Allan Rae (born 3 July 1942 in

Blairmore, Alberta Blairmore is a community in the Rocky Mountains within the Municipality of Crowsnest Pass in southwest Alberta, Canada. It was formerly incorporated as a town prior to 1979 when it amalgamated with four other municipalities to form Crowsnest Pas ...

) is a Canadian

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

, conductor, and

trumpeter The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard B ...

based in

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

. An associate and former board member of the

Canadian Music Centre The Canadian Music Centre was founded in 1959 by a group of Canadian composers who saw a need to create a repository for Canadian music. It now holds Canada's largest collection of Canadian concert music, and works to promote the music of its As ...

and a member of the

Canadian League of Composers The Canadian League of Composers is an organization formed in 1951 of Canadian composers primarily interested in raising awareness and acceptance of Canadian music. Its activities are overseen and directed by an executive, and by a National Council ...

, he is particularly known for his works for the theatre which include several

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...

s and

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

s as well as

incidental music Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, or some other presentation form that is not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as t ...

. He has been commissioned to write music for productions mounted by the

National Arts Centre The National Arts Centre (NAC) (french: Centre national des Arts) is a Arts centre, performing arts organisation in Ottawa, Ontario, along the Rideau Canal. It is based in the eponymous National Arts Centre (building), National Arts Centre build ...

, the

Shaw Festival The Shaw Festival is a not-for-profit theatre festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada. It is the second largest repertory theatre company in North America. The Shaw Festival was founded in 1962. Originally, it only featured production ...

, and the

Stratford Festival The Stratford Festival is a theatre festival which runs from April to October in the city of Stratford, Ontario, Canada. Founded by local journalist Tom Patterson in 1952, the festival was formerly known as the Stratford Shakespearean Festival ...

, as well as

Theatre Passe Muraille Theatre Passe Muraille is a theatre company in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Brief history One of Canada's most influential alternative theatres, Theatre Passe Muraille ("theatre beyond walls") was founded in 1968 by director and playwright Jim Gar ...

, Vancouver Playhouse,

Theatre Calgary Theatre Calgary, is a theatre company in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, established as a professional company in 1968. It was preceded by Workshop 14, a theatre study group founded in 1944 by Betty Mitchell. Calgary's ''Betty Mitchell'' awards are ...

, and the

Globe Theatre, Regina Globe Theatre in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada was founded in 1966 by Ken and Sue Kramer. It was the first professional educational theatre company in Saskatchewan. Background Founded in 1966 by Ken and Sue Kramer, Globe Theatre was Saskatchewan ...

. Between 1985 and 2000 he was composer-in-residence at Alberta Theatre Projects. He has also written numerous

symphonic A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning com ...

and many

chamber works Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numb ...

, including commissions for the Calgary Philharmonic and the Calgary Youth Orchestra. His music has been performed by Carol McLaughlin, Gloria Saarinen and Cenek J. Vrba among others. Rae studied composition and arranging at the

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music is a private music college in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern American music, it also offers college-level cours ...

. He later studied

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroac ...

and composition with

Samuel Dolin Samuel ''Šəmūʾēl'', Tiberian: ''Šămūʾēl''; ar, شموئيل or صموئيل '; el, Σαμουήλ ''Samouḗl''; la, Samūēl is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transition from the bi ...

The Royal Conservatory of Music The Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM), branded as The Royal Conservatory, is a non-profit music education institution and performance venue headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded in 1886 by Edward Fisher as The Toronto Con ...

from 1970–1973. He began his career as a trumpeter in the Band of

Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians) Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians) (LdSH C is a regular armoured regiment of the Canadian Army and is Canada’s only tank regiment. Currently based in Edmonton, Alberta, the regiment is part of 3rd Canadian Division's 1 Canadian Mechanize ...

. He worked for CBC Calgary TV and radio as a composer and conductor from 1966–1970. He served briefly on the music faculty at the RCMT in 1973–1974.

Works

Solo piano

*Through a Broken Window 1970 (twelve short movements) *Songs for Children 1978 Book #1 *Alam Al Mithal 1978 *Songs for Children 1980 Book #2 *Poetic Petits #3 (n.d) *Be true, you need not fail 1999

Harp

*Mirror of Galadriel 1977 *Fantazzia 1979 *Be true, you need not fail 2005 (see above for solo piano version)

