John Beckwith (March 9, 1927 – December 5, 2022) was a Canadian composer, writer, pianist, teacher, and administrator. Born in

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Gre ...

, he studied piano with Alberto Guerrero at the Toronto Conservatory of Music in 1945. Beckwith received a Bachelor of Music (Mus.B.) in 1947 and a Master of Music (Mus.M.) in 1961 from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

. In 1950-51, he studied with

Nadia Boulanger Juliette Nadia Boulanger (; 16 September 188722 October 1979) was a French music teacher, conductor and composer. She taught many of the leading composers and musicians of the 20th century, and also performed occasionally as a pianist and organis ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. He began teaching at University of Toronto's Faculty of Music in 1952. From 1970-77, he was the dean of the faculty. He was founding director of the Institute for Canadian Music at the University of Toronto. In 1987, he was made a member of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

. He retired from the university in 1990. Beckwith wrote over 160 compositions covering stage, orchestral, chamber, solo and choral genres. He also wrote 17 books, the last of which - ''Music Annals: Research and Critical Writings by a Canadian Composer'' - was published shortly before his death in 2022.

Education

In 1945, after several years of studying piano at the Royal Conservatory of Music, Beckwith received a Conservatory scholarship that allowed him to study piano with Alberto Guerrero at the University of Toronto where he obtained his Mus.B. His other teachers included Leo Smith and John Weinzweig. In 1950 he was awarded a second scholarship, this time from the

Canadian Amateur Hockey Association The Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA; ) was the national governing body of amateur ice hockey in Canada from 1914 until 1994, when it merged with Hockey Canada. Its jurisdiction included senior ice hockey leagues and the Allan Cup, ...

. The scholarship allowed him to travel to Paris, where he studied composition under

. Under Weinzweig's supervision, Beckwith earned his Mus.M. from the University of Toronto in 1961.

Career

After studying in Paris, Beckwith returned to Toronto to pursue further studies and became active as a performing musician, actor, critic, radio commentator, writer, lecturer and broadcaster. In 1952, he returned to the University of Toronto, but this time as a part-time lecturer at the Faculty of Music. He was appointed full-time lecturer in 1955. He remained in this position for several years, and eventually became dean of the faculty from 1970-77. Beckwith was the first Jean A. Chalmers Professor of Canadian Music and the first director of the Institute for Canadian Music at the University of Toronto. He retired in 1990 to devote more time to composing. Among his notable pupils were Brian Cherney, Gustav Ciamaga, Omar Daniel, John Fodi, Clifford Ford, Ben McPeek, James Rolfe, Clark Ross, Matthew Davidson, and Timothy Sullivan. While teaching, Beckwith remained active in several areas of the musical community. A co-founder of the Canadian Music Centre in 1959, he wrote for the ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division. ...

'' from 1959-65 as an arts critic and columnist, and was a writer and associate producer of documentaries and music series for

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 ...

. Beginning in 1981, he worked as a director for the Canadian Musical Heritage Society, which he had co-founded that same year. He prepared two of the society's 25-volume series of pre-1950 Canadian-composed music. In 1986, a five-record set of his music was included in the ''Anthology of Canadian Music'' series. The Beckwith portrait in the ''Canadian Composers Portraits'' series was released in 2003. A collection of 25 of his music articles and talks was published by Golden Dog Press in 1997 under the title ''Music Papers''. In 2006, his biography ''In Search of Alberto Guerrero'' was published by Wilfrid Laurier Press (issued in Spanish translation in 2021). With Brian Cherney, he edited ''Weinzweig: Essays on His Life and Music'' in 2011 and, with Robin Elliott, he edited ''Mapping Canada's Music: Selected Writings of Helmut Kallmann'' in 2013. Beckwith's autobiography, ''Unheard Of: Memoirs of a Canadian Composer'', was published by Wilfrid Laurier Press in 2012. He was the recipient of many honours including from the Canadian Music Council in 1972 and 1984, Toronto Arts award in 1995, ''Diplôme d'honneur'' from the Canadian Conference of the Arts in 1996, honorary membership in the Canadian University Music Society in 1999, and honorary doctorates from McGill, Mount Allison, Queen's, Victoria, and

Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as The Royal City, it is roughly east of Kitchener, Ontario, Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Ontario Highway 6, ...

universities. ''Taking a Stand: Essays in Honour of John Beckwith'', a festschrift on the occasion of his retirement, was published in 1995.

