William McCauley

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William McCauley (born February 14, 1917 in Tofield , Alberta , † May 18, 1999 in Alliston , Ontario ) was a Canadian composer , trombonist and conductor who worked in particular for films.

Life

McCauley received his first music lessons in his small hometown and founded a dance band there when he was sixteen. In 1936 he began studying music at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto and worked as an arranger, pianist and trombonist. During World War II, he served in the RCAF as a pilot and instructor of fighter pilots, as well as a military musician.

After the end of the war he graduated from Toronto and was musical director at Ottawa Technical High School from 1947 to 1949. McCauley then worked until 1957 as musical director at Crawley Films , where he composed, arranged and in some cases also conducted numerous film scores. He also played as a solo trombonist a. a. in the Ottawa Philharmonic Orchestra. A scholarship enabled him to study at the Eastman School of Music , where he a. a. Alan Hovhaness , Bernard Rogers and Howard Hanson (composition) and Pierre Monteux (conducting) taught. In 1960 he graduated with a doctorate. From 1960 to 1987 he was musical director of the O'Keefe Center in Toronto, at the same time at York University from 1961 to 1969 and from 1970 to 1978 at Seneca College in Toronto. From 1972 to 1988 William McCauley conducted the North York Symphony Orchestra.

His son Matthew McCauley (* 1954) works as a composer and producer.

plant

McCauley composed more than 125 film scores, including for the CBC television series The Whiteoaks of Jalna (1972) or the films The Neptune Factor (1973), Riel (1979) and City in Flames (1979). In 1998 he received the “Lifetime Achievement Award for Film and Television Music” from SOCAN .

McCauley also wrote piano pieces, chamber music and orchestral works in which elements of neoclassicism, folk music and jazz mix, such as Five Miniatures for Flute and Strings (1958) and Concerto Grosso (1973).

Filmography (selection)

literature

  • CD booklet Mercury 434 307-2 (including McCauley: Five Miniatures for Flute and Strings , Howard Hanson, Eastman-Rochester Orchestra)

Web links

personal data
SURNAME McCauley, William
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Canadian composer, trombonist and conductor
DATE OF BIRTH February 14, 1917
PLACE OF BIRTH Tofield , Alberta
DATE OF DEATH May 18, 1999
Place of death Alliston , Ontario