Orchestral Music of the Canadian Centennial
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! ! ORCHESTRAL MUSIC OF THE! CANADIAN CENTENNIAL ! ! ! ! ! ! Isaac !Page ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF! MUSIC May 2020 ! Committee: Emily Freeman Brown, Advisor Per Broman ! !ii ! ABSTRACT ! Emily Freeman Brown, Advisor ! In 1967, Canada celebrated its centennial anniversary of confederation. Celebrations were marked with many significant events in the decade leading up to the centennial, notably the adoption of a new Canadian flag, the construction of many cultural landmarks across the country, and Expo 67 in Montreal. In addition to these major cultural celebrations, there was a noticeable push to create and promote Canadian art. Approximately 130 compositions were written for the centennial year, with many commissions coming from Centennial Commission grants as well as the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). Of those works, 51 were orchestral compositions that were intended to be performed by orchestras across the country. These works form an important collection that is ripe for study into compositional trends of the time. I believe that composers, writing for such a significant cultural event in Canada, attempted, consciously or not, to codify a Canadian musical identity. I will look into whether shared compositional traits could be considered signifiers of a general Canadian style by looking at previous scholarship on Canadian identity and how it can relate to music. Specific works will be analyzed by Applebaum, Eckhardt-Gramatté, Freedman, Glick, Hétu, Morel, Surdin, and Weinzweig. !iii ! ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ! Thank you to my parents, Carolyn Ricketts and Steven Page. I am very aware that I would likely not be where I am, and able to write a document like this, if both of my parents had not been musicians and had not continued to encourage me through my education. To my mother for her constant encouragement and support, and for setting the academic example that I can hope to achieve. To my dad, I would like to thank you for your encouragement and support, and also for your unique perspective on Canadian identity and art. Thank you to my advisors on this thesis, Dr. Emily Freeman Brown and Dr. Per Broman, for their help organizing my rambling thoughts into a cohesive form, as well as for their constant encouragement and generosity. Thank you to my composition teachers, Gregory Lee Newsome and Linda Catlin Smith, for their encouragement in my own artistic growth and fostering of my passion for Canadian music. They have both significantly broadened my knowledge and awareness of music in Canada. Thank you to Matthew Fava and the Canadian Music Centre for their assistance throughout this thesis; allowing me to use their writers room, access to scores, establishing contact and introducing me to many composers and performers whose input was invaluable. Thank you to the many people that agreed to speak with me and lend their perspective and experience to this document: Norma Beecroft, Mary Morrison, Brian Cherney, and Bruce Mather. Without them, this thesis would not nearly be the same document that it is. !iv Finally, I would like to thank Mark Hopkins. When I was in my third year of my undergraduate degree, I participated in an Ontario Band Association conducting symposium where he was the clinician. During the morning, he talked about his work with the Canadian Wind Repertoire Project. I was amazed by the scope of the project, and was not at all aware of any similar project for Canadian orchestral music. After the symposium, I sent Dr. Hopkins a list of questions about Canadian music, and specifically about Canadian orchestral music. His answers were very helpful and set me on the path of trying to rediscover Canadian orchestral works. In the summer of 2018, I had the opportunity to work with him as a conducting fellow for the Dennis Wick Wind Orchestra, where we had more opportunities to discuss Canadian music and out passions for it. I hope that this thesis will be my contribution and continuation of those conversations. !v ! TABLE OF CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION ..... ............................................................................................................ 1 Literature review of the Canadian centennial ............................................................ 2 History of Canadian orchestral music ........................................................................ 2 Canadian culture before the centennial ...................................................................... 4 Context of orchestral music and Canadian culture within the centennial .................................................................................................. 4 CHAPTER I. ORCHESTRAL WORKS OF THE CANADIAN CENTENNIAL ................ 7 1.1 Organization of centennial orchestral works ....................................................... 9 1.2 Issues of compiling centennial orchestral works ................................................. 11 1.3 Composer demographics of centennial orchestral works .................................... 11 1.4 Issues of composer diversity in centennial orchestral works ............................... 12 CHAPTER II. ELEMENTS OF CANADIAN IDENTITY .................................................. 15 2.1 National vs. Nationalist music ............................................................................. 16 2.2 Influence of indigenous and immigrant cultures ................................................. 16 2.3 Humour and irony in Canadian identity ............................................................... 18 2.4 North and its place in Canadian mythology and identity ..................................... 19 CHAPTER III. ANALYSIS OF CENTENNIAL COMMISSIONS AND TOWARDS A THEORY OF CANADIAN IDENTITY ............................................ 22 3.1 Introduction of musemes ...................................................................................... 22 3.2 North musemes and examples ............................................................................. 23 !vi 3.3 Indigenous musemes and examples ..................................................................... 33 3.4 Rubbaboo examples ............................................................................................. 43 3.5 Musical irony and humour ................................................................................... 48 3.6 Form as national signifier .................................................................................... 55 3.7 Conclusion ........................................................................................................... 58 BIBLIOGRAPHY ...... ............................................................................................................ 60 DISCOGRAPHY ....... ............................................................................................................ 65 APPENDIX A. FURTHER INFORMATION ABOUT CENTENNIAL ORCHESTRAL WORKS .......................................................................................... 67 ! !vii ! LIST OF MUSICAL EXAMPLES ! Example Page 1 Surdin, Concerto for Accordion and String Orchestra, I, mm. 1-15 .......................... .....25 2 Surdin, Concerto for Accordion and String Orchestra, II, Rehearsal 28+2 ............... .....26 3a Hétu, Double concerto pour violon, piano, et orchestre de chambre, Op. 12, I, mm. 1-2 ...................................................................................................... .....27 3b Hétu, Double concerto pour violon, piano, et orchestre de chambre, Op. 12, I, mm. 8-11 .................................................................................................... .....27 4 Hétu, Double concerto pour violon, piano, et orchestre de chambre, Op. 12, I, mm. 35-39 .................................................................................................. .....29 5 Weinzweig, Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, mm. 178-187 .................................. .....30 6a Freedman, Tangents, mm.1-6 ..................................................................................... .....31 6b Freedman, Tangents, Rehearsal 23+2 ............................................................................. 32 7a Applebaum, Concertante for Small Orchestra, I, mm. 5-9 ........................................ .....37 7b Applebaum, Concertante for Small Orchestra, I, mm. 5-14 ...................................... .....37 8 Applebaum, Concertante for Small Orchestra, I, mm. 55-59 .................................... .....38 9a Weinzweig, Concerto for Harp and Chamber Orchestra, Cadenza I ......................... .....39 9b Weinzweig, Concerto for Harp and Chamber Orchestra, Cadenza II ........................ .....39 9c Weinzweig, Concerto for Harp and Chamber Orchestra, Cadenza III ....................... .....40 9d Weinzweig, Concerto for Harp and Chamber Orchestra, Cadenza IV ...................... .....40 9e Weinzweig, Concerto for Harp and Chamber Orchestra, Cadenza V ........................ .....41 !viii 10 Freedman, Tangents, Rehearsal 13+9 ........................................................................ .....42 11a Applebaum, Concertante for Small Orchestra, I, mm. 33-35 .................................... .....43 11b Applebaum, Concertante for Small Orchestra, I, mm. 77-83 .................................... .....43 12 Eckhardt-Gramatté, Symphony-Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, III, mm. 183-186 .............................................................................................................44