John Weinzweig and His Music: The Radical Romantic of Canada (Composers of North America): 15 - Hardcover

Keillor, Elaine

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0810828499 ISBN 13: 9780810828490

Publisher: Scarecrow Press, 1994

Synopsis

John J. Weinzweig (b. 1913) has been considered the dean of Canadian music for over thirty years. This is the first book-length study of his development as a musician and his contributions to Canadian music as a composer, teacher, and administrator. Keillor discusses his training and development in the context of Toronto's musical life during the 1930s and 40s, in particular, thus providing a useful and valuable historical perspective. During these years, Weinzweig established the profession of composer in Canada. Subsequently, his compositions, which are extensively examined in Part II, provided models of current compositional practice for his many students, as well as valuable additions to contemporary music literature. He was the first Canadian to propound the use of the serial technique, and Keillor traces his particular adaptations of serialism from 1939 to 1970. In his later compositions, he has elaborated on issues such as the role of silence, and theatrical and structural aspects initially explored by the Dadaists and Satie. In his life as well as his music, Weinzweig has championed advanced and often unpopular ideas. The romantic side of him is his imaginative and visionary quest to better the lot of his fellow composers, particularly in Canada. The book provides a fully annotated listing of Weinzweig's compositions, plus information about recordings. An appendix lists the approximately hundred scores for radio dramas and films that Weinzweig prepared for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and the National Film Board of Canada. Illustrated; filmography; bibliography.

About this title

Review:

...a well-researched, authoritative study that deserves to be in all college and conservatory libraries...includes excellent music lists, discography, and bibliography.--CHOICE

Elaine Keilor provides a useful monograph on an important composer from Canada.--American Music

About the Author:

Elaine Keillor (Ph.D., University of Toronto) is an internationally-known concert pianist and a professor of musicology/ethnomusicology at Carleton University. A specialist in various area of Canadian music, she has edited two volumes in the Canadian Music Heritage Series, published biographical and bibliographical studies relating to Canadian musical life in the late 19th and 20th centuries, written for various encyclopedias and dictionaries.

About this edition

• Publisher: Scarecrow Press
• Publication date: 1994
• ISBN 10: 0810828499
• ISBN 13: 9780810828490
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 337