#ClassicsaDay #NorthAmClassics Week 2

Both countries in North America celebrate their independence in July. For Canada, it's July 1, 1867. And for the United States, it's July 4, 1776. To mark this event, the Classics a Day team challenge is to post video performances of music by both Canadian and American composers.

Finding examples by American composers was easy. But finding performances by Canadian composers proved a little more difficult. And that's a shame. Because the music I found was terrific.

Here are my posts for the second week of #NorthAmClassics.

07/10/23 John Knowles Paine: The Tempest

This American composer was the eldest of the "Boston Six," a group of composers active in the late 1800s. The Six were trying to establish an American style of composing, albeit one based on European models.

07/11/23 Clarence Lucas: Macbeth Overture, Op. 39

Canadian composer Lucas was born at the Six Nations Reserve, Ontario. He was best known as a conductor and also worked for Chappel Publishing. This overture dates from 1900.

07/12/23 George Chadwick: Sinfonietta

Chadwick was part of the "Boston Six," an influential group of late 19th-Century American composers. He studied in Leipzig with Carl Reinecke and Salomon Jadassohn. His own works reflect some of those Germanic influences.

07/13/23 Guillaume Couture: Jean le Précurseur

Canadian composer Couture was known primarily as a choral conductor and voice instructor. His oratorio "Jean le Précurseur" was started in 1907 and took two years to compose.

07/14/23 Arthur Foote: Francesca da Rimini, Op. 24

Foote received the first master's degree in music conferred by any American university (in this case, Harvard). Foote wrote most of his orchestral music early in his career before turning almost exclusively to chamber music.