John Beckwith, CM

Order of Canada

The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...

 (born March 9, 1927) is a Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 composer, writer, pianist, teacher, and administrator.

Born in Victoria, British Columbia

Victoria, British Columbia

Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of about 78,000 within the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria, which has a population of 360,063, the 15th most populous Canadian...

, he studied piano with Alberto Guerrero

Alberto Guerrero

Antonio Alberto García Guerrero was a Chilean-Canadian composer, pianist, and teacher. While he is most famously remembered as the mentor of Canadian pianist Glenn Gould, Guerrero influenced several generations of musicians through his many years of teaching at the Toronto Conservatory of...

 at the Toronto Conservatory of Music

Royal Conservatory of Music (Toronto)

The Royal Conservatory of Music, also known as The Royal Conservatory, is one of the largest and most respected music education institutions in the world...

 in 1945. He received a Mus.B. in 1947 and a Mus.M. in 1961 from the University of Toronto

University of Toronto

The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...

. From 1950 to 1951, he studied with Nadia Boulanger

Nadia Boulanger

Nadia Boulanger was a French composer, conductor and teacher who taught many composers and performers of the 20th century.From a musical family, she achieved early honours as a student at the Paris Conservatoire, but believing that her talent as a composer was inferior to that of her younger...

 in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

.

He started teaching at in the Faculty of Music at the University of Toronto in 1952. From 1970 to 1977, he was the dean of the faculty. He was founding director of the Institute for Canadian Music at the University of Toronto. He retired in 1990.

He has written over 130 compositions covering stage, orchestral, chamber, solo and choral genres.

In 1987, he was made a Member of the Order of Canada

Order of Canada

The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...

.

Education

In 1945, after several years of studying piano at the Royal Conservatory of Music

Royal Conservatory of Music

The Royal Conservatory of Music is a music school and performance venue in Toronto, Canada. Other uses of the term include:*The Madrid Royal Conservatory, Spain*The Royal Academy of Music, London, United Kingdom...

 (RCM), Beckwith received a Royal Conservatory scholarship, which allowed him to study piano with Alberto Guerrero

Alberto Guerrero

Antonio Alberto García Guerrero was a Chilean-Canadian composer, pianist, and teacher. While he is most famously remembered as the mentor of Canadian pianist Glenn Gould, Guerrero influenced several generations of musicians through his many years of teaching at the Toronto Conservatory of...

 at the University of Toronto

University of Toronto

The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...

. His other professors included Leo Smith

Leo Smith (composer)

Leo Joseph Leopold Smith was an English composer, writer, music critic, music educator, and cellist who was primarily active in Canada...

 and John Weinzweig

John Weinzweig

John Weinzweig, OC, O.Ont was a Canadian composer of classical music.Born in Toronto, Weinzweig went to Harbord Collegiate Institute, and studied music at the university. In 1937, he left for the United States to study under Bernard Rogers...

 and it was here that he obtained his B.Mus.

In 1950 he was awarded a second scholarship, this time from the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association. This scholarship allowed him to travel to Paris, where he studied composition under Nadia Boulanger

Nadia Boulanger

Nadia Boulanger was a French composer, conductor and teacher who taught many composers and performers of the 20th century.From a musical family, she achieved early honours as a student at the Paris Conservatoire, but believing that her talent as a composer was inferior to that of her younger...

.

He has received five honorary doctorates from Canadian universities; McGill University

McGill University

Mohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...

 (Quebec), Mount Allison University

Mount Allison University

Mount Allison University is a primarily undergraduate Canadian liberal arts and science university situated in Sackville, New Brunswick. It is located about a half hour from the regional city of Moncton and 20 minutes from the Greater Moncton International Airport...

 (New Brunswick), Queen's University

Queen's University

Queen's University, , is a public research university located in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Founded on 16 October 1841, the university pre-dates the founding of Canada by 26 years. Queen's holds more more than of land throughout Ontario as well as Herstmonceux Castle in East Sussex, England...

