Edito de Canadian Composers Portraits: Srul Irving GlickCANADIAN COMPOSERS PORTRAITS SERIES No one can say with certainty who the first Canadian composer may have been. What is beyond doubt is the explosion of composition in the years following the Second World War. A generation of pioneering professional composers firmly established Canada?s place on the world?s musical map. Centrediscs? Canadian Composers Portraits Series documents the emergence of this distinctly Canadian music. Each release in this retrospective of the last fifty years of Canadian composition is dedicated to a single composer. These unique CD sets combine full-length documentaries on the composers? lives and music with a selection of some of their most important works. The best performances available of these works are taken from CBC, private and commercial sources and, in the case of archival recordings, are restored using the latest available techniques. We dedicate this project to our composers and to all those who have an interest in Canada?s musical heritage. CD1: Glick documentary produced and prepared by Eitan Cornfield [57:43] Documentaire sur Glick produit et présenté par Eitan Cornfield 1. Beginning 2. My father was a cantor 3. I felt irresistibly drawn towards music 4. Weinzweig was a very tough guy for him 5. After he came back from Paris 6. The idea of music being an expression of your soul 7. You get an idea 8. I want you to know that I?ve had a laboratory 9. Let me ask you a personal question 10. It started a series of events CD2: String Quartet No.2 [20:00] 1. I. Con dolore, freely ? melancholy, with intensity [6:25] 2. II. With sad reminiscence [6:20] 3. III. With aggressive determination [6:58] St. Lawrence String Quartet: Geoff Nuttall & Barry Shiffman (violins/violins), Lesley Robertson (viola/alto), Marina Hoover (cello/violoncello) Recorded live at / Enregistré en direct : Jane Mallet Theatre, St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts, Toronto, December/decembre 8, 1994 Producer / Réalisateur : Keith Horner (CBC Radio Two) Recording engineer / Preneur de son : Ed Marshall (CBC Radio Two) * World premiere recording / Création mondiale. I Never Saw Another Butterfly [20:10] 4. To Olga [3:27] 5. Yes, that?s the way things are [2:46] 6. The little mouse [1:39] 7. On a sunny evening [3:18] 8. The Narrative [3:51] 9. The Butterfly [5:09] Maureen Forrester (contralto), John Newmark (piano) Recorded by / Enregistré de : CBC Radio, 1969 Producer / Réalisateur : James Kent Concerto for Piano and String Orchestra [26:10] 10. I. Smoothly, gracefully [9:05] 11. II. Calm, peacefully, con rubato [7:17] 12. III. Allegro con rubato; bright with good humour [9:38] Ralph Gothóni (piano & conductor/chef d?orchestre) Finlandia Sinfonietta Recorded live at / Enregistré en direct : Rideau Hall, Governor General?s Residence, Ottawa, 1992 Producer / Réalisateur : Jill Laforty (CBC Radio Two) Recording engineer / Preneur de son : Marc Parizeau (CBC Radio Two) * World premiere recording / Création mondiale. Music used in the documentary in order of appearance. All music by Srul Irving Glick unless otherwise noted. / Les oeuvres dans ce documentaire sont entendues dans l?ordre suivant. La musique est de Srul Irving Glick sauf avis contraire: ? Divertimento. CBC Records MVCD 1046. ? Suite Hebraique No.1. CBC Records 1046. ? Old Toronto Klezmer Suite. Analekta AN28721. ? Avinu Malkeinu. Beth Tikvah. ? Suite Hebraique No.4. Dinant JACD 004. ? Suite Hebraique No.1. CBC Records MVCD 1046. ? Waltz No.7(Chopin). Golomb GLDC 5701. ? Piano Sonata. Golomb GLDC 5701. ? Gathering In. RCI ACM 34. ? String Quartet No.1. RCI ACM 34. ? Caprice. Dominion 69002. ? Sinfonia Concertante. RCI ACM 34. ? Trio. Opening Day ODR 9315. ? Suite Hebraique No.2. RCI ACM 34 ? Music for Passover. RCI ACM 34. ? Violin Concerto. RCI ACM 34. ? I Never Saw Another Butterfly. RCI ACM 34. ? Shomer Israel. Beth Tikvah. ? Flute Sonata. RCI ACM 34. ? Yaale. Demo 642002. ? Old Toronto Klezmer Suite. Analekta AN28721. ? Violin Concerto. RCI ACM 34. ? String Quartet No.2. Demo 642003. ? Prayer and Dance. Dorian DOR 90208. ? The Hour Has Come. CBC Records SMCD 5054. THE COMPOSER Srul Irving Glick (1934 -2002) grew up in Toronto, where his father was a cantor and his brother was a clarinetist of distinction. He was educated at the University of Toronto where he received his Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees in composition and theory. He continued his studies in Paris, France with such masters as Darius Milhaud, Louis Saguer and Max Deutsch. He was a teacher of theory and composition himself at the Royal Conservatory of Music and York University. Glick was one of Canada?s most prolific composers, writing in all media from chamber music to oratorio. Especially significant is his vocal and choral music, for which he received numerous awards including: The J.I. Segal Award for his contribution to Jewish music in Canada; the Kavod Award presented by the Cantor?s Assembly of America, ?for his lifelong dedication to the music of the synagogue, to cantorial chant and to cantors?; The Solomon Schechter Award presented to the Beth Tikvah?s music program by the United Synagogue of America; an Honourary Fellowship from the Royal Canadian College of Organists ?for his contribution to musical life in Canada, and in particular to the music of the synagogue?, and in 1995, a second gold Solomon Schechter award for the best musical program for a synagogue in North America. In the year 2001, he received the prestigious Ateret Kavod (Crown of Honour) Award from the United Synagogue of America. Glick was proclaimed Composer-in Residence of Beth Tikvah Synagogue in Toronto where he was choir director from 1964 to 2002. His liturgical music has been performed and recorded with this excellent choral group in Canada, the United States and Israel. In 1993 Beth Tikvah released the first complete compact disc of Glick?s music for cantor and choir entitled Beth Tikvah Sings, performed by cantor Efraim Sapir and the Beth Tikvah choir. In addition, Mr. Glick served as program director of Jewish Music Toronto for 4 years and he filled the portfolio as program director of Musica Beth Tikvah, two concert series of Jewish music in Toronto. In 1986, Glick left the CBC