Schafer and Loman
R. Murray Schafer
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“Murray Schafer isn’t really here to remind us of who we are by conjuring up historic references to our past, nor entertaining us with common narrative. His real goal is awakening us to realise the potential of our individual creativity, and our combined cultural strength”[1]
André Leduc, R. Murray Schafer. Image. The Star. August 20th 2021. https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/2021/08/20/r-murray-schafer-represented-one-of-the-most-original-musical-minds-canada-has-ever-produced.html?fr=operanews
Raymond “Murray” Schafer (b.1933) was a Canadian composer, educator, environmentalist and creator of soundscapes, with particular concern for acoustic ecology. He briefly studied music at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto and the University of Toronto (1952-1955), before becoming disillusioned with structured education and dropping out. He moved to Austria to study music at the Vienna Academy, but quickly became preoccupied with studying Medieval German. This was followed by a period living in England where he supported himself with journalism; a major output from this time was the book British Composers in Review. He moved back to Toronto in 1961 and went on to teach at Memorial University and Simon Fraser University, where he set up the World Soundscape Project, which aims “to find solutions for an ecologically balanced soundscape where the relationship between the human community and its sonic environment is harmony,”[2] he founded the World Soundscape Project in 1969. Schafer was very concerned about the damaging technological effects on humans, with particular focus on those living in the “sonic sewers” of urban metropolitan areas. The Tuning of the World (1977) summarises his theories and research.
The concept of soundscapes can be clearly seen in his natural environment works, the first of which is Music for Wilderness Lake (premiered 1979), which is written for twelve trombones around a lake at dawn. Environmental theatre, like site-specific work, aims to alter the conventional spatial practices of performance and to enhance the level of engagement with the performance through its use of space and site of production. These ideas are clearly developed throughout Patria, for example in the Prologue and Epilogue.
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Patria stemmed from Schafer’s reaction against traditional theatre. He aimed to create “Theatre of Confluence”, a melting pot for all kinds of art, including musical, theatrical and visual, where they would converge and influence one another; “a kind of theatre where all arts meet, court and make love… sharing of experience, never the negation of personalities… Confluence means a flowing together that is not forced, but none the less inevitable.”[3]
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Patria also reflects Schafer’s preoccupation with Canadian identity and music.
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Although Schafer's outlook was largely internationalist, his belief in the importance of celebrating culture at the local level produced a unique brand of nationalism that might best be described as 'indigenism.' The composer believes one must fight the colonial or 'centre to margin' mentality: in other words, the tendency to regard culture as a commodity imported to Canada (usually from Europe or the US) or, within Canada, as the property of big cities, which then export it to smaller communities. Schafer encouraged artists - wherever they may find themselves - to draw on the riches of their local surroundings and culture. Using the beauty of Canada's wilderness for the setting of The Princess of the Stars (the prologue to Patria) and for Music for Wilderness Lake, Schafer has fashioned works that are uniquely Canadian.[4]
Excerpt pages from the scores of Patria IV, The Black Theatre of Hermes Trismegistos and Prologue, The Princess of the Stars, found in R. Murray Schafer Patria, The Complete Cycle, p.151 and p.107
In addition to his works involving text, he wrote many chamber works, solos and concerti (including the harp concerto for Judy Loman). Many of these contain extra musical references, for example the string quartets, which make use of the players entering and leaving the stage throughout the music, effectively deconstructing the traditional ensemble.[5] String Quartet no.6 also includes an optional Tai Chi Master to perform alongside the music.
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There is no doubt that he is fondly remembered by many who knew him. Ellen Waterman remembers him as “a true renaissance man”[6] and Eleanor Turner fondly describes a glint in his eye when describing his music and his delight in being surrounded by harpists performing the suite at the World Harp Congress in Vancouver (2011).[7] Judy Loman described to me how he would visit their family for dinner, and how he would be particularly kind and charming to her elderly mother.[8] Thom Sokoloski remembers the quirks of working with Schafer, including the signature scent of bulldog tobacco that would announce his arrival and his humorous conversation. He quotes a conversation held during preproduction for the first performance of Ra;
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Producer: Murray, will you be available for interviews?
Murray: On one condition.
Producer: And what’s that?
Murray: Each interviewer must bring me a bottle of Chateauneuf-de-Pape.[9]
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During the later years of his life, Schafer was not contactable by email, and preferred not to be contacted by phone. He lived in rural Ontario rural to live in “hi fidelity acoustic environment”, away from the noise pollution of cities. He died from complications with Alzheimer’s disease in 2021.