 (Ontario), University of Victoria

University of Victoria

The University of Victoria, often referred to as UVic, is the second oldest public research university in British Columbia, Canada. It is a research intensive university located in Saanich and Oak Bay, about northeast of downtown Victoria. The University's annual enrollment is about 20,000 students...

 (British Columbia) and the University of Guelph

University of Guelph

The University of Guelph, also known as U of G, is a comprehensive public research university in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. It was established in 1964 after the amalgamation of Ontario Agricultural College, the Macdonald Institute, and the Ontario Veterinary College...

 (Ontario).

Career

After studying in Paris, Beckwith returned to Toronto to pursue further studies and became active as a performing musician, actor, critic, radio commentator, writer, lecturer and broadcaster.
In 1952, he returned to the University of Toronto

University of Toronto

The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...

, but this time as a part-time lecturer at the Faculty of Music. He was then appointed full-time lecturer in 1955. He remained in this position for several years, and even served a term as the Dean of the faculty from 1970 to 1977. John Beckwith was appointed the first Jean A. Chalmers Professor of Canadian Music and the first director of the Institute for Canadian Music at the UofT. He retired in 1990 with plans to devote more time to composing. Some of his notable pupils include Brian Cherney

Brian Cherney

Brian Cherney is a Canadian composer currently residing in Montreal, Quebec. He studied at the University of Toronto where he was a pupil of John Weinzweig, Samuel Dolin, and John Beckwith. In 1972 he joined Schulich School of Music of McGill University, where he has taught analysis and...

, Gustav Ciamaga

Gustav Ciamaga

Gustav Ciamaga was a Canadian composer, music educator, and writer. An associate of the Canadian Music Centre and a member of the Canadian League of Composers, he was best known for his compositions of electronic music, although he produced several non-electronic works. His compositions have been...

, Omar Daniel

Omar Daniel

Omar Daniel is a Canadian composer and pianist of Estonian descent. In 1997 he won the Jules Léger Prize for New Chamber Music for his Zwei Lieder nach Rilke, a work for soprano and chamber ensemble, and in 2007 he received the K.M. Hunter Artists Award for classical music...

, John Fodi

John Fodi

John Fodi was a composer and music librarian. Born in Hungary, he became a naturalized Canadian citizen in 1961. An associate of the Canadian Music Centre, he was a founding member of ARRAYMUSIC, an organization which premiered several of his compositions.- Life :Born in Nagytevel, John Fodi moved...

, Clifford Ford

Clifford Ford

Clifford Robert Ford is a Canadian composer, editor, music educator, and writer. An associate of the Canadian Music Centre, he is a founding member of ARRAYMUSIC and a former member of the music faculties of McMaster University and Dalhousie University...

, Ben McPeek

Ben McPeek

Benjamin Dewey McPeek was a Canadian composer, arranger, conductor, and pianist. In 1964 he established his own company, Ben McPeek Ltd., which promoted himself as a "jingle" writer for radio and television...

, James Rolfe

James Rolfe

James Simon Rolfe is one of Canada's leading composers of contemporary music. He studied composition with John Beckwith at the University of Toronto and Jo Kondo in Japan...

, Clark Ross

Clark Ross

Clark Winslow Ross is a Canadian composer, guitarist, and music educator of Venezuelan birth. A composer of mainly works for orchestra and chamber music, he has won first prize in composition competitions held by the Hamilton Philharmonic , the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra , Symphony Nova Scotia...

, and Timothy Sullivan

Timothy Sullivan (composer)

Timothy Richard Sullivan is a Canadian composer, pianist, and music educator. A member of the Canadian League of Composers and an associate of the Canadian Music Centre, he has been commissioned to write works for ARRAYMUSIC, Donald Bell, and the Stratford Festival among others...

.

