Albert Ronald Tremain (9 October 1923 – 17 July 1998) was a New Zealand

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 music teacher.

Biography

Born in

Feilding Feilding ( mi, Aorangi) is a town in the Manawatū District of the North Island of New Zealand. It is located on State Highway 54, 20 kilometres north of Palmerston North. The town is the seat of the Manawatū District Council. Feilding has w ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

in 1923, Tremain initially studied

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

, gaining Trinity College diplomas before graduating with his first degree in music from

Canterbury University College The University of Canterbury ( mi, Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was f ...

in 1946. After war service he taught at Feilding High School and attended Cambridge Summer Music Schools (studying composition with Douglas Lilburn) in 1947 and 1948. He continued his studies at the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music is a music school, conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the Undergraduate education, undergraduate to the Doctorate, doctoral level in a ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, gaining diplomas in piano performance and a doctorate in 1953. Awards during this time included the Royal College of Music Cobbett Prize for

string quartet The term string quartet can refer to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two violinists ...

, the Farrar Prize for composition, and 2nd Prize in the Lionel Tertis Awards. In 1952 he was awarded an Italian Government Bursary and studied composition with Goffredo Petrassi at the

Conservatorio Santa Cecilia The Conservatorio di Musica Santa Cecilia is a state conservatory in Rome. History The institution has its roots dated back to the Congregazione de' musici di Roma named after Saint Cecilia in 1565 (now Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia). Sinc ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. In 1957 he married Margaret Anne Severs, and later had four children; Sally, Gillian, Mary and William. After some years working free-lance in London as a teacher, composer, and examiner he returned to New Zealand, where he spent ten years as a lecturer at the

University of Auckland , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...

. In 1963 he was awarded the Carnegie Travelling Fellowship and toured universities in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. From 1967 to 1968 he was Visiting Professor at the School of Music,

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

Ann Arbor Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna (name), Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah (given name), Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie (given name), ...

, and from 1968 to 1969 Visiting Professor of Theory and Composition at the

State University of New York The State University of New York (SUNY, , ) is a system of public colleges and universities in the State of New York. It is one of the largest comprehensive system of universities, colleges, and community colleges in the United States. Led by c ...

, Buffalo. He then returned to Britain to lecture at

Goldsmiths College Goldsmiths, University of London, officially the Goldsmiths' College, is a constituent research university of the University of London in England. It was originally founded in 1891 as The Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute by the Wor ...

at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

. In 1970 he moved to Canada where, until his retirement in 1989, he was Professor of Music at

Brock University Brock University is a public research university in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. It is the only university in Canada in a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, at the centre of Canada's Niagara Peninsula on the Niagara Escarpment. The university bear ...

. He was made a Professor Emeritus in 1991. Tremain died at

Niagara on the Lake Niagara-on-the-Lake is a town in Ontario, Canada. It is located on the Niagara Peninsula at the point where the Niagara River meets Lake Ontario, across the river from New York, United States. Niagara-on-the-Lake is in the Niagara Region of ...

, Ontario in 1998. Notable students include John Rimmer.

Selected works

*''Allegro for Strings'' *''Five Epigrams for Twelve Solo Strings'' for string ensemble of any size *''Four Medieval Lyrics'' for mezzo-soprano and string trio *''Magnificat'' and ''Nunc dimittis'' for soprano solo and mixed choir *''Mass'' for mixed voices and organ *''Music for Violin and Strings'' for solo violin and string orchestra *''Nine Studies'' for violin and viola (1960) *''Psalm 100'' for unaccompanied choir *''Seven Medieval Lyrics'' for solo tenor, mixed choir and orchestra *''Tenera Juventa'' for mixed choir and 2 pianos *''Three Inventions'' for piano *''Three Poems of James Joyce'' for baritone and viola (1975, revised 1990) *''Three Songs'' for soprano and viola (1960)

References

* Content adapted from: http://sounz.org.nz/contributor/composer/1093

External links

Ronald Tremain at the Centre for New Zealand Music
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tremain, Ronald 1923 births 1998 deaths New Zealand composers Male composers University of Auckland faculty University of Canterbury alumni 20th-century composers 20th-century New Zealand musicians Alumni of the Royal College of Music 20th-century male musicians People from Feilding New Zealand expatriates in the United Kingdom