Judy Loman
Photo found at https://harpseminar.com/team_members/judy-loman/
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Judy Loman studied harp with Carlos Salzedo at the Salzedo Harp Colony in Camden, Maine, 1947-56, and at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia. She was his assistant in the Salzedo Harp Ensemble in 1957. She moved to Toronto in 1957 and became the principal harp of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in 1959. Her many appearances as soloist with the Toronto Symphony have included performances of the John Weinzweig Concerto, which was written for her, and of Harry Somers's Suite for Harp and Chamber Orchestra, which she played with the orchestra on its 1965 European tour. The Toronto Symphony commissioned R. Murray Schafer's Concerto for Harp and Orchestra for her and premiered the work 6 Apr 1988.
Loman appeared as soloist with the orchestra on its 1979 Canadian and US tour, and in 1987 on its tour to northern Canada and the Arctic. She also has appeared as soloist with the Calgary Philharmonic, the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, and the CBC Vancouver Orchestra. She has given many recitals and has performed on CBC radio and TV, with the Festival Singers, at the Festival of the Sound, at the Elora and Stratford festivals, and with the York Winds.
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Loman has a keen interest in contemporary music. Robert Turner and John Felice have written works for her, and she premiered Schafer's Crown of Ariadne 5 Mar 1979 for New Music Concerts, playing both percussion and harp. Her recording of the work received a Juno Award as best classical album of 1979, and the Canadian Music Council's Grand prix du disque.
She gave the premieres of Schafer's Theseus 28 Jan 1986 with the Orford String Quartet, of Weinzweig's 15 Pieces for Harp in 1986, and of Glen Buhr's award-winning Tanzmusik in 1987 in Pittsburgh as part of the American Harp Society's annual composition competition. Some of Loman's own arrangements, realizations, and transcriptions of music for harp may be heard on her recordings.
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She became a member of the Faculty of Music, University of Toronto, in 1966 and established a summer school for harpists near Fenelon Falls, Ont, in 1977. Her pupils have included Gianetta Baril, Nora Bumanis, Sarah Davidson, Erica Goodman, and Elizabeth Volpe. [10] (Biography taken from the Canadian Encyclopedia)
Murray Schafer and Judy Loman
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Judy Loman met Murray Schafer after the Toronto Symphony performed some of his orchestral works. She described to me how one piece was incredibly special, written for the Toronto Symphony with singer with the orchestra divided into four parts, but that the harp part wasn’t particularly well written. She loved the piece so much however, that after one rehearsal, she approached him and asked if he would write her a solo piece and offered to show him what to do and how the harp works. Judy mentioned to Schafer that she had been working with Toru Takemitsu, who had been pondering the idea of writing a piece for harp with bells attached to the harpist arms. Schafer was highly interested in the idea of percussive random sounds on the harp, and this inspiration along with lengthy experimentation with Loman eventually led to the conception of The Crown of Ariadne suite. Loman went on to play the suite for Patria III and commissioned and was gifted other works for harp from Schafer such as the Concerto for Harp and Tanzlied.[11]
Next suggested navigation: Patria
[1] Thom Sokoloski, “Memories of Confluence”, in Patria and the Theatre of Confluence, 222-228, Indian River, Ontario: Arcana Editions, 1990, p.225
[2] Robert Rowat, “R. Murray Schafer, composer, writer and acoustic ecologist, has died at age 88”. CBC. Accessed 30th August 2022. https://www.cbc.ca/music/r-murray-schafer-composer-writer-and-acoustic-ecologist-has-died-at-88-1.5404868
[3] R. Murray Schafer, Patria, The Complete Cycle, Ontario: Coach House Books, 2002, p.28
[4] Betty Nygaard King, and Alan Gillmor, and Kirk Mackenzie, “R. Murray Schafer”. The Canadian Encyclopedia. Accessed 7th August 2022. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/r-murray-schafer-emc
[5] Robin Elliot, “Molinari Quartet – Integral Performance of the Schafer String Quartets” Institute for Canadian Music Newsletter, Vol.2, no.1 (2004): 10-12, accessed 9th August 2022, http://sites.utoronto.ca/icm/0201e.html
[6] Interview with Ellen Watermann, via Zoom, UK to Canada, 25th March 2021
[7] Conversation with Eleanor Turner, Stamford, UK, 3rd September 2022
[8] Interview with Judy Loman, via Zoom, UK to Canada, 22nd December 2021
[9] Sokoloski, “Memories of Confluence”, in Patria and the Theatre of Confluence, p.226
[10] William Schabas, “Judy Loman”. The Canadian Encyclopedia. Accessed 6th September 2022. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/judy-loman-emc
[11] Interview with Ellen Watermann, 25th March 2021