Harry Freedman (composer)

Harry Freedman ( Henryk Frydmann ; born April 5, 1922 in Łódź , † September 16, 2005 in Toronto ) was a Canadian composer, English horn player and music teacher.

Freedman came to Canada with his family at the age of three and lived in Winnipeg from 1931. At the age of thirteen, he began training as a painter at the Winnipeg School of Arts . His interest in jazz music brought him to training as a clarinetist with Arthur Hart at the age of eighteen . During World War II, he served four years in the Royal Canadian Air Force . From 1945 to 1951 he studied oboe in Toronto with Perry Bauman and composition at the Royal Conservatory of Music with John Weinzweig . He also attended summer courses from Olivier Messiaen and Aaron Copland in Tanglewood (1949) and from Ernst Krenek (1953). From 1946 to 1971 he was an English horn player with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra .

After 1971 he devoted himself primarily to composition, but was composer in residence every summer between 1972 and 1981 at the Courtenay Youth Music Center and from 1989 to 1991 taught orchestration and composition at the University of Toronto . In 1951 he was one of the founders of the Canadian League of Composers , of which he was president from 1975 to 1978, served as president of the Guild of Canadian Film Composers from 1979 to 1981, and from 1985 to 1990 as music officer of the Toronto Arts Council .

Freedman composed works for solo instruments, chamber music, orchestral works, film, drama and ballet music. For Touches he received a Juno Award in 1996 , for Borealis , a commissioned work by the CBC and Toronto Symphony Orchestra , and in 1998 a prize at the International Rostrum of Composers . In 1980 the Canadian Music Council named him Composer of the Year, and in 1984 he was named Officer of the Order of Canada . Norma Beecroft produced a documentary about him for CBC radio in 1977 and Barbara Willis Sweete's documentary Harry in Wonderland about him was made in 1990 .

Works

• Divertimento for Oboe and Strings , 1947
• Symphonic Suite for Orchestra, 1948
• Five Pieces for String Orchestra , 1949, 1953
• Nocturne I for orchestra, 1949
• Tableau for string orchestra, 1952
• Two Vocalises for soprano, clarinet and piano, 1954
• Fantasia and Dance for violin and orchestra, 1955, 1959
• Images for (string) orchestra, 1958
• Symphony No. 1 , 1961
• Voice Lines, vocalise after three poems of Jacques Prévert for soprano and strings, 1962, 1981
• Fantasy and Allegro for string orchestra, 1962
• Quintet for woodwind quintet, 1962
• Three Vocalises for mixed choir, 1964
• The Tokaido (Japanese poetry) for mixed choir and woodwind quintet, 1964
• Chaconne for orchestra, 1964, 1977, 1982
• Variations for oboe, flute and harpsichord, 1965
• Anerca for soprano and piano, 1966
• A Little Symphony for orchestra, 1966
• Armana for orchestra, 1967
• Tangents for orchestra, 1967
• Poems of Young People for deep voice, 1968
• Toccata (syllables) , for soprano and flute, 1968
• Five over Thirteen , ballet, 1969
• Scenario for alto saxophone, electric bass guitar and orchestra, 1970
• The Shining People of Leonard Cohen , ballet, 1970
• Klee Wyck: The Laughing One for orchestra, 1970, 1986
• Soliloquy for flute and piano, 1970
• Keewaydin for female choir and tape, 1971
• Tikki Tikki Tembo (Mosel) for narrator and woodwind quintet, 1971
• Graphic I: Out of Silence for orchestra and tape, 1971
• Graphic II for string quartet, 1972
• Pan for flute, soprano and piano, 1972
• Lines for clarinet solo, 1973
• Romeo and Juliet (Original Title: Star Cross'd ), ballet 1973, 1975
• Tapestry for orchestra, 1973
• Songs From Shakespeare for mixed choir, 1974
• Encounter for violin and piano, 1974
• Love and Age (Reeves) for soprano, baritone, wood and brass quintet, 1975
• Vignette for clarinet and piano, 1975
• Nocturne II for orchestra, 1975
• Five Rings for wind quintet, 1976
• Fragments of Alice ( L. Carroll ) for soprano, alto, baritone and instruments, 1976
• The Explainer for flute, oboe, cello, piano, percussion and speaker, 1976
• Tsolum Summer for strings and percussion, 1976
• Pastorale for mixed choir and English horn, 1977
• Celebration: Concerto for Gerry Mulligan for saxophone and orchestra, 1977
• Mono for horn solo, 1977
• Green ... Blue ... White ... (songs of the eastern provinces) for mixed choir, 1978
• Epitaph for Igor Stravinsky for tenor, four trombones and string quartet, 1978
• Opus Pocus for flute, violin, viola and cello, 1979
• Abracadabra , Opera, 1979
• Nocturne III for choir and orchestra, 1980
• Blue: 2nd String Quartet , 1980
• Impromptus for mezzo-soprano and guitar, 1980
• Royal Flush: Concerto Grosso for wind quintet and orchestra, 1981
• A Spring Song for mixed choir, 1981
• A Time Is Coming for mixed choir, 1982
• And Now It Is Today Oh Yes, a musical entertainment for soprano and instruments, 1982
• Chalumeau for string quartet or orchestra, 1982
• Accord for violin and orchestra, 1982
• Concerto for Orchestra , 1982, 1985
• Third Symphony , 1983, 1985
• Oiseaux Exotiques , Ballet, 1984
• Passacaglia for Jazz Band and Orchestra , 1984
• The Saxophone Chronicles for saxophone and orchestra, 1984
• A Garland for Terry for speaker and orchestra, 1985
• Heroes of Our Time , ballet, 1986
• Contrasts: The Web and the Wind for string orchestra, 1986
• Graphic VI: Town , 1986
• Rhymes from the Nursery for children's choir and flute, 1986
• Breaks , ballet, 1987
• Fanfare for Century II for brass, timpani and percussion, 1987
• Little Girl Blew for bass clarinet, 1988
• A Dance on Earth , for orchestra, 1988
• Sonata for Symphonic Winds , 1988
• Touchings for percussion ensemble and orchestra, 1989
• Bones , 1989
• Short story for cor anglais. 1989
• Another Monday Gig for jazz ensemble, 1991
• Downwind for accordion and bass clarinet, 1992
• Spirit Song for soprano and string quartet, 1993
• Indigo for 22 strings, 1994
• Saxtet for saxophone quartet, 1995
• Blue Light for flute, clarinet, violin, cello and piano, 1995
• Higher for bass clarinet and cello, 1996
• Borealis for four choirs and orchestra, 1997
• Voices for mixed choir, 1999
• Graphic 9 for 16 strings, 2000
• Graphic 8 for string quartet, 2000
• Romp and Reverie for flute solo, 2002
• Phoenix for string quartet, 2003

literature

• Gail Dixon: "The Music of Harry Freedman", University of Toronto Press 2004, ISBN 9781442681767

swell

• Harry Freedman ( English, French ) In: Encyclopedia of Music in Canada . published by The Canadian Encyclopedia .
• Canadian Music Center - Harry Freedman
• Harry Freedman in the Internet Movie Database (English)