HARRY SOMERS (1925–1999)Evocations (1966)

This chapter examines Harry Somers’s Evocations. This piece could be said to be a prime example of 1960s vocal writing, especially in regard to its notation and its appetite for experimenting with vocal sounds. In four short movements, the work can prove fascinating and hypnotic in performance. The music comes across with bold energy as well as lyrical spaciousness and a refined aural sense. The composer shows a keen grasp of the interpretative possibilities, as copious performance notes indicate. Along with a wish to make his intentions clear for future generations, Somers leaves plenty of scope for personal creative input and characterization.

Brian Cherney as Scholar and Creative Artist

While best known as a composer, Cherney has also been active in music scholarship. His doctoral thesis in musicology was on German music criticism during the Weimar era, but in his later career he has made important and timely interventions into Canadian music studies. Among his publications are articles on John Weinzweig and Pierre Mercure, as well as a monograph on Harry Somers, who is the subject of his ongoing research. His course on Canadian music at McGill University has introduced many students to the serious study and understanding of composed music in Canada. This article considers Cherney’s music scholarship and speculates on how this work may have had an impact upon his creative activities as a composer.

Neglected Canadian Orchestral Music

This article examines neglected orchestral works by six Canadian composers: Rodolphe Mathieu, Colin McPhee, John Weinzweig, Harry Somers, Istvan Anhalt, and R. Murray Schafer. Despite the considerable professional accomplishments and career achievements of these composers, each has at least one orchestral work in his catalogue that failed to make a good impression with the musical public or has never been heard in live performance. The article attempts to find why these compositions did not win a place in the repertoire and also considers how these works illustrate broader issues relating to the Canadian orchestral repertoire.

The Present State of Unpopular Music

When asked, "what kind of music do you write?" the late composer Harry Somers always replied "unpopular music." Whatever it is called, the category has undergone marked changes recently. SOCAN's 1992 transference of control from its "classical" wing to its commercial sector was, for the Canadian musical scene, a historic indicator of change. The death of modernism has become a critical cliché. Recent studies declare the end of "classical" music cultivation in the U.S.A. Composers are enjoined to conform to the vocabulary of U.S. pop. A simplified and meditative popular approach is espoused by some, notably (in Canada) Christos Hatzis. Despite signs of decline, a minority consumership for new "unpopular" works of diverse kinds remains strong. For a marginalized Canadian, local communication is genuine, and small is beautiful.