While teaching, Beckwith remained active in several areas of the musical community. He wrote for the Toronto Star from 1959 to 1965 as an arts critic and columnist and planned a number of documentaries and music series for CBC radio. Beginning in 1981, he worked as a director for the Canadian Musical Heritage Society, which he had co-founded that same year. He prepared two of the Society's 25-volume series of pre-1950 Canadian-composed music. In 1986, the Anthology of Canadian music included a five-record set of his music. A collection of 25 of his music articles and talks was published by Golden Dog Press in 1997 uner the title Music Papers

The Canadian Conference of the Arts awarded Beckwith with its Diplôme d'honneur in 1996 and he was made an honorary member of the Canadian University Music Society in 1999.

Composition

To this day, John Beckwith has composed over 130 large works. While the majority of his important works are settings of Canadian texts for voice, he also has many compositions for orchestral and chamber groups, as well as solo instrumental pieces and choral music.

While some of his music explores 20th Century techniques, most of his compositions have themes that connect in some way to historical or regional Canada. He spent much of his time creating arrangements of Canadian folk songs, and has set around 200 of these songs, including Four Love Songs (1969) and Five Songs (1969–70). Most of these were set between the years 1981 and 1991 during his involvement with Music at Sharon (a summer concert series in Ontario) As well as Canadian folk song, many of Beckwith's works are inspired by his experiences with the Canadian environment.

Beckwith collaborated with many Canadian writers when setting tect for voice, including James Reaney

James Reaney

James Crerar Reaney was an influential Canadian poet, playwright, librettist, and professor, "whose works transform small-town Ontario life into the realm of dream and symbol."...

, Jay Macpherson

Jay Macpherson

Jean Jay Macpherson is a Canadian lyric poet and scholar. The Encyclopædia Britannica calls her "a member of 'the mythopoeic school of poetry,' who expressed serious religious and philosophical themes in symbolic verse that was often lyrical or comic."-Life:Jay Macpherson was born in London,...

, Margaret Atwood

Margaret Atwood

Margaret Eleanor Atwood, is a Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, and environmental activist. She is among the most-honoured authors of fiction in recent history; she is a winner of the Arthur C...

, and Dennis Lee

Dennis Lee

Dennis Lee may refer to:*Dennis Lee , Canadian children's writer and poet*Dennis Lee, director of Fireflies in the Garden*Dennis Lee, lead screamer for the North Carolinian band, Alesana-See also:...

. The longest of these collaborations was with James Reaney

James Reaney

James Crerar Reaney was an influential Canadian poet, playwright, librettist, and professor, "whose works transform small-town Ontario life into the realm of dream and symbol."...

, which resulted in many of his most admired works, such as Night Blooming Cereus (1953–58), The Shivaree (1965–78), Crazy to Kill (1988–89) and Taptoo! (1994).

Sharon Fragments (1966)

Sharon Fragments is a piece for unaccompanied choir and is one of the most frequently performed works based on historical themes. It commemorates a religious sect from Ontario in the 19th century.The sect was called Children of Peace

Children of Peace

Children of Peace is a British-based, non-partisan charity that focuses upon building friendship, trust and reconciliation between Israeli and Palestinian children, aged 4-17, through arts, education, health and sports projects in the region, so that a future generation and their communities might...

 and is known for its love of music.

The Hector (1990)

This work is a documentary in the form of a cantata. The documentary is meant to depict the movement of over 200 immigrants to Pictou, Nova Scotia in the year 1773.

Lucas et Cécile

While involved with the Canadian musical heritage concerts at Sharon, Beckwith reconstructed the opera by Joseph Quesnel of the same name. This led to several successful performances, including performances by the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra in 1994, and the Acadian Ensemble in 2001.

String Quartet (1977)

In this quartet the sounds of the mandolin, banjo and fiddle in 19th century Canada are reproduced by traditional orchestral string instruments.

The Trumpets of Summer (1964)

For the quatercentenary of the birth of William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...

, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...

 (CBC) commission Beckwith to write a piece to represent this event. Instead of doing the obvious and using text from Shakespeare's works as a libretto, he composed this work with the intention of conveying the experiences one may have with Shakespeare in Canada and his effect on Canadian culture. Some of these aspects include “rather seedy touring company performances”, “a Stratford opening night,” and exploring the use of Shakespeare more recently in television and even comic books.

