Norma Phyllis Tyer (born 23 April 1928) was an Australian composer who wrote orchestral, choral, electronic and chamber music.

Education and career

Tyer was born in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

. In 1960, she was one of two students (the other was

Ann Carr-Boyd Ann Kirsten Carr-Boyd (born 13 July 1938) is an Australian classical composer and musicologist. She is considered an authority on the history of European music in Australia. Biography Ann Kirsten Wentzel was born in Sydney. Her grandfather W ...

) to graduate from the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

with a Bachelor of Music Degree. She worked as the managing editor of ''Music Now'' for four years, and taught music in public schools and at the University of Sydney. Tyer received the Frank Albert Post Graduate Traveling Scholarship in 1971 as well as a German scholarship for a course in new music at Darmstadt. This enabled her to spend 15 months studying in Europe, where her teachers included

Vinko Globokar Vinko Globokar (born 7 July 1934) is a French-Slovenian avant-garde composer and trombonist. Globokar's music uses unconventional and extended techniques, places great emphasis on spontaneity and creativity, and often relies on improvisation. Hi ...

Mauricio Kagel Mauricio Raúl Kagel (; 24 December 1931 – 18 September 2008) was an Argentine-German composer. Biography Kagel was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, into an Ashkenazi Jewish family that had fled from Russia in the 1920s . He studied music, his ...

, Gyorgy Ligeti,

Dieter Schnebel Dieter Schnebel (14 March 1930 – 20 May 2018) was a German composer, theologian and musicologist. He composed orchestral music, chamber music, vocal music and stage works. From 1976 until his retirement in 1995, Schnebel served as professor of e ...

Karlheinz Stockhausen Karlheinz Stockhausen (; 22 August 1928 – 5 December 2007) was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th and early 21st centuries. He is known for his groun ...

, Christian Wolff, and

Iannis Xenakis Giannis Klearchou Xenakis (also spelled for professional purposes as Yannis or Iannis Xenakis; el, Γιάννης "Ιωάννης" Κλέαρχου Ξενάκης, ; 29 May 1922 – 4 February 2001) was a Romanian-born Greek-French avant-garde ...

. She attended the

Dartington International Summer School Dartington International Summer School is a summer school and festival of music held on the medieval estate of Dartington Hall and is a department of the Dartington Trust. Operation First established at Bryanston School in 1948 (largely throu ...

to study with

Harrison Birtwistle Sir Harrison Birtwistle (15 July 1934 – 18 April 2022) was an English composer of contemporary classical music best known for his operas, often based on mythological subjects. Among his many compositions, his better known works include ''Th ...

and

Morton Feldman Morton Feldman (January 12, 1926 – September 3, 1987) was an American composer. A major figure in 20th-century classical music, Feldman was a pioneer of indeterminate music, a development associated with the experimental New York School ...

, and work in the electronics studio. Tyer then earned an M.A. in the analysis of contemporary music from University College in Cardiff, Wales, under Dr.

Arnold Whittall Arnold Whittall (born 1935, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England) is a British musicologist and writer. He is Professor Emeritus at King's College London. Between 1975 and 1996 he was Professor at King's. Previously he lectured at Cambridge, Nottingham ...

. While there, she worked in the electronics studio and studied psycho-acoustics in the physics department. Her thesis was entitled ''The Church Parables of

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...

''. In 1974, she became a lecturer in Academic Studies at Newcastle Conservatorium of Music, a branch of the

New South Wales State Conservatorium of Music New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

, where she remained through at least 1985.

Compositions

Tyer's music was published by

Chappell & Co Chappell & Co. was an English company that published music and manufactured pianos. Founded by pianist Samuel Chappell, the company was one of the leading music publishers and piano manufacturers in Britain until 1980 when Chappell sold its reta ...

. Her compositions include:

Chamber

*''String Quartet''

Orchestra

*Fantasia on a Theme of Bach *Franz Josef: Impressions of a Glacier

Vocal

*''Canticle of the Rose'' (chorus and piano) *''Fragments from the Coventry Corpus Christi Pageants'' (a cappella chorus) *''Kyrie Eleison'' (chorus and orchestra) *''Missa Brevis'' (a cappella chorus) *''New Sunrise'' (chorus and piano) *''Spring'' (a cappella chorus)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tyer, Norma Australian women composers Australian composers 1928 births 20th-century Australian women musicians String quartet composers University of Sydney alumni Sydney Conservatorium of Music faculty Year of death missing