#ClassicsaDay #NorthAmClassics Week 2, 2024
Two countries celebrate their independence in July — and they just happen to be neighbors. On July 1, 1867, three separate British colonies were officially united. United Canadas, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick became Canada.
On July 4, 1776, thirteen separate British colonies were officially united, becoming the United States of America.
The #ClassicsaDay challenge for July is to post music by Canadian and American composers. Both countries have created their own forms of classical music, independent of Europe’s.
Here are my social media posts for the second week of #NorthAmClassics. As in past years, I alternate between Canadian and American composers.
07/08/24 Benjamin Carr (1768-1831): Federal Overture
Carr emigrated to America in 1793. In Philadelphia, he was a major figure — music publisher, composer, teacher, organist, and concert organizer.
07/09/24 Nicolas Gilbert (1970 – ) UP!: Sesquie for Canada’s 150th
Gilbert is a Canadian composer from Montreal. In 2008 he was named “Composer of the Year” by the Quebec Music Council.
07/10/24 Edward Burlingame Hill (1872-1960): Symphony No. 1
Hill studied with two of the “Boston Six” (John Knowles Paine and George Whitefield Chadwick). He was on the Harvard faculty from 1908 until his death in 1940. His pupils included Elliot Carter, Leonard Bernstein, and Virgil Thomson.
07/11/24 Sophie Carmen Eckhardt-Gramatté (1899-1974): Symphony No. 1
Eckhardt-Gramatté had an international career. She and her husband settled in Winnipeg in 1953 where she became — in her 50s — a Canadian composer.
07/12/24 Alexander Reinagle (1756-1809): Sonata No. 1
This English composer emigrated to America in 1789. In Philadelphia, he became an established composer, pianist, and teacher. George Washington was a fan. Reinagle taught his stepdaughter, Nellie Custis.
