Composer Frank Brickle has pursued an eccentric path to the music he is writing now. He was born, musically speaking, into High Modernism: at Princeton, his chief teacher and mentor was Milton Babbitt, and he worked long and hard to master the esoteric style and techniques of that milieu. Between then and now, however, he has worked even longer and harder to mold those same arcane techniques to the needs of a much wider range of styles, from high down to low, and much in between.
Composer Frank Brickle has pursued an eccentric path to the music he is writing now. He was born, musically speaking, into High Modernism: at Princeton, his chief teacher and mentor was Milton Babbitt, and he worked long and hard to master the esoteric style and techniques of that milieu. Between then and now, however, he has worked even longer and harder to mould those same arcane techniques to the needs of a much wider range of styles, from high down to low, and much in between. Brickle has created over eighty-five compositions, and a number of arrangements and transcriptions, for a wide range of instrumental ensembles and media. Many of his earlier pieces employ synthesized and processed sound. Over time, however, he has concentrated increasingly on writing for instruments and the voice, as he has come to treasure especially the unique moment when the performers have begun to be comfortable with the score and start making the music their own. And while his music has been evolving a great deal over more than four decades, he has attached much importance to continuity: Rather than rejecting 20th-century Modernism, he has devoted much effort to adapting and transforming its methods and techniques into a more personal, expansive, intimate, and inviting dialect. May, 2016
Photo by Andrew Balfour
Canadian Music Centre has been supporting, preserving and celebrating the works of Canadian composers since 1959. As proud and passionate advocates, we offer innovative resources for discovering, exploring, listening to and playing Canadian music online and in five regional hubs.