where he had been a producer of serious music since 1962. His involvement in the field of production, recordings and programming won him seven Grand Prix du Disque and a Juno Award. In 1993, Mr. Glick received a Governor General?s medal in honour of Canada?s 125th anniversary of Confederation ?for his contribution to Canadian culture?, and in 1994 was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada for his ?outstanding achievement ?, service to Canada and to humanity at large?. In the year 2000, Glick received the extraordinary Yuvel Award, presented by The Cantor?s Assembly of America, for his ?life long commitment to the composition of music that captures the heart and touches the soul.? One of Canada?s most prominent composers, Glick?s music is performed regularly in Canada, in the USA and abroad. His unique integration of contemporary music, Hebraic lyricism and classical composition techniques, formed into a masterful character-filled music that is both dramatic and lyrical, won him considerable acclaim. A great many of his works appear on recordings and compact discs, and are published in Canada, the USA and the United Kingdom. Other Centrediscs compact discs featuring the music of Srul Irving Glick are Canadian String Quartets (CMCCD 6600), Love Songs for a Small Planet (CMCCD 4893), and Vickers (CMCCD 6398). THE COMPOSITIONS String Quartet No.2 (1994) Srul Irving Glick writes, ?I began to work on the sketches of my Quintet for piano and string quartet and my String Quartet No.2 at the same time. However I can?t imagine two works being more different. While the piano quintet is bright and playful, the string quartet is dark, moody, ironic and aggressive. I completed the quintet first, and then began the quartet. At first I was taken aback by the aggressive drive, the vehemence and bitterness of the music that was pouring out of me. ?I wondered if this had any relationship to the shooting incident which I had been involved with a year and a half earlier. I was tempted to drop the work I had already done and begin again, however after playing an excerpt to two musicians, and to Barry Shiffman of the St. Lawrence Quartet, who had found the music moving and exciting, I continued working on the existing material. ?I wrote the piece in the reverse order, completing the third movement first. Then came the second movement, and when I had written the opening section of the first movement, marked ?con dolore?, with a heavy sadness, I received a phone call informing me of the sudden death of my brother-in-law, rabbi, teacher and friend, Shlomo Carlebach. I was truly devastated! ?When I eventually returned to composing, the music of the quartet seemed so right to me. The bitterness was real and the darkness prevailed. The sorrow, the lashing out and the irony all seemed to have been a horrible premonition. ?I have dedicated the String Quartet No.2 to the St. Lawrence String Quartet, but wrapped up in its pages is the memory of my friend and teacher Shlomo. The work was commissioned by Music Toronto for performance on December 8th, 1994 at the Jane Mallet Theatre.? I Never Saw Another Butterfly (1968) I Never Saw Another Butterfly was the title of a book of poetry and drawings by children from the concentration camp of Terezin in former Czechoslovakia, 1942-1944, during the Second World War. ?I was immediately shaken? says the composer, ?by the emotional impact caused by these poems. In many cases the poems dealt with subjects far removed from the horrors of the war, a war which all these children experienced so profoundly. Perhaps it was this understatement in many of the poems which moved me so much. Humans are adaptable and children always seem to look for the best ? and yet, I, as an adult reading these poems mixed them with my sad awareness of the futility and grotesqueness of their lives. Most of the children perished at the hands of the Nazis. These poems have been a memorial testimony to their positive thirst for life in spite of the overwhelming tragedy of their death. ?When Maureen Forrester asked me to write a work for her, and at the same time the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation commissioned me to write some music for them, I put the two together, and wrote this work for Maureen Forrester, to whom it is dedicated. Since its premiere in 1969 Maureen Forrester has literally sung these songs all over the world.? Concerto for Piano and String Orchestra (1992) Of this work, the composer writes ?I was approached by Valerie Sirén, the Artistic Director of Syrinx Concerts Toronto, to see if I would be interested in composing a work for the celebration of Finland?s 75th anniversary of independence and Canada?s 125th anniversary of Confederation. When I agreed, I had no idea of the fellowship and richness of experience that I would find in meeting with members of the Celebration ?92 Committee, with artists, journalists and learning about Finland. Pieter Sigmundt, an enthusiastic music lover and choral conductor, became excited about the project, agreed to sponsor the commission of the piano concerto, and chair the Committee. He became involved and interested in all aspects of the creation of my new piece. ?When Ralf Gothóni came to perform in Canada in March 1992, I had an opportunity to hear him in recital. I was impressed by his sensitive, poetic musicianship and inspired by his friendship, I dedicated the concerto to him. ?I began to write the concerto with complete confidence and expectation of a special work. As the sketches developed, I became aware of several strands of ideas which eventually became the three movements of the work. The first movement is a lyrical outpouring of gratitude for the gifts of life, for its joy and its celebration. The second movement is a song of the love of nature, which includes the Finnish folk song, Tuoll? on mun kultani (There is my precious one). The third movement is a more complicated Rondo, which, as it develops, shows more and more the profound meaning of life with its depth of struggle and its yearning for the light. Sections of ironic wistfulness in a syncopated style contrast with the more serious, yearning material building up to a climactic tension bringing the concerto to a dynamic conclusion.? Lire la suite