Compositional style

Beckwith composed over 160 large works. While the majority of his works are settings of Canadian texts for voice, he also wrote for orchestral and chamber groups as well as solo instrumental pieces and choral music. Beckwith was a

modernist Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

whose eclectic compositional vocabulary was sustained "by a broad palette of idioms, colours, and by the availability of a rich variety of forming procedures." Most of his compositions have themes that connect to historical or regional Canada. Beckwith was deeply interested in Canadian folk song and set around 200 of these songs, including ''Four Love Songs'' (1969) and ''Five Songs'' (1969–70). Most of the arrangements were written in 1981-91 during his involvement with Music at

Sharon Sharon ( 'plain'), also spelled Saron, is a given name as well as a Hebrew name. In Anglosphere, English-speaking areas, Sharon is now predominantly a feminine given name, but historically it was also used as a masculine given name. In Israel, ...

'','' a summer concert series. He often collaborated with Canadian writers when setting text for voice including James Reaney, Jay Macpherson,

Margaret Atwood Margaret Eleanor Atwood (born November 18, 1939) is a Canadian novelist, poet, literary critic, and an inventor. Since 1961, she has published 18 books of poetry, 18 novels, 11 books of nonfiction, nine collections of short fiction, eight chi ...

, bpNichol, Georges Sioui, and Dennis Lee;. his most extensive collaboration was with Reaney, with whom he wrote a number of works for the stage. Beckwith also set texts of e.e. cummings,

John Millington Synge Edmund John Millington Synge (; 16 April 1871 – 24 March 1909), popularly known as J. M. Synge, was an Irish playwright, poet, writer, essayist, and collector of folklores. As an important driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival, Ir ...

Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish writer of novels, plays, short stories, and poems. Writing in both English and French, his literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal, and Tragicomedy, tra ...

, and poems of the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...

translated by Witter Bynner.

List of works

Based on the ''Encyclopedia of Music in Canada'' (2nd edition, 1992) and the John Beckwith website, University of Toronto. Unpublished works are at the Canadian Music Centre and the Beckwith fonds, University of Toronto.

Stage

*Night Blooming Cereus (Reaney). 1953-58 (1959 Toronto). 8 singers, 14 instruments. Ms *The Killdeer, incidental music (Reaney). 1960, rescored 1961. Prepared piano (5 instruments). Ms *The Hector, documentary cantata (various). 1990 (1990 Toronto). Soprano, early-instrument ensemble. Ms *The Shivaree (Reaney). 1964-65, 1977-78. Revisions with prologue added, 1982. (1982 Toronto; 1982 Banff (revised version with prologue)). 12 singers, 20 instr. Ms *Crazy to Kill (Reaney, after Ann Caldwell). 1987-88 ( 1989

). 3 singers, 2 speakers, 2 instruments, tape. Ms *Lucas et Cécile. 1808-09 (1990 Sharon). Concert arrangement of a comic opera by Joseph Quesnel with orchestration by Beckwith. Soli, orchestra. Ms *Taptoo! (Reaney). 1993-95 (Montreal, 1999). 18 singers, 18 instruments. Ms

Orchestra and band

*Music for Dancing (orchestra from piano, 4 hands). 1948 (piano), orch 1959 (1959

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

). BMI Canada 1961. CBC SM-47/5-ACM 26 (CBC Van orch) *Montage. 1953, rescored 1955 (1953 Toronto). Orchestra. Ms *Fall Scene and Fair Dance. 1956 (1956 Toronto). Violin, clarinet, strings. BMI Canada 1957. 1977.

Lethbridge Lethbridge ( ) is a city in the province of Alberta, Canada. With a population of 106,550 in the 2023 Alberta municipal censuses, 2023 municipal census, Lethbridge became the fourth Alberta city to surpass 100,000 people. The nearby Canadian ...

Symphony Assn LSA-101 (Lethbridge SO) *Concerto Fantasy. 1959 (1962 Montreal). Piano, orchestra. Berandol (rental) *Flower Variations and Wheels. 1962 (1963 Victoria). Rev. 1979. Orchestra. Berandol (rental) *Concertino. 1963 (1964 Toronto). Horn, orchestra. Berandol (rental) *Jonah, cantata (various). 1963 (1963 Toronto). BMI Canada 1969 *Place of Meeting (Dennis Lee). 1967 (1967 Toronto ). Speaker, tenor, blues singer, SATB, orchestra. Ms *Elastic Band Studies. 1969, rev. 1975 (1976 Toronto). Concert band. Ms * (1973 Toronto). Narrator, orchestra. Orchestra Berandol (rental), piano arrangement. *A Concert of Myths. 1983 (1984

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

). Flute, orchestra. Ms *Peregrine. 1989 (1990 Toronto). Viola, percussion, small orchestra. Ms *Round and Round. 1991-92 (1992 Winnipeg). Orchestra. Ms *Fifteen Figural Chorales from J.S. Bach's Das Orgelbüchlein (transcription), 1991 (1993 Halifax). Orchestra. Ms *Fourteen Figural Chorales from J.S. Bach's Das Orgelbüchlein (transcription), 1993 (1996 Halifax). Orchestra. Ms *Sixteen Figural Chorales from J.S. Bach's Das Orgelbüchlein (transcription), 1997. Orchestra. Ms *Madness. 2003 (2003, Toronto) 2 oboes, bassoon, strings. Ms *Three Brass Rings. 2007 (1984, Toronto; 2009 Toronto all) 11 brasses. Ms *Variations. 2011 (2012, Ottawa). String orchestra. Ms

Chamber

*The

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes spanning the Canada–United States border. The five lakes are Lake Superior, Superior, Lake Michigan, Michigan, Lake Huron, H ...

Suite (Reaney). 1949 (1950 Toronto). Soprano, baritone, clarinet, cello, piano. *Five Pieces for Flute Duet. 1951 (1951 Paris). BMI Canada 1962 *Four Pieces for Bassoon Duet. 1951. Ms *Quartet for Woodwind Instruments. 1951 ( 1953 Toronto). Ms *Three Studies for String Trio. 1956 (1957 Toronto). Ms *Circle, with Tangents. 1967 (1967

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 cit ...

). Harpsichord, 13 solo strings. BMI Canada 1968 *Taking a Stand. 1972 (1972 Stratford). 5 players, 8 brass instruments, 14 music stands. Berandol 1975 *Musical Chairs. 1973 (1974 Toronto). String quintet, contrabassoon. Berandol 1980 *Quartet. 1977 (1978 Montreal). String quartet. Ms. Melbourne SMLP-4038/5-ACM 26 (

Orford String Quartet The Orford String Quartet was a Canadian string quartet active from 1965 through 1991. They came to be the leading string quartet in Canada, and were well-known internationally. Founding In 1951, Gilles Lefebvre launched a summer music camp for Le ...

) *Case Study: a multi-purpose quintet. 1980 (1980 Toronto). Any 5 instruments. Ms *Eight Miniatures: arranged from the Alan Ash manuscript. 1981. Violin, piano. Ms *Sonatina in Two Movements. 1981 (1982 Toronto). Trumpet, piano. Ms *Tunes of the Sharon Band (arrangement). 1982 (1982 Sharon). Brass quintet. Sonante 1984 *Arctic Dances. 1984 (1984 Kingston). Oboe, piano. Ms. McGill U Records 85026 (L. Cherney) *For Starters G.E.C. eorge Edward Connell1984 (Toronto 1984). 11 brass instr. Ms *College Airs. 1990 (1990 Toronto). String quartet. Ms *Echoes of Quesnel. 1995 (1997 Toronto). Violin, viola, cor anglais, organ. Ms *Echoes of Thiele. 1995 (1996 Kitchener). Chamber orchestra (oboe, 2 trumpets, trombone, percussion, viola, cello, contrabass). Ms * Eureka. 1996 (1996 Toronto). 9 wind instruments. Ms *Lines Overlapping. 1996-97 (Toronto). Banjo, harpsichord. Ms *Blurred Lines (duo in quartertones). 1997 (1997 Toronto). Violin, harpsichord. Ms *Ringaround. 1998 (1999 Toronto). Celtic harp, harpsichord. Ms *A Game of Bowls. 1999 (2000 Toronto). 3 percussion. Ms *Workout. 2001 (2001 Toronto). 4 percussion. Ms *A New Pibroch. 2002 (2003 Toronto). Highland pipes, percussion, 7 strings. Ms *Back to Bolivia. 2006 (2010 Toronto). Clarinet quartet. Ms *Fractions. 2006 (2007 Toronto). 16th-tone piano, string quartet. Ms *Animals with Horns. 2007 (2010 Toronto). Trumpet, euphonium. Ms *Play and Sing. 2008. cello, soprano (1 performer). Ms *After Simpson. 2010 (2013 Toronto). 2 recorders, 2 viola da gamba. Ms *Breaking Silence. 2013 (2013 St. John's). Cello. Ms *Sonatina on "Mairi's Wedding." 2013 (2013 Toronto). Flute, piano. Ms *Follow me. 2013. Clarinet, piano. Ms. Centrediscs CMC-1774 (Stoll/Zukiewicz) *Ut re me fa sol la. 2013. Guitar. Ms *Quintet. 2015 (2017 Toronto). Flute, trumpet, bassoon, viola, double bass. Ms *Calling. 2016 (2017 Toronto). Flugelhorn, euphonium, 2 tenor trombones, bass trombone, double bass. Ms. Centrediscs CMC-1774 (New Music Concerts Ensemble) *Meanwhile. 2018 (2018 Ottawa). Marimba, piano. Ms. Analekta 29129 (SHHH! Ensemble)

Keyboard(s)

*Four Conceits. 1945, rev. 1948. Piano. Ms. RCI 228/RCA CCS-1022 (Troup) *Music for Dancing. 1948 (1948 Toronto). Piano, 4 hands. Ms. RCI 113 (P. Beaudet, G. Bourassa) *The Music Room. 1951. Piano. Frederick Harris 1955. RCI 134 (Newmark) *Novelette. 1951 (1951 Paris). Piano. BMI Canada 1954. Centrediscs CMC-1684/5-ACM 26 (Foreman) *Six Mobiles. 1959. Piano. BMI Canada 1960. CCM-2 (Cavalho) *Interval Studies. 1962. Piano. BMI Canada 1962 *Suite on Old Tunes (arrangement). 1967. Piano. BMI Canada 1967. CCM-2 (Cavalho) *Variation piquant sur la `Toronto Opera House Waltz.' 1967. 2 piano. Ms *New Mobiles. 1971. Piano. Waterloo 1972 *Upper Canadian Hymn Preludes. 1976-77 (1977 Ottawa). Organ, prepared tape. Ms. Centrediscs CMC-1784/5-ACM 26 (Wedd) *Keyboard Practice. 1979 (1979 Toronto). 4 players, 10 keyboard. (1986). 5-ACM 24 ( Aide) *Etudes. 1983 (1984 Vancouver). Piano. Ms. Counterpoint. 5-ACM 26 (

Coop Coop or Co-op most often refer to: * Chicken coop or other animal enclosure * Cooperative or co-operative ("co-op"), an association co-operating for mutual social, economic or cultural benefit ** Consumer cooperative ** Food cooperative ** Housin ...

) *On the Other Hand. 1997 (1997 Toronto). Harpsichord. Ms *March, March! 2001 (2001 Montreal). Piano. Ms *The Cheese Stands Still. 2004. Piano. Ms *Light Work. 2007 (2009 Montreal). 16th-tone piano, 4 hands. Ms *Yesteryear. 2010 (2013 St John's). Piano, 4 hands. Ms *Pages. 2016 (2016 Halifax). Piano. Ms

Choir

*The Trumpets of Summer (Atwood). 1964. Soloists, SATB, narrator, chamber ensemble Berandol (rental). CBC SM 81/RCI 340/ Cap ST-6323/5-ACM 26 (Festival Singers) *Sharon Fragments ( Willson). 1966. SATB. Waterloo1966. Capitol ST-6258/Seraphim S-60085 (Festival Singers) *The Sun Dance (various). 1968. SATB, speaker, organ, percussion. Independently published. 1968 *Three Blessings ( Fisher, Burns, Wesley). 1968. SATB, instruments (optional in No. 2). BMI Canada 1968. CBC SM-81/RCI 340/Capitol ST-6323 (Festival Singers) *Gas! (Beckwith). 1969. 20 speaking voices. Berandol 1978 *1838 (Lee). 1970. SATB. Novello 1970 *Papineau (2 Lower Canada folk songs). 1977. 2 equal voices. Gordon V. Thompson 1978. Centrediscs CMC-2285 (Toronto Children's Chor) *Three Motets on Swan's 'China' (various).'1981. SATB. Waterloo1983. Melbourne SMLP-4041/5-ACM 26 ( Elmer Iseler Singers) *A Little Organ Concert (vocables). 1982. SATB, organ, brass quintet. Ms *A Canadian Christmas Carol (J. P. Clarke)(arrangement). 1984. SATB, harmonium (piano or organ). Gordon V. Thompson 1989. CBC SM-5055 (Elmer Iseler Singers) *Mating Time (bp Nichol). 1982. SATB (20 solo voices), percussion, electric keyboard. Ms *Harp of David (

Book of Common Prayer The ''Book of Common Prayer'' (BCP) is the title given to a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion and by other Christianity, Christian churches historically related to Anglicanism. The Book of Common Prayer (1549), fi ...

). 1985. SATB. Ms. Centrediscs CMC-CD-3790 (Vancouver Chamber Choir) *The Banks of

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...

(arrangement).1985. Baritone, SATB (oboe, string quartet) Gordon V. Thompson 1987 *Three Burns Songs ( R. Burns) (arrangement).1986. SATB. Gordon V. Thompson 1987 *Farewell To

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

(arrangement).1985. Baritone, SATB, piano, percussion 2 trumpet, viola, cello, double bass. Gordon V. Thompson 1987 *The Gowans Are Gay (arrangement). 1986. SATB, percussion. Gordon V. Thompson 1987 69 *Basic Music. 1998. Children's Choir (SA), Youth Choir (SSA) and orchestra. Ms *Lady Music. 2000. SATB *Snow is Falling. 2002. Children's choir, flute, guitar. *Alternative Greeting (Happy Birthday). 2003. Flute, clarinet, percussion, piano, voices. *Derailed: A Sound Documentary. 2007 (2007

Mississauga Mississauga is a Canadian city in the province of Ontario. Situated on the north-western shore of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, it borders Toronto (Etobicoke) to the east, Brampton to the north, Milton to the northwest, ...

). Double choir (SSAATTBB), percussion. Ms * Wendake/Huronia, 2015. Alto, narrator, chamber choir, instruments, drums. Ms

Voice

*Five Lyrics of the T'ang Dynasty (various). 1947 (1948 Toronto). High voice, piano. BMI Canada 1949. RCI 148/5-ACM 26 ( Alarie)/Centrediscs CMC-2185 (

Vickers Vickers was a British engineering company that existed from 1828 until 1999. It was formed in Sheffield as a steel foundry by Edward Vickers and his father-in-law, and soon became famous for casting church bells. The company went public in 18 ...

)/(No. 3,4,5) 1988. Phillips 6514-157 (B. Fei soprano, N. Loo piano) *Serenade ( Thibaudeau). 1949. Med voice, piano. Ms. RCI 36 (C. Jordan) *The Formal Garden of the Heart (Thibaudeau). 1950. Med voice, piano. Ms *Four Songs to Poems by e.e. cummings. 1950 (1950 Toronto). Soprano, piano. Waterloo1975 *Four Songs from Ben Jonson's ''Volpone''. 1961. Baritone, guitar. BMI Canada 1967 *A

Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer ( ; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for '' The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He ...

Suite. 1962 (1963 Montreal). Alto, tenor, baritone. Ms *Ten English Rhymes (anonymous). 1963 (1963 Montreal). Young voices, piano. BMI Canada 1964 *Four Love Songs (Canadian folk songs). 1969. Baritone, piano. Berandol 1970. (No. 1, 3, 4) CBC SM-111 (

Bell A bell /ˈbɛl/ () is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be m ...

)/(1986). 5-ACM 26 (Pepper, Beckwith) *Five Songs (arrangement). 1970. Alto, piano. Waterloo 19701. CBC SM-77/Select CC-15073/5-ACM 26 ( Forrester) *Six Songs to Poems by e.e. cummings. 1980–1982 (1983 Toronto). Baritone, piano. Ms *Earlier Voices (arrangement). 1984. Soprano, baritone, SATB, piano. Ms *Avowals (bpNichol). 1985 (1985 Toronto). Tenor, 1 keyboard player on piano, celesta, harpsichord. Ms *Les Premiers hivernements ( S. Champlain, M. Lescarbot). 1986 (1986 Toronto). Soprano, tenor, 2 recorder, lute, viol, percussion. Ms *Synthetic Trios (vocables). 1987 (1989

Quebec City Quebec City is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...

). Soprano, clarinet, piano. Ms *The Harp that Once thro' Tara's Halls ( T. Moore) (arrangement). 1986. Mezzo soprano, piano. Gordon V. Thompson 1987 *beep (bpNichol). 1990 (1990 Elora). Soprano, baritone, SATB, percussion. Ms *Stacey (

Margaret Laurence Jean Margaret Laurence (née Wemyss; July 18, 1926 – January 5, 1987) was a Canadian novelist and short story writer, and is one of the major figures in Canadian literature. She was also a founder of the Writers' Trust of Canada, a non-pr ...

), 1997 (1998 Toronto). Soprano, piano. Ms *A Man and His Flute (

Miriam Waddington Miriam Waddington (née Dworkin; 23 December 1917 – 3 March 2004) was a Canadian poet, short story writer and translator. She was part of a Montreal literary circle that included F. R. Scott, Irving Layton and Louis Dudek. Biography Miria ...

), 2000; 2003 (two poems added) (Toronto 2003). Soprano, piano. Ms * Merton Duets. 2005 (2006 Toronto). Soprano, mezzo soprano, violin. Ms *Beckett Songs. 2008 (2008 Sackville). Baritone, guitar. Ms *Singing Synge. 2011 (2012 Toronto). Baritone, piano. Ms * Tanu. 2013 (2014 Montreal). Soprano, flute, cello. Ms *Four Short Songs. 2016 (2016

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

). Medium voice, piano. Ms

Collage

*A Message to

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

(Reaney). 1960 (1960 Toronto). 4 speakers, violin, clarinet, piano, percussion. Ms *Twelve Letters to a Small Town (Reaney). 1961 (1961 Toronto). 4 speakers, flute, oboe, guitar, piano-harmonium. Ms *Wednesday's Child (Reaney). 1962 (1962 Toronto). 3 speakers, soprano, tenor, flute, viola, piano, percussion. Ms *Canada Dash – Canada Dot (Reaney). 1965-67 (1965-67 Toronto). In 3 parts. Voices, speakers, Chamber ensemble. Ms *The Journals of Susanna Moodie, incidental (Atwood). 1972, revised 1990 (1973 Toronto). 2 keyboard players, percussion. Ms *"In the middle of ordinary noise...": An Auditory Masque (Reaney). 1992 (1992 Toronto). Speaker, 2 soli, 3 instruments, tape. Ms

Selected writings

*Beckwith, John. 'Composers in Toronto and Montreal,' U of Toronto Quarterly, v. 26, Oct 1956 * * *_____. 'Young Composers' Performances in Toronto,' Canadian Music Journal MJ v. 2, Summer 1958 *_____. ' Jean Papineau-Couture,' CMJ, vol 3, Winter 1959 *_____. 'Recent Orchestral Works by

Champagne Champagne (; ) is a sparkling wine originated and produced in the Champagne wine region of France under the rules of the appellation, which demand specific vineyard practices, sourcing of grapes exclusively from designated places within it, spe ...

Morel ''Morchella'', the true morels, is a genus of edible sac fungi closely related to anatomically simpler cup fungi in the order Pezizales ( division Ascomycota). These distinctive fungi have a honeycomb appearance due to the network of ridges ...

and

Anhalt Saxony-Anhalt ( ; ) is a state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of and has a population of 2.17 million inhabitants, making it the 8th-largest state in Germany by area an ...

,' CMJ, v. 4, Summer 1960 * **____. 'Notes on a Recording Career (The Work of Glenn Gould),' Canadian Forum, v. 40, Jan 1961 *_____. Review of A History of Music in Canada 1534–1914 by Helmut Kallmann, U of Toronto Quarterly, v. 30, Jul 1961 *_____. ' Schoenberg Ten Years After,' Canadian Forum, v. 41, Nov 1961 *_____. '

Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ( – 6 April 1971) was a Russian composer and conductor with French citizenship (from 1934) and American citizenship (from 1945). He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of ...

