Guide to the Papers of Larry Sitsky, 1912-2003

Summary

Collection number:

MS 5630

Extent:

16.44 metres and (101 boxes + 47 folio boxes + 37 audiovisual/digital carriers)

Language:

English

Preferred citation:

Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Larry Sitsky, National Library of Australia, MS 5630, [box and file number]'.

Availability:

Available

Access conditions:

Part available for research; part requires permission for research. Not for loan.

Background

Content Summary:

The collection consists of correspondence, diaries, and writing and music material created and collected during Sitsky's long and productive career as a composer, musicologist, pianist, teacher and writer. The correspondence includes letters and emails to and from composers such as Felix Werder, Nigel Butterley, Richard Meale, Colin Brumby, Ann Carr-Boyd, Vincent Plush, James Penberthy, Elena Kats-Chernin, George Dreyfus and Miriam Hyde. Sitsky also corresponded with musicians and his publishers, and over a long period with poet and librettist Gwen Harwood. The music component of the collection includes composition diaries, pencil and ink scores and published works by Sitsky as well as pieces by Roy Agnew and other Australian composers.

Biographical Note:

Larry Sitsky was born in Tientsin, China, in 1934, and came to Australia in 1951. He studied at the NSW State Conservatorium of Music, and after graduating in 1954, continued his piano studies with Winifred Burston and later in the USA with Egon Petri.

After returning to Australia, Sitsky took up positions at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music and the University of Queensland. From 1966 he has held various posts at the Canberra School of Music, Australian National University, including Head of Keyboard Studies and Head of the Department of Composition. Since 1994 he has held a personal chair.

Sitsky's achievements and awards include: Visiting Composition Fellowship to China 1983; Inaugural Composer Fellowship Music Board 1984; Fulbright Australian-American Fellowship 1988-1989; Advance Australia Award 1989; Director of the Australian Music Ensemble; various positions on the Australian Music Examinations Board; a Higher Doctorate in Fine Arts ANU 1997; Artist of the Year 2001; Centenary Medal 2003; and Member of the Order of Australia 2000.

A self-taught composer, Sitsky's major works which are represented in this collection include: Fantasia for piano (1962); opera, Fall of the House of Usher (1965); Apparitions (1966); Concerto for Two Pianos (1967); String Quartet (1969); opera, Lenz (1970); De profundis Epistola (1982); opera, Golem (1993); 'Violin Concerto No. 4: The Dreaming' (1997); Trio for Two Cellos and Piano: Enochian Sonata (1999); and Symphony in Four Movements

Published books written or edited by Sitsky include: Busoni and the piano: the music, the writings and the recordings (1986); Index of the Classical Reproducing Piano Roll (1989); The repressed Russian Avant-Garde 1900-1929 (1993); and Music of the 20th Century Avante-Garde (2002).

Sitsky married Magda Wlczek in 1961, and they have a son and daughter.

Bibliographic Reference(s)

• Who's Who in Australia 2005.

Provenance:

The papers of Larry Sitsky have been donated to the Library by Sitsky in a number of instalments between 1973 and 2003.

Folio boxes 1-3 (1973); Folio boxes 4-11 (1977); Folio boxes 12-18 (1983); Folio boxes 19-31 (2 February 1989); Folio boxes 32-33 (19 August 1993); Folio boxes 34-38 (9 March 1998); Folio boxes 39-47 (21 February 2003); Boxes 1-9 (18 August 1977); Boxes 10-26 (2 May 1983); Boxes 27-47 (2 February 1989); Boxes 48-63 (19 August 1993); Boxes 64-86 (9 March 1998); Boxes 87-101 (30 January and 21 February 2003).

Arrangement:

The collection has largely been left in the order imposed by Sitsky, with each successive consignment arranged into correspondence and music, and added to the collection as a separate addition. The collection has been artificially separated in the Guide into two streams, i.e. Folios (largely music manuscripts) and Boxes (largely correspondence). This occasionally results in a confused numbering of items (such as item numbers in the 1983 addition alternating between Box 26 and Folios 12-28).

Conditions Governing Access:

Access conditions may apply to this collection, please refer to the collection's catalogue record for further information (http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn1317437).

Conditions Governing Use:

Copying and publishing of unpublished manuscript material is subject to copyright restrictions. For such material, written permission to publish must be obtained from the copyright holder(s). Copying of unpublished material for research purposes is permissible 50 years after the death of the creator of the material.

Preferred citation:

Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Larry Sitsky, National Library of Australia, MS 5630, [box and file number]'.

Location of this collection:

National Library of Australia

Parkes Place

Canberra ACT 2600, Australia

Contact:

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