Gordon Arthur Delamont (27 October 1918 – 16 January 1981) was a Canadian
music educator
Music education is a field of practice in which educators are trained for careers as elementary or secondary music teachers, school or music conservatory ensemble directors. Music education is also a research area in which scholars do original ...
,
author
An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states:
"''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...
,
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 ...
, 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 ...
. He is best remembered for his work as an educator, having helped shape the talents of dozens of notable musicians in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
. He also published several books on
musical theory
Music theory is the study of the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory". The first is the "Elements of music, rudiments", that are needed to understand ...
topics which have been used widely by schools in North America. As a writer he also contributed articles to '' Saturday Night'', '' The Canadian Music Journal'', and several jazz magazines and newspapers in Canada. As a composer ''
The Canadian Encyclopedia
''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; french: L'Encyclopédie canadienne) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with the support of Canadian Heritage.
Available fo ...
'' describes him as "a guiding figure in Canada in the third-stream movement" His best-known work, ''Three Entertainments for Saxophone Quartet'' (premiered 1969, published by Kendor 1970), was recorded by the
New York Saxophone Quartet
New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created.
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
Albums and EPs
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...
and has been performed widely throughout North America and Europe.
Life
Born in
Moose Jaw
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. Residents of Moose Jaw are known as Moose Javians ...
, Delamont was the son of
bandmaster
A bandmaster is the leader and conductor of a band, usually a concert band, military band, brass band or a marching band.
British Armed Forces
In the British Army, bandmasters of the Royal Corps of Army Music now hold the rank of staff s ...
and
cornetist
The cornet (, ) is a brass instrument similar to the trumpet but distinguished from it by its conical bore, more compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B, though there is also a sopra ...
Vancouver
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
where he was a soloist with a boys' band that his father directed. His father provided him with his earliest musical training. In 1939 he moved to Toronto at the age of 20 where he became principal trumpet of
CBC Radio
CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...
's orchestra in that city and played lead trumpet in local
dance bands
(; "dance band"), or in Norwegian and Danish, is a Swedish term for a band that plays ("dance band music"). ' is often danced to in pairs. Jitterbug and foxtrot music are often included in this category. The music is primarily inspired by ...
. From 1945-1949 he led a dance band that was based at the Club Top Hat in Toronto.
In 1949 Delamont went to New York City to study arranging, composition, and pedagogy with
Maury Deutsch
Maury Deutsch (April 25, 1918 – April 30, 2007) was an American trumpeter. He is one of the most prolific and accomplished arranger-composers of his time, and in New York history. Deutsch was born and raised on the Lowest East Side of Manhatt ...
. He returned later that year to open his own private teaching studio in Toronto where he offered instruction in
harmony
In music, harmony is the process by which individual sounds are joined together or composed into whole units or compositions. Often, the term harmony refers to simultaneously occurring frequencies, pitches ( tones, notes), or chords. However ...
,
counterpoint
In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more musical lines (or voices) which are harmonically interdependent yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. It has been most commonly identified in the European classical tradi ...
, composition, and
music theory
Music theory is the study of the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory". The first is the "rudiments", that are needed to understand music notation (ke ...
. He taught up until his death more than 30 years later. His notable pupils include
Peter Appleyard
Peter Appleyard, (26 August 1928 – 17 July 2013) was a British–Canadian jazz vibraphonist, percussionist, and composer.
He spent most of his life in the city of Toronto, where for many years he was a popular performer in nightclubs and ho ...
,
Gustav Ciamaga
Gustav Ciamaga (April 10, 1930 – June 11, 2011) 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 ...
,
Ron Collier
Ron Collier, (July 3, 1930 – October 22, 2003) was a Canadian jazz trombonist, composer, and arranger. He performed in and led a number of jazz groups, and created orchestrations for and recorded with Duke Ellington.
Early life and educati ...
Hagood Hardy
Hugh Hagood Hardy, (February 26, 1937 – January 1, 1997) was a Canadian composer, pianist, and vibraphonist. He played mainly jazz and easy listening music. He is best known for the 1975 single, "The Homecoming" from his album of the same na ...
,
Herbie Helbig
Herbie, the Love Bug is a fictional Sentience, sentient 1963 Volkswagen Beetle, who has been featured in several Walt Disney Pictures, Walt Disney motion pictures starting with the 1968 feature film ''The Love Bug''. He has a mind of his own an ...
,
Paul Hoffert
Paul Matthew Hoffert, LLD, CM (born 22 September 1943 in Brooklyn, New York) is a recording artist, performer, media music composer, author, academic, and corporate executive. He studied mathematics and physics at the University of Toronto. H ...
,
Moe Koffman
Morris "Moe" Koffman, Order of Canada, OC (28 December 1928 – 28 March 2001) was a Canadians, Canadian jazz saxophonist and flautist, as well as composer and arranger. During a career spanning from the 1950s to the 2000s, Koffman was one of Cana ...
,
Rob McConnell
Robert Murray Gordon "Rob" McConnell, (14 February 1935 – 1 May 2010) was a Canadian jazz trombonist, composer, and arranger.Jeff Sultanof. Experiencing Big Band Jazz: A Listener's Companion'. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers; 8 November 20 ...
,
Ben McPeek
Benjamin Dewey McPeek (28 August 1934 – 14 January 1981) was a Canadian composer, arranger,Jeanette Leech. Seasons They Change: The Story of Acid and Psychedelic Folk'. Jawbone Press; 2010. . p. 80–. conductor, and pianist.
Early life
...
Fred Stone
Fred Andrew Stone (August 19, 1873 – March 6, 1959) was an American actor. Stone began his career as a performer in circuses and minstrel shows, went on to act in vaudeville, and became a star on Broadway and in feature films, which earned h ...
,
Norman Symonds
Norman Alec Symonds (23 December 1920Clifford Ford. Canada's music: an historical survey'. GLC Publishers; 1982. p. 233. – 21 August 1998) was a Canadians, Canadian composer, clarinetist, and saxophonist who lived and worked in Toronto, Ontari ...
Maribeth Solomon Maribeth Solomon (born June 23, 1950) is a Canadian film and television composer and songwriter.
Another student, Whitney Smith, produced a 90-minute radio documentary for CBC in 1979 entitled, "Gordon Delamont: Taking the Notes Where They Want to Go".''Globe and Mail'', 23 Feb. 1979, Mark Miller, "'Mystery' musician featured on radio", p. 33.
Books
*''Modern Arranging Techniques'' (Delavan, NY 1965)
*''Modern Harmonic Techniques'', 2 vols (Delavan, NY 1965)
*''Modern Contrapuntal Techniques'' (Delavan, NY 1969)
*''Modern Twelve-Tone Techniques'' (Delavan, NY 1973)
*''Modern Melodic Techniques'' (Delavan, NY 1976)