Brian Cherney

‎Brian Cherney (born 1942, Peterborough, Ontario) is a Canadian composer currently residing in Montreal, Quebec. He studied at the University of Toronto where he was a pupil of John Weinzweig. In 1972 he joined the Faculty of Music at McGill University, where he has taught analysis and composition for over thirty years. His pieces, often characterized by carefully calculated formal trajectories and a rich harmonic language, give the impression of a quiet intensity, usually featuring "stillness" in some manner. His works have been played throughout North America, Europe, and elsewhere. Cherney maintains an active career as a composer, teacher and author; his book "Harry Somers" (1975, U of T Press) remains one of the most important and detailed works of reference on this composer.

Works

ORCHESTRA

*"Variations for Orchestra" (1967)
*"Seven Images for Twenty Two Players" (1971)
*"Adieux" (1980)
*"In the Stillness Between" (1982)
*"Into the Distant Stillness" (1984)
*"Illuminations" (1987)
*"Transfiguration" (1990)
*"Et la solitude dérive au fil des fleuves..." (1995)

OLO WITH ORCHESTRA

*"Two Songs for Soprano and Chamber Orchestra" (1963)
*"Concerto for Violin and Orchestra" (1963)
*"Six Miniatures for Oboe and Strings" (1968)
*"Oboe Concerto" (1989)
*"Et j'entends la nuit qui chante dans les cloches" (1990)

INSTRUMENTAL ENSEMBLE

*"Kontakion, Quiet Music for Eleven Players" (1969)
*"Apparitions" (1991)
*"In the Stillness of September 1942" (1992)
*"Die Klingende Zeit" (1993-94)

CHAMBER MUSIC

*"Sonata for Violin and Piano" (1961)
*"Quintette for Saxophone and Strings" (1962)
*"Woodwind Quintet" (1965)
*"Interlude and Variations" for woodwind quintet (1965)
*"String Quartet No. 1" (1966)
*"Six Miniatures for Oboe and Piano" (1968)
*"String Quartet No. 2" (1970)
*"Notturno" for piano and woodwind quintet (1974)
*"String Trio" (1976)
*"Group Portrait - With Piano" for piano and woodwind quintet(1978)
*"Beyond the Seventh Palace" for viola and percussion (1982)
*"Accord" for accordion, oboe and cello (1985)
*"Triolet" for flute, harp and bassoon (1980)
*"Playing for Time" for oboe, percussion and piano (1981)
*"Gan Eden" for violin and piano (1983)
*"River of Fire" for oboe d'amore and harp (1983)
*"String Quratet No. 3" (1985)
*"In Stillness Ascending" for viola and piano (1986)
*"In the Stillness of the Summer Wind" for oboe and string quartet (1987)
*"Trois petites pièces désséchées... En forme de sandwich" for viola and piano (1979)
*"Le fil d'ariane" for guitar and percussion (1988)
*"Dunkle Stimmen... Am Rande der Nacht" for violin, cello and contrabass (1988)
*"Dopplegänger" for two flutes (1991)
*"Like Ghosts from an Enchanter Fleeing" for cello and piano(1993)
*"String Quartet No. 4" (1994)
*"In the Great Museum of our Memory" for bass oboe and bass clarinet (1994)
*"Echoes in the Memory" for clarinet, cello and piano (1997)
*"Entendre marcher un ange..." for flute and percussion (1998)
*"Qui entendrait le cri d'un ange dans les ténèbres?" for clarinet, ondes Martenot and cello (1998)

MUSIC FOR INSTRUMENTAL SOLO

*"Mobile II" for cello (1968)
*"Mobile IIIa" for oboe (1970)
*"Tangents I" for cello (1975)
*"Tangents II" for oboe (1976)
*"Seven Miniatures in the Form of a Mobile" for viola (1978)
*"Études" for oboe (1979)
*"Gothic Scenes and Interludes" for organ (1983-87)
*"Epitaph" for english horn (1986)
*"Déploration" for harpsichord (1988)
*"Shekhinah" for viola (1988)
*"Doppelgänger - version pour flûte seule" (1992)
*"In the Stillness of Eden" for violin (1992)
*"Le dernier cri" for trumpet (1992)
*"The Return of Ulysses" for alto saxophone (1992)
*"Music for a Solitary Cellist" for cello (1993)
*"In the Great Museum of our Memory" for bass oboe (1994)
*"Jam for Frances" for trombone (1997)
*"Incantation" for flute (1999)
*"Quelques pensées sur le 300e anniversaire du voloncelle Carlo Tonini d'Antonio Lysy..." for cello (2003)

VOCAL MUSIC

*"Mobile IV", text by Tu Fu, for soprano and chamber ensemble (1969)
*"Eclipse", text by Brian Hendersen, for soprano and chamber ensemble (1972)
*"Three Songs to texts by Paul Celan", for soprano and piano (2007)

PIANO

*"Six Miniatures for Piano" (1965)
*"Sonata for Piano" (1966)
*"Jest" (1967)
*"Intervalls, Patterns, Shapes for Piano" (1968)
*"Pieces for Young Pianists (3 vol.)" (1968)
*"Dans le crépuscule de souvenir", cinq pièces pour piano (1977-80)
*"In the Stillness of the Seventh Autumn" (1983)
*"Quelques fois, à l'ombre de la nuit... au lointain..." (1991-92)
*"Tombeau", seven pieces for piano (1996)

External links

* The Canadian Encyclopedia [http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=U1ARTU0000685]
* Schulich School of Music, Department of Composition [http://www.music.mcgill.ca/composition/Files/Faculty/cherney.html]
* The Canadian Music Center [http://www.musiccentre.ca/apps/index.cfm?fuseaction=composer.FA_dsp_biography&authpeopleid=723&by=C]
* Review of Brian Cherney's "An Unfinished Life" [http://showtimemagazine.ca/blog/?p=162]