R. Murray Schafer was not only one of Canada’s most beloved and arguably most renowned composers, but also a celebrated author, environmentalist, music educator, lobbyist, and scholar. He is known as the “father of acoustic ecology”: a cross-disciplinary practice that links science, the arts, and social issues – with an emphasis on the sounds that surround our every-day lives.
Schafer’s influential musical output includes a celebrated series of string quartets, orchestra pieces, electroacoustic work, theatrical works from pocket-sized to spectacles of enormous magnitude and duration, site-specific work that celebrates the Canadian wilderness, and marvellous works for children, youth, and amateurs that remain standard repertoire for choirs around the world.
Schafer’s lasting impact in both music and education can be seen in several generations in Canada and abroad; when John Cage was asked to name a great music teacher, he answered, “Murray Schafer of Canada.”
We honour the legacy of his work, and listen a little more closely because of it.
