Peter Joshua Sculthorpe AO OBE (born April 29, 1929) is a noted Australian composer. He is known primarily for his orchestral and chamber music, such as Kakadu (1988) and Earth Cry (1992), which evoke the sounds and feeling of the Australian bushland and outback. He has also written 15 string quartets, using unusual timbre effects, and works for piano. Life Sculthorpe was born and grew up in Launceston, Tasmania. He began writing music at age seven. As a young composer, he independently discovered the whole-tone scale, and was disappointed when he learned that others, such as Debussy, had already used it. By thirteen, he had decided to make a career of music, despite many (especially his father) encouraging him to enter different fields, because he felt the music he wrote was the only thing that was his own. In early adulthood, he wrote a piano sonatina for an ABC competition; however, the piece was rejected becau

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