John Beckwith (composer)

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. 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 to 1977. 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. he wrote for the Toronto Star from 1959 to 1965 as an arts critic and columnist, and was a writer and associate producer of documentaries and music series for CBC Radio. 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. 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. 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. ==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 whose eclectic compositional vocabulary was sustained "by a broad palette of idioms, colours, and by the availability of a rich variety of forming procedures." 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. He often collaborated with Canadian writers when setting text for voice including James Reaney, Jay Macpherson, Margaret Atwood, bpNichol, Georges Sioui, and Dennis Lee; his most extensive collaboration was with Reaney, with whom he wrote a number of works for the stage. Beckwith also set texts of e.e. cummings, John Millington Synge, Samuel Beckett, and poems of the Tang dynasty translated by Witter Bynner.{{Cite thesis |last=Christensen |first=Bradley |type = DMA ==List of works==

Based on the Encyclopedia of Music in Canada (2nd edition, 1992) and the John Beckwith website, University of Toronto. Unpublished works are at the Canadian Music Centre and the Beckwith fonds, University of Toronto. Stage • Night Blooming Cereus (Reaney). 1953-58 (1959 Toronto). 8 singers, 14 instruments. Ms • The Killdeer, incidental music (Reaney). 1960, rescored 1961. Prepared piano (5 instruments). Ms • The Hector, documentary cantata (various). 1990 (1990 Toronto). Soprano, early-instrument ensemble. Ms • The Shivaree (Reaney). 1964-65, 1977-78. Revisions with prologue added, 1982. (1982 Toronto; 1982 Banff (revised version with prologue)). 12 singers, 20 instr. Ms • Crazy to Kill (Reaney, after Ann Caldwell). 1987-88 ( 1989 Guelph). 3 singers, 2 speakers, 2 instruments, tape. Ms • Lucas et Cécile. 1808-09 (1990 Sharon). Concert arrangement of a comic opera by Joseph Quesnel with orchestration by Beckwith. Soli, orchestra. Ms • Taptoo! (Reaney). 1993-95 (Montreal, 1999). 18 singers, 18 instruments. Ms Orchestra and band • Music for Dancing (orchestra from piano, 4 hands). 1948 (piano), orch 1959 (1959 Ottawa). BMI Canada 1961. • Montage. 1953, rescored 1955 (1953 Toronto). Orchestra. Ms • Fall Scene and Fair Dance. 1956 (1956 Toronto). Violin, clarinet, strings. BMI Canada 1957. 1977. Lethbridge Symphony Assn • Concerto Fantasy. 1959 (1962 Montreal). Piano, orchestra. Berandol • Flower Variations and Wheels. 1962 (1963 Victoria). Rev. 1979. Orchestra. Berandol • Concertino. 1963 (1964 Toronto). Horn, orchestra. Berandol • Jonah, cantata (various). 1963 (1963 Toronto). BMI Canada 1969 • 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 • (1973 Toronto). Narrator, orchestra. Orchestra Berandol, 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 • Musical Chairs. 1973 (1974 Toronto). String quintet, contrabassoon. Berandol 1980 • Quartet. 1977 (1978 Montreal). String quartet. Ms. • Case Study: a multi-purpose quintet. 1980 (1980 Toronto). Any 5 instruments. Ms • Eight Miniatures: arranged from the Alan Ash manuscript. 1981. Violin, piano. Ms • Sonatina in Two Movements. 