Composer, writer, pianist, teacher, and administrator
John BeckwithCM (March 9, 1927 – December 5, 2022) was a Canadian composer, writer, pianist, teacher, and administrator.[1][2]
Born in Victoria, British Columbia, he studied piano with Alberto Guerrero at the Toronto Conservatory of Music in 1945. Beckwith received a Bachelor of Music (Mus.B.) in 1947 and a Master of Music (Mus.M.) in 1961 from the University of Toronto.[3] In 1950-51, he studied with Nadia Boulanger in Paris.[1] He began teaching at University of Toronto's Faculty of Music in 1952. From 1970-77, he was the dean of the faculty.[1] He was founding director of the Institute for Canadian Music at the University of Toronto. In 1987, he was made a member of the Order of Canada.[3] He retired from the university in 1990.
Beckwith wrote over 160 compositions covering stage, orchestral, chamber, solo and choral genres. He also wrote 17 books, the last of which - Music Annals: Research and Critical Writings by a Canadian Composer - was published shortly before his death in 2022.[3]
Education
In 1945, after several years of studying piano at the Royal Conservatory of Music, Beckwith received a Conservatory scholarship that allowed him to study piano with Alberto Guerrero at the University of Toronto where he obtained his Mus.B.[1] His other teachers included Leo Smith and John Weinzweig. In 1950 he was awarded a second scholarship, this time from the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association. The scholarship allowed him to travel to Paris, where he studied composition under Nadia Boulanger. Under Weinzweig's supervision, Beckwith earned his Mus.M. from the University of Toronto in 1961.
Career
After studying in Paris, Beckwith returned to Toronto to pursue further studies and became active as a performing musician, actor, critic, radio commentator, writer, lecturer and broadcaster. In 1952, he returned to the University of Toronto, but this time as a part-time lecturer at the Faculty of Music. He was appointed full-time lecturer in 1955. He remained in this position for several years, and eventually became dean of the faculty from 1970-77. Beckwith was the first Jean A. Chalmers Professor of Canadian Music and the first director of the Institute for Canadian Music at the University of Toronto.[3] He retired in 1990 to devote more time to composing. Among his notable pupils were Brian Cherney, Gustav Ciamaga, Omar Daniel, John Fodi, Clifford Ford, Ben McPeek, James Rolfe, Clark Ross, Matthew Davidson, and Timothy Sullivan.
While teaching, Beckwith remained active in several areas of the musical community. A co-founder of the Canadian Music Centre in 1959,[4] he wrote for the Toronto Star from 1959-65 as an arts critic and columnist, and was a writer and associate producer of documentaries and music series for CBC Radio.[5] Beginning in 1981, he worked as a director for the Canadian Musical Heritage Society, which he had co-founded that same year. He prepared two of the society's 25-volume series of pre-1950 Canadian-composed music.[1] In 1986, a five-record set of his music was included in the Anthology of Canadian Music series.[6] The Beckwith portrait in the Canadian Composers Portraits series was released in 2003.
A collection of 25 of his music articles and talks was published by Golden Dog Press in 1997 under the title Music Papers.[7] In 2006, his biography In Search of Alberto Guerrero was published by Wilfrid Laurier Press (issued in Spanish translation in 2021). With Brian Cherney, he edited Weinzweig: Essays on His Life and Music in 2011 and, with Robin Elliott, he edited Mapping Canada's Music: Selected Writings of Helmut Kallmann in 2013.
Beckwith's autobiography, Unheard Of: Memoirs of a Canadian Composer, was published by Wilfrid Laurier Press in 2012.
He was the recipient of many honours including from the Canadian Music Council in 1972 and 1984, Toronto Arts award in 1995, Diplôme d'honneur from the Canadian Conference of the Arts in 1996, honorary membership in the Canadian University Music Society in 1999, and honorary doctorates from McGill, Mount Allison, Queen's, Victoria, and Guelph universities.[1]Taking a Stand: Essays in Honour of John Beckwith, a festschrift on the occasion of his retirement, was published in 1995.[8]
Compositional style
Beckwith composed over 160 large works. While the majority of his works are settings of Canadian texts for voice, he also wrote for orchestral and chamber groups as well as solo instrumental pieces and choral music.
