The String Quartet in Canada

Robert William Andrew Elliott

A Thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements
for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the
University of Toronto

© Robert William Andrew Elliott
1990

HTML version © 2001

APPENDICES II-IV and LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

APPENDIX III
Alphabetical list of composers with the date of their string quartet compostions
ADASKIN, Murray 1963
ALDOUS, John E.P. n.d.
ALLIK, Kristi 1974
ANDERSON, Jean 1973
ANGUS, Roy 1927
ANHALT, Istvann.d.
APPLEBAUM, Louis 1947
ARCHER, Violet 1940, 1949, 1981
ARSENEAULT, Raynald 1979, 1980
ARTEAGA, Edwardn.d., 1978
BAKER, Michael 1968
BARNES, Milton 1958, 1971, 1978
BARTLEY, Ewart 1950
BAUER, Robert P. 1970
BECKWITH, John 1977, 1990
BÉDARD, Pierre-Michel 1979
BEHRENS, Jack 1960, 1980
BELANGER, Marc 1969
BELKIN, Alan 1982
BELL, Allan 1980, 1989
BERRY, Wallace 1964, 1984
BERTRAND, Ginette 1971
BETTS, Lorne 1950, 1951, 1970
BISSELL, Keith 1968, 1974, 1981
BLOMFIELD HOLT, Patricia 1937, 1956
BOTTENBERG, Wolfgang 1968
BOUCHARD, Linda L. 1981
BOUCHARD, Victor n.d.
BOWLES, George 1928
BRADY, Timothy 1980, 1982
BRANSCOMBE, Gena n.d.
BROTT, Alexander 1939, 1940, 1973, 1976
BUCZYNSKI, Walter 1963, 1981, 1987, 1988
BUELL, Timothy 1981
BUHR, Glenn 1983
BURSTON, Maggie 1976
CABLE, Howard 1948
CADZOW, Dorothy 1944
CAMPBELL, Edith Mary n.d.
CARLSON, Bruce 1974, 1987
CARRABRÉ, T.P. (Pat) 1982
CARTER, Henry n.d.
CHAMPAGNE, Claude ca. 1936, 1954
CHAN, Francis 1977, 1981
CHATMAN, Stephen 1979
CHERNEY, Brian 1966, 1970, 1985
CIAMAGA, Gustav n.d.
CLARK, Florence Durell n.d.
CLARKE, F.R.C. 1951
CLARKE, James Paton n.d.
COLGRASS, Michael 1987
COONEY, Cheryl Lee 1977, 1980
CÔTÉ, Hélène n.d.
COULTHARD, Jean 1948, 1954, 1981
COUTURE, Guillaume 1875
CRAWFORD, Paul 1972
CRAWFORD, Thomas J. n.d.
CRAWLEY, Clifford 1979
CROSSMAN, Allan 1978
DAVIS, Bruce 1973, 1976
DAWSON, Ted 1971
DEEGAN, Roger 1960
DELA, Maurice 1960, 1963
DELORME, Isabelle n.d.
DESCARRIES, Auguste 1933
DOLIN, Samuel 1961
DOUGLAS, William 1968
DUCHOW, Marvin 1939
ECKHARDT-GRAMATTÉ, Sophie Carmen 1938, 1942, 1943, 1964
EGGLESTON, Anne 1957
FIALA, George 1956, 1972
FLEMING, Robert 1969
FODI, John 1963, 1966, 1967, 1969, 1973, 1981
FORD, Clifford 1970, 1973
FORSYTH, W.O. n.d.
FREEDMAN, Harry 1949, 1972, 1980
FRIEDLANDER, Ernst 1937
FUSCO, James Vincent 1983, 1983, 1983, 1984
GAGNIER, J.-J. 1904
GAGNON, Alain 1964, 1966, 1970
GAGNON, André 1981
GARANT, Serge 1959
GAYFER, James 1943
GELLMAN, Steven 1963, 1966
GENGE, Anthony 1981
GEORGE, Graham 1936, 1939, 1947, 1949, 1951, 1962, 1976
GIBSON, Richard 1979
GIRÓN, Arsenio 1986, 1987
GLICK, Srul Irving 1957, 1964, 1975, 1984, 1986
GOLDBERG, Theo 1949
GOULD, Glenn 1955
GRATTON, Hector n.d.
GREENBERG, Lionel 1962, 1964
GUMMER, Phyllis n.d.
HANSON, Frank n.d.
HANSON, Jens 1963, 1975, 1977
HARDIMAN, Ellena G. n.d.
HARRISON, Susan Frances n.d.
HAWKINS, John 1984
HAWORTH, Frank 1930, 1958
HAYES, Gary 1972
HEALEY, Derek 1961, 1968
HEARD, Alan 1963, 1974, 1978
