Peter Richard Tahourdin (27 August 192828 July 2009) was an English-born Australian composer. His compositions range from orchestral (5 symphonies) and chamber music to choral and educational music, as well as music for the opera and ballet. Without being his principal contribution, he was one of the pioneers in the field of

electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

Early life and career

Peter Tahourdin was born in

Bramdean Bramdean is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Bramdean and Hinton Ampner, in the Winchester district, in the county of Hampshire, England. It is a linear settlement located along the busy A272 trunk road which was widened ...

, Hampshire in 1928. He was the second child, and only son, of Major Victor Tahourdin and Veronica Price.Conyngham, Barry (2009)
Composer scaled great heights: Peter Tahourdin, 1928–2009
, ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuous ...

'', 17 August 2009, p. 18 Tahourdin went to Wellington College, and then in 1949 began his music studies at

Trinity College of Music Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance is a music, dance, and musical theatre conservatoire based in South East London. It was formed in 2005 as a merger of two older institutions – Trinity College of Music and Laban Dance Centre. Trini ...

in London with

Richard Arnell Richard Anthony Sayer Arnell (15 September 191710 April 2009) was an English composer of classical music. Arnell composed in all the established genres for the concert stage, and his list of works includes six completed symphonies (a seventh wa ...

. He graduated in 1952 as a trumpet player and in the following years worked as a performer and broadcaster in England, the Netherlands and Canada. In 1956, he married writer and editor

Barbara Ker Wilson Barbara Ker Wilson (24 September 1929 – 10 September 2020) was an English-born Australian novelist. She is credited as the person who "discovered" Paddington Bear. She wrote over twenty books and collated collections of stories. She gained aw ...

Move to Australia, and later life and career

With his wife and two daughters, Tahourdin migrated to Australia in 1964. He was appointed visiting composer to the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide is a public university, public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. Its main campus in the Adelaide city centre includes many Sa ...

, on the recommendation of the chief conductor of the then

South Australian Symphony Orchestra The Adelaide Symphony Orchestra (ASO) is a South Australian orchestra based in Adelaide, established in 1936. The orchestra's primary performance venue is the Adelaide Town Hall, but the ASO also performs in other venues. It provides the orchest ...

, Henry Krips, who had conducted his 2nd Sinfonietta. In 1965 he was commissioned by the

Australian Ballet The Australian Ballet (TAB) is the largest classical ballet company in Australia. It was founded by J. C. Williamson Theatres Ltd and the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust in 1962, with the English-born dancer, teacher, repetiteur an ...

to compose the score for

Garth Welch Garth de Burgh Welch (born 14 April 1936) is an Australian dancer and choreographer. Early life and training Welch was born in Brisbane, Queensland. He was educated at the Anglican Church Grammar School. His initial dance training took place ...

's ballet ''Illyria'' (1965), which was produced at the 1966

Adelaide Festival The Adelaide Festival of Arts, also known as the Adelaide Festival, an arts festival, takes place in the South Australian capital of Adelaide in March each year. Started in 1960, it is a major celebration of the arts and a significant cultural ...

. In 1966 he spent a year studying a master's degree in electronic music at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

in Canada. On returning to Adelaide he became active as a composer, lecturer and broadcaster, and he established the first practical course in electronic music in Australia at the University of Adelaide in 1969. His students there included

Martin Wesley-Smith Martin Wesley-Smith (10 June 1945 – 26 September 2019) was an Australian composer with an eclectic output ranging from children's songs to environmental events. He worked in a range of musical styles, including choral music, operas, computer m ...

