The life of Peggy Glanville-Hicks is that of the archetypal composer: dramatic, flawed and full of brilliance. She is the subject of a documentary, film and multiple biographies. In her heyday in the 1950s she mixed with leading figures of the American musical elite – Yehudi Menuhin, John Cage, Lou Harrison and Virgil Thomson. She cut a striking figure with her short permed hair, masculine jackets and ties, and her strong opinions. Her biographer James Murdoch summed up her flamboyant personal life with his comment, “Her love life was a wreck but her friendships were exalted.”

Lived 1912-1990
Mostly in Melbourne, Sydney, New York
Best known for Etruscan Concerto, songs, Letters From Morocco, Nausicaa, Sappho
Similar to Stravinsky, Barber, Vaughan Williams, Shostakovich
 
Photo: The Australian Music Centre