HEINS, Donald n.d.
HÉTU, Jacques 1960, 1972
HODKINSON, Sydney 1955, 1958
HORWOOD, Michael 1982
HUSE, Peter 1961
JARVLEPP, Jan 1975
JOACHIM, Otto 1956
JOHNSTON, Richard n.d.
KALNINS, Janis n.d.
KANE, Jack 1949
KASEMETS, Udo 1957
KENINS, Talivaldis 1948, 1965
KENT, James 1976
KERR, Bessie Maude n.d.
KLEIN, Lothar 1965
KOLINSKI, Mieczyslaw 1927, 1960
KOMOROUS, Rudolf 1965
KOPROWSKI, Peter Paul 1967
KRUSPE, Glenn 1940
KUERTI, Anton 1954, 1972
KULESHA, Gary 1981
KUNITS, Luigi von 1891
LA LIBERTÉ, Alfred 1927
LANZA, Alcides 1967
LAUBER, Anne 1973
LAUFER, Edward 1962
LAVALLÉE, Calixa n.d.
LEE, Hope 1978
LONGTIN, Michel 1970, 1972
LOUIE, Alexina 1975, 1981
MACCONNELL, Howard n.d.
MACDONALD, Andrew 1983
MACLEAN, Alasdair 1985
MACLEAN, Quentin 1936
MACLEOD, Philip 1949
MACMILLAN, Ernest 1917, 1921, 1927
MAKLEM, Francis Paget n.d.
MANN, Leslie 1975
MANSON, Robert Graham n.d.
MARCUS, Erwin n.d.
MARGOLIAN, Samuel n.d.
MARSHALL, Kye 1977
MATHIEU, Rodolphe 1920
MATTON, Roger 1949
MCCAULEY, William n.d.
MCINTYRE, Paul 1951, 1966
MELNYK, Lubomyr 1984
MILES, William Maurice n.d.
MILLS, Peter n.d.
MOISSE, Séverin 1956
MONTGOMERY, James 1975
MORAWETZ, Oskar 1944, 1955, 1959, 1978
MOREL, François 1952, 1963
MOZETICH, Marjan 1971
NAYLOR, Bernard n.d.
NICHOLSON, G. Gordon 1971
NIERMEIER, Frans n.d.
NIMMONS, Philip 1950
OSBORNE, Stanley 1936
PAIEMENT, Jules V.G. n.d.
PALMER, Charles 1956
PANNELL, Raymond 1954
PAPINEAU-COUTURE, Jean 1953, 1967
PEACOCK, Kenneth 1949
PEDERSEN, Stephen n.d.
PENTLAND, Barbara 1945, 1953, 1969, 1980, 1985
PEPA, Michael 1974, 1988, 1989
PÉPIN, Clermont 1944, 1948, 1955, 1959, 1960, 1976
POLSON, Arthur 1966, 1974
PRÉVOST, André 1958, 1968, 1972
PURDY, Winston 1964
QUESNEL, Joseph n.d.
RAE, Allan 1967, 1971, 1977
RATHBURN, Eldon 1938, 1939
REA, John 1966, 1977, 1986
RIDDER, Allard de n.d.
RIDOUT, Godfrey 1949
ROGERS, William Keith 1948
ROSEN, Robert J. 1976, 1979
ROY, Leo 1924
SAINT-MARCOUX, Micheline Coulombe 1966
SCHAFER, R. Murray 1970, 1976, 1981, 1988, 1989
SCHINGH, Denis 1983 (?)
SCHIPIZKY, Frederick 1982
SCHUDEL, Thomas 1967
SEEBER, Eckart 1986
SHAVERS, Bruce 1983
SHERMAN, Norman 1976
SHOUJOUNIAN, Petros 1980, 1985
SMITH, Leo n.d., 1927, 1932
SOMERS, Harry 1943, 1950, 1959, 1982
SOUTHAM, Ann 1973
SPECHT, Judy Lavise n.d.
SPENCER, Marguerita n.d.
SPERGEL, Robert n.d.
STEINBERG, Ben 1972, 1975
STEPHENS, Owen 1978
STEVEN, Donald 1971
SULLIVAN, Timothy 1976
SURDIN, Morris 1966
SZCZENIOWSKI, Boleslaw 1956, 1962
TALBOT, Jean Robert n.d.
TANGUAY, Georges-Émile ca. 1929
TELFER, Nancy 1983
TENNEY, James 1984
THÉBERGE, Paul 1981
TITTLE, Steve 1966
TURNER, Sara Scott 1980
TURNER, Robert 1949, 1954, 1975
TWA, Andrew 1949
UNDERHILL, Owen 1986
VALLERAND, Jean 1955
VISE, Stephen 1963
VIVIER, Claude 1968
VOCELLE, Lucien 1945
WALLACE, William 1981
WEINZWEIG, John 1937, 1946, 1962
WEISGARBER, Elliot 1975, 1980
WILLAN, Healey ca. 1905, 1930, 1947
WILSON, Charles 1950, 1968, 1975, 1983
WILSON, Eugene 1974
WUENSCH, Gerhard 1953, 1963
ZUCKERT, Leon 1947, 1965, 1971, 1972

