Information/Write-up
Side 1:
Six Canadian Folk Songs
Elmer Iseler: conductor
Ruth Henderson: piano
Arranged by Derek Healey
Recorded at St. Anne’s Anglican Church, Toronto
Produced by James W. Kent
Technician: David Quinney
Side 2:
The Festival Singers of Canada – Canadian Landscapes Vol. 1
Elmer Iseler: conductor
Chinese Love Lyrics
Composed by Thomas Baker
Epitaph for Moonlight
Composed by R. Murray Schafer
Landscapes
Composed by Violet Archer
SIX CANADIAN FOLK SONGS/Arr. by Derek Healey
(Gordon V. Thompson)
Derek Healey was born in Wargrave, Berkshire, England in 1936. At seventeen, he entered the Royal College of Music, London, studying with Harold Darke (organ) and Herbert Howells (composition). He was awarded the Sullivan, Cobbett and Farrar Prizes for composition.
1961 saw the beginning of a period of study spent in Italy. His teachers there were Luigi Dallapiccola, Roman Vlad, Francesco Lavagnino and Luciano Berio.
Returning to England, Derek Healey held posts as organist and teacher. In 1967 he founded and was Music Director of the St. Pancras Festival. Two years later, with his wife and daughter, emigrated to Canada where he joined the Music Department at the University of Victoria, B.C.
In 1970 he moved to the Department of Music at the University of Toronto for a year as a replacement lecturer. He is now an Assistant Professor at the University of Guelph.
CHINESE LOVE LYRICS/Thomas Baker (CAPAC)
Thomas Baker was born in Toronto in 1944. He studied music at the University of Toronto, majoring in organ. His works include a number of compositions in both traditional and serial idioms, as well as music for television and film.
Mr. Baker has written several choral and large-scale symphonic works. For six years, he was Composer-in-Residence for the Festival Singers. In February 1972, Thomas Baker was named the winner of the Festival Singers’ First International Competition for Choral Composition.
“Chinese Love Lyrics” were inspired by the imagery and sentiment of three short poems from a Chinese anthology of translations by Arthur Waley. The poems were written in the 2nd century B.C. by anonymous authors and concern the pleasures and frustrations of love in its early stages.
EPITAPH FOR MOONLIGHT/R. Murray Schafer (BMI)
R. Murray Schafer was born in Sarnia, Ontario, in 1933. In 1952, he entered the Royal Conservatory of Music. From 1956-58, he continued composition studies with John Weinzweig and piano with Alberto Guerrero.
In 1960, Schafer left Canada to study at the Royal Schools of Music in London, England. He later studied with Peter Racine Fricker.
Schafer has taught at the University of Western Ontario and is now on staff at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia. He has also taught in Japan.
He is the author of several books including new approaches to music education such as the book “The New Soundscape”, which has won wide attention.
Among his best known innovative music is his choral “Epitaph for Moonlight”; it is among the latter, designed originally for youth choirs.
LANDSCAPES/Violet Archer (Waterloo Music Co.)
The choral cycle, “Landscapes”, was composed for a cappella mixed chorus in 1961, in Denton, Texas, while Violet Archer was Resident Composer at North Texas State University. It was written for the Madrigal Group of the latter and premiered by it in the spring of 1962.
The Canadian premiere was given by the Montreal Bach Choir on the CBC Network in the fall of 1963 in Montreal. The cycle consists of short settings from nineteenth century poems by
T. S. Eliot, recorded for this collection. “Red River”, the second poem, inspired by the poet’s boyhood in the southern U.S., reflects the joys of youth with a passing hint of sadness.
The last, “O quick, quick, quick”, is full of high-spirited movement. As one of the singers describes it, it is a “jog-trot” ride down the bayou, with the mud and the still air which drives all the birds away and the song into the singer.
SIX CHANSONS DU FOLKLORE CANADIEN/
Arr.: Derek Healey (Gordon V. Thompson)
Né à Wargrave dans le Berkshire en 1936, Derek Healey a fait ses études au Royal College of Music de Londres. Il y a travaillé la composition avec Harold Darke et Herbert Howells. Il s’est vu décerner plusieurs prix prestigieux dont ceux de Sullivan, Cobbett et Farrar.
En 1961, il poursuit ses études en Italie auprès de Luigi Dallapiccola, Roman Vlad, Francesco Lavagnino et Luciano Berio.
De retour en Angleterre, il a occupé plusieurs postes d’organiste et d’enseignant. En 1967, il fonda et dirigea le Festival de musique de St. Pancras à Londres. Deux ans plus tard, il émigra au Canada avec sa famille.
Il enseigne à l’Université de Victoria (C.-B.), au département de musique de l’Université de Guelph.
CHINESE LOVE LYRICS/Thomas Baker (CAPAC)
Né à Toronto en 1944, Thomas Baker a étudié à l’Université de Toronto où il s’est spécialisé en orgue. Il a écrit plusieurs œuvres dans des styles très variés, dont la musique de télévision et de film.
Il a aussi écrit des œuvres chorales et symphoniques de grande envergure. Pendant six ans, il a été compositeur en résidence pour les Festival Singers. En février 1972, il a remporté le premier concours international de composition chorale organisé par les Festival Singers.
Son œuvre “Chinese Love Lyrics” s’inspire de trois poèmes chinois traduits par Arthur Waley. Il s’agit de textes anonymes du 2e siècle av. J.-C. portant sur les plaisirs et les frustrations de l’amour à ses débuts.
EPITAPH FOR MOONLIGHT/R. Murray Schafer (BMI)
R. Murray Schafer est né à Sarnia, Ontario, en 1933. Il a étudié au Conservatoire royal de musique à Toronto, puis la composition auprès de John Weinzweig et le piano avec Alberto Guerrero.
De 1960 à 1963, il a étudié la composition à Londres auprès de Peter Racine Fricker.
Il a enseigné à l’Université Western Ontario et, actuellement, à l’Université Simon Fraser, en Colombie-Britannique. Il a aussi enseigné au Japon.
Il est l’auteur de plusieurs ouvrages sur l’éducation musicale, dont le très novateur “The New Soundscape”.
Sa pièce chorale “Epitaph for Moonlight” fut à l’origine écrite pour les jeunes choristes.
LANDSCAPES/Violet Archer (Waterloo Music Co.)
La compositrice canadienne Violet Archer a écrit cette œuvre alors qu’elle était compositrice en résidence à l’Université de North Texas. Créée au printemps de 1962, il s’agit d’un des cycles d’œuvres les plus populaires de la compositrice.
La première canadienne fut donnée à Montréal à l’automne 1963 par le Chœur Bach, sur les ondes de la radio de la SRC.
Les textes sont des poèmes du 19e siècle. Le deuxième, “Red River”, s’inspire des souvenirs d’enfance de l’auteur au sud des États-Unis. Le troisième dit que le mal peut être causé par d’autres hommes. Le troisième dit que le mal peut être causé par d’autres hommes.
Le troisième dit que le mal peut être causé par d’autres hommes.
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