He collaborated on the text with a young Margaret Atwood

Margaret Atwood

Margaret Eleanor Atwood, is a Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, and environmental activist. She is among the most-honoured authors of fiction in recent history; she is a winner of the Arthur C...

, who was only a doctoral student at the time. The prologue proceeds to ask the audience why they came ("Was it to see / An unreal man, saying / words / words words words / that we can't understand / Or was it to see / A real man dying / slowly behind this mask of speech?"), followed by trumpets meant to imitate the traditional call to the audience indicating the start of a play.

Upper Canadian Hymn Preludes (1977)

This piece is one of his more avant garde works, composed for organ and prepared tape. While the organ part blends aspects of early Canadian music with techniques inspired by Charles Ives

Charles Ives

Charles Edward Ives was an American modernist composer. He is one of the first American composers of international renown, though Ives' music was largely ignored during his life, and many of his works went unperformed for many years. Over time, Ives came to be regarded as an "American Original"...

, the electronic element of the tape brings those aspects into the 1970s.

List of works

As recorded in the Encyclopedia of Music in Canada at http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/emc

Stage

• The Killdeer, incidental (Reaney). 1960, rescored 1961. Prepared piano (5 instr). Ms

• The Hector, documentary cantata (various). 1990 (Tor 1990). Soprano, early-instr ens. Ms

• See also Crazy to Kill, Night Blooming Cereus, The Shivaree

Orchestra and Band

• Music for Dancing (orch from piano, 4 hands). 1948 (piano), orch 1959 (Ott 1959). BMI Canada 1961. CBC SM-47/5-ACM 26 (*CBC Van orch)

• Montage. 1953, rescored 1955 (Tor 1953). Med orch. Ms

• Fall Scene and Fair Dance. 1956 (Tor 1956). Violin, clarinet, strings. BMI Canada 1957. 1977. Lethbridge Symphony Assn LSA-101 (Lethbridge SO)

• Concerto Fantasy. 1959 (Mtl 1962). Piano, orch. Berandol (rental)

• Flower Variations and Wheels. 1962 (Victoria 1963). Med orch. Berandol (rental)

• Concertino. 1963 (Tor 1964). Horn, orch. Berandol (rental)

• Jonah, cantata (various). 1963 (Tor 1963). BMI Canada 1969

• Place of Meeting (Dennis Lee). 1967 (Tor 1967). Speaker, tenor, blues singer, SATB, orch. Ms

• Elastic Band Studies. 1969, rev 1975 (Tor 1976). Concert band. Ms

• All the Bees and All the Keys (Reaney). 1973 (Tor 1973). Narrator, orch. (Orch) Berandol (rental), (piano score) Press Porcépic 1976

• A Concert of Myths. 1983 (Calgary 1984). Flute, orch. Ms

• Peregrine. 1989 (Tor 1990). Viola, percussion, sm orch. Ms

Chamber

• The Great Lakes Suite (Reaney). 1949. Soprano, baritone, clarinet, cello, piano. Ms

• Five Pieces for Brass Trio. 1951. Ms. 1981. Music Gallery Edns MGE-34 (Composers Brass Group)

• Five Pieces for Flute Duet. 1951. BMI Canada 1962

• Four Pieces for Bassoon Duet. 1951. Ms

• Quartet for Woodwind Instruments. 1951. Ms

• Three Studies for String Trio. 1956. Ms

• Circle, with Tangents. 1967. Harpsichord, 13 strings. BMI Canada 1968

• Taking a Stand. 1972. 8 brass, 14 music stands, 5 players. Berandol 1975

• Musical Chairs. 1973. String quintet. Berandol 1980

• Quartet. 1977. String quartet. Ms. Melbourne SMLP-4038/5-ACM 26 (*Orford String Quartet)

• Case Study: a multi-purpose quintet. 1980. 5 bowed string or woodwind or brass instr. Ms