1981 (1982 Toronto). Trumpet, piano. Ms • Tunes of the Sharon Band (arrangement). 1982 (1982 Sharon). Brass quintet. Sonante 1984 • Arctic Dances. 1984 (1984 Kingston). Oboe, piano. Ms. • For Starters G.E.C. [George Edward Connell].1984 (Toronto 1984). 11 brass instr. Ms • College Airs. 1990 (1990 Toronto). String quartet. Ms • Echoes of Quesnel. 1995 (1997 Toronto). Violin, viola, cor anglais, organ. Ms • Echoes of Thiele. 1995 (1996 Kitchener). Chamber orchestra (oboe, 2 trumpets, trombone, percussion, viola, cello, contrabass). Ms • Eureka. 1996 (1996 Toronto). 9 wind instruments. Ms • Lines Overlapping. 1996-97 (Toronto). Banjo, harpsichord. Ms • Blurred Lines (duo in quartertones). 1997 (1997 Toronto). Violin, harpsichord. Ms • Ringaround. 1998 (1999 Toronto). Celtic harp, harpsichord. Ms • A Game of Bowls. 1999 (2000 Toronto). 3 percussion. Ms • Workout. 2001 (2001 Toronto). 4 percussion. Ms • A New Pibroch. 2002 (2003 Toronto). Highland pipes, percussion, 7 strings. Ms • Back to Bolivia. 2006 (2010 Toronto). Clarinet quartet. Ms • Fractions. 2006 (2007 Toronto). 16th-tone piano, string quartet. Ms • Animals with Horns. 2007 (2010 Toronto). Trumpet, euphonium. Ms • Play and Sing. 2008. cello, soprano (1 performer). Ms • After Simpson. 2010 (2013 Toronto). 2 recorders, 2 viola da gamba. Ms • Breaking Silence. 2013 (2013 St. John's). Cello. Ms • Sonatina on "Mairi's Wedding." 2013 (2013 Toronto). Flute, piano. Ms • Follow me. 2013. Clarinet, piano. Ms. • Ut re me fa sol la. 2013. Guitar. Ms • Quintet. 2015 (2017 Toronto). Flute, trumpet, bassoon, viola, double bass. Ms • Calling. 2016 (2017 Toronto). Flugelhorn, euphonium, 2 tenor trombones, bass trombone, double bass. Ms. • Meanwhile. 2018 (2018 Ottawa). Marimba, piano. Ms. Keyboard(s) • Four Conceits. 1945, rev. 1948. Piano. Ms. • Music for Dancing. 1948 (1948 Toronto). Piano, 4 hands. Ms. • The Music Room. 1951. Piano. Frederick Harris 1955. • Novelette. 1951 (1951 Paris). Piano. BMI Canada 1954. • Six Mobiles. 1959. Piano. BMI Canada 1960. • Interval Studies. 1962. Piano. BMI Canada 1962 • Suite on Old Tunes (arrangement). 1967. Piano. BMI Canada 1967. • Variation piquant sur la `Toronto Opera House Waltz.' 1967. 2 piano. Ms • New Mobiles. 1971. Piano. Waterloo 1972 • Upper Canadian Hymn Preludes. 1976-77 (1977 Ottawa). Organ, prepared tape. Ms. • Keyboard Practice. 1979 (1979 Toronto). 4 players, 10 keyboard. (1986). • Etudes. 1983 (1984 Vancouver). Piano. Ms. Counterpoint. • On the Other Hand. 1997 (1997 Toronto). Harpsichord. Ms • March, March! 2001 (2001 Montreal). Piano. Ms • The Cheese Stands Still. 2004. Piano. Ms • Light Work. 2007 (2009 Montreal). 16th-tone piano, 4 hands. Ms • Yesteryear. 2010 (2013 St John's). Piano, 4 hands. Ms • Pages. 2016 (2016 Halifax). Piano. Ms Choir • The Trumpets of Summer (Atwood). 1964. Soloists, SATB, narrator, chamber ensemble Berandol. • Sharon Fragments (Willson). 1966. SATB. Waterloo 1966. • The Sun Dance (various). 1968. SATB, speaker, organ, percussion. Independently published. 1968 • Three Blessings (Fisher, Burns, Wesley). 1968. SATB, instruments (optional in No. 2). • Gas! (Beckwith). 1969. 20 speaking voices. Berandol 1978 • 1838 (Lee). 1970. SATB. Novello 1970 • Papineau (2 Lower Canada folk songs). 1977. 2 equal voices. Gordon V. Thompson 1978. • Three Motets on Swan's 'China' (various).'1981. SATB. Waterloo1983. • 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. • Mating Time (bp Nichol). 