Violet Louise Archer (24 April 191321 February 2000) was a
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
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 ...
,
teacher
A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching.
''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...
,
pianist
A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...
,
organist
An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...
, and
percussionist
A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...
. Born Violet Balestreri in
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
,
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
, in 1913, her family changed their name to Archer in 1940. She died in
Ottawa
Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...
on 21 February 2000.
Education and teaching career
Archer earned an L MUS from
McGill University
McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...
in 1934, and a B MUS from McGill in 1936 where she studied composition with
Douglas Clarke.
She travelled to
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
in the summer of 1942 where she studied with
Béla Bartók
Béla Viktor János Bartók (; ; 25 March 1881 – 26 September 1945) was a Hungarian composer, pianist, and ethnomusicologist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century; he and Franz Liszt are regarded as H ...
, "who introduced her to
Hungarian folk tunes and to
variation technique.
She taught at the
McGill Conservatory
The Schulich School of Music (also known as Schulich) is one of the constituent faculties of McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is located at 555, rue Sherbrooke Ouest (555, Sherbrooke Street West). The faculty was named after benef ...
from 1944 to 1947.
Later in the 1940s she studied with
Paul Hindemith
Paul Hindemith (; 16 November 189528 December 1963) was a German composer, music theorist, teacher, violist and conductor. He founded the Amar Quartet in 1921, touring extensively in Europe. As a composer, he became a major advocate of the ''Ne ...
at
Yale
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...
. She earned a B MUS from Yale in 1948, and a M MUS also from Yale in 1949.
From 1950 to 1953 Archer was Composer-in-Residence at the
University of North Texas
The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public research university in Denton, Texas. It was founded as a nonsectarian, coeducational, private teachers college in 1890 and was formally adopted by the state 11 years later."Denton Normal School," ...
. From 1953 through 1961 she taught at the University of Oklahoma. Returning to Canada in 1961 for doctoral study at the
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...
, she set that aside when, in 1962, she joined the Faculty of Music at the
University of Alberta
The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford,"A Gentleman of Strathcona – Alexander Cameron Rutherfor ...
. There she would become chairman of the Theory and Composition Department. She remained at the University of Alberta until her retirement.
Her notable students include
Larry Austin,
Jan Randall
Jan Randall is a Canadian composer, singer songwriter and professional musician. He has had an extensive career composing sound tracks, performing original songs, and improvising music for comedy theatre.
He currently plays regularly with his ba ...
,
Allan Gilliland
Allan Gilliland (born 1965 in Darvel, Scotland) is a contemporary Canadian composer.
Gilliland moved to Canada in 1972 and settled in Edmonton, Alberta. He received a diploma in Jazz Studies (trumpet) from Humber College, and degrees in perfo ...
, and
Allan Gordon Bell
Allan Gordon Bell, (born 24 May 1953) is a Canadian contemporary classical composer.
Career
Born in Calgary, Alberta, Bell received a Master of Music degree from the University of Alberta where he studied with Violet Archer, Malcolm Forsyth, and ...
.
Musical career
Archer built a career as a musician and composer in addition to her teaching. She played percussion with the
Montreal Women's Symphony Orchestra from 1940 to 1947,
a time period when major municipal orchestras were not admitting women to their ranks. In addition to percussion, Archer played clarinet and strings, and worked in Montréal as an accompanist and organist.
As a composer, Archer's prolific work of more than 330 compositions included traditional and more contemporary works for instrument and voice.
Examples of her wide-ranging work include a 1973 comic opera, ''Sganarelle'', the film score for a 1976 documentary, ''Someone Cares,'' and experimentations with electronic music.
Her music has been described as "Archer is noted for her 90 compositions written for novice performers, which she wrote to encourage musicians and audiences of all levels to enjoy and understand key elements of modern music like harmony, melody, and rhythm.
Awards and honours
Archer has received honorary degrees from
McGill University
McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...
(1971),
University of Windsor
, mottoeng = Goodness, Discipline and Knowledge
, established =
, academic_affiliations = CARL, COU, Universities Canada
, former_names = Assumption College (1857-1956)Assumption University of Windsor (1956-1963)
, type = Public universit ...
(1986),
University of Calgary
The University of Calgary (U of C or UCalgary) is a public research university located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The University of Calgary started in 1944 as the Calgary branch of the University of Alberta, founded in 1908, prior to being ins ...
(1989),
Mount Allison University
Mount Allison University (also Mount A or MtA) is a Canadian primarily undergraduate liberal arts university located in Sackville, New Brunswick, founded in 1839.
Like other liberal arts colleges in North America, Mount Allison does not parti ...