. He joined the Faculty of Music at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

in 1973, and this formed the base for the rest of his working life here. He was chairman of the Composers' Guild of Australia 1978–79. Having divorced his first wife, he married Jane Todner in 1978. He retired from the University of Melbourne in 1988 at the age of 60 to work full-time as a composer. In 2003, Andrew Ford wrote the duo for flute and clarinet ''Sounds and sweet airs'' as a tribute to Tahourdin on his 75th birthday. Peter Tahourdin died on 28 July 2009, aged 80. He was survived by both wives, two daughters and two grandchildren.Death notice, ''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

'', 1 August 2009

Musical style and interests

Tahourdin had wide musical interests including "chamber music, the orchestra, Indian music and music theatre", but his dominant interest for most of his career was

. He developed a pioneering electronic studio, and began his friendship with another English-born Australian composer,

Tristram Cary Tristram Ogilvie Cary, OAM (14 May 192524 April 2008), was a pioneering English-Australian composer. He was also active as a teacher and music critic. Career Cary was born in Oxford, England, and educated at the Dragon School in Oxford and W ...

Music

Operas

* ''Inside Information'' (1955, one-act) * ''Parrot Pie'' (1973, one-act opera for children) * ''Heloise and Abelard'' (1991, chamber opera; first performed at the 1993

Perth International Arts Festival Perth Festival, named Perth International Arts Festival (PIAF) between 2000 and 2017, and sometimes referred to as the Festival of Perth, is Australia's longest-running cultural festival, held annually in Western Australia. The program features ...

; first European production at Festival International Albert Roussel in French Flanders, 2000) * ''The Tempest'' (2000, based on

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...

but not yet staged).

Orchestral works

Peter Tahourdin wrote two sinfoniettas (1952, 1959); and five symphonies (1960, 1969, 1979, 1987, 1994), all of which except the fifth have been performed. The fifth was inspired by the genocide in

Rwanda Rwanda, officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator, Rwanda is bordered by ...

and the continuing military conflict in

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

. The Concerto for Clarinet and Chamber Orchestra was written in 2007. His ''Elegy'' for string orchestra and percussion, subtitled "A lament for a world that might have been", was written in 2005.

Chamber music

Tahourdin's chamber music includes the Clarinet Sonata (1962), the four ''Dialogues'' (1971–84), the Quartet for Strings (1982), the ''Raga Music'' series (1985–88), ''Music for Solo Viola'' (2001), and ''Look at the Stars'' for flutes, clarinet, cello and marimba (2006). There are also solo works for piano, violin, cello and bassoon.

Vocal music

His vocal music includes ''The Starlight Night'' (

Gerard Manley Hopkins Gerard Manley Hopkins (28 July 1844 – 8 June 1889) was an English poet and Society of Jesus, Jesuit priest, whose posthumous fame places him among the leading English poets. His Prosody (linguistics), prosody – notably his concept of sprung ...

), ''Songs of Love and Fortune'' (1992, a setting of five poems from the

Carmina Burana ''Carmina Burana'' (, Latin for "Songs from Benediktbeuern" 'Buria'' in Latin is a manuscript of 254 poems and dramatic texts mostly from the 11th or 12th century, although some are from the 13th century. The pieces are mostly bawdy, irreveren ...

)., as well as two cycles written for the tenor Damien Top : ''Chansons intimes'' (7 poems by Andrée Brunin for voice and harpsichord) and ''The

Ern Malley The Ern Malley hoax, also called the Ern Malley affair, is Australia's most famous literary hoax. Its name derives from Ernest Lalor "Ern" Malley, a fictitious poet whose biography and body of work were created in one day in 1943 by conservati ...

Sequence'' (tenor & piano) (2007)

Electronic music

His electronic music includes ''Three Mobiles'' (1974), ''San Diego Canons'' (1983), ''Ern Malley – A Dramatic Testament'' (1976), and the ''Ern Malley Sequence'' (2007).

References

Sources

Australian Music Centre

Australian Music Centre: Peter Tahourdin at 80

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tahourdin, Peter 1928 births 2009 deaths English male classical composers English classical composers English emigrants to Australia People educated at Wellington College, Berkshire 20th-century Australian classical composers Australian music educators Australian male classical composers 20th-century English composers 20th-century British male musicians