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Remembering Norman Newton
Some Thoughts on my Friendship with Norman Newton, Canadian Man-of-Letters. -- Derek Healey
I first met Norman in 1969 when he was the producer of both the CBC Vancouver Chamber Orchestra and the 'Organist in Recital' radio programme, and since that time we have stayed in contact, at first through numerous letters, and later though the telephone. He was perhaps most instrumental in introducing me to the music of the aboriginal peoples of the Canadian West Coast and the Northern Territories, through loaning me dubs of various radio programmes he had produced devoted to their culture. The music on these tapes had a great effect on the direction my compositions were to take, beginning with the suite for school string orchestra "The Raven";, and followed by arrangements of native melodies in the two sets of Canadian folk songs for choir, and four orchestral works: the idylls "Salal"; and "Alert Bay", and the suites "Arctic Images"; and "Gabriola"; (the latter, dedicated to Norman).
This mutual interest in Native music climaxed in our joint opera "Seabird Island";, based on a Tshimshian legend, which was commissioned by the Guelph Spring Festival and premiered in May 1977, and which incidentally was the first opera by a living composer and librettist to be taken on a cross-Canada tour.
Norman supported me in many ways, particularly in difficult times, but unfortunately I was never really in a position to return his generosity, except perhaps by setting a section of his extended prose-poem "The Coast of Oregon";, which, fortunately, he was able to hear through a MIDI CD in the summer of 2011 shortly after the work's
completion. In both of the two extended works on which we worked, I found his texts exceedingly grateful to set - he obviously had the ear of a musician when writing poetry.
Of his various literary creations, the ones that had the greatest impact on me were his radio play "Listen to What I Say";, based on a West Coast legend to which he added background music in the form of transformed animal cries and bird song; and his book on the Haida, "Fire in the Raven's Nest";, which furthered my admiration for that culture.
Apart from his love of Canada, Norman also had a keen interest in things British, for example on two separate occasions he wrote to me asking about the repertoire of the RAF bands in the 1990's! Under the heading of what-might-have-been, sadly one of our joint projects came to naught; an opera based on the life of the poet John McCrae.
Living so far distant from each other, we rarely met in later years, but his visit to New York with his wife Beryl in April 2003 was truly memorable. Upon arrival he requested that we should have lunch at the Oyster Bar in Grand Central Station, after which we spent the afternoon in conversation at my home in Brooklyn. A year and a half
later, Olive and myself visited Vancouver to attend performances of
three of my carols, our visit included a joint pilgrimage to the museum on the UBC campus; it was dusk when we departed the building, the atmosphere was magical, and was, in many ways, a fitting summation of our friendship.
Apart from his artistic creations, perhaps the thing that stays with me
most was his seemingly unflappable nature, and a finely-honed, and very dry, sense of humour, which would erupt at any time. I will miss him greatly.
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Here are the details of the premiere of "The Coast of Oregon";: "The Coast of Oregon: The Quest for Aztlan"; - (a dramatic monologue) To be premiered by Nancy Wood (soprano), Paul Safar (piano), Dawn Weiss (flute), Diane Chaplin (cello), Florian Canzetti
(percussion), conducted by Keith Clark, at the Cherry Blossom Musical Arts 'Visual Music 2012' concert at Bodyvox, 1201 NW 17th Avenue, Portland, Oregon on March 29th, 2012 at 8:00pm.
I first met Norman in 1969 when he was the producer of both the CBC Vancouver Chamber Orchestra and the 'Organist in Recital' radio programme, and since that time we have stayed in contact, at first through numerous letters, and later though the telephone. He was perhaps most instrumental in introducing me to the music of the aboriginal peoples of the Canadian West Coast and the Northern Territories, through loaning me dubs of various radio programmes he had produced devoted to their culture. The music on these tapes had a great effect on the direction my compositions were to take, beginning with the suite for school string orchestra "The Raven";, and followed by arrangements of native melodies in the two sets of Canadian folk songs for choir, and four orchestral works: the idylls "Salal"; and "Alert Bay", and the suites "Arctic Images"; and "Gabriola"; (the latter, dedicated to Norman).
This mutual interest in Native music climaxed in our joint opera "Seabird Island";, based on a Tshimshian legend, which was commissioned by the Guelph Spring Festival and premiered in May 1977, and which incidentally was the first opera by a living composer and librettist to be taken on a cross-Canada tour.
Norman supported me in many ways, particularly in difficult times, but unfortunately I was never really in a position to return his generosity, except perhaps by setting a section of his extended prose-poem "The Coast of Oregon";, which, fortunately, he was able to hear through a MIDI CD in the summer of 2011 shortly after the work's
completion. In both of the two extended works on which we worked, I found his texts exceedingly grateful to set - he obviously had the ear of a musician when writing poetry.
Of his various literary creations, the ones that had the greatest impact on me were his radio play "Listen to What I Say";, based on a West Coast legend to which he added background music in the form of transformed animal cries and bird song; and his book on the Haida, "Fire in the Raven's Nest";, which furthered my admiration for that culture.
Apart from his love of Canada, Norman also had a keen interest in things British, for example on two separate occasions he wrote to me asking about the repertoire of the RAF bands in the 1990's! Under the heading of what-might-have-been, sadly one of our joint projects came to naught; an opera based on the life of the poet John McCrae.
Living so far distant from each other, we rarely met in later years, but his visit to New York with his wife Beryl in April 2003 was truly memorable. Upon arrival he requested that we should have lunch at the Oyster Bar in Grand Central Station, after which we spent the afternoon in conversation at my home in Brooklyn. A year and a half
later, Olive and myself visited Vancouver to attend performances of
three of my carols, our visit included a joint pilgrimage to the museum on the UBC campus; it was dusk when we departed the building, the atmosphere was magical, and was, in many ways, a fitting summation of our friendship.
Apart from his artistic creations, perhaps the thing that stays with me
most was his seemingly unflappable nature, and a finely-honed, and very dry, sense of humour, which would erupt at any time. I will miss him greatly.
----------------
Here are the details of the premiere of "The Coast of Oregon";: "The Coast of Oregon: The Quest for Aztlan"; - (a dramatic monologue) To be premiered by Nancy Wood (soprano), Paul Safar (piano), Dawn Weiss (flute), Diane Chaplin (cello), Florian Canzetti
(percussion), conducted by Keith Clark, at the Cherry Blossom Musical Arts 'Visual Music 2012' concert at Bodyvox, 1201 NW 17th Avenue, Portland, Oregon on March 29th, 2012 at 8:00pm.
Submitted on January 2, 2012 in By David.
