Colin McPhee (1900-1964)
Born in
Montreal, Canada, Colin McPhee was a distinctive and imaginative
composer, ethnomusicologist, pianist, and writer, most noted for
absorbing the sounds of Balinese music into his own compositions. He
came to the U.S. to study at the Peabody Institute in Baltimore, where
his composition teacher was Gustav Strube. He returned to
Canada to study piano with Arthur Friedheim in Toronto. The Toronto
Symphony gave the world premiere of his First Piano in 1924. He
left Toronto for Paris to study piano with Isidore Philipp, and
composition with Paul Le Flem. Even McPhee's early music has a marked
tendency to use layers of ostinati. When he first heard cylinder
recordings of Balinese music he was entranced. He married Jane Belo, an
anthropologist (and graduate student of Margaret Mead). They traveled
to Bali, where Jane built a home in the hill country. McPhee vigorously
notated the melodies and rhythmic devices of every gamelan he heard. He
is credited with saving a number of gamelans that were likely to go out
of existence, and of resurrecting some older instruments and styles.
The couple adopted a child, Samphi, who later became a member of a
Balinese dance troupe that toured the United States. He worked for the
rest of his life on a serious study, Music in Bali, which was published
posthumously in 1966. He also wrote transcriptions for Western
instruments, and original compositions full of the sound, melodies, and
rhythms of gamelan music. The most famous of these, Tabuh-Tabuhan, for
orchestra, was premiered by Carlos Chávez during a trip McPhee made in the summer of 1936 to
Mexico. McPhee and his wife sold their
house, left Bali, and divorced in 1939. In the early 1940s McPhee lived
in a large brownstone in Brooklyn, shared with other artists and
literary figures such as Leonard Bernstein and Benjamin Britten among
many others. McPhee, Britten, and Bernstein are said to have fought all
the time over who got to play the grand piano. Britten and McPhee
participated in the first recording of McPhee's Balinese Ceremonial
Music for two pianos and flute in 1941. The strain of Balinese sounds
that runs through Britten's music clearly originated with McPhee. In
the later 1940s, McPhee, lonely for his beloved Bali, slipped into an
alcohol-deepened depression, and his output drastically declined. He
pulled himself out of the depths and produced new compositions in the
1950s. In 1958 he was appointed professor of ethnomusicology at UCLA,
and he became an esteemed jazz critic. Howard Hanson's recording of
Tabuh-Tabuhan on the now legendary Mercury Living Presence disc of 1956
excited many music lovers and caught the ears of young American
composers. Within a decade, some of them had taken the idea of layers
of repeated ostinati that marks the music of McPhee and Bali, and from
it created American minimalism.- Joseph Stevenson, All Music Guide
COMPOSITIONS McPhee Links ~ ~ ~ Works by Genre ~ ~ ~ McPhee on McPhee
around 25 juvenile piano works; lost/destroyed
Four Piano Sketches, op. 1 (pub. 1916)
Arm, Canadians! March to Glory!, voice and piano (pub. 1917) [text: V. Wyldes]
Piano Concerto No. 1, "La mort d'Arthur" (1920; lost/destroyed)
Piano Concerto No. 2 (1923; lost/destroyed)
Three Moods, piano (1924; lost/destroyed)
Pastorale and Rondino, 2 flutes, clarinet, trumpet and piano (1925?; lost/destroyed)
Sarabande, piano (1925?; lost/destroyed)
Invention, piano (pub. 1926)
Concerto, piano and 8 winds (1928) [arr. for 2 pianos; pub. 1957]
C'est la bergere Nanette, soprano and piano (1928?; lost/destoyed)
Cradle Song, soprano and piano (1928?; lost/destoyed)
Petit chaperon rouge, soprano and piano (1928?; lost/destoyed)
Theris, soprano and piano (1928?; lost/destoyed)
Sea Shanty Suite, baritone, male chorus, 2 pianos and timpani (pub. 1929)
Symphony No. 1 (1930; lost/destroyed)
Kinesis, piano (pub. 1930)
Mechanical Principles, film score (1931; lost)
H20, film score (1931; lost)
Pieces of gamelan music (around 40 transcribed), 2 pianos and solo piano (1931-62)
- Balinese Ceremonial Music, 2 pianos (1934; pub. 1938)
- Pemoengkah
- Gambangan
- Taboeh Teloe
Two Pieces of gamelan music, transcribed for flute and piano (1935-36)
Tabuh-tabuhan: toccata for orchestra and 2 pianos (3 mvts) (1936)
From the Revelation of St. John the Divine, male chorus, 3 trumpets, 2 pianos and timpani (1936; lost/destoyed)
The Emperor Jones, incidental music (1940; lost) [for play by Eugene O'Neill]
Battle of Angels, incidental music (1940; lost) [for play by Tenesee Williams]
Four Iroquois Dances, orchestra (pub. 1944)
[Suite of Balinese transcritions], 3 pianos, celeste, xylophone, glockenspiel, cello and double bass (1947)
Broken Arrow, radio score (1948; lost) [for CBS radio productiion, 22 May 1948]
Transitions, orchestra (1954; fp. 1955)
Symphony No. 2, "Pastorale" (1957)
Air Skills, film score (1957)
Blue Vanguard, film score (1957)
In Our Hands, film score (1957?)
