John Beckwith | Composer

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Writings
(select from the following)

  • Books
    • Author/Editor Title Publisher Date Note
      Co-Editor with Udo Kasemets The Modern Composer and his World Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1961 Conference Proceedings
      Co-Editor with Keith MacMillan Contemporary Canadian Composers Toronto: Oxford University Press 1975
      Co-Editor with Ruth Pincoe Canadian Music in the 1960s and 1970s: a Chronicle Toronto: Canadian Music Centre 1979 Program Booklet
      Editor John Weinzweig at Seventy Toronto: New Music Concerts 1983 Program Booklet
      Editor The Canadian Musical Heritage v (Hymn Tunes/Cantiques) Ottawa: Canadian Musical Heritage Society 1986
      Editor Sing out the Glad News: Hymn Tunes in Canada (CanMus Documents 1) Toronto: Institute for Canadian Music 1987 Conference Proceedings
      Co-Editor with Dorith R. Cooper Hello Out There!--Canada's New Music in the World, 1950-85 (CanMus Documents 2) Toronto: Institute for Canadian Music 1988 Conference Proceedings
      Co-Editor with Frederick A. Hall Musical Canada: Words and Music Honouring Helmut Kallmann Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1988
      Co-Editor with Peter Hatch The Fifth Stream (CanMus Documents 6) Toronto: Institute for Canadian Music 1991 Conference Proceedings
      Author Music at Toronto: a Personal Account (75th anniversary, Faculty of Music, University of Toronto) Toronto: the Author 1995 Distributed by the Institute for Canadian Music
      Editor The Canadian Musical Heritage xviii (Oratorio and Cantata Excerpts/Extraits d'Oratorios et de Cantates) Ottawa: Canadian Musical Heritage Society 1995
      Author Music papers: Articles and Talks by a Canadian Composer, 1961-94 Ottawa: The Golden Dog 1997
      Author Psalmody in British North America: Humbert, Daulé, Jenkins, Burnham Toronto: the Author 2002 Distributed by the Institute for Canadian Music
      Editor James Reaney, Scripts: Librettos for Operas and other Musical Works Toronto: Coach House Books 2004
      Author In Search of Alberto Guerrero Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press 2006
      Co-Editor with Brian Cherney Weinzweig: Essays on His Life and Music Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press 2011
      Author Unheard Of: Memoirs of a Canadian Composer Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press 2012
      Co-Editor with Robin Elliott Mapping Canada's Music: Selected Writings of Helmut Kallmann Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press 2013
  • Chapters in books
    • Co-Author Chapter title Editor Book Title Publisher Date
      Recordings Ernest MacMillan ed: Music in Canada Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1955
      Music Julian Park The Culture of Contemporary Canada Ithaca: Cornell University Press 1957
      Music Malcolm Ross The Arts in Canada Toronto: Macmillan 1958
      The Performing Arts John Saywell Canadian Annual Review for 1960 Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1961
      Music John Saywell Canadian Annual Review for 1961 Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1962
      R. Murray Schafer Music John Saywell Canadian Annual Review for 1962 Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1963
      Music John Saywell Canadian Annual Review for 1963 Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1964
      Satisfaction Mingles with Frustration in the Composers Life Dean Walker The Arts in Canada: Today and Tomorrow Toronto: Canadian Institute for Public Affairs 1976
      Reflections on Ives H. Wiley Hitchcock and Vivian Perlis An Ives Celebration Urbana: University of Illinois Press 1977
      Kolinski: an Appreciation and List of Works Robert Falck and Timothy Rice Cross-cultural Perspectives on Music Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1982
      Shattering a Few Myths John McGreevy Glenn Gould New York: Doubleday 1983
      On Compiling an Anthology of Canadian Hymn Tunes John Beckwith Sing out the Glad News (CanMus Documents 1) Toronto: Institute for Canadian Music 1987
      A Failure Revisited: New Canadian Music in Recent Studies and Reference Works John Beckwith and Dorith R. Cooper Hello Out There! (CanMus Documents 2) Toronto: Institute for Canadian Music 1988
      Orchestral works Robin Elliott and Gordon E. Smith Istvan Anhalt: Pathways and Memory Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press 2001
