Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1936-2019 (Creation)
Level of description
Fonds
Extent and medium
5 m of textual records and other materials
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
John Beckwith (born March 9, 1927 in Victoria, British Columbia) is a composer, pianist, author, and teacher. He moved to Toronto in 1945 to study piano with Alberto Guerrero at the Royal Conservatory. He also studied composition in Paris with Nadia Boulanger (1950-1951) and has a Mus.B. (1947) and Mus.M. (1961) from the University of Toronto, where he studied with John Weinzweig, among others. He began lecturing part-time at the University of Toronto in 1952, taught full-time from 1955 to 1990, and was dean of the Faculty of Music from 1970 to 1977. He was also the director for the Institute for Canadian Music at the Faculty of Music and held the Jean A. Chalmers professorship in Canadian music.
His over 160 compositions include four operas, orchestral, chamber, solo and choral works, and he has published critical and scholarly articles in Canadian music studies. He was also a staff (1953-1955) and freelance (1955-1965) script-writer and programmer for Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) music series, and a critic and columnist for the Toronto Star (1959-1962, 1963-1965).
Beckwith holds five honorary doctorates from Canadian Universities, and received the Canadian Music Council’s annual medal (1972) and the Composer of the Year citation (1984), the Toronto Arts award for music (1995), and the Diplome d’honneur of the Canadian Conference of the Arts (1996). He was named a member of the Order of Canada in 1987.
Beckwith passed away in Toronto, Ontario on December 5, 2022.
Repository
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
The John Beckwith fonds is made up of multiple accruals, received from the composer between 1990 and 2020. An additional accrual received from Kathleen McMorrow (A2023-11). The source of each file or item is identified at the file and item level.
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Fonds consists of records created by John Beckwith during his career, predominantly relating to his compositions. Materials include sketches, drafts, final copies, texts, performance records, and related correspondence for most of his works, as well as programs, press notices, and recordings of performances.
Other materials include records relating to his activities as a radio commentator and script writer for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC); music educator at the University of Toronto; writer of numerous lectures, articles, and books; and music critic for the Toronto Star.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
Further accruals are expected.
System of arrangement
Fonds arranged into six series, according to Beckwith's role, output, and contents: (A) Compositions; (B) Librettos, texts, performance records; (C) Other activities, including Beckwith as a writer, educator, music critic, and radio scriptwriter; (D) Correspondence; (E) Biographical; and (F) Recordings.
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Unrestricted access, including display rights and consultation rights. Archival records may be viewed in the Olnick Rare Book Room at the University of Toronto Music Library.
Conditions governing reproduction
Copyright is retained by the artist.
Language of material
- English
Script of material
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Uploaded finding aid
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Dates of creation revision deletion
Last revised and updated November 2023.
Language(s)
- English