#ClassicsaDay #NorthAmClassics Week 1
By Ralph Graves
Both countries in North America celebrate their independence in July. For Canada, it’s July 1, 1867. And for the United States, it’s July 4, 1776. To mark this event, the Classics a Day team challenge is to post video performances of music by both Canadian and American composers.
Finding examples by American composers was easy. But finding performances by Canadian composers proved a little more difficult. And that’s a shame. Because the music I found was terrific.
Here are my posts for the first week of #NorthAmClassics.
Jocelyn Morlock: Golden
Canadian composer Jocelyn Morlock died in March of this year at age 53. She left behind an impressive catalog of compositions. “Golden” was written in 2001 for soprano and baroque strings.
Carl Ruggles: Portals for String Orchestra
American composer Carl Ruggles’ biggest hit was “Suntreader.” “Portals” was written the year before in 1925, and shoes the direction Ruggles was moving towards.
Murray Adaskin: String Quintet with Double Bass
The bulk of Adaskin’s music was written after his retirement. This Canadian composer was head of the University of Saskatchewan’s Music Department until 1966. He wrote this work in 1995
Amy Beach: Piano Quintet, Op. 67
Beach wrote this work in 1907. When this American composer and pianist married in 1885, her husband forced her to give up concertizing, which gave her more time to write.
Ernest Gagnon: Le carnaval de Québec
Canadian composer and organist Ernest Gagnon is best remembered for his ethnomusicology. His “Chansons populaires du Canada” was published in 1865, and preserved many Canadian folk songs.
