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Providing access to virtually any subject related to music and musicians in Canada, more than 900 annotated entries are organized under 13 topics, and indexed by author, subject, and title. Background and supplementary information and suggestions for research are presented in introductory essays. The material covered reflects the broad spectrum of music in Canadian society including historical, analytical, and biographical studies of music derived from the European tradition, First Nations and Inuit music, jazz and popular works, folk and ethnic music, education, research and bibliographical materials. The reader is also directed to some important on-line resources. Musical activity in Canada has developed remarkably in the past 50 years, with a parallel growth of musical scholarship examining historical, social, and ethnological aspects of Canadian musical life. This Guide is the first to draw comprehensively on the wealth of studies now available, which are often dispersed and not easily located. Consequently, this information is invaluable to students and researchers interested in Canadian music, the music of North America, and Canadian studies. Index.

It is a little-known fact that the first cultural agreement Canada signed was with Brazil in 1944. The two countries’ rapprochement launched a flurry of activity connecting Montreal to Rio de Janeiro amid the turbulence of war and its aftermath. Why Brazil? And what could songs and paintings achieve that traditional diplomacy could not? Distant Stage examines the neglected histories of Canada-Brazil relations and the role played by culture in Canada’s pursuit of an international identity. The efforts of French-Canadian artists, intellectuals, and diplomats are at the heart of both. Eric Fillion demonstrates how music and the visual arts gave state and non-state actors new connections to the idea of nation, which in turn informed their sense of place in the world. Tracing the origins of Canadian cultural diplomacy to South America, the book underscores the significance of race and religion in the country’s international history, showing how Brazil served as a distant stage where Canadian identity politics and aspirations could play out. Both a timely invitation to think about cultural diplomacy as a critical practice and a reflection on the interplay between internationalism and nationalism, Distant Stage draws attention to the ambiguous yet essential roles played by artists in international and intercultural relations.

In addition to his activities as conductor, administrator, educator, composer, and organist, Sir Ernest MacMillan (1893-1973) found time to write more than one hundred essays and lectures on music. Always ready to use his enormous prestige to further the causes of music, MacMillan took every opportunity to admonish Canadians to develop our own composers, to honour our own performers, to educate our children musically, and to offer opportunities for all to hear, learn about, and enjoy great music. This selection of twenty essays and lectures covers the period from 1928 to 1964, and ranges over the gamut of MacMillan’s life and interests: the cause of the Canadian composer; music education for adults as well as children; critical reviews; his early years as an organist; internment in a German prison camp during the First World War; Shakespeare and music; church music; and the lighter side in two humorous send-ups of academic lectures on Bach and Wagner. Here is a panorama of music over thirty-five years at mid-century, through the eyes of one of Canada’s most brilliant and all-embracing musicians.

This is an account of the life and cultural contribution of one of Canadas most talented conductors. He was known for his limitless enthusiasm and support of Canadian music and young musicians, as well as for his insistence on playing music by Canadian composers.

This selection of 20 essays and lectures covers the period from 1928 to 1964.

Although she called herself "just a singer," soprano Lois Marshall (1925-97) became a household name across Canada during her thirty-four year career and remains one of the foremost figures in the history of Canadian music. She rubbed shoulders with Canada’s musical aristocracy – Glenn Gould, Sir Ernest MacMillan, Jon Vickers, Maureen Forrester – but Marshall always held first place in the hearts of her adoring fans. At the height of the Cold War, Moscow and St. Petersburg embraced her as warmly as Canada had. Yet Marshall remained true to her Canadian roots and to Toronto, her lifelong home. This first-ever biography recounts her dazzling career and paints an intimate portrait of the woman, her childhood encounter with polio, and her complex relationship with her teacher and mentor, Weldon Kilburn. Hers is a tale of a warm, courageous woman; it is also the story of classical music in Canada.