Harry Somers | |
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 Somers in 1947 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | (1925-09-11)September 11, 1925 |
| Died | March 9, 1999(1999-03-09) (aged 73) Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
Harry Stewart Somers,CC (September 11, 1925 – March 9, 1999) was acontemporaryCanadiancomposer.[1][2]
Somers earned the unofficial title of "Darling of Canadian Composition."[3] He was a founding member of theCanadian League of Composers (CLC) and involved in the formation of other Canadian music organizations, including theCanada Council for the Arts and theCanadian Music Centre.[4] He received commissions from theCanadian Broadcasting Corporation and theCanada Council for the Arts.[1]
Somers was born inToronto,Ontario, Canada, on September 11, 1925.[5] Somers did not become involved in formal musical study until he reached his teenage years in 1939 when he met a doctor and his wife—both pianists—who introduced him to classical works. Somers described this first encounter years later: "A spark was ignited, and he became obsessed with music. Almost from that instant, he knew music would be his life, for better or for worse."[6]
14-year-old Somers began his study of piano after his first exposure under the tutelage of Dorothy Hornfelt, the neighborhood piano teacher.[6] After two years of study with her, he was able to pass the Grade VIII examination at theToronto Conservatory.[6]
In 1942, Somers began studying underReginald Godden at the conservatory, whom he stayed with until 1943.[1] Godden later directed him to pursue formal studies underJohn Weinzweig.[7] Weinzweig set up a program of traditional harmony study for him to study the 12-tone techniques. (Schoenberg had enforced similarly strict lessons in traditional harmony upon his own pupils, even as he encouraged them to exploredodecaphony.) Somers remained under Weinzweig's instruction until 1949.[1]
Somers took a sabbatical from his studies in 1943 to serve with theRoyal Canadian Air Force duringWorld War II.[1] After WWII, Somers returned to the Royal Conservatory to continue his studies with Weinzweig with a new piano teacher,Weldon Kilburn. During this time, Somers was writing and performing his own works.[1] Somers completed his studies at the conservatory in 1948 and then spent the summer in San Francisco studying piano underE. Robert Schmitz.[8] His work was part of the music event in theart competition at the1948 Summer Olympics.[9]
In 1949, Somers started to focus on composition.[1] In 1949, he was awarded a $2000 Canadian Amateur Hockey Association scholarship to spend a year inParis studying composition withDarius Milhaud.[10] Somers composed his suite for harp and orchestra in 1949.[11] In Paris, Somers heard the music ofBoulez andMessiaen; these composers would influence his later music.
After his year with Darius Milhaud, Somers spent the 1950s devoted to composition. He earned his income as a music copyist.[1] He composed his Symphony No.1 in 1951.[12] In the 1950s, he improved his guitar skills.[1] In the 1960s, he earned money of his commissions.[1] He returned to Paris for more compositional studies with Canada Council for the Arts fellowship. While there, he concentrated onGregorian chant, particularly its revival by theSolesmes Abbey.[1] In 1963, he became a member of the John Adaskin Project, which was an in-school initiative.[1] Also in 1963, Somers began his part-time career with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation by hosting televised youth concerts.[1]
Somers's first wife, Catherine Mackie, died in 1963.[1]
In 1965, Somers began hosting the CBC radio series "Music of Today" and continued hosting it until 1969.[1] He also became the special consultant of the North York School in Toronto from 1968 to 1969.[1] In 1967, he remarried to the Canadian actressBarbara Chilcott.[1] Also in 1967, he produced his best-known work, the operaLouis Riel, commissioned for Canada's Centennial Year celebrations.[13] In 1969, he received an $18,000 grant from the Canadian Cultural Institute in Rome. He spent two years there, during which time he wroteVoiceplay andKyrie.[1]
In 1971, after he returned to Canada from his work in Rome, Somers was made aCompanion of the Order of Canada.[8] He was awarded three honorary doctorates: one from theUniversity of Ottawa (1975), one fromYork University (1975), and one from theUniversity of Toronto (1976).[8] In 1977, Somers made a visit to theUSSR. While there, he gave lectures on Contemporary Canadian composition and spoke to other contemporary composers.[1] During the 1980s, Somers received commissions for the Banff International String Quartet Competition, the Guelph Spring Festival, the S.C. Eckhardt-Gramatté Competition and theCanadian Opera Company.[1]
In the 1990s, he composed two operas,Serinette to a libretto byJames Reaney,[14] andMario the Magician, which was adapted from a story byThomas Mann.
Somers also completed his musicThird Piano Concerto in 1996.[15] Somers gave the opening address at the Alberta Music Conference in 1993, wrote a choral piece for the 50th Anniversary of theUnited Nations in 1995, and served as the writer-in-residence for the first "Word and Music Festival" held at the University of Windsor in 1997.[1] Canada honoured him in 1995 with tribute concerts given by the University of Ottawa and theNational Arts Centre for his 70th birthday.[1]
Somers died on March 9, 1999, in Toronto, Ontario.[1]
Harry Somers had an eclectic approach. His music was performed in the US, Central and South Americas, Europe and the Soviet Union.[1] His works include techniques such as vocalization, vowel and breath sounds, and timbrel inflections.[16] The styles that are said to have influenced Somers the most are the music ofWeinzweig,Bartók andIves,Baroquecounterpoint,serial technique andGregorian chant.[10]
Under Weinzweig, during the 1940s, Somers received his first formal instruction in composition. Prior to that point, he composed mainly in the style of the piano works he was playing.[6] In 1950s, Somers focused on the use of fugue-related textures and techniques.[10] Over half of the works written between 1950 and 1961 contain fugal movements. Some of his works feature "sharp, nervous, rhythmic vitality, which often serves as a foil for slower-moving subsidiary melodic lines."[10]
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