Shand, Patricia Martin. “Canadian Music in the Canadian Music Educator.” Canadian Music Educator, Vol. 41, No. 3 & 4 (Spring and Summer 2000), pp. 47-51.
Keywords
Canadian music in education
Canadian repertoire for student performers
Canadian composers in classrooms
Canadian Music Educators’ Association
Canadian Music Educator
Canadian Music Centre
John Adaskin Project
Composers in Electronic Residence
Alliance for Canadian New Music Projects
University of Toronto Canadian Music Education Research Centre
Summary
This article begins with a brief history of the John Adaskin Project and how the Canadian Music Educators’ Association become involved in the project. The main portion of the article is an overview of the articles about Canadian music that appeared in the Canadian Music Educator from Vol. 1 to Vol. 40. Shand classifies the focus of the various articles, for example: “Canadian music for student performers;” “Canadian composers and their work;” “reviews of books dealing with Canadian music.”
Canadian Music in The Canadian Music Educator
Patricia Martin Shand
Reproduced with the permission of CMEA/Acme.
For the past 40 years, one of the main means of communication for Canadian music educators has been CMEA's national journal, The Canadian Music Educator (CME). The 40th anniversary of CMEA has presented opportunities to celebrate four decades of leadership in Canadian music education, and to look back on developments during those decades. As a national voice for Canadian music education, CMEA has had a long-term commitment to promoting Canadian music in education. My own personal involvement in these promotional efforts dates back to 1973 when I became the director of the John Adaskin Project (Canadian Music in Schools) as a joint venture of CMEA and the Canadian Music Centre. Because of my own on-going interest in this area, I welcomed the opportunity to look back on CMEA's efforts to promote Canadian music through an analysis of CME from Volume 1 in 1959-60 to Volume 40 in 1998-9.[1]
Although CMEA did not become directly involved as a sponsor of the John Adaskin Project until 1973, early issues of CME contain reports of the establishment and early development of the project. A report entitled “Canadian Music Centre” in Vol. 3, No. 3 (1962) refers to a grant to the Canadian Music Centre to launch its graded educational plan. A 1964 editorial by Kenneth Bray, entitled “Contemporary Music and the Schools,” describes how 14 Canadian composers spent one week in elementary and secondary schools in November 1963, culminating in a final day devoted to performing short pieces composed during the week. The event was organized by the Canadian Music Centre under the direction of CMC president Sir Ernest MacMillan and CMC secretary John Adaskin. Keith MacMillan's 1967 article “Towards New Music for Education: The John Adaskin Project” highlights the objectives of the “new music project” (renamed in memory of the late executive secretary of CMC, John Adaskin). MacMillan provides details of each phase of the project. In the first phase, teachers, composers and students worked together for one week. Early in 1965, at Seminar II, participants reconvened and assessed the music that was composed, and offered suggestions. MacMillan announces the John Adaskin Project planning and policy conference to be held in November, 1967 in Toronto. In Vol. 9, No. 2 (1968), Malcolm E. Smith and Elizabeth Filipkowski report on this 1967 policy conference, describing the Adaskin Project objective of developing Canadian repertoire suitable for student performers, and emphasizing two major aspects of the 1967 conference (Seminar III): the contribution of trained composers in the classroom, and the consideration of children as composers. Demonstrations given by Peter Maxwell Davies and R. Murray Schafer at the conference are described and discussed. In “New Canadian Music - Are We Afraid of It?” (1969), Keith MacMillan again discusses objectives of the John Adaskin Project: to develop contemporary repertoire suited to teaching music, and to encourage students at all levels to have experiences in composition.
Shortly after assuming the directorship of the John Adaskin Project, I wrote "In Search of our Own Music" (Shand, 1976), providing a brief history of the John Adaskin Project from its establishment by the Canadian Music Centre (CMC) in the early 1960s, describing the reactivation of the John Adaskin Project in 1973 as a joint venture of CMEA and CMC, and outlining the objectives of the reactivated project: to acquaint music educators with published and unpublished Canadian repertoire suitable for student performers, and to encourage composers to add to the repertoire. The continued development of the John Adaskin Project following publication of "In Search of our Own Music" can be traced in later volumes of CME. For example, “The John Adaskin Project” (Shand, 1986) describes the project ten years later, continuing to work to achieve the objectives outlined in the 1976 article. Notable developments reported in 1986 include the publication of the English and French guidelists of published Canadian music (described as in preparation in 1976), extensive research into unpublished Canadian music suitable for student performers, and on-going work to expand the Canadian repertoire through commissioning projects. A brief 1987 report, “Canadian Music for Schools. The John Adaskin Project,” includes a list of four current and four forthcoming Adaskin Project guidelists. By 1999, eleven guidelists were available.
