R. Murray Schafer

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R. Murray Schafer, 2007

Raymond Murray Schafer (born July 18, 1933 in Sarnia , Ontario , † August 14, 2021 in Indian River near Peterborough , Ontario) was a Canadian composer , sound researcher and author .

life and work

Growing up in Toronto , he was a student at the Royal Conservatory of Music there from 1945 to 1955 and learned harpsichord and piano . From 1954 he studied at the University of Toronto harpsichord with Greta Kraus , composition with John Weinzweig and piano with Alberto Guerrero , who was also Glenn Gould's piano teacher. However, he had to leave the university in 1955 because of insubordination . He spent the years 1956 to 1958 in Vienna , where he dealt with German minnie songs . This is how the composition came aboutMinnelieder, a setting of 13 medieval German poems, for voice and chamber ensemble (1956). From 1958 to 1961 he worked as a journalist in London .

From 1962 to 1963 Schafer was director of the series Ten Centuries Concerts in Toronto, which he founded. From 1963 to 1965 he taught at Memorial University of Newfoundland , from 1965 to 1975 at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby near Vancouver . There he founded the World Soundscape Project in 1971 , which had set itself the task of recording, researching and documenting soundscapes around the world . Today the project is being continued by the World Forum for Acoustic Ecology . During this time he also developed his hearing-pedagogical concept Ear Cleaning, a "systematic exercise program with which the hearing should be trained to perceive sounds, especially those of the environment, more critically and finely." ( R. Murray Schafer : The Tuning of the World )

Schafer was considered one of the most important contemporary Canadian composers. As a composer, he wrote more than 120 different works for choir , orchestra and chamber music - ensembles , as well as operas , musical theater and multimedia installations . Since the 1960s he has been working on the 12-part music theater cycle Patria . The cycle is more extensive than Wagner's Ring and Stockhausen's Light , and many parts, such as Part 9 The Enchanted Forest , can only be performed outdoors. Except for the unfinished part 7 Asterion , the cycle is complete, a complete text book Patria: The Complete Cycle was published in 2002.

Schafer coined the term Soundscape , which he defines in The Tuning of the World as follows:

“The acoustic environment, actually every aspect of an acoustic environment that is determined to be the subject of investigation. The term refers to real environments as well as abstract structures, such as music composition and tape assembly, especially if these are understood as environments. "

- R. Murray Schafer : The Tuning of the World

Under the heading Acoustic Ecology , he investigated the effects soundscapes have on living beings. Also introduced the term schizophony to music. He was friends with the media theorist Marshall McLuhan and was heavily influenced by him.

Awards

Schafer received a number of awards. He achieved worldwide acclaim as a composer with his Quartet # 2 (Waves), for which he was awarded the Prix ​​Jules-Léger pour la nouvelle musique de chambre in 1978 . In 1987 he was the first to receive the Glenn Gould Prize .

His other awards include:

Fonts (selection)

  • Ear Cleaning: Notes for an Experimental Music Course . BMI Canada, Don Mills, Ontario 1967
    • Übers. Friedrich Saathen: School of hearing . Edited by Franz Basl. Universal, Vienna 1972
  • The Tuning of the World . Knopf, New York 1977
    • Translated by Kurt Simon, Eberhard Rathgeb (abbreviated): Klang und Krach. A cultural history of hearing . Athenaeum, Frankfurt 1988, ISBN 3-610-08498-7
    • The order of the sounds. A cultural history of hearing . Ed., Introduction, new translations. Sabine Breitsameter, Schott Music, Mainz 2010, ISBN 978-3-7957-0716-3

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Robert Rowat: R. Murray Schafer, composer, writer and acoustic ecologist, has died at 88. In: CBC . August 15, 2021, accessed August 15, 2021 .
  2. ↑ a b R. Murray Schafer , biography and list of works on: The Living Composers Project 2021 (English)
  3. ↑ David Friend: R. Murray Schafer, composer and 'father of acoustic ecology,' dies at 88. In: Toronto Star . August 16, 2021 (English).;
  4. ↑ R. Murray Schafer: The order of sounds. A cultural history of hearing . Schott Music, 2010, p. 433 .
  5. ↑ See biography ( memento of February 24, 2021 in the Internet Archive ) of the National Arts Center, Canada; Biography on allmusic.com.
  6. ^ Website of the Patria project
  7. ↑ Colin Eatock: Mystic Composer in a Magical Forest. In: New York Times . August 5, 2021 (English).;
  8. ↑ Patria: The Complete Cycle , published 2002 by Coach House Books , Toronto
  9. ↑ R. Murray Schafer: The order of sounds. A cultural history of hearing . Schott Music, 2010, p. 439 .
  10. ↑ Sabine Breitsameter: Aural figure and figure of thought. Introductory essay in: R. Murray Schafer: The order of sounds . Schott, 2010, p. 9.
  11. ^ Jules Léger Prize For New Chamber Music - Cumulative list of Winners. The Canada Council for the Arts ( Memento November 10, 2010 in the Internet Archive ).
  12. ^ First Glenn Gould Prize Laureate: 1987 - R. Murray Schafer, Canada. Glenn Gould Foundation website.
  13. ↑ a b c d e f g Composer R. Murray Schafer wins Walter Carsen Prize for Excellence in the Performing Arts. Canada Council of the Arts press release of November 8, 2005 ( memento of March 18, 2012 in the Internet Archive ).
  14. ^ Canada Council for the Arts Molson Prizes - Cumulative list of Winners. ( Memento from July 19, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Canada Council for the Arts, as of 2017 (PDF, English).
  15. ↑ Award Recipients 2009. Governor General's Awards Performing Arts Awards .
  16. ^ Honorary Members: R. Murray Schafer. American Academy of Arts and Letters, accessed March 22, 2019 .
  17. ^ R. Murray Schafer Voted First Canadian Honorary Member of ISCM. ISCM website, November 5, 2017 (English).
personal data
SURNAME Schafer, R. Murray
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Schafer, Raymond Murray (full name)
SHORT DESCRIPTION Canadian composer, sound researcher and author
BIRTH DATE July 18, 1933
PLACE OF BIRTH Sarnia , Ontario
DATE OF DEATH August 14, 2021
PLACE OF DEATH Indian River (Ontario) near Peterborough (Ontario)