APPENDIX IV

Reviews and other material relating to two Toronto performances of Schoenberg's String Quartet No. 1 in D minor, Opus 7

1.Performance by The Academy String Quartet on 3 1 May 19 15

     Mention has already been made in the press and elsewhere of the Schoenberg Quartette, a public performance of which will probably be given some date this month. This work is difficult to play and difficult to understand, but it certainly represents a development in modern music which must be seriously considered by musicians. It cannot be judged superficially; it is the work of a genius whose vision pierces far beyond the average ken. Whether this vision is distorted or clear will be determined more accurately later on; at present his empirical ideas of construction and marvellous complexity of detail is rather baffling to ears that have become so accustomed to more orthodox forms.

Anonymous, "Canadian Academy of Music," Musical Canada X/ 1 (May 19 15) 23.

     The Academy String Quartette introduced Schoenberg to Toronto last night at their concert in the recital hall of the Canadian Academy of Music. Schoenberg is the most discussed musician of the present day. His compositions have met with tremendous opposition and abuse from many influential quarters, but notwithstanding this outcry, they are gradually forcing recognition of their real merit. One cannot presume to give criticism of such colossal work at first hearing. The first impressions were in the main rather chaotic, although there are certain parts, particularly in the latter half of the work, which are strikingly noble and beautiful. The introductory lecture by Mr. Von Kunits and the issuing of slips to the audience with the motives printed were new and distinctly welcome innovations worthy of repetition on many other occasions. Mr. Von Kunits and his associates must have spent a great amount of thought and time preparing this work, which from a technical point is one of the most difficult ever written. They have had an arduous season and are to be congratulated on their accomplishment.

E.R. Parkhurst, "Music and The Drama," The Globe [Toronto], ( 1 June 19 15) 6.

     The Academy Quartet has kept its promise: Schoenberg's Quartet in D minor Op. 7 had its first performance in Toronto on Monday, May the 3 1st. A large and representative audience which comprised all the prominent musicians and critics of the city, listened with profound attention and bestowed almost an ovation on the performers, after the final chord. The press comments were equally flattering to the organization which had so boldly embarked on futurist seas; they all praised the excellent ensemble, the brilliant rendition, the tonal beauty and smoothness, and the powerful emotional conception. Only concerning the merits of the work itself, there was far less unanimity. While some of the critics eagerly advocated a repetition in next season's regular series, others adopted a more or less uncompromising attitude of cool reserve. And there were even a few who outspokenly and unhesitatingly condemned and rejected the composition in toto. The reckless admission of dissonances which result from an almost perpetual clashing of the diverse subjects or "motives" that form the constructive basis of the work, and the rhythmical confusion that seems to inevitably evolve from the persistent attempt to simultaneously blend several phrases of different metre, is apparently more than can be relished by an ear not yet accustomed to the extreme complexity of the new style. While Mr. von Kunits' interpretative analysis which preceded the performance, was admittedly very helpful, and while the printed sheets with the motives of the composition were equally valuable, it cannot be denied that most of us find our minds naturally unprepared and untrained for a mode of writing that seems less a "crowning continuation" than a ruthless contradiction of all the laws of beauty and symmetry that guided former epochs of musical history. Only further training and determined effort will make us more familiar with his new style, and will thus, in time, create in us a capacity and facility of "mental co-operation" without which aesthetic enjoyment and uplifting is impossible.

Anonymous, "Toronto Concert Notes: The Schoenberg Recital," The Canadian Journal of Music II/3 (July 19 15) 44.

2. Performance by The Hart House String Quartet on 14 April 1935

     The late Dr. Luigi von Kunits, together with Arthur Ely, Alfred and George Bruce, first produced this quartet in Toronto nearly twenty years ago. At that time, Dr. von Kunits addressed the audience, analyzing the quartet so that the listeners may be ready for the "new-style" music. The following paragraph from his address is reprinted as a worthy introduction to the performance to-night, and serves once more to remind us of the artistic and pioneering spirit of Luigi von Kunits.

     "If you apply your undivided and prolonged attention to the performance, I think I can guarantee you not only a rare aesthetic enjoyment but that wonderful uplifting that a great work of art invariably produces in anyone who knows how to abandon himself to it heart and soul. I do not care in the least how prejudiced you may be now against this so-called "new style" of the futurists; as long as there is an earnest endeavour on your part to enter into the spirit of the work we are to present, the work will speak for itself, for it does not require any more special `initiation' on the part of the hearer, than does one of Beethoven's last quartets, or a Bach fugue, or Wagner's `Prelude to Tristan', or Richard Strauss' `Death and Transfiguration'. In fact, Schonberg [sic] fully stands on the shoulders of those predecessors. The general plan and disposition of his quartet, in its variously changing moods, through an uninterrupted chain of scarcely detached movements, is closely akin and allied to Beethoven's quartet in C sharp minor; his marvelous command of counterpoint bears witness to an exhaustive study of Bach's master works; and the psychological method of employing different motives - each of a definite emotional character - as his thematic material, as well as the picturesque and dramatic effects of his score, is something for which he is indebted to the precedents of Wagner and Strauss. Especially this last method, the constant `motivation', is carried on with a minuteness of elaborate detail and an uncompromising consistency for which there is no parallel in musical literature."

[From the programme notes for the Hart House String Quartet concert.]

     The Arnold Schonberg [sic] Quartet in D minor, written about 30 years ago, was the large work of the evening. As the quartet played this work it was difficult to understand the polemical demonstration which is said to have greeted the first performance in 1907. To understand its mathematics is undoubtedly a task beyond the average music lover, but to listen modestly and take what comes is an enriching experience.

Pearl McCarthy, "Modern Program By String Quartet: Hart House Group Presents Work of Toronto Composer," Mail and Empire [Toronto] ( 15 April 1935).

     The big work of the evening was the Schonberg, [sic] which was played in Toronto for the first time nearly twenty years ago, by Dr. Von Kunits, Arthur Ely and the Bruces, Alfred and George. It is a very beautiful work which might well be heard oftener.

