Tristram Cary: scenes from a composer’s life.

Abstract

Tristram Cary (1925-2008) had a varied and successful life as a composer, spanning sixty years and two continents. He was a highly respected and prolific composer of film, radio, concert and electronic music in England before he took up a position at the Elder Conservatorium of Music, Adelaide, in 1974 at the age of 49. Cary produced a significant body of work that enjoys public attention through performances, recordings and intelligent criticism, but it remains outside the music canon. He is half remembered in England, and not fully valued in Australia; as it were, each country sees only half the picture. The dislocation of his career path resulted in the under-estimation of many of his achievements, in particular his groundbreaking work in electronic music independent of concurrent European developments during the post-war years. Apart from his own fastidious cataloguing and documentation of his work, an external critique of his long and prodigious career has not previously been undertaken. The dissertation gives a survey of Cary’s life and career, and aims to evaluate the importance of his achievements. The effects of his move from England to Australia on his career are assessed, and reference is made to the reception of some of his key compositions, including The Rhyme of the Flying Bomb.