John Weinzweig And His Music

A study of Weinzweig's development as a musician and his contributions to Canadian music as a composer, teacher, and administrator, focusing on his training in the context of Toronto's musical life during the 1930s and 1940s. Examines his compositions such as chamber and solo music, theatrical works, and vocal works, and includes a discography and filmography. Contains bandw photos. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

John Weinzweig (1913–2006) was the pre-eminent Canadian composer of his generation. Influenced by European modernists such as Stravinsky, Berg, and Webern, he was the first Canadian composer to employ serialism, thereby bringing a spirit of innovation to mid-twentieth-century Canadian music. A forceful advocate for modern Canadian composition, Weinzweig played a key role in the founding of the Canadian League of Composers and the Canadian Music Centre during a buoyant and expansive period for the arts in Canada. He was an influential force as a teacher of composition, first with the Royal Conservatory of Music and later with the University of Toronto’s music faculty. This first comprehensive study of Weinzweig since his death consists of new essays by composers, theorists, and musicologists. It deals with biographical aspects (the social context of early-twentieth-century Toronto, his activism, his teaching, his early scores for CBC Radio dramas), analyzes his compositional processes and his output (his approach to serialism, his instrumental practice, the presence of jazz elements, the vocal works, the divertimenti), and examines various evaluations of his music (his own – in letters, interviews, talks, and writings – plus those of critics and scholars, of listeners, and of performers). The essays are framed by the co-editors’ portrait/assessment of Weinzweig and a brief personal memoir. Much of the content draws on new research in the extensive Weinzweig Fonds at Library and Archives Canada in Ottawa. Included at the end of the book are a [http://www.wlupress.wlu.ca/General/beckwith-cherney-list-of-works-discography.pdf List of Works by John Weinzweig by Kathleen McMorrow and a Discography by David Olds] both available here as pdfs. Supplementing the volume is an audio CD of extracts (some in their first public release), ranging from a 1937 student work to a song cycle of 1994. Read the [http://www.wlupress.wlu.ca/General/beckwith-cherney-cd-notes.pdf Notes and Texts for the CD.]

John Weinzweig (1913-2006) was the pre-eminent Canadian composer of his generation. Influenced by European modernists such as Stravinsky, Berg, and Webern, he was the first Canadian composer to employ serialism, thereby bringing a spirit of innovation to mid-twentieth-century Canadian music. A forceful advocate for modern Canadian composition, Weinzweig played a key role in the founding of the Canadian League of Composers and the Canadian Music Centre during a buoyant and expansive period for the arts in Canada. He was an influential force as a teacher of composition, first with the Royal Conservatory of Music and later with the University of Toronto's music faculty. This first comprehensive study of Weinzweig since his death consists of new essays by composers, theorists, and musicologists. It deals with biographical aspects (the social context of early-twentieth-century Toronto, his activism, his teaching, his early scores for CBC Radio dramas), analyzes his compositional processes and his output (his approach to serialism, his instrumental practice, the presence of jazz elements, the vocal works, the divertimenti), and examines various evaluations of his music (his own - in letters, interviews, talks, and writings - plus those of critics and scholars, of listeners, and of performers). The essays are framed by the co-editors' portrait/assessment of Weinzweig and a brief personal memoir. Much of the content draws on new research in the extensive Weinzweig Fonds at Library and Archives Canada in Ottawa. Included at the end of the book are a [http://www.wlupress.wlu.ca/General/beckwith-cherney-list-of-works-discography.pdf List of Works by John Weinzweig by Kathleen McMorrow and a Discography by David Olds] both available here as pdfs. Supplementing the volume is an audio CD of extracts (some in their first public release), ranging from a 1937 student work to a song cycle of 1994. Read the [http://www.wlupress.wlu.ca/General/beckwith-cherney-cd-notes.pdf Notes and Texts for the CD.].

What is music -- where does it come from and what does it mean? If music is in the background, and no one listens to it, does it still exist? Why do composers write music, and how do they learn their profession? What about Canadian music -- a regional dialect of this "universal language"? How has it been created inside the country -- how well is it understood abroad? Music papers are reflections from a life of composing and teaching. These articles, talks and reviews, whether intended originally for general or professional audiences, communicate a passion for music rooted in a North American culture and place, informed by long and loving familiarity with masterpieces from elsewhere. Also included are alternative versions of the early life of Glenn Gould, proofs of the existence of musical life in Toronto, and some questions still unanswered.

"Supplementing the volume is an audio CD of extracts from Weinzweig compositions, ranging from a 1937 student work to a song cycle of 1994"--Back of jacket.

This special twelve-book bundle is a classical and choral music lover’s delight! Canada’s rich history and culture in the classical music arts is celebrated here, both in the form of in-depth biographies and autobiographies (Lois Marshall, Lotfi Mansouri, Elmer Iseler, Emma Albani and more), but also in honour of musical places (There’s Music in These Walls, a history of the Royal Conservatory of Music; In Their Own Words, a celebration of Canada’s choirs; and Opera Viva, a history of the Canadian Opera Company). Canada plays an important role in the promotion and performance of art music, and you can learn all about it in these fine books. Includes Opening Windows True Tales from the Mad, Mad, Mad World of Opera Lois Marshall John Arpin Elmer Iseler Jan Rubes Music Makers There’s Music in These Walls In Their Own Words Emma Albani Opera Viva MacMillan on Music

Providing access to virtually any subject related to music and musicians in Canada, more than 900 annotated entries are organized under 13 topics, and indexed by author, subject, and title. Background and supplementary information and suggestions for research are presented in introductory essays. The material covered reflects the broad spectrum of music in Canadian society including historical, analytical, and biographical studies of music derived from the European tradition, First Nations and Inuit music, jazz and popular works, folk and ethnic music, education, research and bibliographical materials. The reader is also directed to some important on-line resources. Musical activity in Canada has developed remarkably in the past 50 years, with a parallel growth of musical scholarship examining historical, social, and ethnological aspects of Canadian musical life. This Guide is the first to draw comprehensively on the wealth of studies now available, which are often dispersed and not easily located. Consequently, this information is invaluable to students and researchers interested in Canadian music, the music of North America, and Canadian studies. Index.

Offers a history of Canadian musical expressions and their relationship to Canada's cultural and geographic diversity. This book features a survey of 'musics' in Canada and includes forty-three vignettes highlighting topics such as Inuit throat games, the music of k d lang, and orchestras in Victoria.