In 1921, the University of Toronto took over ownership and operation of the Toronto Conservatory and its library collection became the basis for the present-day Music Library. In celebration of our 100-year anniversary, we are in the process of featuring 100 items from our library on Instagram and Facebook. All items were selected by current and past library staff. If you missed them on social media, here they are again. To see all items selected thus far, check out the blog series "100 years at the Music Library". To learn more about the past, present, and future of the U of T Music Library, see the series articles written for Open Shelf, the Ontario Library Association (OLA) magazine: "Becoming University of Toronto Music Library."
Items from our first decade were selected and curated by the Director of the Music Library, Jan Guise.
1921: Apostrophe to the Heavenly Hosts by Healey Willan
Healey Willan was teaching at the Toronto Conservatory (1913-1936) when he composed this piece for double chorus a cappella. He was also organist/choirmaster at the Church of St. Mary Magdalene from 1921 until his death in 1968.
In the library:
Library catalogue record
Digital images from our Canadian Sheet Music Collection
1922: Musica Divina by Karl Proske
Augustus Vogt was the first Dean of the U of T Faculty of Music, having been musical director of the Toronto Conservatory of Music when it became part of the University of Toronto in 1918. In 1922 he gifted Karl Proske’s 4-volume Musica Divina to the music library. This important collection of hundreds of masses, motets, psalms and other music of the Catholic church may have been the first of such “monuments” in the music library.
In the library:
Catalogue record
IMSLP score
1923: "Tell her while you waltz" by Jack Strathdee
John G. “Jack” Strathdee was a prolific songwriter in the early 20th century. We have three of his pieces in our Canadian Sheet Music Collection, including this autographed copy of “Tell Her While You Waltz” which was composed in 1923.
In the library:
Digital images from Canadian Sheet Music Collection
1924: Outlines of musical form by Albert Ham
Albert Ham (Faculty member in voice, organ, and composition) published Outlines of Musical Form: with analyses of well-known works, the last in the 3-volume Canadian Music Text-Book series. Published by Novello.
In the library:
Catalogue record
Review in The Musical Times, October 1924
Read more:
“Albert Ham” in The Canadian Encyclopedia
1925: Herbert A. Fricker
Remember when the Canadian National Exhibition had its own chorus? Me neither! Faculty member Herbert A. Fricker (organist, choral conductor) was its conductor in 1925 for a program of Gilbert and Sullivan selections. Armand-Grieg Music Co. (Queen St., Toronto) published the commemorative score, and we have two copies in our Canadian Sheet Music Collection.
In the library:
Digital score from our Canadian Sheet Music Collection
Autographed photograph of Fricker from our Vida Coatsworth fonds
1926: Songs of our times
What were students and faculty listening to in their “off hours” in 1926? We have a 78 rpm disc called Song Hits of 1926 that might give us a clue! Our 78 rpm discs are not digitized yet, but you can listen to a copy of the same disc on the Internet Archive.
1927: "Hymns and hymn singing" by Sir Ernest MacMillan
On March 24, 1927, in his first year as Dean of the Faculty of Music, Sir Ernest MacMillan gave a lecture in Convocation Hall titled, “Hymns and Hymn Singing.” He was assisted by the choirs of six local churches, and his colleague Healey Willan at the organ. We have a copy of the lecture in our Rare Book Room.
In the library:
Catalogue record
Images from the Toronto Music Life collection
Read more:
Article on MacMillan in The Canadian Encyclopedia
1928: Instrumentation by Ebenezer Prout
In 1928 the Conservatory Quarterly Review began publishing “Recent Aditions to the Library” (sic) in each issue. One of the items listed in the Fall of 1928 was Instrumentation, by Ebenezer Prout. Likely published in the late 19th century, Prout wrote this treatise to address “the paucity of books in our language on the subject of instrumentation...We have scarcely anything in English beyond such elementary details as may be found in Musical Catechisms” (from the “Preface”).
In the library:
Catalogue record
Digital copy on the Internet Archive: http://ow.ly/iMZx50Dl3lU
1929: The Evolution of Harmony by C.H. Kitson
In 1929, the Music Library acquired several contemporary music theory texts by C.H. Kitson (Professor of Music, University College Dublin), such as his Elementary Harmony (3 vols 1920-22), Evolution of Harmony (1914), two books on counterpoint, and the hot-off-the-press The Elements of Fugal Construction (1929).
In the library:
Catalogue record for The Elements of Fugal Construction
Evolution of Harmony in Internet Archive
1930: St. Matthew Passion at Convocation Hall
On April 15, 1930, Dr. Ernest MacMillan (Dean of the Faculty of Music) conducted J.S. Bach’s St. Matthew Passion at Convocation Hall. This was an annual event, started by MacMillan in 1923 and continuing for 30 years. Here you can see the program for the 1930 production, and a rehearsal photo from the 1931 production, from the Music Library archives.
In the library:
Rehearsal photo (1931), from the Eileen Law fonds (Eileen Law, contralto, appeared as a soloist in Toronto performances of St. Matthew Passion for over 25 years)
Program from the Toronto music life collection