The Ecstasy Of Rita Joe Sound Recording

Author Canadian.

Kwakwaka'wakw welcome songs, an aria from Joseph Quesnel's 1808 opera Lucas et Cécile, rubbaboos (a combination of elements from First Peoples, French, and English music), the Tin Pan Alley hits of Shelton Brooks, and the contemporary work of Claude Vivier and Blue Rodeo all dance together in Canada's rich musical heritage. Elaine Keillor offers an unprecedented history of Canadian musical expressions and their relationship to Canada's great cultural and geographic diversity. A survey of "musics" in Canada - the country's multiplicity of musical genres and rich heritage - is complemented by forty-three vignettes highlighting topics such as Inuit throat games, the music of k.d. lang, and orchestras in Victoria. Music in Canada illuminates the past but also looks to the future to examine the context within which Canadian music began and continues to develop. A CD by the author of previously unrecorded Canadian music is included.

Did you know that the idea behind the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes was first tried out in Toronto? That Canada produced the world’s longest-running annual revue? Few people realize the Canadian influences that are at the heart of American and British culture. Author Mel Atkey’s research for Broadway North included interviews with Norman and Elaine Campbell and Don Harron, creators of Anne of Green Gables-The Musical; Mavor Moore, founder of the Charlottetown Festival and of Spring Thaw; John Gray, author of Billy Bishop Goes to War; Ray Jessel and Marian Grudeff, Spring Thaw writers who had success on Broadway with Baker Street; Dolores Claman, composer of the Hockey Night In Canada theme, who also wrote the musicals Mr. Scrooge and Timber!!; and Galt MacDermot, the composer of Hair who started out writing songs for the McGill University revue My Fur Lady. Included is the phenomenal success of The Drowsy Chaperone. Atkey also draws on his own experience as a writer and composer of musicals, and tells the story of why a show that should have starred James Doohan (Star Trek’s Scotty) didn’t happen. Composer, lyricist and author, Mel Atkey is currently based in the U.K. Proud of his Canadian cultural roots, he has long been fascinated with the notion of a distinctive Canadian musical theatre.

This volume makes available the full range of the American/Canadian musical experience, covering-for the first time in print-all major regions, ethnic groups, and traditional and popular contexts. From musical comedy to world beat, from the songs of the Arctic to rap and house music, from Hispanic Texas to the Chinese communities of Vancouver, the coverage captures the rich diversity and continuities of the vibrant music we hear around us. Special attention is paid to recent immigrant groups, to Native American traditions, and to such socio-musical topics as class, race, gender, religion, government policy, media, and technology.