• Eight Miniatures: arr from the Alan Ash Ms. 1981. Violin, piano. Ms

• Sonatina. 1981. Trumpet, piano. Ms

• Tunes of the Sharon Band (arr). 1982. Brass quintet. Sonante 1984

• Arctic Dances. 1984. Oboe, piano. Ms. McGill U Records 85026 (L. *Cherney)

• For Starters. 1984. 11 brass instr. Ms

• College Airs. 1990. String quartet. Ms

Piano

• Four Conceits 1945-48. 1945-8. Ms. RCI 228/RCA CCS-1022 (*Troup)

• Music for Dancing. 1948. Piano: 4 hands. Ms. RCI 113 (P. *Beaudet, G. *Bourassa)

• The Music Room. 1951. Frederick Harris 1955. RCI 134 (*Newmark)

• Novelette. 1951. BMI Canada 1954. Centrediscs CMC-1684/5-ACM 26 (*Foreman)

• Six Mobiles. 1959. BMI Canada 1960. CCM-2 (*Cavalho)

• Interval Studies. 1962. BMI Canada 1962

• Suite on Old Tunes (arr). 1966. BMI Canada 1967. CCM-2 (*Cavalho)

• Variation Piquant sur la `Toronto Opera House Waltz' 1967. 2 piano. Ms

• New Mobiles. 1971. Waterloo1972

• Keyboard Practice. 1979. 4 players, 10 keyboard. (1986). 5-ACM 24 (*Aide)

• Etudes. 1983. Ms. 5-ACM 26 (*Coop)

• Also a work for organ and prepared tape, Upper Canadian Hymn Preludes (1977). Ms. Centrediscs CMC-1784/5-ACM 26 (*Wedd)

Choir

• The Trumpets of Summer (Atwood). 1964. Soloists, SATB, narrator, chamb ens. Berandol (rental). CBC SM 81/RCI 340/ Cap ST-6323/5-ACM 26 (*Festival Singers)

• Sharon Fragments (Willson). 1966. SATB. Waterloo1966. Capitol ST-6258/Seraphim S-60085 (*Festival Singers)

• The Sun Dance (various). 1968. SATB, speaker, organ, percussion. Priv publ 1968

• Three Blessings (Fisher, Burns, Wesley). 1968. SATB, instr (optional in No. 2). BMI Canada 1968. CBC SM-81/RCI 340/Capitol ST-6323 (*Festival Singers)

• Gas! (Beckwith). 1969. 20 speakers. Berandol 1978

• 1838 (Lee). 1970. SATB. Novello 1970

• Papineau (2 Lower Canada folk songs). 1977. 2 equal voices. Gordon V. Thompson 1978. Centrediscs CMC-2285 (*Toronto Children's Chor)

• Three Motets on Swan's 'China' (various).'1981. SATB. Waterloo1983. Melbourne SMLP-4041/5-ACM 26 (*Elmer Iseler Singers
  Elmer Iseler Singers
  The Elmer Iseler Singers is a professional chamber choir based in Toronto, Canada.The twenty-voice choir, conducted by Artistic Director Lydia Adams], founded by Dr. Elmer Iseler in 1979, is one of Canada’s leading choral ensembles. The choir has built an international reputation through its...
  
  )

• A Little Organ Concert (vocables). 1982. SATB, organ, brass quintet. Ms

• A Canadian Christmas Carol (J. P. Clarke)(arr). 1984. SATB, harmonium (piano or organ). Gordon V. Thompson 1989. CBC SM-5055 (*Elmer Iseler Singers)

• Mating Time (bp Nichol). 1982. SATB (20 solo voices), percussion, elec keyboard. Ms

• Harp of David (Book of Common Prayer). 1985. SATB. Ms. Centrediscs CMC-CD-3790 (Van Chamb Choir)

• The Banks of Newfoundland (arr).1985. Baritone, SATB (oboe, string quartet) Gordon V. Thompson 1987

