Bruce Mather
# Bruce Mather

Bruce Mather est un compositeur et pianiste canadien né à Toronto le 9 mai 1939. Il est l'un des compositeurs canadiens de musique microtonale les plus importants.

Sa rencontre avec le fameux pionnier de la musique microtonale Ivan Wyschnegradsky fut déterminante dans son esthétique et son approche de la musique microtonale. Il a d'ailleurs perpétué dans ses œuvres le principe des espaces non-octaviants chers à Ivan Wyschnegradsky.

Il a écrit de nombreuses œuvres dans cette approche, et notamment son fameux Poème du délire en hommage à Scriabine, compositeur d'influence pour lui et Wyschnegradsky.

Son écriture est également inspirée de son amour de la poésie et du vin.

## Œuvres

Musique de scène

* La princesse blanche (opéra), 2 sopranos, baritone, bass, small orchestra (16 players), 1993
* Concerto, piano, small orchestra, 1958;
* Elegy, alto saxophone, string orchestra, 1959 (also arranged for alto saxophone, piano);
* Symphonic Ode, 1964;
* Orchestral Piece 1967,
* large orchestra, 1966-67;
* Ombres, 1967;
* Music for Vancouver, small orchestra (16-17 players), 1969;
* Musique pour Rouen, 12 strings, 1971;
* Musigny, large orchestra (89 players), 1980;
* Scherzo, small orchestra (18 players), 1987-88;
* Dialogue pour Trio Basso et Orchestre, viola, cello, double bass, orchestra, 1988;
* Tallbrem Variations, 5 percussion, orchestra, 1994;
* Quarts de Chaume, string orchestra, 1998
* Sonata, violin, piano, 1957;
* Elegy, alto saxophone, piano, 1959 (arrangement of work for alto saxophone, string orchestra);
* Étude, clarinet, 1962;
* Music for Organ, Horn and Gongs, 1973;
* Mandola, mandolin, piano, 1974;
* Eine kleine Bläsermusik, flute, oboe, clarinet, French horn, bassoon, 1975;
* Clos de Vougeot, 4 percussion, 1977; Ausone: Version A, flute, 1979;
* Ausone: Version B, flute, 2 harps, 1979;
* Ausone: Version C, flute, 2 harps, 2 guitars, 2 violins, 2 violas, 2 celli, 1979;
* Coulée de serrant, harp, piano, 1980;
* Sassicaia, clarinet, piano, 1981; Gattinara, viola, percussion, 1982;
* Elegy, flute (+ alto flute), cello, piano, percussion, 1983;
* Barbaresco, viola, cello, double bass, 1984;
* Clos d’audignac, marimba, 3 percussion, 1984;
* Senorio de Sarria, 2 guitars (tuned a quarter-tone apart), 1985;
* Vouvray, oboe, harp, 1986;
* Viola Duet, 2 violas, 1987;
* Vega Sicilia, guitar, ensemble (harp, viola, cello, marimba), 1989;
* Yquem, 4 pianos, 4 ondes Martenot, 1991;
* Romance, bassoon, synthesizer, 1992;
* Standing Wave, clarinet, cello, piano, percussion, 1994;
* Advanced Harmony, wind ensemble, 1995;
* Quintette, clarinet, string quartet, 1995;
* Duo basso, bass flute, bass oboe, 1996;
* Quatre Études, cimbalom, marimba, 1996;
* Tempranillo, specially-tuned guitar, 1997;
* Hoya de Cadenas, alto flute, quarter-tone guitar, 1997;
* Doisy Daëne, flute, piano, 1997;
* Quinta da Camarate, specially-tuned guitar, 1998;
* Violin Duet, 2 violins, 1998;
* Bourgueil, clarinet, violin, cello, piano, percussion, 1999;
* Quintet for Saxophones and Piano, 1999;
* Sancerre, harp, harpsichord, 1999;
* Four Études, 6 percussion, 2001
* Lament for Pasiphaë, soprano, baritone, small mixed chorus, orchestra, 1962;
* Counting the Beats, soprano, baritone, small mixed chorus, orchestra, 1962;
* La lune mince… (text by Paul Valéry), divided mixed chorus, 1965;
* Two Stanford Songs, mixed chorus, 1988
* Two Songs, bass-baritone, orchestra, 1956;
* Venice, soprano, clarinet, cello, piano, 1957;
* Lost Love, soprano, string orchestra, 1958;
* The Finding of Love, soprano, string orchestra, 1958;
* Cycle Rilke, tenor, guitar, 1959;
* The Song of Blodeuwedd, baritone, orchestra (harp, piano, timpani, percussion, strings), 1961;
* Sick Love, soprano, orchestra, 1961;
* Orphée (text by Paul Valéry), soprano, piano, percussion, 1963;
* Madrigal I (text by Hector de Saint-Denys Garneau), soprano, alto, flute, harp, mandolin, violin, cello, 1967;
* Madrigal II (text by Hector de Saint-Denys Garneau), soprano, alto, flute, harp, violin, viola, cello, 1968;
* Madrigal III (text by Hector de Saint-Denys Garneau), alto, harp, piano, marimba, 1971;
* Madrigal V (text by Hector de Saint-Denys Garneau), soprano, alto, small orchestra (17 players), 1973, revised 1980;
* Au château de Pompairain, mezzo-soprano, orchestra, 1976;
* Musique pour Champigny, soprano, mezzo-soprano, alto, B-flat clarinet, French horn, harp, piano, percussion, 1976 (Winner, Jules *Léger Prize for New Chamber Music, 1979); Les grandes fontaines (text by Anne Hébert), soprano, piano, 1981;
* Un cri qui durerait la mer (text by Marie France Rose), bass-baritone, piano, 1985;
* Travaux de nuit, baritone, piano, 1990 (also arranged for baritone, orchestra, 1990);
* Des laines de lumière (text by Gatien Lapointe), bass-baritone, 2 quarter-tone pianos, 1996;
* La voix d’oiseau, coloratura soprano, piano, 1998;
* Trois Poèmes de Gatien Lapointe, voice, piano, 1998;
* Onze Poèmes pour la main gauche, soprano, piano, 2000

Piano:

* Smaragdin, 1960;
* Like Snow, 1960;
* Mystras, 1962;
* Fantasy, 1964;
* Sonata, 2 pianos, 1969-70;
* In memoriam Alexander Uninsky, 1974;
* Régime 11, Type A, 2 pianos (tuned a quarter-tone apart), 1978;
* Poème du délire, 3 specially-tuned pianos, 1982;
* Hommage à Carrillo, sixteenth-tone piano, 1996;
* D’après un cri, 1996;
* Régime 17, third-tone piano, 1997;
* Eight Études, sixteenth-tone piano, 2000

Orgue:

* Six Études, 1982;
* Études Nos. 7-8, 1993

Clavecin:

* Saumur, quarter-tone harpsichord, 1990

Électro-acoustique:

* Madrigal IV (text by Hector de Saint-Denys Garneau), soprano, flute, piano, tape, 1972;
* Barolo, cello, tape, 1977;
* Aux victimes de la guerre de Vendée (1793), French horn, 2 pianos, tape, 1990

## Honneurs

* 1974 - Prix Lynch-Staunton
* 1993 - Prix Jules-Léger
* 2000 - Prix Serge-Garant de la Fondation Émile-Nelligan
