Peggy Glanville-Hicks

Peggy Winsome Glanville-Hicks (29 December 191225 June 1990) was an Australian composer and music critic. Biography Early life and education Peggy Glanville-Hicks, born in Melbourne in her family’s home, was first educated at Milverton, a girls’ grammar school for “ladies” which taught subjects such as music, elocution, grammar, arithmetic, scripture, and physical exercise. She transferred to the larger and more prestigious Methodist Ladies’ College when she was nine years old. She received instruction in piano and displayed an early aptitude for the instrument, prompting her parents to acquire a grand piano for their home. She was granted U.S. citizenship in 1949. After leaving America, she lived in Greece from 1957 to 1975. In the United States she asked George Antheil to revise his Ballet Mécanique for a modern percussion ensemble for a concert she helped to organize. In 1966, after years of failing eyesight, she was diagnosed with a brain tumour, which was surgically removed, and she regained her sight. However, a result of this operation was her loss of a sense of smell. She died in Sydney in 1990. She had returned to Australia at the encouragement of James Murdoch and others.