(1992), and
University of Alberta
The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford,"A Gentleman of Strathcona – Alexander Cameron Rutherfor ...
(1993). In 1983, she was made a Member of the
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit.
To coincide with the ...
.
In Edmonton the Violet Archer Festival in
Edmonton
Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...
in 1985 was the first festival to honour a living Canadian composer.
She is memorialized at Violet Archer Park in the
Parkallen neighbourhood of Edmonton.
In Calgary, the Prairie Region of
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 ...
Library is home to The Violet Archer Library which holds over 20,000 scores.
The Canadian
indie rock
Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...
band
The Violet Archers
The Violet Archers is a Canadian indie pop band from Toronto. Led by former Rheostatics bassist Tim Vesely, the band consists of Vesely on vocals, Yawd Sylvester on guitar, drummer Camille Giroux, bassist Scott Remila, Ida Nilsen on piano.
Hist ...
is named for Archer.
Selected works
* 3 Concerti, Archer Piano Concerto, Christina Petrowska Quilico, piano, CBC Vancouver Orchestra, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, conductor, Centrediscs(CMCCD)15610
* ''Women Composers for Organ'',
Barbara Harbach. Peterborough, NH: Gasparo Records (294), 2006.
* ''Ovation, Volume 2''. Toronto: CBC Records (PSCD 2027-5), 2002.
* ''Canadian Composers Portraits''. Toronto: Centrediscs, (CMCCD 8502) 2002.
* ''Sinfonietta'' (CBC Vancouver Chamber Orchestra, John Avison, conductor)
* ''Trio no. 2'' (The Hertz Trio)
* ''String Quartet no. 3'' (University of Alberta String Quartet)
* ''The Bell'' (CBC Chorus and Orchestra, Geoffrey Waddington, conductor)
* ''Northern Landscapes – A Tribute to Violet Archer'', Sarah Muir and Ann Nichols, performers with the Columbian Girls Choir and Chanteuses. Edmonton, 1997.
* ''Surrealistic Portraiture'' Kenneth Fischer, saxophone, Martha Thomas, piano. Atlanta: ACA Digital (ACD 20036), 2001.
* ''By a Canadian Lady – Piano Music 1841–1997'',
Elaine Keillor
Frances Elaine Keillor C.M. (born 2 September 1939) is a Canadian musicologist and pianist. She has been a professor of music at Carleton University since 1977, specializing in the music of Canadian composers and the music of North American indig ...
, piano. Ottawa: Carleton Sound CD1006, 2000.
* ''Assemblage'', Charles Foreman, piano. Calgary: Unical (CD9501), 1995?.
* ''NORTHERN ARCH'', various artists, Edmonton: Arktos Recordings (ARK 94001), 1994.
* ''Soliloquies for changing Bb and A clarinets'' (performed by Dennis Prime)
* ''CROSSROADS'', James Campbell, clarinet. Toronto: Centrediscs / Centredisques (CMCCD 4392), 1992.
* ''Ballade'', Charles Foreman, piano. Toronto: Centrediscs, (CMCCD 1684), 1991.
* ''Hertz Trio''. Calgary: Unical Records, 1991.
Songs
* "À la claire fontaine" (SA and
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 ...
) – Berandol Music
See also
*
Music of Canada
The music of Canada reflects the diverse influences that have shaped the country. Indigenous Peoples, the Irish, British, and the French have all made unique contributions to the musical heritage of Canada. The music has also subsequently been ...
*
List of Canadian musicians
This is a list of Canadian musicians. Only notable individuals appear here; bands are listed at List of bands from Canada.
0-9
*347aidan - rapper
A
* Lee Aaron – jazz and rock singer-songwriter, also known as "Metal Queen"
*Abdominal – hi ...
*
List of Canadian composers
This is a list of composers who are either native to the country of Canada, are citizens of that nation, or have spent a major portion of their careers living and working in Canada. The list is arranged in alphabetical order:
A
*John Abram (b ...
References
External links
* University of Alberta Archives â€
Violet Archer Fonds(28 m of textual records. – ca. 750 sounds recordings. – 18 video cassettes. – 20 art works. – 2420 graphic materials.)
* University of Calgary Special Collections â€
Violet Archer fonds (0.525 m of textual records.)
Music of Violet Archer
{{DEFAULTSORT:Archer, Violet B
1913 births
2000 deaths
Canadian people of Italian descent
Quebecers of French descent
Members of the Order of Canada
University of North Texas College of Music faculty
Canadian classical composers
Women classical composers
Musicians from Montreal
Pupils of Béla Bartók
Pupils of Paul Hindemith
20th-century classical composers
20th-century Canadian composers
20th-century women composers
Canadian women composers