      Father of Romance, Vagabond of Glory: Two Canadian Composers as Stage Heroes Robin Elliott and Gordon E. Smith Music Traditions, Cultures and Contexts Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press 2010
      Istvan Anhalt: a character sketch Friedemann Sallis, Robin Elliott, and Kenneth DeLong Centre and periphery, roots and exile: interpreting the music of Istvan Anhalt, Gyorgy Kurtag, and Sandor Veress Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press 2011
  • Dictionary entries
    • Co-Author Entry Dictionary Publisher Date
      Music Education Encyclopedia Canadiana Ottawa: Grolier 1958
      Helmut Kallmann Musical Instrument Building Encyclopedia Canadiana Ottawa: Grolier 1958
      Canadian Music Encyclopedia Americana Montreal: Americana Corp. of Canada 1963
      Canada, Harry Somers John Vinton ed: Dictionary of Contemporary Music New York: Dutton 1974
      Istvan Anhalt, Glenn Gould, Udo Kasemets, Mieczyslaw Kolinski, Ernest MacMillan, Lois Marshall, Leo Smith Stanley Sadie ed: The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians London: Macmillan 1980
      Chamber Music Composition, Concertos and Concertante Music, Criticism, Education, Professional, since 1950, Hymnbooks, Ernest MacMillan, Muzak, Leo Smith, Solo Instrumental Music, Toronto Symphony Helmut Kallmann, Gilles Potvin, and Kenneth Winters eds: Encyclopedia of Music in Canada Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1981
      Hymns, Ernest MacMillan The Canadian Encyclopedia Edmonton 1985
      Music-Composition, Singing Schools The Canadian Encyclopedia, 2d edition Edmonton 1988
      Gabriel Charpentier L. W. Conolly and Eugene Benson eds: Oxford Companion to Canadian Theatre Toronto: Oxford University Press 1989
      Chamber Music Performance, Gospel Music (new); updatings of 10 entries listed above; updatings of approx. 15 other entries; 3 other new entries; Encyclopedia of Music in Canada, 2d edition Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1992
      Kathleen McMorrow Canada New Harvard Dictionary of Music, 2nd edition Cambridge: Harvard University Press 2003
      Alberto Guerrero, John McIntyre, Encyclopedia of Music in Canada, on-line edition Historica 2004
  • Articles
    • Title Journal Date Note
      List of Canadian Recorded Music, Canadian Library Association Bulletin xii 1956
      Composers in Toronto and Montreal University of Toronto Quarterly xxvi, no.1 1956
      Report on Music in Eastern Canada, 1956-57 Composers' Guild of Great Britain Bulletin 19 1957
      Canadian Music Today Vancouver International Festival Souvenir Program 1959
      Jean Papineau-Couture Canadian Music Journal iii, no.2 1959
      Alberto Guerrero Canadian Music Journal iv, no.2 1960
      Recent Orchestral Works by Champagne, Morel, and Anhalt Canadian Music Journal iv, no.4 1960
      Let's Seek a Recipe for Canadian Opera Opera in Canada i, no.2 1960
      Notes on a Recording Career Canadian Forum Jan 1961 Glenn Gould
      Schoenberg Ten Years After Canadian Forum Nov 1961
      A Stravinsky Triptych Canadian Music Journal vi, no.4 1962
      Notes on Jonah Alphabet viii 1964
      The Bernstein Experiment Canadian Forum Apr 1964
      Music in Toronto 64-65 Canadian Forum Jul 1965
      Notes on Criticism The Music Scene Sept-Oct 1967
      About Canadian Music: the PR Failure Musicanada xxi Jul-Aug 1969 Reprinted with Postscript, Music (AGO/RCCO Magazine) v, Mar 1971
      Udo Kasemets The Music Scene Jan-Feb 1970
      Students Hear their Music Performed University of Toronto Graduate iii, no.3 1970
      What Every U.S. Musician Should Know about Contemporary Canadian Music Musicanada xxix 1970
      Trying to Define Music Royal Conservatory Bulletin Dec 1970
      Music in Canada The Musical Times cxi, no.1534 1970
      Aims and Methods for a Music-Theory Program Canadian Association of University Schools of Music Journal i 1971
      Teaching New Music: What? How? Why? The Recorder xv, no.1 1972 Reprinted, The Music Scene Mar-Apr 1973
      Healey Willan Canadian Forum Dec 1972
      Sir Ernest MacMillan (1893-1973) Music (AGO/RCCO magazine) 7 Aug 1973
      Handbook on Canadian Composers Array Newsletter i, no.3 1974
      Istvan Anhalt The Music Scene Jan-Feb 1975
      A Festival of Canadian Music 1977 Introductory Essay, Program Booklet for Musicanada Concerts, London and Paris
      A Big Song-and-Dance, The Canadian Music Educator viii, no.3 1977
      What I Did on my Study Leave News from the Faculty of Music, University of Toronto, xiii 1978 Reprinted, Canzona (Newsletter, Composers' Association of New Zealand) 1980
