Harry Somers was a prolific composer of various mediums, including stage productions, concert halls, film, and radio, and advocated for Canadian music internationally. Norma Beecroft was a prominent Canadian composer, producer, and broadcaster who received the Canada Council’s Lynch-Staunton Award for composition twice. Editor Brian Cherney’s Between Composers: The Letters of Norma Beecroft and Harry Somers captures a passionate and tumultuous relationship between two of Canada’s most significant musical figures at formative points in their careers while putting a spotlight on the fledgling Canadian music scene of the 1950s.
The letters chronicle a correspondence made public for the first time when Beecroft, a budding composition student, left for Rome in 1959 to study with the renowned Italian composer Goffredo Petrassi. During this pivotal moment, in October 1959— when Norma departed for Rome— Harry realized that he loved her. Beecroft and Somers’ letters reveal a relationship between two passionate composers, with their artistry permeating the content of their exchanges. Their correspondence is filled with ardent expressions of love, joy, and dismay, from discussions about their writing projects to conversations about their uncertain future together.
Norma’s letters paint a picture of the Canadian music scene she left behind, as well as a lively Rome teeming with musicians at the forefront of the avant-garde of the 1950s. As a young female composer, she was one of the few trying to make a name for herself in a male-dominated field. She socialized with international composers and attended concerts showcasing the latest in contemporary music. Somers’ letter documents the daily life of Toronto at the end of the 1950s, detailing his ups and downs, somewhat transient lifestyle, and interactions with fellow composers, poets, writers, and people in the theatre scene. His letters reveal a deeply complicated man driven by the profound nature of his work.
Editor Brian Cherney is an accomplished composer, educator at McGill University, and author. His book Harry Somers(1975, University of Toronto Press) is regarded as one of the most comprehensive references on the composer. In recognition of his contributions to music, Cherney was awarded the Jules Léger Prize for New Chamber Music in 1985 for his work River of Fire.