Beckwith was a modernist[9] whose eclectic compositional vocabulary was sustained "by a broad palette of idioms, colours, and by the availability of a rich variety of forming procedures."[1] Most of his compositions have themes that connect to historical or regional Canada.[10] Beckwith was deeply interested in Canadian folk song and set around 200 of these songs, including Four Love Songs (1969) and Five Songs (1969–70). Most of the arrangements were written in 1981-91 during his involvement with Music at Sharon, a summer concert series.[11] He often collaborated with Canadian writers when setting text for voice including James Reaney, Jay Macpherson, Margaret Atwood,[12]bpNichol, Georges Sioui, and Dennis Lee;.[13] his most extensive collaboration was with Reaney, with whom he wrote a number of works for the stage.[10] Beckwith also set texts of e.e. cummings, John Millington Synge, Samuel Beckett, and poems of the Tang dynasty translated by Witter Bynner.[14]
List of works
Based on the Encyclopedia of Music in Canada (2nd edition, 1992) and the John Beckwith website, University of Toronto.[15] Unpublished works are at the Canadian Music Centre and the Beckwith fonds, University of Toronto.[16]
Place of Meeting (Dennis Lee). 1967 (1967 Toronto ). Speaker, tenor, blues singer, SATB, orchestra. Ms
Elastic Band Studies. 1969, rev. 1975 (1976 Toronto). Concert band. Ms
Beckwith, John; Reaney, James (1973). All the Bees and All the Keys. Press Porcépic. (1973 Toronto). Narrator, orchestra. Orchestra Berandol (rental), piano arrangement.
A Concert of Myths. 1983 (1984 Calgary). Flute, orchestra. Ms
Peregrine. 1989 (1990 Toronto). Viola, percussion, small orchestra. Ms
Round and Round. 1991-92 (1992 Winnipeg). Orchestra. Ms
Fifteen Figural Chorales from J.S. Bach's Das Orgelbüchlein (transcription), 1991 (1993 Halifax). Orchestra. Ms
Fourteen Figural Chorales from J.S. Bach's Das Orgelbüchlein (transcription), 1993 (1996 Halifax). Orchestra. Ms
Sixteen Figural Chorales from J.S. Bach's Das Orgelbüchlein (transcription), 1997. Orchestra. Ms
Madness. 2003 (2003, Toronto) 2 oboes, bassoon, strings. Ms
Three Brass Rings. 2007 (1984, Toronto; 2009 Toronto all) 11 brasses. Ms
Variations. 2011 (2012, Ottawa). String orchestra. Ms
Chamber
The Great Lakes Suite (Reaney). 1949 (1950 Toronto). Soprano, baritone, clarinet, cello, piano.
Five Pieces for Flute Duet. 1951 (1951 Paris). BMI Canada 1962
Four Pieces for Bassoon Duet. 1951. Ms
Quartet for Woodwind Instruments. 1951 ( 1953 Toronto). Ms
Three Studies for String Trio. 1956 (1957 Toronto). Ms
Circle, with Tangents. 1967 (1967 Vancouver). Harpsichord, 13 solo strings. BMI Canada 1968
Taking a Stand. 1972 (1972 Stratford). 5 players, 8 brass instruments, 14 music stands. Berandol 1975
Papineau (2 Lower Canada folk songs). 1977. 2 equal voices. Gordon V. Thompson 1978. Centrediscs CMC-2285 (Toronto Children's Chor)
Three Motets on Swan's 'China' (various).'1981. SATB. Waterloo1983. Melbourne SMLP-4041/5-ACM 26 (Elmer Iseler Singers)
A Little Organ Concert (vocables). 1982. SATB, organ, brass quintet. Ms
A Canadian Christmas Carol (J. P. Clarke)(arrangement). 1984. SATB, harmonium (piano or organ). Gordon V. Thompson 1989. CBC SM-5055 (Elmer Iseler Singers)
Mating Time (bp Nichol). 1982. SATB (20 solo voices), percussion, electric keyboard. Ms
Harp of David (Book of Common Prayer). 1985. SATB. Ms. Centrediscs CMC-CD-3790 (Vancouver Chamber Choir)[23]
The Banks of Newfoundland (arrangement).1985. Baritone, SATB (oboe, string quartet) Gordon V. Thompson 1987
Three Burns Songs (R. Burns) (arrangement).1986. SATB. Gordon V. Thompson 1987
Farewell To Nova Scotia (arrangement).1985. Baritone, SATB, piano, percussion 2 trumpet, viola, cello, double bass. Gordon V. Thompson 1987
The Gowans Are Gay (arrangement). 1986. SATB, percussion. Gordon V. Thompson 1987 69
Basic Music. 1998. Children's Choir (SA), Youth Choir (SSA) and orchestra. Ms
Lady Music. 2000. SATB
Snow is Falling. 2002. Children's choir, flute, guitar.
