Mr. Mather began piano studies at age six and training in composition one year later. Subsequently, he studied piano with Alberto Guerrero and composition with Oskar Morawetz, Godfrey Ridout and John Weinzweig at the Royal Conservatory and at the Faculty of Music of the University of Toronto, where he received his BMus in 1959. He attended a composition course given by Roy Harris in Toronto in 1955, and then spent the summers of 1957-58 at the Aspen Music School in Colorado, where he studied piano with Alexander Uninsky, who introduced him to Darius Milhaud.

A Canada Council award (1959-60) enabled him to attend the Paris Conservatoire and study composition with Milhaud, analysis with Olivier Messiaen, counterpoint and fugue with Simone Plé Caussade and piano with Lazare Lévy. He completed his MA in 1964 at Stanford University (with Leland Smith) and his DMus at the University of Toronto in 1967.

From 1966-2001, Mr. Mather taught composition and analysis at the Faculty of Music at McGill University, and he is also a contributor to numerous publications, including the Grove Dictionary of Music. In 1979, he won the Jules Léger Prize for New Chamber Music with Musique pour Champigny for three female voices and five players and in 2000, he was honored with the Serge Garant Prize for his entire oeuvre.

Mr. Mather is married to the pianist Pierrette LePage, and often performs with her as a piano duo.

Street address: Mr. Bruce Mather, 7445 Glenwood, Montréal, Québec H3R 2S9

Telephone: 514 731 5507

COMPLETE LIST OF WORKS

STAGE: La princesse blanche (opera), 2 sopranos, baritone, bass, small orchestra (16 players), 1993

ORCHESTRAL: Concerto, piano, small orchestra, 1958; Elegy, alto saxophone, string orchestra, 1959 (also arranged for alto saxophone, piano); Symphonic Ode, 1964; Orchestral Piece 1967, large orchestra, 1966-67; Ombres, 1967; Music for Vancouver, small orchestra (16-17 players), 1969; Musique pour Rouen, 12 strings, 1971; Musigny, large orchestra (89 players), 1980; Scherzo, small orchestra (18 players), 1987-88; Dialogue pour Trio Basso et Orchestre, viola, cello, double bass, orchestra, 1988; Tallbrem Variations, 5 percussion, orchestra, 1994; Quarts de Chaume, string orchestra, 1998

CHAMBER MUSIC: Sonata, violin, piano, 1957; Elegy, alto saxophone, piano, 1959 (arrangement of work for alto saxophone, string orchestra); Étude, clarinet, 1962; Music for Organ, Horn and Gongs, 1973; Mandola, mandolin, piano, 1974; Eine kleine Bläsermusik, flute, oboe, clarinet, French horn, bassoon, 1975; Clos de Vougeot, 4 percussion, 1977; Ausone: Version A, flute, 1979; Ausone: Version B, flute, 2 harps, 1979; Ausone: Version C, flute, 2 harps, 2 guitars, 2 violins, 2 violas, 2 celli, 1979; Coulée de serrant, harp, piano, 1980; Sassicaia, clarinet, piano, 1981; Gattinara, viola, percussion, 1982; Elegy, flute (+ alto flute), cello, piano, percussion, 1983; Barbaresco, viola, cello, double bass, 1984; Clos d’audignac, marimba, 3 percussion, 1984; Senorio de Sarria, 2 guitars (tuned a quarter-tone apart), 1985; Vouvray, oboe, harp, 1986; Viola Duet, 2 violas, 1987; Vega Sicilia, guitar, ensemble (harp, viola, cello, marimba), 1989; Yquem, 4 pianos, 4 ondes Martenot, 1991; Romance, bassoon, synthesizer, 1992; Standing Wave, clarinet, cello, piano, percussion, 1994; Advanced Harmony, wind ensemble, 1995; Quintette, clarinet, string quartet, 1995; Duo basso, bass flute, bass oboe, 1996; Quatre Études, cimbalom, marimba, 1996; Tempranillo, specially-tuned guitar, 1997; Hoya de Cadenas, alto flute, quarter-tone guitar, 1997; Doisy Daëne, flute, piano, 1997; Quinta da Camarate, specially-tuned guitar, 1998; Violin Duet, 2 violins, 1998; Bourgueil, clarinet, violin, cello, piano, percussion, 1999; Quintet for Saxophones and Piano, 1999; Sancerre, harp, harpsichord, 1999; Four Études, 6 percussion, 2001

CHORAL: Lament for Pasiphaë, soprano, baritone, small mixed chorus, orchestra, 1962; Counting the Beats, soprano, baritone, small mixed chorus, orchestra, 1962; La lune mince… (text by Paul Valéry), divided mixed chorus, 1965; Two Stanford Songs, mixed chorus, 1988

VOCAL: Two Songs, bass-baritone, orchestra, 1956; Venice, soprano, clarinet, cello, piano, 1957; Lost Love, soprano, string orchestra, 1958; The Finding of Love, soprano, string orchestra, 1958; Cycle Rilke, tenor, guitar, 1959; The Song of Blodeuwedd, baritone, orchestra (harp, piano, timpani, percussion, strings), 1961; Sick Love, soprano, orchestra, 1961; Orphée (text by Paul Valéry), soprano, piano, percussion, 1963; Madrigal I (text by Hector de Saint-Denys Garneau), soprano, alto, flute, harp, mandolin, violin, cello, 1967; Madrigal II (text by Hector de Saint-Denys Garneau), soprano, alto, flute, harp, violin, viola, cello, 1968; Madrigal III (text by Hector de Saint-Denys Garneau), alto, harp, piano, marimba, 1971; Madrigal V (text by Hector de Saint-Denys Garneau), soprano, alto, small orchestra (17 players), 1973, revised 1980; Au château de Pompairain, mezzo-soprano, orchestra, 1976; Musique pour Champigny, soprano, mezzo-soprano, alto, B-flat clarinet, French horn, harp, piano, percussion, 1976 (Winner, Jules Léger Prize for New Chamber Music, 1979); Les grandes fontaines (text by Anne Hébert), soprano, piano, 1981; Un cri qui durerait la mer (text by Marie France Rose), bass-baritone, piano, 1985; Travaux de nuit, baritone, piano, 1990 (also arranged for baritone, orchestra, 1990); Des laines de lumière (text by Gatien Lapointe), bass-baritone, 2 quarter-tone pianos, 1996; La voix d’oiseau, coloratura soprano, piano, 1998; Trois Poèmes de Gatien Lapointe, voice, piano, 1998; Onze Poèmes pour la main gauche, soprano, piano, 2000

PIANO: Smaragdin, 1960; Like Snow, 1960; Mystras, 1962; Fantasy, 1964; Sonata, 2 pianos, 1969-70; In memoriam Alexander Uninsky, 1974; Régime 11, Type A, 2 pianos (tuned a quarter-tone apart), 1978; Poème du délire, 3 specially-tuned pianos, 1982; Hommage à Carrillo, sixteenth-tone piano, 1996; D’après un cri, 1996; Régime 17, third-tone piano, 1997; Eight Études, sixteenth-tone piano, 2000

ORGAN: Six Études, 1982; Études Nos. 7-8, 1993

HARPSICHORD: Saumur, quarter-tone harpsichord, 1990

ELECTROACOUSTIC: Madrigal IV (text by Hector de Saint-Denys Garneau), soprano, flute, piano, tape, 1972; Barolo, cello, tape, 1977; Aux victimes de la guerre de Vendée (1793), French horn, 2 pianos, tape, 1990

(Last updated on February 8, 2002)