Chamber music

*String Quartet #1 1967 *Autumn Colours (WW. Quartet) 1969 *A Day in the Life of a Toad (Brass Quintet) 1970 *Impressions (WW. Quintet) 1971 *Sleep Whispering (Flute, Percussion, Piano) 1971 *String Quartet #2 1971 *Things to Play on A Boring Day (Thirteen short Trumpet duets) 1972 *Ode to a Pumpkin (Quintet for Percussion) 1973 *Poems for Trio (Violin, Piano, Cello) 1974 *Four Brass Quartets 1975 *On the Wind (Violin, Piano, Cello) 1976 *Rainbow Sketches (Flute, Oboe, Violin, Piano, two Percussion) 1976 *Alto Flute Sonata 1977 *Improvisations for String Quartet 1977 *Improvisations for WW Quartet 1977 *Whispering of the Nagual (Flute, Bb Clarinet, Bb Trumpet, Trombone, Cello, Piano and Percussion) 1978 *Images #1 (Trumpet and F Horn) 1979 *Images #2 (Flute and Clarinet) 1979, *Images #3 (Bb Trumpet, F Horn, Tuba) 1979 *Images #4 (Flute, Bb Clarinet, Bassoon) 1979 *Kiwani Owapi (Two Pianos, Bb Clarinet, Two Percussion) 1981 *Reflections (Violin, Piano, Cello) 1981 *Something Old, Something New (Brass Quintet) 1981 *En Passant (Two Marimbas) 1982 *Ancien Régime (Cello and Piano) 1986 *Caamora (Piano and Violin) 1987 *Serenade (Tuba and Piano) 1991 *Chanson da Camera (String Quartet) 1993 *10 March – Chinook, Hallulelujah (Violin, Flute, Cello, Marimba) 1993 *Poetic Petits #2 (Harp and Clarinet) 1993 *Poetic Petits #4 (String Quartet) 1993 *Poetic Petits #5 (Harp, Flute, Bb Clarinet) 1993 *Poetic Petits #6 (String Quartet) 1993 *Poetic Petits#7 (Bb Clarinet, F Horn, Harp, Marimba) 1993 *Poetic Petits #8 (Alto Flute, Bb Clarinet, F Horn, Marimba, Harp) 1993 *Poetic Petits #9 (Alto Flute, Marimba, Harp) 1993 *Circles (Clarinet, Bassoon Harp)1996 *Dialogues (Alto Flute, Bb Clarinet, F Horn, Marimba, Harp) 1996 *Echar La Casa por la Ventana (String Quartet) 1996 *Hay Que Gozar Mucho Para Desquitarse do la Vida (String Quartet, Alto Flute, Harp, Marimba)1996 *Todo esto muy Diverdo (Brass Quintet) 1996 *Romance (Oboe and Bassoon) 1997 *Even a Tyrannosaurus can be Romantic (Tuba Quartet) 1998 *Whispering of the Nagual (Flute, Bb Clarinet, Violin, Viola, Cello, Percussion, Piano) 1978, revised in 1998 *Dialogue (Bb Clarinet, Piano, Drums and Cello)1999 *Energy (Piano, 2 Violins, Viola and Cello) 1999 *From the wings of a raven (Alto Flute, Bass Clarinet, 2 Violins, Viola and Cello) 1999 *If The Raven Speaks (Violin, Viola and Cello) 1999 *I must speak (Clarinet and Marimba) 1999 *I too remember (Alto Flute, Piano and Cello) 1999 *There was peace (Violin and Viola) 1999 *Visions of the Past from the Future (Flute, Clarinet, Piano, Drums, 2 Violins, Viola and Cello) 1999 *With force (Violin, Viola and Cello) 1999 *You must pay attention (Flute, Clarinet, Piano, Drums, 2 Violins, Viola and Cello) 1999 *Impromptu (Marimba and Cello) 2002 *Scherzando (Marimba and Cello) 2002 *Tess (Piano and narrator) 2005 *Three Movements for Piano and Violin 2006 *Winter Chinook (Trio for three Harps) 2006 *A Road Through Alberta Foothills (Bass Clarinet, Piano and Violin) 2009

Chamber orchestra

*Db Harp Concerto 1976 *Sonata for Bass Clarinet 1976 Strings and Bb Bass Clarinet *Concerto for Bass 1977 *Concerto for Violin and String Ensemble 1979 *D Minor Piano Concerto 1978

Choral

*Listen to the Wind (Chorus and Orchestra) 1973 *Keltic Suite (SATB unaccompanied) 1993 *Transition (SATB and Orchestra) 1993 *Pacific Suite (SATB and String Orchestra) 1994 *Gaia – Earth Images 2009

Orchestra

*Trip (youth orchestra) 1970 *Wheel of Fortune 1971 *Two Thousand Years Ago 1972 *Symphony # 1 1972 "In the Shadow of Atlantis" *Love is Me 1972 *The Hippopotamus 1972 *Celebration (youth orchestra) 1974 *Image for Orchestra 1975 *The Alberta Pioneers (youth orchestra) 1980 *Symphony #2 1978 "Winds of Change" *Symphony #3 1980 *Mirror of Galadriel 1982 (see above for solo harp version) *L`heure Entre Chien et Loup 1994 *Mist of Summer Seas (string orchestra) 1995 *Standing Stones 1995 *Imagenés de Baja (string orchestra) 1996 *Tu Hablas muy Bien 1996, Concerto for Trumpet *Celebration of Spring 1998, (in four movements) *Take Back the Ring 2001 *'Alam Al Mithal' (n.d.)

Dance drama/ballet

*Like Gods, Like Gods Among Them 1973 Two Act Dance Drama *Mirror, Mirror 1974 one act, two scene ballet *Scarecrow 1975 Mime stage show

Music theatre

*You Two Stay Here and the Rest Come With Me (1968–9) *Trip (1969–70) *Where Are You Now That We Need You Simon Fraser? (1971) *Beware the Quickly Who (1971) *Charles Manson AKA Jesus Christ (1972)

References

External links

Calgary’s history was groovy, man: Hippie-era musical revamped and revived for Alberta’s 100th Anniversary
By Martin Morrow, FFWD, Thursday, 7 April 2005 *Kokoro Choir – Keltic Song (Allan Rae) a
YouTube
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rae, Allan 1942 births Living people Berklee College of Music alumni Canadian male composers Canadian military musicians Musicians from Alberta The Royal Conservatory of Music alumni Academic staff of The Royal Conservatory of Music Lord Strathcona's Horse soldiers