Fifty years after Murray Adaskin
joined the faculty of the University of Saskatchewan, the University
Library has a complete set of his compositions. Several years ago,
enjoying his semi-retirement in Victoria, he began donating his compositions
to the U of S, a gift recently completed by his widow Dorothea. This
donation consists of his complete body of work, all in professionally
published and bound editions, in many cases with duplicate copies.
Known as The Murray Adaskin Collection, this generous donation will
be permanently housed in the Library's University Authors' Collection.
All of the duplicates (including several full sets of performance
parts) will be housed in the Education Library's Music collection,
available for research or performance. Adaskin composed for many
different combinations of instruments and voices, often featuring
his own chosen instrument, the violin. Most of the approximately
130 titles are new to the U of S, and will greatly expand the Adaskin
legacy on campus. The University of Saskatchewan is most grateful
for the generosity of the Adaskins, and looks forward to offering
this unique resource to the musical community.
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Murray Adaskin
composes at his piano. |
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Born in Toronto, March 28, 1906, Murray Adaskin
began his violin training at the age of ten. Additional training
was received in New York and Paris including periods of composition
study with John Weinzweig, Charles Jones and Darius Milhaud. A violinist
with Toronto Symphony for ten years, Adaskin also served as director
of music for the CPR hotels. As Head of the Music Department at the
University of Saskatchewan from 1952 until 1966, and then Composer-In-Residence
from 1966 until 1973, Murray, along with his first wife soprano Frances
James Adaskin, initiated and supported much of the rich musical life
which remains as a cultural focus in Saskatoon today. Among his many
honours were Saskatoon's citizen of the year for 1970, a 1980 appointment
to the Order of Canada and an honorary doctorate from the University of Saskatchewan
in 1984. Murray Adaskin retired to Victoria in 1973 where he composed
his final work in 2000. The noted Canadian composer died in 2002
at the age of 96 after a productive lifetime of contributing to the
musical life of Canada.
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Portrait of Professor Adaskin. |
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"Saskatchewan
Legend"
Title page.
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"Andante (1964)"
First page of score.
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"Rankin Inlet
(1978)"
Title page.
...continued in Next
Gallery |
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