Murray Adaskin, (March 28, 1906 – May 6, 2002) was a

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

-born

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

violinist, composer, conductor and teacher. After playing violin with a band, he studied composition and became the director of the Music department of the

University of Saskatchewan The University of Saskatchewan (U of S, or USask) is a Universities in Canada, Canadian public university, public research university, founded on March 19, 1907, and located on the east side of the South Saskatchewan River in Saskatoon, Saskatch ...

. Many of his compositions were written while in Victoria after his retirement.

Life

Born in

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, to Jewish Latvian immigrant parents who raised their four children to become persevering kids, Adaskin studied the violin with Alexander Chuhaldin at the Toronto Conservatory of Music. He began his career playing the violin in silent film presentations in his native city. Afterwards, he was a violinist with the

Toronto Symphony Orchestra The Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) is a Canadian orchestra based in Toronto, Ontario. Founded in 1906, the TSO gave regular concerts at Massey Hall until 1982, and since then has performed at Roy Thomson Hall. The TSO also manages the Toron ...

from 1923 to 1936. He married his first wife, soprano Frances James, around that time. From 1938 to 1952 he was with the Royal York Hotel trio. Adaskin attended the

Music Academy of the West The Music Academy of the West is a summer classical music training program in Montecito, California, and festival with performances in the County of Santa Barbara. Overview The academy annually enrolls 136 pre-professional musicians in their ...

in 1950. By 38 years of age, he studied for seven years with

John Weinzweig John Jacob Weinzweig (March 11, 1913 – August 24, 2006) was a composer, teacher, and advocate of contemporary Canadian concert music. Born in Toronto, Weinzweig went to Harbord Collegiate Institute, then studied music at the University of Tor ...

to become a composer. Other composers he studied with include Charles Jones and

Darius Milhaud Darius Milhaud (, ; 4 September 1892 – 22 June 1974) was a French composer, conductor, and teacher. He was a member of Les Six—also known as ''The Group of Six''—and one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century. His composition ...

. He was head of the Department of Music at the

from 1952 to 1966, including four years as conductor of the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra. He then became the Composer-in-Residence until 1972, the first position of its type ever created at a Canadian university. Among his notable pupils were composers Boyd McDonald, Paul Pedersen,

Rodney Sharman Rodney Sharman (born 24 May 1958) is a Canadian composer and flutist based in Vancouver. His music has been performed in over 30 countries worldwide. He has won several international and national awards, including First Prize in the 1984 CBC Compe ...

and Timothy Williams; and violinist Andrew Dawes. By 1972, he retired to Victoria where he started composing more than half his total of 130 compositions. Adaskin lost his first wife in 1988, to later remarry to a woman named Dorothea Larsen, who was his helping hand in recording some pieces on their own label. He died in 2002, just before the release of two CDs of a five-disc collection for his memory. He is the brother of Harry Adaskin, Leslie Adaskin and John Adaskin. It was announced on December 15, 1980, that he was awarded the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

. On April 8, 1981, Adaskin was invested as an Officer of the

Music inspiration

Igor Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ( – 6 April 1971) was a Russian composer and conductor with French citizenship (from 1934) and American citizenship (from 1945). He is widely considered one of the most important and influential 20th-century c ...

was a major inspiration for Adaskin. "Stravinsky's neo-classical and rugged rhythms echo through his work." Additionally, his training as a violinist affected his sense of melody. Through his works, one can feel the presence of landscapes, birdsongs and different local surrounding sounds. The melody of his compositions often seem abstract, similar to Canadian visual art from his early years. His avid interest in Canadian visual art was expressed in his work: ''In Praise of Canadian Painting in the Thirties''.

Selected works

* ''Epitaph'' for voice and piano (1948) * ''March No.1'' for orchestra (1950) * Sonata for Piano (1950) * ''Sonatine Baroque'' for violin solo (1952) or viola solo (1999) * ''March No.2'' for orchestra (1953, revised 1962) * ''Rondino for Nine Instruments'' (1961) * ''Dedication'' (1963) * ''Daydreams'' for alto saxophone and piano (1971) * Woodwind Quintet No.1 (1974) * ''Rankin Inlet'' for piano duet (1978) * ''Eskimo Melodies'' for piano (1980) * ''March No.3'' for orchestra (1981) * ''Vocalise No.1'' for solo viola (1990) * Concerto No.1 for viola and orchestra (1991) * ''Three Piano Pieces'' (Savannah, Gretchen, and Etude No. 1), for Piano (1992) * Concerto No.2 for viola and orchestra (1995) * String Quintet (1995) * Duo for viola and guitar (1996) * ''Vocalise No.2'' for solo viola (1996) * ''Divertimento No.9'' for string trio (1998) * Duo for viola and piano (1999) * ''Finki, Where Are You?'' for 2 violas (2000) * ''Musica Victoria'' (2000)

Footnotes

Citations

References

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External links

University of Saskatchewan: The Murray Adaskin Collection
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adaskin, Murray 1906 births 2002 deaths Canadian male classical composers Canadian classical violinists Canadian male classical violinists Canadian people of Latvian-Jewish descent Jewish Canadian musicians Jewish classical composers Musicians from Toronto Officers of the Order of Canada People from Old Toronto Pupils of Darius Milhaud The Royal Conservatory of Music alumni Academic staff of the University of Saskatchewan 20th-century Canadian classical composers 20th-century classical violinists 20th-century Canadian composers Music Academy of the West alumni 20th-century Canadian male musicians 20th-century Canadian violinists and fiddlers Canadian male violinists and fiddlers Toronto Symphony Orchestra members