Canadian Works Written for the Toronto International Guitar Festival

Guitar works were written by significant Canadian composers for the Toronto International Guitar Festival during its existence in the 1970s to the late 1980s. These works have not yet been included in academic study and are generally unknown in the Classical Guitar community. This treatise presents historical information on and compositional analysis of guitar compositions written during these twenty years, and gives detailed information about the festival, which was the first of its kind and the precursor to the Guitar Foundation of America Festival.The composers whose scores are examined are John Weinzweig and four of his students: R. Murray Schafer, Harry Freedman, Harry Somers, and Srul Irving Glick. Each of these composers has a chapter devoted to him and includes biographical information, analysis, and historical information regarding the composition in question. The works studied are Contrasts, and Eighteen Pieces for Guitar by John Weinzweig; Impromptus for Mezzo-Soprano and Guitar by Harry Freedman; Sonata for Guitar, and Concerto for Guitar and Orchestra by Harry Somers; Le Cri de Merlin, and Guitar Concerto by R. Murray Schafer; Dance Suite for Two Guitars by Srul Irving Glick. Each chapter assists the performer in understanding the complexity of each piece and allows the guitarist to see the work’s place in the oeuvre of that composer. The study is intended to promote the performance of these works, and to draw attention to their composers, and the history of the festival.