1982. SATB (20 solo voices), percussion, electric keyboard. Ms • Harp of David (Book of Common Prayer). 1985. SATB. Ms. • 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. • Serenade (Thibaudeau). 1949. Med voice, piano. Ms. RCI 36 (C. Jordan) • The Formal Garden of the Heart (Thibaudeau). 1950. Med voice, piano. Ms • Four Songs to Poems by e.e. cummings. 1950 (1950 Toronto). Soprano, piano. Waterloo 1975 • Four Songs from Ben Jonson's Volpone. 1961. Baritone, guitar. BMI Canada 1967 • A Chaucer Suite. 1962 (1963 Montreal). Alto, tenor, baritone. Ms • Ten English Rhymes (anonymous). 1963 (1963 Montreal). Young voices, piano. BMI Canada 1964 • Four Love Songs (Canadian folk songs). 1969. Baritone, piano. Berandol 1970. • Five Songs (arrangement). 1970. Alto, piano. Waterloo 1970 • Six Songs to Poems by e.e. cummings. 1980–1982 (1983 Toronto). Baritone, piano. Ms • Earlier Voices (arrangement). 1984. Soprano, baritone, SATB, piano. Ms • Avowals (bpNichol). 1985 (1985 Toronto). Tenor, 1 keyboard player on piano, celesta, harpsichord. Ms • Les Premiers hivernements (S. Champlain, M. Lescarbot). 1986 (1986 Toronto). Soprano, tenor, 2 recorder, lute, viol, percussion. Ms • Synthetic Trios (vocables). 1987 (1989 Quebec City). Soprano, clarinet, piano. Ms • The Harp that Once thro' Tara's Halls (T. Moore) (arrangement). 1986. Mezzo soprano, piano. Gordon V. Thompson 1987 • beep (bpNichol). 1990 (1990 Elora). Soprano, baritone, SATB, percussion. Ms • Stacey (Margaret Laurence), 1997 (1998 Toronto). Soprano, piano. Ms • A Man and His Flute (Miriam Waddington), 2000; 2003 (two poems added) (Toronto 2003). Soprano, piano. Ms • Merton Duets. 2005 (2006 Toronto). Soprano, mezzo soprano, violin. Ms • Beckett Songs. 2008 (2008 Sackville). Baritone, guitar. Ms • Singing Synge. 2011 (2012 Toronto). Baritone, piano. Ms • Tanu. 2013 (2014 Montreal). Soprano, flute, cello. Ms • Four Short Songs. 2016 (2016 London). Medium voice, piano. Ms Collage • A Message to Winnipeg (Reaney). 1960 (1960 Toronto). 4 speakers, violin, clarinet, piano, percussion. Ms • Twelve Letters to a Small Town (Reaney). 1961 (1961 Toronto). 4 speakers, flute, oboe, guitar, piano-harmonium. Ms • Wednesday's Child (Reaney). 1962 (1962 Toronto). 3 speakers, soprano, tenor, flute, viola, piano, percussion. Ms • Canada Dash – Canada Dot (Reaney). 1965-67 (1965-67 Toronto). In 3 parts. Voices, speakers, Chamber ensemble. Ms • The Journals of Susanna Moodie, incidental (Atwood). 1972, revised 1990 (1973 Toronto). 2 keyboard players, percussion. Ms • "In the middle of ordinary noise...": An Auditory Masque (Reaney). 1992 (1992 Toronto). Speaker, 2 soli, 3 instruments, tape. Ms ==Selected writings==

• • • • • • • Co-edited with Udo Kasemets • Reprinted in: • • • • • Co-authored with Helmut Kallmann. • • • • • reprinted with postscript, AGO/RCCO Music, vol. 5, March 1971. Reprinted in: • • • Reprinted in: • • Reprinted in: • • • • Co-edited with Keith MacMillan. • • • Reprinted in: • • Reprinted in: • • Co-edited with Ruth Pincoe. Reprinted in: • • Editor. Reprinted in: • Reprinted in: • • Also the editor. • • Also co-edited with Dorith Cooper. Reprinted in: • Co-edited with Frederick A. Hall. • Co-authored with Regula Burckhardt Qureshi, Alan Lessem, Alfred Fisher, and Barry Truax. • • • • • • • • • • • • • Co-edited with Brian Cherney. • • Co-edited with Robin Elliott. • ==Bibliography==