About this piece

               Musical selection from the Esprit/CBC CD The Esprit Orchestra (1991) featuring the music of Brian Cherney, Tomas Dusatko, Chan Ka Nin, Alex Pauk and R. Murray Schafer

               Esprit Orchestra conducted by Alex Pauk

               * The manufacture of this recording was made possible in part by a grant from Suncor Inc.

               Excerpt from the liner notes

               Although not a pianist himself, Schafer sometimes improvises for relaxation, especially late at night. In the composer's own words, "These reveries are in past musical styles; they rarely generate new ideas for compositions. Occurring just before sleep, they often display the characteristics of dreams, rapid fluctuations of mood, sudden shifts of focus, and few, if any, repetitions of material." As Schafer recalls, "on the occasion when I improvised what I subsequently notated as this piece, I was living in Switzerland. I had just returned from visiting Neuschwanstein, King Ludwig's castle in the Bavarian mountains. Rain and mist shrouded the mountain as my friend and I hiked up to pay our respects to this strange edifice, conceived out of love for the music of Wagner. Wagner is detectable in my improvisations, but so are the styles of other composrs. Dream Rainbow Dream Thunder joins yesterday with days of long ago, and tomorrow with days that will never be."

What they say - About this piece

               ". . . Canadian music has become the house specialty of this unique ensemble and it is entirely appropriate that its debut CD for the CBC's SM 5000 series should embrace five recent scores from the land of the beaver and the loon. Not that beaver and loon sounds can be found on the disc. If a musical profile of the country were to be intuited from these scores, Canada would emerge as a land of mystery, ecstasy and sensual exploration. . . In his Dream Rainbow Dream Thunder, R. Murray Schafer doesn't even locate himself on these shores, drawing inspiration instead from a visit to Neuschwanstein, King Ludwig's castle in the mountains of Bavaria, from whose Wagnerian mists he has produced a colour-tinted orchestral reverie of considerable atmospheric potency. . . Avant-garde listenting? Obviously not. Canadian composers tend to be realists these days, out to re-establish links with the concert public. And with this well-produced album, the Esprit Orchestra further extends its role as their willing agent. . .
     — William Littler, The Toronto Star, Saturday, March 23, 1991

               ". . . all in all, an excellent first recording for this orchestra, and at 71 minutes, one that offers both good value and great music in the bargain."
     — Music Magazine. November, 1991

About the Composer

               In 1999, Mr. Schafer received the Ontario Arts Council's first Lifetime Achievement Award.

               "R. Murray Schafer's manifold personal expressions and aspirations are in total accord with the urgent needs and dreams of humanity today." - As Yehudi Menuhin

               R. Murray Schafer is one of Canada's pre-eminent composers and is known throughout the world. In an era of specialization, R. Murray Schafer has shown himself to be a true Renaissance man.

               Born in Sarnia, Ontario, in 1933, Murray Schafer has won national and international acclaim not only for his achievements as a composer, but also as an educator, environmentalist, literary scholar, visual artist and provocateur. After receiving a Licentiate in piano through the Royal Schools of Music (England) in 1952, he pursued further studies at the Royal Conservatory of Music and the University of Toronto, followed by periods of autodidactic study in Austria and England, which encompassed literature, philosophy, music and journalism. A prolific composer, Murray has written works ranging from orchestral compositions to choral music, as well as musical theatre and multi-media ritual.

               enormous range and depth

               His diversity of interests is reflected by the enormous range and depth of such works as Loving (1965), Lustro (1972), