Morris Cecil Davis (1 March 1904 – 13 November 1968) was a Canadian

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 def ...

arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestrat ...

, and

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Biology and medicine * Bone conduction, the conduction of sound to the inner ear * Conduction aphasia, a language disorder Mathematics * Conductor (ring theory) * Conductor of an abelian variety * Cond ...

. He was sometimes referred to as "Rusty Davis". A largely self-taught composer and orchestrater, he wrote more than 200

jingle A jingle is a short song or tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. Jingles are a form of sound branding. A jingle contains one or more hooks and meanings that explicitly promote the product or service being advertised, usually ...

s for Canadian radio and television. He also contributed incidental music to more than 100 radio and TV programs and composed more than 30

score SCORE may refer to: *SCORE (software), a music scorewriter program * SCORE (television), a weekend sports service of the defunct Financial News Network *SCORE! Educational Centers *SCORE International, an offroad racing organization *Sarawak Corrido ...

s for

feature film A feature film or feature-length film (often abbreviated to feature), also called a theatrical film, is a film (Film, motion picture, "movie" or simply “picture”) with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole present ...

s; including the scores to ''

Whispering City ''Whispering City'' (also known as ''Crime City'') is a 1947 Canadian black-and-white film noir directed by Fedor Ozep and starring Paul Lukas, Mary Anderson (actress, born 1918), Mary Anderson, and Helmut Dantine.Gerald Pratley, ''A Century of Ca ...

'' (1947), '' La Forteresse'' (1947), ''

Le Curé de village ''Le Curé de village'' (''The Village Priest'') is a novel by Honoré de Balzac. It first appeared in ''La Presse is a French-language online newspaper published daily in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1884, it is now owned by an indep ...

'' (1949), and '' Tambour battant'' (1952). He also composed a number of

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...

l works, songs, and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

pieces. His jazz concerto ''Blues and Finales in G'' (1942) is written in the style of ''

Rhapsody in Blue ''Rhapsody in Blue'' is a 1924 musical composition for solo piano and jazz band by George Gershwin. Commissioned by bandleader Paul Whiteman, the work combines elements of classical music with jazz-influenced effects and premiered in a concer ...

'', and his ''Serenade for Trumpet in Jazz'' (composed before 1948) was played often in concerts by

Maynard Ferguson Walter Maynard Ferguson CM (May 4, 1928 – August 23, 2006) was a Canadian jazz trumpeter and bandleader. He came to prominence in Stan Kenton's orchestra before forming his own big band in 1957. He was noted for his bands, which often served ...

Life and career

Born in

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 ...

, Davis began his musical education in Montreal where he studied the

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

with such teachers as Nicholas Eichorn, Alfred La Liberté, and A.E.J. MacCreary. He studied law at

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

(MU) where he earned of

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

in 1930. While a student there he notably wrote the MU's annual ''Red and White Revue'' in 1926 and 1927. In 1927 he co-wrote the review ''The Little Revue that Starts at 10 Past Nine'' with Robert E. Dolan which was premiered at the Orpheum in Vancouver. In 1929 Davis began working 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 ...

as a pianist and conductor. From 1937–1947 he worked as a music producer at CBC Montreal where he notably arranged music for conductors like Lucio Agostini, Jean Deslauriers, and Allan McIver. He left the CBC to establish his own production house in Montreal in 1948. He thereafter worked actively as a freelance composer, arranger, and conductor in the Montreal area. He conducted several commercial orchestras and composed a number of

s and

film score A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to ...

s for radio and television. He also worked as a music director for theatrical productions in several Canadian cities. He notably conducted the studio orchestra for a 1962

LP album The LP (from long playing or long play) is an analog sound storage medium, specifically a phonograph record format characterized by: a speed of rpm; a 12- or 10-inch (30- or 25-cm) diameter; use of the "microgroove" groove specificati ...

with accordionist Gordie Fleming.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Morris Canadian male conductors (music) Canadian film score composers Canadian male film score composers McGill University Faculty of Law alumni 1904 births 1968 deaths Musicians from Ottawa 20th-century Canadian conductors (music) 20th-century Canadian composers 20th-century Canadian male musicians