• Three Burns Songs (R. Burns)(arr).1986. SATB. Gordon V. Thompson 1987

• Farewell To Nova Scotia (arr).1985. Baritone, SATB, piano, percussion 2 trumpet, viola, cello, double bass. Gordon V. Thompson 1987

• The Gowans Are Gay (arr). 1986. SATB, percussion. Gordon V. Thompson 1987 69

Voice

• Five Lyrics of the T'ang Dynasty (various). 1947. High voice, piano. BMI Canada 1949. RCI 148/5-ACM 26 (*Alarie)/Centrediscs CMC-2185 (*Vickers)/(No. 3,4,5) 1988. Phillips 6514-157 (B. Fei soprano, N. Loo piano)

• 'Serenade' (Thibaudeau). 1949. Med voice, piano. Ms. RCI 36 (C. *Jordan)

• 'The Formal Garden of the Heart' (Thibaudeau). 1950. Med voice, piano. Ms

• Four Songs to Poems by e.e. cummings. 1950. Soprano, piano. Waterloo1975

• Four Songs from Ben Jonson's 'Volpone'. 1961. Baritone, guitar. BMI Canada 1967

• A Chaucer Suite. 1962. Alto, tenor, baritone. Ms

• Ten English Rhymes (anon). 1964. Young voices, piano. BMI Canada 1964

• Four Love Songs (Canadian folk songs). 1969. Baritone, piano. Berandol 1970. (No. 1, 3, 4) CBC SM-111 (*Bell)/(1986). 5-ACM 26 (Pepper, Beckwith)

• Five Songs (arr). 1970. Alto, piano. Waterloo 19701. CBC SM-77/Select CC-15073/5-ACM 26 (*Forrester)

• Six Songs to Poems by e.e. cummings. 1980-2. Baritone, piano. Ms

• Earlier Voices (arr). 1984. Soprano, baritone, SATB, piano. Ms

• Avowals (bp Nichol). 1985. Tenor, 1 player on piano, celesta, harpsichord. Ms

• Les Premiers hivernements (S. Champlain, M. Lescarbot). 1986. Soprano, tenor, 2 recorder, lute, viol, percussion. Ms

• Synthetic Trios (vocables). 1987. Soprano, clarinet, piano. Ms

• The Harp that Once thro' Tara's Halls (T. Moore) (arr). 1986. Mezzo, piano. Gordon V. Thompson 1987

• beep (bp Nichol). 1990. Soprano, baritone, SATB, percussion. Ms

Collage

• A Message to Winnipeg (Reaney). 1960 (Tor 1960). 4 speakers, violin, clarinet, piano, percussion. Ms

• Twelve Letters to a Small Town (Reaney). 1961 (Tor 1961). 4 speakers, flute, oboe, guitar, piano-harmonium. Ms

• Wednesday's Child (Reaney). 1962 (Tor 1962). 3 speakers, soprano, tenor, flute, viola, piano, percussion. Ms

• Canada Dash - Canada Dot (Reaney). 1965-67 (Tor 1967). 5 voices, 4 speakers, chamb ens. Ms

• The Journals of Susanna Moodie, incidental (Atwood). 1972, rev 1990 (Tor 1973). 2 kybd players, percussion. Ms

Writings

• 'Composers in Toronto and Montreal,' U of Toronto Quarterly, vol 26, Oct 1956

• 'Music,' The Culture of Contemporary Canada, ed J. Park (Cornell 1957)

• 'Music,' The Arts in Canada, ed M. Ross (Toronto 1958)

• 'Music Education,' ibid

• 'Young composers' performances in Toronto,' CMJ, vol 2, Summer 1958

• 'Jean Papineau-Couture,' CMJ, vol 3, Winter 1959

• 'Recent orchestral works by Champagne, Morel and Anhalt,' CMJ, vol 4, Summer 1960

• - and Kasemets, Udo, eds. The Modern Composer and His World (Toronto 1961)

• 'Notes on a recording career, (the work of Glenn Gould),' Canadian Forum, vol 40, Jan 1961

