James K Wright - They Shot, He Scored: The Life and Music of Eldon Rathburn

THEY SHOT, HE SCORED

THEY SHOT, HE SCORED

The LIFE and MUSIC of ELDON RATHBURN

JAMES K. WRIGHT

with Allyson Rogers

McGILL-QUEENS UNIVERSITY PRESS
MONTREAL & KINGSTON LONDON CHICAGO

McGill-Queens University Press 2019

ISBN 978-0-7735-5715-4 (cloth)

ISBN 978-0-7735-5846-5 (ePDF)

ISBN 978-0-7735-5847-2 (ePUB)

Legal deposit second quarter 2019

Bibliothque nationale du Qubec

Printed in Canada on acid-free paper that is 100% ancient forest free (100% post-consumer recycled), processed chlorine free

This book has been published with the help of a grant from the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, through the Awards to Scholarly Publications Program, using funds provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, which last year invested $153 million to bring the arts to Canadians throughout the country.

Nous remercions le Conseil des arts du Canada de son soutien. Lan dernier, le Conseil a investi 153 millions de dollars pour mettre de lart dans la vie des Canadiennes et des Canadiens de tout le pays.

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Wright, James, 1959, author

They shot, he scored : the life and music of Eldon Rathburn / James K.

Wright with Allyson Rogers.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Issued in print and electronic formats.

ISBN 978-0-7735-5715-4 (hardcover). ISBN 978-0-7735-5846-5 (ePDF). ISBN 978-0-7735-5847-2 (ePUB)

1. Rathburn, Eldon, 19162008. 2. Composers Canada Biography. 3. Motion picture music Canada History and criticism. I. Rogers, Allyson, 1980, author II. Title.

Set in 11/14 Minion Pro with Alternate Gothic Compressed, Sonata, and Univers Next Pro

Book design & typesetting by Garet Markvoort, zijn digital

Music has enriched my life immeasurably, as it did for Eldon Rathburn, in whom I discerned a similarly deep and abiding gratitude for his profession. I am proud to dedicate this book to my mother, Ruth Catherine Wright (19322018), with whose loving care, guidance, and encouragement I was able to realize my dream of becoming a musician.

CONTENTS

Formative Years:
From Saint John to L.A.

Early Years at the NFB:
19451952

The Unit B Years:
19521964

Career Crescendo:
From Labyrinth to IMAX

Name Dropping:
Encounters with Schoenberg, Varse, Ives, Thomson, Sorabji, and Havergal Brian

Covering His Tracks:
Rathburns Train Music

Idiosyncrasies and Fascinatin Rhythms:
Music for Banjo, Jews Harp, Flexatone, Historical Keyboards, and Calliope

They Shot, He Scored:
Looking Back and Looking Ahead

Appendix I
Rathburn Filmography

Appendix II
Lists of Works

Appendix III
Rathburn Discography

FIGURES

.

.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Readers of this book will soon become aware that many individuals have contributed substantively to its preparation. To begin, profound thanks are due to the outstanding McGill-Queens University Press editorial and production team: the ever-inspiring Jonathan Crago (editor-in-chief), Ryan Van Huijstee (managing editor), Kathleen Fraser (associate managing editor), Finn Purcell (editorial assistant), Elena Goranescu (production manager), Linda Iarrera (sales manager), Jaqui Davis (publicist), Amy Hemond (publicity assistant), and Jeremy John Parker for his inspired cover design. Copy-editor James Leahy and indexer Siusan Moffat have been extraordinarily generous with their time and expertise. It has been a luxury to work with editorial collaborators with this level of skill, experience, and professionalism.

For their kind permissions and supportive collaboration, I want to thank Joanna Aiton Kerr, Joshua Green, and Julia Thompson (New Brunswick Provincial Archive, Fredericton); Debbie Beggs (music librarian, University of Ottawa); Madelaine Bdard, Tandi Hooper-Clark, and Jennifer Longon (New Brunswick Museum); Johanna Bertin (Don Messer biographer); Bob Borgen and Alex Kev (Buster Keaton Society); Peter Christ (Crystal Records); Werner Chudik (Anton Karass grandson); Ravida Din (executive producer, 7th Coalition); artists William Danard and Andreas Loutas; Zo Druick (Simon Fraser University); Robin Elliott (Chalmers Chair in Canadian Music, University of Toronto); Berkeley Fleming (Robert Flemings son); Julie Grahame (Estate of Yousuf Karsh); Leah Grandy (Harriet Irving Library, University of New Brunswick); John Grimshaw (Havergal Brian Society); Florence Hayes (Encyclopedia of Music in Canada); Glenn Hodgins, Christopher Mayo, and Will Callahan (Canadian Music Centre); Jessica Kilford (Nova Scotia Archives); Mathieu Lavoie (Universit de Qubec Montral); Stephane Lemelin (McGill University); Debbie Lindsey (CBC Digital Archives); Suzanne Lovejoy (music librarian, Irving S. Gilmore Music Library, Yale University); Janine Marchessault (Canada Research Chair, Cinema and Media Studies, York University); Patti Melanson (Harbour View High School, Saint John); Geoff Mitchell (senior recording engineer, NFB Chester Beachell Studios); Maureen Nevins and Suzanne Lemaire (Library and Archives Canada); Philip Pacey and Philip Scowcroft (British railroad authorities); Curtis Perry (Ottawa New Music Creators); Pietro Serapiglia (producer and VP distribution, The Stephen Low Company); Lois Siegel (Lois Siegel photography); John Tibbetts (University of Kansas); Laurence Wall (CBC Radio One, Ottawa); and Jeffrey Wright-Sedam (caricature artist, New York).

Special thanks are due to Eldons many musical collaborators and correspondents who have been generous with their time and support, including Canadian cellist and impresario Julian Armour, UK composer Gavin Bryars, pianist Marc-Andr Hamelin, and British banjoist David Price. Eldon also enjoyed affable and mutually respectful association with the many conductors with whom he collaborated during his career, many of whom generously offered their time and reminiscences, including Howard Baer, Victor Davies, Victor Feldbrill, Bruce Holder Jr, and Richard Hornsby. Conductor Daniel Swift kindly shared an important archival recording of a concert titled A Tribute to Eldon Rathburn, hosted by the Ottawa Chamber Music Society on Eldons eighty-first birthday (21 April 1997), featuring the Chamber Players of Canada and a variety of guest performers, including Swift as conductor.

I am especially grateful to five retired NFB directors and animators who generously shared their time and memories of Eldon Rathburn: Don McWilliams, Kaj Pindal, Gerald Potterton, Robert Verrall, and the late Colin Low. To spend an afternoon with Potterton at his home in Quebecs Eastern Townships is to be profoundly charmed and impressed by the irrepressible creative energy of the great filmmaker. Eldons longtime friend, collaborator, and correspondent Kaj Pindal, the Danish-Canadian animator, kindly granted permission for the use of his caricatures of Eldon (shown in met with animator Robert Verrall and his son David, an important NFB animation producer and filmmaker of the next generation. One of the first artists hired by Norman McLaren to the NFBs newly formed animation unit in the mid-1940s, Verrall shared his fond and vivid memories of working with Rathburn on