Robert Turner

Biography

Born in Montreal, Turner graduated in 1943 with a bachelor's degree in music from McGill University, following studies with Douglas Clarke and Claude Champagne. While enrolled briefly at Colorado College in 1947, he met the percussionist, Sara Scott, whom he married in 1949. In 1947, Turner transferred to Peabody College in Nashville, Tennessee, where he studied with Roy Harris. He graduated in 1950 with a master's degree. During this period, Turner spent summers studying with Herbert Howells and Gordon Jacob at the Royal College of Music, then at the Berkshire Music Center at Tanglewood with Olivier Messiaen. Returning to McGill in 1951, he graduated with a doctorate in 1953.

From 1952-68, Turner worked as a CBC Radio producer in Vancouver, where he championed the music of Canadian composers and oversaw broadcasts of the CBC Vancouver Chamber Orchestra. He taught at the University of British Columbia (1955-57), Acadia University (1968-69), and at the University of Manitoba from 1969 until his retirement in 1985. His students included Peter Allen, Pat Carrabré, Jim Hiscott, Diana McIntosh, and Glenn Buhr.

Turner's music has been described as reflecting a variety of influences including jazz, folk music and dance. The composer himself described his music as lyrical and tonal; it also has been noted that Turner could integrate "contemporary techniques with a strong command of mood and evocation, especially of place." He wrote more than 70 works including two operas: The Brideship (1967) and Vile Shadows (1983).

Turner was appointed a member of the Order of Canada in 2002.

The Turner portrait in the Canadian Composers Portraits series was released in 2004.

He received the Western Canadian Music Alliance's Heritage Award in 2009.

Robert Turner died in Winnipeg on January 26, 2012.

Selected works

Stage

The Brideship, Opera in 1 act, 3 scenes (1966–67); libretto by George Woodcock

Vile Shadows, Opera in 2 acts for soloists and wind quintet (1982–83, revised 1998); libretto after the play by Norman Newton

Orchestra

Opening Night, Theatre Overture (1955)

Lyric Interlude (1956)

Nocturne (1956, 1965); original version for piano

A Children's Overture (1958); suitable for youth and community orchestras

The Pemberton Valley, Suite (1958)

Symphony for Strings, string orchestra (1960)

3 Episodes (1963)

Moerae (1963)

Eidolons, 12 Images, chamber orchestra (1972)

Variations on "The Prairie Settlers's Song" (1974)

Symphony in One Movement "Gift from the Sea", Symphony No. 2 (1983)

Playhouse Music (1986)

Shades of Autumn (1987)

Manitoba Memoir, string orchestra (1989)

Symphony No. 3 (1990)

House of Shadows, A Symphonic Synthesis after the Opera Vile Shadows (1994)