Alternative Greeting (Happy Birthday). 2003. Flute, clarinet, percussion, piano, voices.
Derailed: A Sound Documentary. 2007 (2007 Mississauga). Double choir (SSAATTBB), percussion. Ms
Wendake/Huronia, 2015. Alto, narrator, chamber choir, instruments, drums. Ms
Voice
Five Lyrics of the T'ang Dynasty (various). 1947 (1948 Toronto). High voice, piano. BMI Canada 1949. RCI 148/5-ACM 26 (Alarie)/Centrediscs CMC-2185 (Vickers)/(No. 3,4,5) 1988. Phillips 6514-157 (B. Fei soprano, N. Loo piano)
Beckwith, John (1963). "Music Education". In Robbins, J.E. (ed.). Encyclopedia Canadiana. Vol. 7. New York, NY: Grolier. pp. 229–31.
Beckwith, John; Kallmann, Helmut (1963). "Musical Instruments". In Robbins, J.E. (ed.). Encyclopedia Canadiana. Vol. 7. New York, NY: Grolier. pp. 213–17.
_____. 'The Bernstein Experiment,' Canadian Forum, v. 43, Apr 1964
_____. 'Notes on Jonah,' Alphabet, 8 Jun 1964
_____. Review of British Composers in Interview, edited by R. Murray Schafer, U of Toronto Quarterly, v. 33, Jul 1964
_____. 'A "Complete" Schoenberg,' Canadian Forum, v. 46, Jan 1967
*____. 'About Canadian Music: The P.R. failure,' Musicanada, 21, Jul-Aug 1969; reprinted with postscript, AGO/RCCO Music, v. 5, Mar 1971
_____. 'What Every U.S. Musician Should Know About Contemporary Canadian Music,' Musicanada, 29, final issue 1970
_____. 'Music in Canada,' Musical Times, v.111, Dec 1970
*____.'Trying to Define Music,' Conservatory Bulletin, Christmas 1970
_____. 'Aims and Methods for a Music-Theory Program,' Canadian Association of University Schools of Music Journal, v. 1, Spring 1971
*____. 'Healey Willan,' Canadian Forum, v. 52, Dec 1972
_____.'Teaching New Music: What? How? Why?' Music Scene, 270, Mar-Apr 1973
Beckwith, John (1974). "Canada". In Vinton, John (ed.). Dictionary of Contemporary Music. New York, NY: Dutton. pp. 119–124.
Beckwith, John (1974). "Harry Somers". In Vinton, John (ed.). Dictionary of Contemporary Music. New York, NY: Dutton. pp. 689–90.
*_____. 'A Big Song-and-Dance,' Canadian Music Educator, v. 18, Spring 1977
Beckwith, John (1977). "Reflections on Ives". In Hitchcock, H. Wiley; Perlis, Vivian (eds.). An Ives Celebration. University of Illinois Press. pp. 230–32.
*____. 'A Festival of Canadian Music,' Musicanada: A Presentation of Canadian Contemporary Music (Ottawa 1977)
_____. Music In Canada (Ottawa 1979)
*____ and Pincoe, Ruth, eds. Canadian Music in the 1960s and 1970s: A Chronicle (Toronto 1979)
Beckwith, John (1982). "Kolinski: An Appreciation and List of Works". In Falck, Robert; Rice, Timothy (eds.). Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Music. University of Toronto Press. pp. xvii–xxiv.
Beckwith, John (1983). "Shattering a Few Myths". In McGreevy, John (ed.). Glenn Gould: By Himself and His Friends. Gage Publishing. pp. 63–74.
_____. 'Choral confessions,' Anacrusis, v. 6, Fall 1986
Beckwith, John (1987). "On Compiling an Anthology of Canadian Hymn Tunes". In Beckwith, John (ed.). Sing Out the Glad News: Hymn Tunes in Canada: Proceedings of the Conference (University of Toronto, 1986). CanMus Documents. Vol. 1. Toronto: Institute for Canadian Music. pp. 3–32.
_____. 'Canadian Tunebooks and Hymnals, 1801–1939,' American Music, v. 6, Summer 1988
.jpg)