Anonymous, "Render Work of Ex-Student: Hart House Quartette Plays Composition of Former Local Pianist," The Evening Telegram [Toronto], 15 April 1935, 14.

Note: The titles of the above two reviews refer to the other work on the programme, a string quartet by Amice Calverley. Calverley was an English composer who studied music in Toronto.

     The Schoenberg quartet, as is the case with all of this composer's earlier work is a mystery when viewed in the light of what he considers his most mature expression. If ever a man was born into this world equipped to write music of Titanic proportions it is this same Schoenberg. His earlier works seem to impress and move everyone who hears them. In writing them he obviously followed the only true method of composition; he shut his eyes, opened wide his ears and waited to see what God would send him. And God, or a remarkable memory, sent him something very good indeed. This something he used with great technical skill and the result was a work that only genius could have produced. Then upon an evil day Schoenberg thought he had begun to think; he was seized with a THEORY. This was, probably, his undoing, for music has its own special kind of logic the one great rule of which is that what is written down shall sound effective. You can't write music to a formula no matter how much you know about music and how much erudition has entered into the preparation of your formula. And so, except for a few zealots, the later Schoenberg is a dreary fellow.

     But he was anything but that when he wrote his quartet, opus 7. Here is a man torn with emotion and steeped in romance. If he is fond of recollections of Wagner he transforms them into a musical fabric that is not in the least Wagnerian. The quartet must be very long, but its inspiration is so unflagging, its melodic beauties so many and its writing so eerily skilful that it seems to pass by like a flash.

     It has been written a good many years now and most of us have had a chance to hear it before. I don't think many would say that they heard a finer performance than the Hart House Quartet gave it. Together with their playing of the Debussy quartet the playing of this Schoenberg music will stay in my memory as one of the finest things the quartet has done. And how many fine things it has done!

Raymond Mullens, "Musical Events," Saturday Night L/24 (20 April 1935): 18.

     It is a pity that music appropriate to ourselves, to the kind of life most of us lead today, should be made to seem more strange and difficult than it really is by the silly word "modern". The two compositions played by the Hart House Quartet at their Special Concert of Modern Music last Sunday evening really demanded little more than attention from the audience, though from the players' angle they were most exacting.

Marcus Adeney, The Globe [Toronto] (20 April 1935)

All material quoted from section 2 is available in Vol. IX of the Hart House String Quartet Scrapbooks.

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

ACM - Anthology of Canadian Music (recordings issued by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation)
BMI - Broadcast Music Incorporated
CAPAC - Composers, Authors and Publishers Association of Canada
CBC - Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
CFMTA - Canadian Federation of Music Teachers' Associations
CMC - Canadian Music Centre
CPR - Canadian Pacific Railway
CTL - Canadian Talent Library
DGG - Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft
EMC - Encyclopedia of Music in Canada
HHSQ - Hart House String Quartet
I - In twelve - tone works, the inversion of the row; this is followed by an Arabic numeral from 0 to 1 1 indicating how many semi - tones above the original pitch that the row has been transposed
JMC - Jeunesses musicales of Canada / du Canada
P - In twelve - tone works, the prime form of the row; this is followed by an Arabic numeral from 0 to 1 1 indicating how many semi - tones above the original pitch that the row has been transposed
PRO - Performing Rights Organization of Canada
R - In twelve - tone works, the retrograde of the row; this is followed by an Arabic numeral from 0 to 1 1 indicating how many semi - tones above the original pitch that the row has been transposed
RCI - Radio Canada International
RCMT - Royal Conservatory of Music of Toronto
RI - In twelve - tone works, the retrograde inversion of the row; this is followed by an Arabic numeral from 0 to 1 1 indicating how many semi - tones above the original pitch that the row has been transposed
TCM - Toronto Conservatory of Music

In bibliographical citations, Roman numerals refer to the volume number and Arabic numerals refer to the issue number.

In references to compositions, Roman numerals represent movement numbers and Arabic numerals the bar numbers.

Back to The String Quartet in Canada Table of Contents
Back to Institute for Canadian Music