Nocturne, chamber orchestra (1958)
Concerto, winds (1960)
Symphony No. 3 (1960, incomplete)
WORKS BY GENRE McPhee Links ~ ~ ~ McPhee on McPhee ~ top of page ~
Orchestra
Symphony No. 1 (1930; lost/destroyed)
Tabuh-tabuhan: toccata for orchestra and 2 pianos (3 mvts) (1936)
- Ostinatos
- Nocturne
- Finale
Four Iroquois Dances, orchestra (pub. 1944)
- Corn Dance
- Eagle Dance
- Scalping Dance
- Medicine Dance
Transitions, orchestra (1954; fp. 1955)
Symphony No. 2, "Pastorale" (1957)
Nocturne, chamber orchestra (1958)
Concerto, winds (1960)
Symphony No. 3 (1960, incomplete)
Soloist(s) w/Orchestra
Piano Concerto No. 1, "La mort d'Arthur" (1920; lost/destroyed)
Piano Concerto No. 2 (1923; lost/destroyed)
Concerto, piano and 8 winds (1928) [arr. for 2 pianos; pub. 1957]
Choral
Sea Shanty Suite, baritone, male chorus, 2 pianos and timpani (pub. 1929)
- Lowlands
- Billy Boy
- Stormalong
- What shall we do with a drunken sailor?
- Tom's Gone to Hilo
- Highland Laddie
From the Revelation of St. John the Divine, male chorus, 3 trumpets, 2 pianos and timpani (1936; lost/destoyed)
Chamber
Pastorale and Rondino, 2 flutes, clarinet, trumpet and piano (1925?; lost/destroyed)
Concerto, piano and 8 winds (1928) [arr. for 2 pianos; pub. 1957]
Two Pieces of gamelan music, transcribed for flute and piano (1935-36)
[Suite of Balinese transcritions], 3 pianos, celeste, xylophone, glockenspiel, cello and double bass (1947)
Piano
around 25 juvenile piano works; lost/destroyed
Four Piano Sketches, op. 1 (pub. 1916)
- April
- Prelude
- Water Nymph
- Silhouette
Three Moods, piano (1924; lost/destroyed)
Sarabande, piano (1925?; lost/destroyed)
Invention, piano (pub. 1926)
Concerto, piano and 8 winds (1928) [arr. for 2 pianos; pub. 1957]
Kinesis, piano (pub. 1930)
Pieces of gamelan music (around 40 transcribed), 2 pianos and solo piano (1931-62)
- Balinese Ceremonial Music, 2 pianos (1934; pub. 1938)
- Pemoengkah
- Gambangan
- Taboeh Teloe
piano arrangements of works by Britten and Buxtehude
Vocal
Arm, Canadians! March to Glory!, voice and piano (pub. 1917) [text: V. Wyldes]
C'est la bergere Nanette, soprano and piano (1928?; lost/destoyed)
Cradle Song, soprano and piano (1928?; lost/destoyed)
Petit chaperon rouge, soprano and piano (1928?; lost/destoyed)
Theris, soprano and piano (1928?; lost/destoyed)
Incidental
The Emperor Jones, incidental music (1940; lost) [for play by Eugene O'Neill]
Battle of Angels, incidental music (1940; lost) [for play by Tenesee Williams]
Broken Arrow, radio score (1948; lost) [for CBS radio productiion, 22 May 1948]
Film
Mechanical Principles, film score (1931; lost)
H20, film score (1931; lost)
Air Skills, film score (1957)
Blue Vanguard, film score (1957)
In Our Hands, film score (1957?)