      Music: the Search for Universals International Society for Music Education Yearbook vi 1979
      Composing in the Eighties Australian Journal of Music Education xxviii 1981
      Celebrating CanMus 1981 Essay, Program Booklet, Canadian League of Composers 30th Anniversary Conference, University of Windsor
      Canada in The New Grove News from the Faculty of Music, University of Toronto xix 1981
      Summary of the Symposium Studies in Music ix 1984
      Notes on Canadian Choral Repertoire Anacrusis iv, no.3 1985
      Choral Confessions Anacrusis vi, no.1 1986
      Canadian Tunebooks and Hymnals, 1801-1939 American Music vi, no.1 1988
      Réalisations et projets de l'Institut de musique canadienne Les cahiers de l'ARMuQ, x 1988
      Colloquy: from Composer to Audience: the Production of Serious Music in Canada Canadian University Music Review ix, no.2 1989
      Letter from Canada 1989-91 Sonneck Society Bulletin Quarterly Column
      The Institute for Canadian Music Assn. for Canadian Studies Newletter xii, no.3 1990
      Le Lucas et Cécile de Joseph Quesnel: Quelques problèmes de restauration Les cahiers de l'ARMuQ, xiii 1991
      Canadiana Realizations for Music at Sharon, 1981-90 News, Canadian Musical Heritage Society i, no.2 1991
      Keith MacMillan (1920-91): an Appreciation Notations iii, no.3 1991
      The Composer Speaks Canadian Composer ii, no. 3 1991
      Restoring Joseph Quesnel's other Operetta, Lucas et Cécile Notations iii, no.4 1991
      Notes on Harp of David Canadian University Music Review xi, no.2 1991
      Memories, and a Few Redneck Opinions SoundNotes ii 1992
      The Canadian Musical Repertoire 1993 Winthrop Pickard Bell Lecture, Centre for Canadian Studies, Mount Allison University, Sackville NB
      Samurai warriors? Ah, That must be Macbeth The Globe and Mail 23 Nov, 1993
      Sir Ernest MacMillan Notations vi, no.1 1994
      The Faculty's First Seventy-five Years Noteworthy fall 1994
      Choral Music in Montreal ca. 1900: Three Composers University of Toronto Quarterly lxiii, no.4 1994 Reprinted, with revisions, Anacrusis xv, no.4, 1996
      Hearing and Context Recherche en éducation musicale au Québec, 13 1994
      The Curse of Music today: Too Few People Actively Listen The Globe and Mail 3 Mar 1995 University of Guelph address
      Discovering our Canadian Choral Past Choirs Ontario xxv, no.1 1995
      Musical Quotations in Taptoo! Sonneck Society Bulletin xxi, no.3 1995
      Earlier Canadian Choral Music: Is there any? Where can I find it? Anacrusis xv, no.2 1996
      Glenn Gould, the Early Years: Addenda and Corrigenda GlennGould ii, no.2 1996
      Master Glen Gold GlennGould iii, no.1 1997
      New Music and the Public: Serge Garant and Quebec's Ruptures Debate Musicworks, 68 1997
      Ruptures: Qu'en aurait pensé Garant? Cahiers de la Société québécoise de recherche en musique i, no.1-2 1997
      Lucien Poirier: Souvenirs Cahiers de la société québécoise de recherche en musique, ii/2 1998
      Ernest MacMillan and England Canadian University Music Review xix, no.1 1998
      CUMS Remembered/Souvenirs de la SMUC Canadian University Music Review xx, no.1 1999
      Barbara Pentland Canadian University Music Review xx, no.2 2000
      Alberto Guerrero (1886-1959) Piano ix, no.4 2001
      Toronto's Divine Son Piano ix, no.5 2001 Glenn Gould
      Colonial Harmonist: a Manuscript Tunebook in the Faculty of Music Library The Halcyon [newsletter, Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library] 28 Nov 2001
      Mark Burnham and Upper Canada's Earliest Tunebook, Colonial Harmonist University of Toronto Quarterly lxxi, no.2 2002
      Thomas-Étienne Hamel and his Annales musicales du Petit-Cap: a Manuscript Song Collection of Nineteenth-century Quebec Canadian Journal for Traditional Music 29 2002
      Un manuscrit musical québécois du XIXe siècle: Annales musicales du Petit-Cap Cahiers de la société québécoise de recherche en musique vii, no.1-2 2003
      The State of Composition Women's Musical Club of Toronto News and Notes 31 2005
      Ten Centuries in Five Seasons: the Music comes First Women's Musical Club of Toronto News and Notes 33 2006
      The Present State of Unpopular Music CAML Review 35, no.2 2007 Reprinted with additional notes, Intersections 27, no.2, 2007
      [Golden memories: the Canadian Music Centre at 50] Notations winter 2009
      Derailed: a Choral Documentary Literary Review of Canada 17, no.9 2009 Libretto (found text)
