R. Murray Schafer
CC FRCMT(hon)
Schafer in 2007
Schafer in 2007
Background information
Birth nameRaymond Murray Schafer
Born(1933-07-18)18 July 1933
Sarnia, Ontario, Canada
Died14 August 2021(2021-08-14) (aged 88)
GenresAvant-garde, classical, opera, musical theatre
Occupation(s)Composer, librettist, pedagogue, writer, educator, environmentalist
Instrument(s)Piano

Raymond Murray Schafer CC FRCMT(hon) (18 July 1933 – 14 August 2021) was a Canadian composer, writer, music educator, and environmentalist perhaps best known for his World Soundscape Project, concern for acoustic ecology, and his book The Tuning of the World (1977). He was the first recipient of the Jules Léger Prize in 1978.[1][2]

Biography

In his memoirs, My Life on Earth and Elsewhere, Schafer described serving as a novice deckhand aboard the oil tanker Imperial Windsor in 1955.[3]

Born in Sarnia, Ontario, he studied at the Royal Schools of Music in London, the Royal Conservatory of Music (in Toronto), and the University of Toronto. At the last institution he was a pupil of Richard Johnston.

His music education theories are followed around the world. He started soundscape studies at Simon Fraser University in the 1960s.

In addition to introducing the concept of soundscape, he also coined the term schizophonia in 1969, the splitting of a sound from its source or the condition caused by this split: "We have split the sound from the maker of the sound. Sounds have been torn from their natural sockets and given an amplified and independent existence. Vocal sound, for instance, is no longer tied to a hole in the head but is free to issue from anywhere in the landscape."[4] Steven Feld, borrowing a term from Gregory Bateson, calls the recombination and recontextualization of sounds split from their sources schismogenesis.[5]

In 1987 Schafer was awarded the first Glenn Gould Prize in recognition of his contributions. He has also won two JUNO Awards for Classical Composition of the Year: in 2004 for his "String Quartet No. 8", and in 2011 for his "Duo for Violin and Piano".

In 2003 Schafer was the artistic director of Coimbra Vibra!, an event that celebrated music and the acoustic environment, gathering 1200 musicians and over 10000 spectators in the city of Coimbra (Portugal). In 2005 Schafer was keynote speaker at the 12th International Congress on Sound and Vibration. His presentation was titled "I have never seen a sound." In 2005 Schafer was awarded the Walter Carsen Prize, by the Canada Council for the Arts, one of the top honours for lifetime achievement by a Canadian artist.[6] In 2009, Schafer received the Governor General's Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement, Canada's highest honour in the performing arts.[7] In 2013, he was made a Companion of the Order of Canada "for his contributions as an internationally renowned composer of contemporary music, and for his groundbreaking work in acoustic ecology".[8]

Schafer was a practitioner of graphic notation.[9] He died at his home near Peterborough, Ontario, of complications of Alzheimer's disease on 14 August 2021.[10]

Starting in 2010 a World Listening Day organised by the World Listening Project has taken place annually on 18 July, with the date chosen in honour of Schafer's birthday.[11][12][13]

Selected works

Compositions

Written works

See also

References

  1. ^ "World Soundscape Project". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved 26 February 2007.
  2. ^ Schafer, Raymond Murray (1977). The Tuning of the World. Random House Inc. ISBN 0-394-40966-3.
  3. ^ R. Murray Schafer (2012). My Life on Earth and Elsewhere. The Porcupine's Quill. pp. 30–34. ISBN 9780889843523. Retrieved 6 September 2013.
  4. ^ Mathieu, W.A. (1994). The Musical Life. Shambhala. p. 223. ISBN 0-87773-670-7.
  5. ^ Feld, Steven; Keil, Charles (1994). Music Grooves: Essays and Dialogues. University of Chicago Press. pp. 265–271. ISBN 0-226-42957-1.
  6. ^ "Composer R. Murray Schafer wins Walter Carsen Prize for Excellence in the Performing Arts" (Press release). Canada Council for the Arts. 8 November 2005. Archived from the original on 5 February 2007. Retrieved 22 February 2007.
  7. ^ "R. Murray Schafer biography". Governor General's Performing Arts Awards Foundation. Retrieved 11 February 2015.
  8. ^ "Governor General Announces 90 New Appointments to the Order of Canada". 30 December 2013.
  9. ^ R. Murray Schafer at National Arts Centre ArtsAlive web site. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
  10. ^ Rowat, Robert (15 August 2021). "R. Murray Schafer, composer, writer and acoustic ecologist, has died at 88". CBC.ca. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  11. ^ "World Listening Day". 28 January 2021. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
  12. ^ "World Listening Project". 17 July 2021. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
  13. ^ Barnatt-Smith, Rebecca (16 July 2021). "World Listening Day 2021: What is Acoustic Ecology?". I, Science. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
  14. ^ Brief description of the complete Patria cycle and an Overview of the Patria Cycle
  15. ^ The Palace of the Cinnabar Phoenix
  16. ^ Kaptainis, Arthur (11 March 2011). "Symphony Review: Schafer's First". National Post. Toronto.
  17. ^ R. Murray Schafer – CAML Review

Further reading

External links

Glenn Gould Prize laureates
Jules Léger Prize for New Chamber Music
Authority control databases
Categories