MCPHEE LINKS Works by Genre ~ ~ ~ McPhee on McPhee ~ top of page ~
Balinese Music (Murni's in Bali)
Biography of Colin McPhee, Part I (I Wayan Sudirana, ISI Denpasar/Institutional Repository)
Colin McPhee: Composer in Two Worlds (Carol J. Oja, Univ of Illinois Pr, books.google.com)
Colin McPhee: Composer in Two Worlds (Carol Oja, Smithsonian Institute Press/dartmouth.edu)
Colin McPhee in Exotic Bali (jennifer-ciotta, Literary Traveler.com)
Colin McPhee - The Lure of Asian Music (film by Michael Blackwood, Michael Blackwood Productions)
Colin McPhee's Musical Life in Bali (Kerry Lee, Literary Traveler.com)
Gamelan Brings Captivating Bali Music (Michael B. Bakan, Florida State Univ)
A House in Bali: An Opera by Evan Ziporyn
Imitation and Stylization in the Balinese Music of Colin McPhee (Richard Elmer Mueller, Univ of Chicago)
The Influence of Gamelan on Western Modern Music (Patrick Durkan, Latitudes.nu)
The Music of Bali (indo.com)
Music of Bali: a study in form and instrumental organization in Balinese orchestral music (Colin McPhee, Yale Univ Pr)
Stranger In A Strange Land (George Grella, The Big City)
West Meets East (Kyle Gann, American Public Media)
Composer website [none at the moment] . . . inquire about Colin McPhee: Carol J. Oja @ Harvard University
McPhee @ Wikipedia
McPhee @ American Ballet Theater
McPhee @ American Music Center
McPhee @ Answers.com
McPhee @ BaliTraveling.com
McPhee @ Boston Modern Orchestra Project
McPhee @ The Canadian Encyclopedia
McPhee @ Canadian Music Centre
McPhee @ Classical Archives
McPhee @ Classical Composers Database
McPhee @ Classical Net
McPhee @ ClassicsToday
McPhee @ eConcertBand.com
McPhee @ glbtq.com
McPhee @ IMDb (Internet Movie Database)
McPhee @ InstantEncore
McPhee @ Matt & Andrej Koymasky
McPhee @ Murni's in Bali
McPhee @ Library of Congress
McPhee @ Modern Classical
McPhee @ MusicWeb International
McPhee @ Naxos
McPhee @ New World Records
McPhee @ The New York Times
McPhee @ On an Overgrown Path
McPhee @ Social Networks and Archival Context Project/University of Virginia
McPhee @ UCLA Ethnomusicology Archive
McPhee @ UCLA Performing Arts Special Collections/Colin McPhee Collection, 1929-1962 also here
McPhee @ Wind Repertory Project
Publisher
McPhee @ Edwin F. Kalmus
McPhee @ Edition Peters
McPhee @ G. Schirmer [Associated Music]
Streaming Audio
McPhee @ Canadian Music Centre
McPhee @ Classical Archives
McPhee @ Internet Archive/Portrait of a Composer
McPhee @ Internet Archive/RadiOM/Colin McPhee and the Music of Bali
McPhee @ last.fm
McPhee @ Rhapsody.com
Recordings
McPhee @ Amazon.com
McPhee @ ArkivMusic
McPhee @ CD Universe
McPhee @ ClassicsOnline
McPhee @ Discogs
Video
McPhee @ YouTube
McPhee @ Google Video
McPhee @ Vimeo
~ top of page ~
McPhee on McPhee: Portrait of a Composer/Internet Archive (streaming audio)
Composers
Speak on the Web at Pytheas~ click on composer picture to listen ~
McPhee on McPhee: Colin McPhee and the Music of Bali/RadiOM (streaming audio)
Composers
Speak on the Web at Pytheas~ click on composer picture to listen ~
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
HOME ABOUT RESOURCES COMPOSERS PERFORMANCES 20/21 ENSEMBLE CONTACT US
HOME ABOUT RESOURCES COMPOSERS PERFORMANCES 20/21 ENSEMBLE CONTACT US