• Review of A History of Music in Canada 1534-1914 by Helmut Kallmann, U of Toronto Quarterly, vol 30, Jul 1961

• 'Schoenberg ten years after,' Canadian Forum, vol 41, Nov 1961

• 'Stravinsky triptych,' CMJ, vol 6, Summer 1962

• 'The Bernstein experiment,' Canadian Forum, vol 43, Apr 1964

• 'Notes on Jonah,' Alphabet, 8 Jun 1964

• Review of British Composers in Interview, ed R. Murray Schafer, U of Toronto Quarterly, vol 33, Jul 1964

• 'A "Complete" Schoenberg,' Canadian Forum, vol 46, Jan 1967

• 'About Canadian music: The P.R. failure,' Mcan, 21, Jul-Aug 1969; reprinted with postscript, AGO/RCCO Music, vol 5, Mar 1971

• 'What every U.S. musician should know about contemporary Canadian music,' Mcan, 29, final issue 1970

• 'Music in Canada,' MT, vol 111, Dec 1970

• 'Trying to define music,' ConsB, Christmas 1970

• 'Aims and methods for a music-theory program,' CAUSM J, vol 1, Spring 1971

• 'Healey Willan,' Canadian Forum, vol 52, Dec 1972

• 'Teaching new music: What? How? Why?' MSc, 270, Mar-Apr 1973

• 'Canadian music,' 'Harry Somers,' Dictionary of Contemporary Music (New York 1974)

• - and MacMillan, K., eds. Contemporary Canadian Composers (Toronto 1975)

• 'István Anhalt,' MSc, 281, Jan-Feb 1975

• 'A big song-and-dance,' CME, vol 18, Spring 1977

• 'Reflections on Ives,' An Ives Celebration, ed H. Wiley Hitchcock and Vivian Perlis (Urbana, Illinois 1977)

• 'A festival of Canadian music,' Musicanada: A Presentation of Canadian Contemporary Music (Ottawa 1977)

• Music In Canada (Ottawa 1979)

• - and Pincoe, Ruth, eds. Canadian Music in the 1960s and 1970s: A Chronicle (Toronto 1979)

• 'Kolinski: an appreciation and list of works,' Cross-cultural Perspectives on Music, ed R. Falck and T. Rice (Toronto 1982)

• - ed. John Weinzweig at Seventy (Toronto 1983)

• 'Shattering a few myths,' Glenn Gould Variations, ed J. McGreevy (New York 1983)

• 'Choral confessions,' Anacrusis, vol 6, Fall 1986

• 'On compiling an anthology of Canadian hymn tunes,' Sing Out the Glad News, ed J. Beckwith, CanMus Documents 1 (Toronto 1987)

• 'Canadian tunebooks and hymnals, 1801–1939,' American Music, vol 6, Summer 1988

• 'A "failure" revisited: new Canadian music in recent studies and reference works,' Hello Out There! eds J. Beckwith and D. Cooper, CanMus Documents 2 (Toronto 1988)

• - et al. 'From composer to audience: the production of serious music in Canada,' CUMR, vol 9, no. 2, 1989

• Review of The New Grove Dictionary of American Music, America's Music, and Music in the United States: A Historical Introduction, CUMR, vol 9, no. 2, 1989

• 'Canadiana realizations for "Music at Sharon," 1981-90,' News from CMHS, vol 1, Spring 1991

• 'Letter from Canada,' Sonneck Society Bulletin, vol 17, no. 2, 1991

• - and Kallmann, Helmut. 'Musical instrument building,' Encyclopedia Canadiana

• - and Hall, Frederick A., eds. Musical Canada

• 'Recordings,' Music in Canada

External links

• John Beckwith at The Canadian Encyclopedia
  The Canadian Encyclopedia
  The Canadian Encyclopedia is a source of information on Canada. It is available online, at no cost. The Canadian Encyclopedia is available in both English and French and includes some 14,000 articles in each language on a wide variety of subjects including history, popular culture, events, people,...