David Hume Mills (29 January 1926 – 30 November 2020) was a Canadian bass singer, poet, composer and actor. He had an active international singing career that spanned more than five decades. He has published two books of poetry, ''Isobelle, a Novel in Verse'' (Toronto 1989) and ''The Social Comedy'' (Ottawa 1990). He wrote a one-man show, ''David Mills – His Poetry and Songs'', which premiered in Toronto in 1989 and then toured to numerous Canadian cities in the early 1990s. As a composer he has written a

cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir. The meaning of ...

, ''Vision of Peace'' to texts from the

Book of Isaiah The Book of Isaiah ( he, ספר ישעיהו, ) is the first of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible and the first of the Major Prophets in the Christian Old Testament. It is identified by a superscription as the words of the 8th-century BC ...

, and several art songs to the poetry of

Pauline Johnson Emily Pauline Johnson (10 March 1861 – 7 March 1913), also known by her Mohawk stage name ''Tekahionwake'' (pronounced ''dageh-eeon-wageh'', ), was a Canadian poet, author, and performer who was popular in the late 19th and early 20th centur ...

and

Robert Browning Robert Browning (7 May 1812 – 12 December 1889) was an English poet and playwright whose dramatic monologues put him high among the Victorian poets. He was noted for irony, characterization, dark humour, social commentary, historical settings ...

. As an actor, he has appeared on CBC TV and in films for Circle Films and

Atlantis Films Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc. (commonly known as Alliance Atlantis and commonly shortened to simply Alliance or Atlantis and formerly traded as TSX:AAC) was a Canadian media company that operated primarily as a specialty service opera ...

among other production companies. Mills was born in

Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan Moose Jaw is the fourth largest city in Saskatchewan, Canada. Lying on the Moose Jaw River in the south-central part of the province, it is situated on the Trans-Canada Highway, west of Regina, Saskatchewan, Regina. Residents of Moose Jaw are k ...

on 29 January 1926. As a singer Mills had been chiefly active as a

recital A concert is a live music performance in front of an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, choir, or band. Concerts are held in a wide variety an ...

ist from the 1940s through the 1990s, usually accompanied by his wife, the pianist Marjorie Mutter. He toured numerous times throughout Europe (1960, 1961, 1965, 1970, 1977, 1979, 1983, and 1988) in addition to making numerous appearances in North America, including 8 nationwide tours of Canada. He performed programs of Canadian art songs, and notably premiered works by such Canadian composers as

James Gayfer James McDonald Gayfer (26 March 1916 – 7 April 1997) was a Canadian bandmaster, clarinetist, composer, conductor, organist, military officer, and music educator. His compositional output encompasses several orchestral works, including two ...

Welford Russell Welford Russell (30 October 1900 – 1975) was a Canadian composer based in Toronto, Ontario. He is particularly remembered for his output of choral works.James Neufeld. Lois Marshall: A Biography'. Dundurn; 5 April 2010. . p. 232. Early life a ...

Boleslaw Szczeniowski Boleslaw Szczeniowski (20 July 1898 – 1985) was a Canadians, Canadian aeronautical engineer and composer of Polish descent. A graduate of the school of engineering at Lviv Polytechnic, Szczeniowski made a living as an engineer in Montréal. H ...

, and León Zuckert. The latter two composers notably set Mills' own poems to music. In a 1987 review, music critic Pauline Durichen described his voice as "displaying vibrant deep-range control... and at times a soulful sweetness at heights where few basses dare linger". Mills also occasionally performed in

oratorio An oratorio () is a large musical composition for orchestra, choir, and soloists. Like most operas, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias. However, opera is mus ...

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. In 1953 he sang in his first professional oratorio performance with the Yorkminster Choir under the baton of his former teacher, D'Alton McLaughlin. In 1954 he performed the bass solos in

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...

's rarely heard 1814

''Der glorreiche Augenblick '' with conductor Emil Gartner and the Toronto Jewish Folk Choir. On the opera stage he performed with the Canadian National Opera in Toronto in 1953, the

Opéra de Marseille The Opéra de Marseille, known today as the Opéra Municipal, is an opera company located in Marseille, France. In 1685, the city was the second in France after Bordeaux to have an opera house which was erected on a tennis court. However, the fi ...

in 1957–1958, and at a summer festival of light opera in Chicago in 1958. Mills studied voice at the

University of Regina The University of Regina is a public research university located in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. Founded in 1911 as a private denominational high school of the Methodist Church of Canada, it began an association with the University of Saskatchew ...

(UR) with Alicia Birkett from 1947 to 1949, during which time he performed on the Canadian radio stations

CKRM CKRM is an AM radio station in Regina, Saskatchewan, broadcasting at 620 kHz. Owned by Harvard Media, CKRM broadcasts a full service country format. Alongside music programming, CKRM is notably the flagship station of the Saskatchewan Rou ...

and

CKCK-FM CKCK-FM is a radio station in Regina, Saskatchewan. Owned by Rawlco Communications, it broadcasts an adult hits format branded as ''Jack 94.5''. CKCK's studios and offices are located at 2401 Saskatchewan Drive in Regina, along with sister stat ...

and was heavily involved with the music programs at a number of churches. He also wrote the

libretto A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...

for ''The Rebel'', an operetta which was performed by students at the UR. He then pursued further studies at

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 ...

where he was a pupil of George Lambert and McLaughlin. David Mills died on 30 November 2020, at the age of 94.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mills, David 1926 births 2020 deaths Canadian basses Canadian male composers 20th-century Canadian male opera singers 20th-century Canadian poets Canadian male poets Canadian male film actors Canadian male television actors Operatic basses University of Regina alumni The Royal Conservatory of Music alumni 20th-century Canadian male writers People from Moose Jaw