Peter Seulthorpe: A bio-bibliography

Abstract

This reference work is one of the most recent batch of bio-bibliographies in music published by Greenwood Press. It is a prolific series, dealing with the works of and writings about individual twentieth-century composers, mostly American. Since the first volume, Don Hixon's Thea Musgrave: A Bio-Bibliography (1984), dozens have been written following the same basic format, which, according to the Greenwood Press's Guidelines for Authors, consists of “a brief biography, a list of works, a discography and an annotated bibliography, plus appropriate frontmatter, appendices and indexes, and any special features befitting the subject or dictated by the materials”. Most volumes also inelude a section on performances of works. All volumes in the series are produced by off-set reproduction from camera-ready copy prepared by the respective authors. Although this method of production has allowed for the initiation of many volumes simultaneously, the associated savings in production costs are not reflected in the retail price, if the Sculthorpe volume is any indication: the Australian Music Centre is selling it for $99.95.