Harry Stewart Somers, CC (September 11, 1925 – March 9, 1999) was a contemporary Canadian composer.

Somers earned the unofficial title of "Darling of Canadian Composition." He was a founding member of the Canadian League of Composers (CLC) and involved in the formation of other Canadian music organizations, including the Canada Council for the Arts and the Canadian Music Centre. He received commissions from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and the Canada Council for the Arts. Somers did not become involved in formal musical study until he reached his teenage years in 1939 when he met a doctor and his wife—both pianists—who introduced him to classical works. Somers described this first encounter years later: "A spark was ignited, and he became obsessed with music. Almost from that instant, he knew music would be his life, for better or for worse."

Musical education

Somers was 14 when he began his study of piano under the tutelage of Dorothy Hornfelt, the neighborhood piano teacher. Weinzweig set up a program of traditional harmony study for him to study the 12-tone techniques. (Schoenberg had enforced similarly strict lessons in traditional harmony upon his own pupils, even as he encouraged them to explore dodecaphony.) Somers remained under Weinzweig's instruction until 1949. His work was part of the music event in the art competition at the 1948 Summer Olympics.

In 1949, Somers started to focus on composition. Somers composed his suite for harp and orchestra in 1949. In Paris, Somers heard the music of Boulez and Messiaen; these composers would influence his later music.

1950s and 1960s

After his year with Darius Milhaud, Somers spent the 1950s devoted to composition. He earned his income as a music copyist. In the 1950s, he improved his guitar skills. In 1969, he received an $18,000 grant from the Canadian Cultural Institute in Rome. He spent two years there, during which time he wrote Voiceplay and Kyrie. and Mario the Magician, which was adapted from a story by Thomas Mann.

Somers also completed his music Third Piano Concerto in 1996. Somers gave the opening address at the Alberta Music Conference in 1993, wrote a choral piece for the 50th Anniversary of the United Nations in 1995, and served as the writer-in-residence for the first "Word and Music Festival" held at the University of Windsor in 1997. The styles that are said to have influenced Somers the most are the music of Weinzweig, Bartók and Ives, Baroque counterpoint, serial technique and Gregorian chant.

Notes

Bibliography

  • Zinck, Andrew M. (1993). "Bridging the Gap: The Operas of Harry Somers." SoundNotes. SN4:14-24.
  • Harry Somers The Canadian Encyclopedia (includes a list of his compositions)
  • Harry Somers. Canadian Music Centre