egon Petri
Egon Petri was a classical pianist.-Biography:Petri's family was Dutch and he was born a Dutch citizen, but he was born in Hanover in Germany and was brought up in Dresden. His father was a professional violinist who taught his son that instrument. Petri played in the Dresden Court Orchestra and...
), and composition, graduating in 1955. In 1959, he won a scholarship to the San Francisco Conservatory, where he studied with Egon Petri for two years. Returning to Australia, he joined the staff of the Queensland Conservatorium of Music, after being accepted sight unseen based on a recommendation from Petri. His Australian studies and his subsequent studies in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, "combined with the Russian heritage from his early studies in China, [make] him a unique repository of piano techniques and tradition which is acknowledged internationally".
A grant from the Myer Foundation
Myer Foundation
The Myer Foundation is a major Australian philanthropic organisation.The Sidney Myer Charitable Trust was established by the will of Sidney Myer who died in 1934 leaving one tenth of his estate for the benefit of the community. Myer's will was proved at £922,000...
in 1965 enabled him to conduct research into the music of Ferruccio Busoni, on whom he has written extensively. In 1966 he was appointed Head of Keyboard Studies at the Canberra School of Music
ANU School of Music
The School of Music is a school within the Faculty of Arts of the Australian National University. It consists of four buildings, including the main School of Music building - which contains Llewellyn Hall - and the Peter Karmel Building....
, was later Head of Musicology and was Head of Composition Studies. He is currently Emeritus Professor of the Australian National University
Australian National University
The Australian National University is a teaching and research university located in the Australian capital, Canberra.As of 2009, the ANU employs 3,945 administrative staff who teach approximately 10,000 undergraduates, and 7,500 postgraduate students...
in Canberra
Canberra
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
.
Sitsky has always performed as well as composed, and as a student won performance awards. He believes that composers should perform, believing that "without this communion with a live audience, music-making all too easily becomes over-intellectualised, sterile and arid". As a performer, he champions twentieth-century repertoire.
In terms of composition, Sitsky has regularly changed his musical language in order to "express himself in ways that are not familiar and 'easy'".
Larry Sitsky attracted attention when he, among others, criticised the Keating
Paul Keating
Paul John Keating was the 24th Prime Minister of Australia, serving from 1991 to 1996. Keating was elected as the federal Labor member for Blaxland in 1969 and came to prominence as the reformist treasurer of the Hawke Labor government, which came to power at the 1983 election...
government for giving successive artistic fellowships to the pianist Geoffrey Tozer
Geoffrey Tozer
Geoffrey Tozer was an Australian classical pianist and composer. As a child prodigy, he composed an opera at the age of eight, and became the youngest recipient of a Churchill Fellowship award at 13...
. He explained that his criticism was not personal against Tozer, who was a friend of his, but that it was a matter of principle.
A biography of Sitsky was published in the USA in 1997.
Awards and honours
Larry Sitsky was the first Australian to be invited to the USSR on a cultural exchange visit, organised by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs in 1977. He has received many awards for his compositions, including the Albert H. Maggs Composition AwardAlbert H. Maggs Composition Award
The Albert H. Maggs Composition Award is a commission-based Australian classical composition award given in order to "encourage and assist composers who might otherwise abandon their efforts for want of means"....
in 1968, and again in 1981; the Alfred Hill Memorial Prize for his String Quartet in 1968; a China Fellowship in 1983; a Fulbright Award
Fulbright Award
The Fulbright Award is a scholarship awarded as part of the Fulbright Program to foster international research and collaboration. The program also awards a fellowship to Ph.D.'s to lecture and teach in foreign universities...
in 1988-89, and an Advance Australia Award for achievement in music (1989). He has been awarded the inaugural prize from the Fellowship of Composers (1989); the first National Critics' Award; and the inaugural Australian Composers' Fellowship presented by the Music Board of the Australia Council. This last award gave him the opportunity to write a large number of compositions (including concerti for violin, guitar, and orchestra), to revise his book Busoni and the Piano, and to commence work as a pianist on the Anthology of Australian Piano Music.
In recognition of his various achievements, he was made Professor (Personal Chair); the Australian National University
Australian National University
The Australian National University is a teaching and research university located in the Australian capital, Canberra.As of 2009, the ANU employs 3,945 administrative staff who teach approximately 10,000 undergraduates, and 7,500 postgraduate students...
also awarded him its first Higher Doctorate in Fine Arts in 1997. In 1998, he was elected Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities
Australian Academy of the Humanities
The Australian Academy of the Humanities was established by Royal Charter in 1969 to advance scholarship and public interest in the humanities in Australia...
.
