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Pedersen, Paul
Paul (Richard) Pedersen. Administrator, composer, b Camrose, near Edmonton, 28 Aug 1935; BA (Saskatchewan) 1957, M MUS (Toronto) 1961, PH D musicology (Toronto) 1970. His composition teachers were Murray Adaskin at the University of Saskatchewan and John Weinzweig at the University of Toronto. He taught at Parkdale Collegiate in Toronto 1961-2 and was music director 1962-4 of Camrose Lutheran University College. He joined McGill University in 1966 and served 1970-4 as chairman of the theory department, 1971-4 as head of the electronic music studio, 1974-6 as associate dean, 1976-86 as dean, and 1976-90 as director and executive producer of McGill University Records. His doctoral research in acoustic and musical psychology resulted in the article 'The mel scale' (Journal of Music Theory, Winter 1965) and the dissertation 'The perception of musical pitch structure' (Toronto 1970). His early compositions, including Quintet (1959) and Sonata for violin and piano, reveal a free atonal style, but works such as The Lone Tree and For Margaret, Motherhood and Mendelssohn indicate an interest in electronic and computer music, while Themes from the Old Testament and Fantasie are multi-media compositions. He was appointed dean of the Faculty of Music, University of Toronto in 1990. He is a member of the CLComp and an associate of the Canadian Music Centre.
Selected Compositions
Chamber
Woodwind Trios No. 1 and 2. 1956, 1957. Fl, clarinet, bassoon. Ms
Chorale Prelude No. 2. 1958. Fl (oboe or clarinet), string quartet. Ms
Sonata for Violin and Piano. 1960. Ms
Serial Compositions. 1965. Vn, horn, bassoon, harp. Ms
An Old Song of the Sun and Moon and the Fear of Loneliness (Eskimo song, transl K. Rasmussen). 1973. Amplified soprano, elec fl, amplified piano. Ms. RCI 404 (Lyric Arts Trio)
Wind Quintet No. 2. 1975. Alto fl, english horn, bass clarinet, bassoon, horn. Ms
Choir
'Ecclesiastes XII' (Bible). 1958. SATB. Ms
Cantata and Narrative for Good Friday (liturgical). 1972, rev 1990 as Passion Oratorio. SATB, organ, narrator, soli. Ms
Chorale Mass. 1983. SAB. Ms
De Profundis. 1988. SATB, orch. Ms
Plus several others
Electronic
The Lone Tree. 1964. 2-track tape
Themes from the Old Testament. 1966. 2-track tape, slide projector
Fantasie. 1967. 2-track tape, 3 slide projectors
Origins. 1967. 16 mm film
For Margaret, Motherhood and Mendelssohn. 1971. 2-track tape. 1971. RCI 373
Also 2 orchestral works: Concerto for Orchestra (1961) and Lament (1962). 2 works for piano: Lament (1958) and Fugue (1959); and five chorale preludes for organ