Triptych,' CMJ, vol 6, Summer 1962 * * *_____. 'The Bernstein Experiment,' Canadian Forum, v. 43, Apr 1964 *_____. 'Notes on Jonah,' Alphabet, 8 Jun 1964 *_____. Review of British Composers in Interview, edited by R. Murray Schafer, U of Toronto Quarterly, v. 33, Jul 1964 *_____. 'A "Complete" Schoenberg,' Canadian Forum, v. 46, Jan 1967 **____. 'About Canadian Music: The P.R. failure,' Musicanada, 21, Jul-Aug 1969; reprinted with postscript, AGO/RCCO Music, v. 5, Mar 1971 *_____. 'What Every U.S. Musician Should Know About Contemporary Canadian Music,' Musicanada, 29, final issue 1970 *_____. 'Music in Canada,' Musical Times, v.111, Dec 1970 **____.'Trying to Define Music,' Conservatory Bulletin, Christmas 1970 *_____. 'Aims and Methods for a Music-Theory Program,' Canadian Association of University Schools of Music Journal, v. 1, Spring 1971 **____. ' Healey Willan,' Canadian Forum, v. 52, Dec 1972 *_____.'Teaching New Music: What? How? Why?' Music Scene, 270, Mar-Apr 1973 * * * *_____. 'István Anhalt,' Music Scene, 281, Jan-Feb 1975 * **_____. 'A Big Song-and-Dance,' Canadian Music Educator, v. 18, Spring 1977 * **____. 'A Festival of Canadian Music,' Musicanada: A Presentation of Canadian Contemporary Music (Ottawa 1977) *_____. Music In Canada (Ottawa 1979) **____ and Pincoe, Ruth, eds. Canadian Music in the 1960s and 1970s: A Chronicle (Toronto 1979) * * * *_____. 'Choral confessions,' Anacrusis, v. 6, Fall 1986 * *_____. 'Canadian Tunebooks and Hymnals, 1801–1939,' American Music, v. 6, Summer 1988 ** * * *_____.'Canadiana Realizations for "Music at Sharon," 1981–90,' News from the Canadian Musical Heritage Society, v. 1, Spring 1991 *_____. 'Letter from Canada,' Sonneck Society Bulletin, v. 17, no. 2, 1991 * * * * * * * *Reprinted in Beckwith, ''Music Papers'' (see below).

Bibliography

* *Beckwith, John (2011). ''In Search of Alberto Guerrero.'' Wilfrid Laurier University Press. *Beckwith, John; Elliott, Robin, eds. (2013). ''Mapping Canada's Music: Selected Writings of Helmut Kallmann''. Wilfrid Laurier University Press. *Beckwith, John (2012). ''Unheard Of: Memoirs of a Canadian Composer''. Wilfrid Laurier University Press. *Beckwith, John; Cherney, Brian, eds. (2011). ''Weinzweig: Essays on His Life and Music.'' Wilfrid Laurier University Press. * * * * *McGee, Timothy, ed. (1995). ''Taking a Stand: Essays in Honour of John Beckwith''. University of Toronto Press. *Proctor, George A. (1980). ''Canadian Music of the Twentieth Century.'' University of Toronto Press. * * *

References

External links

John Beckwith
The Canadian Encyclopedia

University of Toronto.
John Beckwith.
Canadian Music Centre.
John Beckwith. Archival papers and Manuscripts
a
University of Toronto Music Library
*
The 2016 James Reaney Memorial Lecture with John Beckwith
YouTube video (1:15:32)
Hear! Hear! Remembering John Beckwith.
University of Toronto, Feb. 28, 2023, YouTube video (1:45:55) {{DEFAULTSORT:Beckwith, John 1927 births 2022 deaths Canadian composers Canadian male composers Canadian music academics Canadian university and college faculty deans Members of the Order of Canada Musicians from Victoria, British Columbia University of Toronto alumni Academic staff of the University of Toronto The Royal Conservatory of Music alumni Canadian male pianists 21st-century Canadian pianists 21st-century Canadian male musicians 20th-century Canadian composers Canadian opera composers 21st-century Canadian composers