  • Reviews and review-articles
    • Author Title Journal Date Note
      Pearl McCarthy Leo Smith: a Biographical Sketch University of Toronto Quarterly xxvi no.3 1957
      CBC International Service Transcriptions Canadian Music Journal i no.4 1957
      Young Composers' Performances in Toronto Canadian Music Journal ii no.4 1958
      The Vancouver International Festival, 1958 Canadian Music Journal iii no.1 1958
      Journal of Music Theory Canadian Music Journal iii no.4 1959 First Five Issues
      The Toronto Bach Society Canadian Music Journal iv no.1 1959
      Music in Review Canadian Forum Nov 1959 Compositions and Writings of Stravinsky
      Helmut Kallmann A History of Music in Canada, 1534-1914 University of Toronto Quarterly xxx no.4 1961
      The Summer Season: Stratford Canadian Music Journal vi no.1 1961
      R. Murray Schafer ed British Composers in Interview University of Toronto Quarterly xxxiii no.4 1964
      Igor Stravinsky and Robert Craft Dialogues and a Diary Canadian Forum Jul 1964
      D. B. Rowland Mannerism: Style and Mood Alphabet x 1965
      Music in Toronto, 1964-5 Canadian Forum Jul 1975
      Wanda Landowska The Tamarack Review xxvii 1965
      A Complete Schoenberg Canadian Forum Jan 1967
      Arnold Walter ed Aspects of Music in Canada Canadian Forum Dec 1969
      Graham George Tonality and Musical Structure Music (AGO/RCCO Magazine) Dec 1971
      Iannis Xenakis Syrmos and Other Works Les cahiers canadiens de musique/Canada Music Book ii 1971 Five-LP Album
      Willy Amtmann Music in Canada, 1600-1800 The Globe and Mail 10 May 1975
      Leonard Bernstein The Unanswered Question The Globe and Mail 17 Jan 1977
      R. Murray Schafer The Tuning of the World Canadian Forum 1 Mar 1978
      Dorothy H. Farquharson O, for a Thousand Tongues to Sing Canadian Association of Music Libraries Newsletter xiii no.1 1984
      Stan Rogers From Fresh Water Canadian Folk Music Bulletin xviii no.4 1984 LP
      Marie-Thérèse Lefebvre Serge Garant et la révolution musicale au Québec Canadian Association of Music Libraries Newsletter xvi no.1 1987
      H. Wiley Hitchcock and Stanley Sadie eds; Gilbert Chase; H. Wiley Hitchcock The New Grove Dictionary of American Music; America's Music, 3d ed; Music in the United States: a Historical Introduction, 3d ed Canadian University Music Review ix no.2 1989
      Otto Friedrich Glenn Gould: a Life and Variations Books in Canada Jun-Jul 1989
      Carolyn Beatty and Mark Hand eds Directory of Associate Composers / Répertoire des compositeurs agréés Canadian Association of Music Libraries Newsletter xix no.1-2 1990
      Dale McIntosh History of Music in British Columbia, 1850-1950 Music Library Association Notes xlviii no.1 1991
      Carol Oja Colin McPhee: Composer in Two Worlds American Music x no.2 1992
      Music of the United States, vols 1, 2, & 3 American Music xiv no.1 1996 Works by Ruth Crawford, Irving Berlin, & Amy Beach
      Norman Lebrecht When the Music Stops The Globe and Mail 23 Nov 1996
      Linda Hutcheon and Michael Hutcheon Opera: Desire, Disease, Death Canadian Association of Music Libraries Newsletter xxiv no.3 1996
      Ezra Schabas Sir Ernest MacMillan: the Importance of Being Canadian Canadian Journal for Traditional Music xxiv 1997
      Randolph Peters and Robertson Davies The Golden Ass Opera Canada xli no.1 2000 Canadian Opera Company
      Joseph Quesnel Lucas et Cécile Opera Canada xli no.3 2000 L'Opéra du Château
      Harry Somers Serinette WholeNote 1 Nov 2001 CD
      Canadians as Chopped Liver Musicworks 82 2002 Harry Somers: A Window on Somers, first three CDs
      Hommage à Marius Barbeau WholeNote 1 May 2003 CD
      Alternative Tunings, Then and Now Musicworks 85 2003 CD – Works by Wyschnegradsky and Mather
      Walter Pitman Louis Applebaum: a Passion for Culture Institute for Canadian Music Newsletter i, no.2 2003
      Gwenlyn Setterfield Niki Goldschmidt: a Life in Canadian Music CAML Review 31 no.2 2003
      An Open Letter to R. Murray Schafer Literary Review of Canada 11 no.8 2003 Review of Schafer: Patria, the Complete Cycle
      Documenting our Music Musicworks 87 2003 First five Canadian Composers Portraits CD albums
      Various CD Reviews WholeNote 2004, 05, 06, 07
      Richard Taruskin The Oxford History of Western Music: a Canadian Reflection CAML Review 33 no.3 2005
      Haruki Murakami Absolutely on Music: Conversations with Seiji Ozawa Literary Review of Canada 24 no.10 2016








j [dot] beckwith [at] utoronto.ca