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Mather, Bruce (b. May 9, 1939, Toronto, Ontario). Canadian composer of orchestral, chamber, vocal, and piano works that have been performed in Canada and Europe; he is also active as a pianist.
Mr. Mather began private piano studies at age six and private composition studies at age seven. He studied composition with John Beckwith, Oskar Morawetz and Godfrey Ridout and piano with Alberto Guerrero at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, where he received his BMus in 1959. He attended a composition course given by Roy Harris in Toronto in 1955 and attended Aspen in 1957–58, where he studied piano with Alexander Uninsky, who introduced him to Darius Milhaud. He then studied analysis with Olivier Messiaen, composition with Darius Milhaud, counterpoint and fugue with Simone Plé Caussade, and piano with Lazare Lévy at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris from 1959–62, on a grant from the Canada Council for the Arts. He studied composition with Leland Smith at Stanford University from 1962–64 and there earned his MA. He studied composition with John Weinzweig at the University of Toronto, where he earned his DMus in 1967.
Among his honors are the Prix Jules-Léger pour la nouvelle musique de chambre (1979, for Musique pour Champigny; 1993, for Yquem) and the Prix Serge Garant from the Fondation Émile Nelligan (2000, for his œuvre). In addition, his music has represented Canada three times at the UNESCO International Rostrum of Composers (1965, for Symphonic Ode; 1969, for Madrigal II; 1971, for Sonata [2 pianos])
Mr. Mather is also active in other positions. As a writer, he has contributed articles and essays to numerous publications, including the New Grove Dictionary of Music.
He taught analysis, composition and harmony at McGill University in Montréal from 1966–2001.
He is married to the pianist Pierrette LePage and often performs contemporary music with her as a piano duo.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Street address: Mr. Bruce Mather, 7445 Glenwood, Montréal, QC H3R 2S9, Canada
Telephone: 514 731 5507
COMPLETE LIST OF WORKS
STAGE: La princesse blanche (5 scene opéra de chambre, libretto by Renald Tremblay, after Rainer Maria Rilke), 2 sopranos, baritone, bass, small orchestra (16 players), 1993
ORCHESTRAL: Concerto, piano, small orchestra (flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, French horn, violins, violas, celli), 1958; Elegy, alto saxophone, string orchestra, 1959 (also version for alto saxophone, piano); Symphonic Ode, 1964; Orchestral Piece 1967, large orchestra (17 winds, 11 brass, harp, mandolin, piano, timpani, 4 percussion, strings), 1966–67, revised 1969; Ombres, 1967; Music for Vancouver, small orchestra (French horn, trumpet, harp, 1/2 percussion, strings), 1969; Musique pour Rouen, 12 strings, 1971; Musigny, large orchestra (11 winds, 11 brass, 2 harps, piano, 4 percussion, 60 strings), 1980; Scherzo, 1987 (also version for small orchestra [2 flutes (both + piccolo), oboe, clarinet, bassoon, French horn, trumpet, piano, percussion, 4 violins, 2 violas, 2 celli, double bass], 1988); Dialogue pour Trio Basso et Orchestre, viola, cello, double bass, orchestra (8 winds, 9 brass, 3 percussion, violins), 1988; Tallbrem Variations, marimba, 4 percussion, orchestra, 1994; Quarts de Chaume, string orchestra, 1998
CHAMBER MUSIC: Sonata, violin, piano, 1957; Elegy, alto saxophone, piano, 1959 (version of work for alto saxophone, string orchestra); Étude pour clarinette seule, clarinet, 1962; Mandola, mandolin, piano, 1972; Music for Organ, Horn and Gongs, French horn, organ, gongs (1 player), 1973; Eine kleine Bläsermusik, flute, oboe, clarinet, French horn, bassoon, 1975; Barolo, cello, tape, 1977; Clos de Vougeot, 4 percussion, 1977; Ausone: Version A, flute, 1979 (also versions as Ausone: Version B, flute, 2 harps, 1979; Ausone: Version C, flute, ensemble [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; Señorio de Sarria, 2 guitars (2nd tuned a quarter-tone lower), 1985; Vouvray, oboe, harp, 1986; Viola Duet, 2 violas, 1987; Vega Sicilia (concerto), guitar, ensemble (harp, viola, cello, marimba), 1989; Aux victimes de la guerre de Vendée (1793), French horn, 2 pianos, synthesizer, tape, 