An analysis of CME reveals CMEA's on-going interest in Canadian music for student performers. For example, Bray's editorial in Vol. 8, No. 2 (1967) includes an announcement of two new compositions, funded by the Centennial Commission and commissioned by CMEA, to be premiered at the CMEA convention in March 1967. In Vol. 8, No. 3, Godfrey Ridout and Robert Fleming discuss these two commissioned compositions: “When Age and Youth Unite” (Ridout), and “Four Fantasies on Canadian Folk Themes” (Fleming). Alfred Garson's 1972 editorial appeals to music educators and faculties of education to use Canadian texts, and outlines some of the main Canadian textbook series and song collections. In “The President’s Palabra,” Bray (1974) calls on Canadian music teachers to take the lead in providing opportunities for performing Canadian music. Vol. 18, No. 4 (1977) includes a list of Canadian folk music materials, suitable for the classroom and arranged by grade level, prepared by Barbara Cass-Beggs and Keith Bissell. In “Canadian Folk Music,” Dorothy Hogan (1978) suggests that if young Canadians are inspired to sing and play Canadian folk music, they will have an emotional basis for caring for their country, and Joan Thompson (1990 and 1991) reviews choral works by Canadian composers suitable for high school and elementary school choirs. “Strategies for Teaching Contemporary Music, Using Canadian Music for Student Instrumental Ensembles” (Shand, 1991) describes a variety of contemporary Canadian compositions which are suitable for student instrumental ensembles, and suggests some approaches to teaching these sample compositions. In “Brass Chamber Music by Canadian Composers: Suggestions for Student Performers,” Eleanor Stubley (1993) recommends and discusses various works for brass chamber ensemble by Canadian composers. The article is based on research for her Masters thesis and for A Guide to Unpublished Canadian Brass Chamber Music Suitable for Student Performers, one of the John Adaskin Project publications. Materials for teaching Métis songs, dance and fiddling, including song collections, audio cassettes and video documentaries, are described by Nancy Browne in 1997. “Sharing the Voices: Métis songs of the northern plains” (Browne and Whidden, 1999) describes a project for the collection and arrangement of Métis songs. “Like a Bridge Over Troubled Waters: The use of folk song in the intermediate music curriculum” (Adams, 1999) examines the role and function of Newfoundland folk songs in relation to the Newfoundland Intermediate Folk Song Project, and describes seven collections of Newfoundland folk songs.
Interest in Canadian composers and their work in education is evident throughout the 40-year history of CME. For example, Lee Willingham (1986) describes a ‘Composer in the Classroom’ project administered by the Ontario Regional office of the Canadian Music Centre, in which composer Timothy Sullivan introduced high school students to various techniques of composition, and produced a commissioned, original work for high school performers. First-hand accounts are provided by composers Allan Bell (1983) and Gordon Nicholson (1985), who were involved in ‘Composer in the School’ projects organized by the CMC Prairie Region. In "Canadians commissioning Canadians: It's as easy as 1…2…5," Hugh Kennedy (1995) describes a commissioning project undertaken by his high school band in New Brunswick, and announces the establishment of the CMEA Project 125 Commissioning Fund to assist teachers with the costs of commissioning projects. Gary Barwin (1998) describes the Composers in Electronic Residence program through which Canadian composers work with students and teachers in Canada and beyond, using the Internet.
The CME has published a number of articles about Canadian composers and their work, including Lorne Watson's “S.C. Eckhardt-Gramatté, Canadian Pianist, Violinist, Composer, 1900-1974” (1975); Paul Murray's “Ernest MacMillan - Music Educator” (1977); and the three-part series “Composers and Music Education” featuring interviews with Murray Adaskin (Churchley, 1980), with R. Murray Schafer (Bates, 1981), and with Jean Coulthard (Vaughan, 1981). “The Music of the Environment” (Shand, 1974) describes Murray Schafer’s “World Soundscape Project” and addresses its implications for music education. CME has also published articles by Canadian composers. For example, “Robbing the Canadian Composer” (Lapierre, 1961, reprinted 1999) outlines the need to revise laws in order to protect the intellectual properties of Canadian composers. “The Creaking Wheel” (Bissell, 1961, reprinted 1984) contains a strong admonition to Canadian composers to write quality music for schools. “Choir in Residence: Festival Singers of Canada in Scarborough” (Bissell, 1971) reports on an extension of one of the recommendations from the John Adaskin Project: to bring composers and professional musicians together with students in the school system. “Departing in New Directions” (Schafer, 1973) presents excerpts from Schafer's The Rhinoceros in the Classroom, focusing on the need for creativity and exploration in arts education. “A Big Song-and-Dance” (Beckwith, 1977), is a 1974 convocation address dealing with the place of music in Canadian universities and the place of Canadian music more broadly in Canadian society.