He was made a Member of the Order of Australia
Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, "for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for meritorious service"...
(AM) in 2000 for service to music as a composer, musicologist, pianist and educator. In 2000, he also received the Centenary Medal
Centenary Medal
The Centenary Medal is an award created by the Australian Government in 2001. It was established to commemorate the Centenary of Federation of Australia and to honour people who have made a contribution to Australian society or government...
for service to Australian society through music.
Work
Sitsky has published the two-volume The Classical Reproducing Piano Roll and Music of the Repressed Russian Avant-Garde, 1900–1929, and has recorded a number of CDs of Australian piano music, including the complete sonatas of Roy AgnewRoy Agnew
Roy Ewing "Robert" Agnew was an Australian composer and pianist. He has been called the most outstanding Australian composer of the early twentieth century.-Early life and education:...
.
He has had works commissioned by many leading Australian and international bodies, such as the ABC
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
, Musica Viva Australia
Musica Viva Australia
Musica Viva Australia is the oldest independent performing arts organisation in Australia and the world's largest entrepreneur of chamber music. It was formed in 1945 in Sydney by violist Richard Goldner...
, the International Clarinet Society, the Sydney International Piano Competition, Flederman and the International Flute Convention. His collection of teaching pieces, Century, has been published by Currency Press, and he also has an open contract to publish anything he wishes with his New York publisher, Seesaw Music Corporation.
In August 2011, Sitsky announced plans to write a series of operas based on the stories of Enid Blyton
Enid Blyton
Enid Blyton was an English children's writer also known as Mary Pollock.Noted for numerous series of books based on recurring characters and designed for different age groups,her books have enjoyed huge success in many parts of the world, and have sold over 600 million copies.One of Blyton's most...
. The works will be premiered by the ANU School of Music
ANU School of Music
The School of Music is a school within the Faculty of Arts of the Australian National University. It consists of four buildings, including the main School of Music building - which contains Llewellyn Hall - and the Peter Karmel Building....
Operas
- The Fall of the House of Usher, 1965, Libretto: Gwen HarwoodGwen HarwoodGwen Harwood AO , née Gwendoline Nessie Foster, was an Australian poet and librettist. Gwen Harwood is regarded as one of Australia's finest poets, publishing over 420 works, including 386 poems and 13 librettos. She won numerous poetry awards and prizes...
. - Lenz, 1970, Libretto: Gwen Harwood. Recorded Australian Broadcasting Corporation (Adelaide) 1982, conductor Christopher Lyndon-Gee; Lenz, Gerald English, tenor.
- Fiery Tales, 1975, After Chaucer and Boccaccio.
- Voices in Limbo, 1977, Libretto: Gwen Harwood.
- The Golem, 1980, Libretto: Gwen Harwood. Premiered by The Australian OperaOpera AustraliaOpera Australia is the principal opera company in Australia. Based in Sydney, its performance season at the Sydney Opera House runs for approximately eight months of the year, with the remainder of its time spent in the The Arts Centre in Melbourne...
under Christopher Lyndon-Gee, conductor, in 1993. Commercial CD recording released 2005 by ABC Classics (Polygram), edited from 1993 live performances.. - De Profundis, 1982, Libretto: Gwen Harwood.
Other works
- Improvisation and Cadenza for solo viola (1964)
- Three scenes from Aboriginal life: 1. Campfire scene, 2. Mathina, 3. Legend of the Brolga, 1988
- Incidental music to Faust for solo piano and three sopranos, 1996
- Symphony in Four Movements (premiered by the Canberra Symphony OrchestraCanberra Symphony OrchestraCanberra Symphony Orchestra is the principal professional orchestra of the Australian Capital Territory based in Canberra, the national capital of Australia....
under Robert Bailey, 23 May 2001) - Seven Zen Songs for voice and viola (2005)
Further reading
- Holmes, Robyn, and Peter Campbell (2001). "Sitsky, Larry [Lazarus]". The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, second edition, edited by Stanley SadieStanley SadieStanley Sadie CBE was a leading British musicologist, music critic, and editor. He was editor of the sixth edition of the Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians , which was published as the first edition of the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians.Sadie was educated at St Paul's School,...
and John TyrrellJohn Tyrrell (professor of music)John Tyrrell was born in Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia in 1942. He studied at the universities of Cape Town, Oxford and Brno. In 2000 he was appointed Research Professor at Cardiff University....
. London: Macmillan Publishers. - Lyndon-Gee, Christopher (1992). "An Eclectic in Australia: Christopher Lyndon-Gee Introduces Larry Sitsky". The Musical Times 133, no. 1793 (July: "Aspects of Australian Music"): 334–35.