1990; Yquem, 4 pianos, 4 ondes Martenot, 1991; Romance, bassoon, synthesizer, 1992; Standing Wave, clarinet, cello, piano, percussion, 1994; Advanced Harmony, wind ensemble, 1995; Quintette pour clarinette et cordes, clarinet, string quartet, 1995; Duo basso, bass flute, bass oboe, 1996; Quatre études, cimbalom, marimba, 1996; Tempranillo, guitar (tuned in sixths of tones), 1997; Hoya de Cadenas, alto flute, guitar (tuned in fourths of tones), 1997; Doisy Daëne, flute, piano, 1997; Quinta da Camarate, guitar (tuned in twelfths of tones), 1998; Violin Duet, 2 violins, 1998; Bourgueil, clarinet, violin, cello, piano, percussion, 1999; Quintette pour saxophones et piano, 1999; Sancerre, harp, harpsichord, 1999; Four Études, 6 percussion, 2001; In memoriam Bengt Hambræus, theorbo, 2001; Trio, violin, cello, piano, 2002; Deux pièces pour ondes Martenot et piano en seizièmes de ton, piano (in sixteenths of tones), ondes Martenot, 2004; 65 Takte für Robert Aitken, 2 flutes, 2004; Music for San Francisco, cello, ensemble (oboe, French horn, harp [3 strings tuned a quarter-tone lower], violin, viola, piano), 2005; For Amie Watson, vibraphone, tubular bells, 13 cowbells (1 player), 2006
CHORAL: Lament for Pasiphaë (text by Robert Graves), soprano, baritone, mixed chorus, orchestra (10 brass, harp, piano, celesta, percussion, strings), 1962; Counting the Beats (text by Robert Graves), soprano, baritone, mixed chorus, orchestra (10 brass, harp, piano, celesta, percussion, strings), 1962; La lune mince... (text by Paul Valéry), mixed chorus, 1965; Two Stanford Songs, mixed chorus, 1988
VOCAL: Two Songs (text by Thomas Hardy), bass-baritone, orchestra, 1956; Venice (text by George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron), soprano, clarinet, cello, piano, 1957; Lost Love (text by Robert Graves), soprano, string orchestra, 1958; The Finding of Love (text by Robert Graves), soprano, string orchestra, 1958; Cycle Rilke, tenor, guitar, 1959; The Song of Blodeuwedd (text by Robert Graves), baritone, orchestra (harp, piano, timpani, percussion, strings), 1961; Sick Love (text by Robert Graves), 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 IV (text by Hector de Saint-Denys Garneau), soprano, flute, piano, tape, 1972; Madrigal V (musique passéiste, text by Hector de Saint-Denys Garneau), soprano, alto, flute (+ piccolo), oboe, 2 clarinets (both + bass clarinet), French horn, trumpet, harp, mandolin, 2 violins, viola, cello, double bass, piano, electronic organ, 2 percussion, 1973, revised 1980; Au château de Pompairain (vocalise), mezzo-soprano, orchestra, 1976; Musique pour Champigny (vocalise), soprano, mezzo-soprano, alto, clarinet, French horn, harp, piano, percussion, 1976; Les grandes fontaines (text by Anne Hébert), soprano, piano, 1981; Un cri qui durerait la mer (song-cycle, text by Marie-France Rose), bass-baritone, piano, 1985; Travaux de nuit (text by Marie-France Rose), bass-baritone, piano, 1990 (also version for bass-baritone, orchestra [5 winds, French horn, trumpet, piano (+ synthesizer), percussion, strings], 1990); Des laines de lumière (text by Gatien Lapointe), bass-baritone, 2 pianos (both tuned in fourths of tones), 1996; La voix de l'oiseau (text by Anne Hébert), coloratura soprano, piano, 1998; Trois poèmes de Gatien Lapointe, low voice, piano, 1998; Onze poèmes pour la main gauche (song-cycle, text by Anne Hébert), coloratura soprano, piano, 2000
PIANO: Smaragdin, 1960; Like Snow, 1960; Mystras, 1962; Fantasy, 1964, revised 1967; Sonata, 2 pianos, 1969–70; In memoriam Alexander Uninsky, 1974; Régime 11, Type A, 2 pianos (2nd tuned a quarter-tone lower), 1978; Poème du délire, 3 pianos (all tuned in sixteenths of tones), 1982; Hommage à Carrillo, piano (tuned in sixteenths of tones), 1996; D'après un cri, 1996; Régime 17, piano (tuned in thirds of tones), 1997; Huit études pour piano en seizièmes de tons, piano (tuned in sixteenths of tones), 2000; In memoriam Gordon Sheppard, piano (tuned in sixteenths of tones), 2 pianos (2nd tuned a quarter-tone lower), 2006
ORGAN: Six études pour orgue, 1982; Étude Nos. 7–8, 1993; Ardennes, 2002; Cinq pièces faciles, organ 4 hands, 2002
HARPSICHORD: Saumur, harpsichord (tuned in fourths of tones), 1990
(Last updated on July 26, 2006)