Reviews of a variety of books dealing with Canadian music have been included in the CME over the years, to make teachers more aware of useful pedagogical and reference materials. The following books were among those reviewed: Christopher Gledhill's Folk Songs of P.E.I. (Johnston, 1973); Ian Bradley’s Canadian Music for Schools: A Collection of Songs and Listening Materials (Shand, 1975); Ilona Bartalus’ Sing, Silverbirch, Sing (More, 1981); The Encyclopedia of Music in Canada (Vogan, 1982); Shand's Musique canadienne: Oeuvres choisies à l'intention des professeurs (Gantly, 1983); F.R.C. Clarke's Healey Willan: Life and Music (Churchley, 1984); Singing our History, by Edith Fowke and Alan Mills (Osborn, 1985); and Timothy McGee's The Music of Canada (Dixon, 1987).
To guide teachers who want to include Canadian music in the listening and analysis components of their curricula, CME has provided some useful articles dealing with this curricular area. “Study Courses in Canadian Music” in Vol. 4, No. 2 (1962-63) describes a series of Canadian music study courses in the field of composition being developed by the Canadian Music Center, for use in composition and analysis classes at the university and college level. In “Canadian Music for Young Listeners,” Isabelle Mills (1973) summarizes her doctoral dissertation, “Canadian Music: A Listening Program for Intermediate Grades." In “Contemporary Canadian Music Within the Quebec School System,” Vanasse (1984) summarizes the efforts of Louise Bail-Milot, Quebec musicologist, to make contemporary Canadian music better known to students through the development of a variety of teaching materials. In “The Creative Tape Project: Electroacoustic Music Education and Competition,” David A. Julien (1986) describes the CMEA-CMC ‘Creative Tape Project,’ designed to provide music teachers with materials and methods for introducing electroacoustic music to students at all levels. Two other articles previously mentioned as dealing with Canadian music for student performers also provide useful information for classroom listening and analysis activities: “Resources for Teaching Métis Music” (Browne, 1997), and Ki Adams' 1999 article on teaching Newfoundland folk songs.
There has been less evident interest in teaching Canadian music in the context of related arts programs, although Hopcraft, Johnson, and Scammell (1974) wrote “ Canadian Arts in the Classroom,” describing a year-long project in Gravenhurst, Ontario, in which children were exposed to the work of Canadian musicians and artists. The goal of the project was to develop an awareness of Canada, and to instill pride in young Canadians. Browne's “Resources for Teaching Métis Music” (1997) could also be of use in a related arts context.
For the teacher seeking a broader understanding of Canadian music, 1986 articles by Peter Goddard and by Larry Lake would be of interest. In “Youth and Electronics: An Option/An Environment,” Goddard discusses the development of electronic music in Canada and internationally. In “Music in Canada,” Lake provides an historical account of the evolution of composed Canadian music in the twentieth century, and briefly describes various organizations such as CMC, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and the Canada Council which have supported Canadian music.
Readers seeking more information on organizations which have supported Canadian music can find articles and reports on such organizations in CME. In “B M I Canada, A Tribute,” Ralph Cruickshank (1970) describes the achievements of BMI Canada’s publishing division from 1947 to 1969 in promoting and publishing the music of Canadian composers, including works for student performers. John Cozens (1972) describes the historical evolution and function of the Canadian Music Council, and Margery Vaughan (1973) describes the move to establish a Music Research Council in Canada, and discusses the formation of the CMEA Research Committee, mentioning areas of research concern such as Canadian music and the dissemination of Canadian music in the schools, and identifying issues relating to Canadian musical culture. Allan Bell (1978) describes the formation of the Alberta Composers Association, and Mary Gardiner (1985) outlines the formation and objectives of the Alliance for Canadian New Music Projects and describes the Contemporary Showcase non-competitive Canadian music festivals and the commissioning work undertaken by ACNMP (over 50 Canadian commissioned compositions for student performers). A wide range of Canadian music organizations (including CMEA) co-operated to plan and celebrate 1986 as the International Year of Canadian Music, and an entire issue of CME (Vol. 27, No. 3) was devoted to articles on Canadian music.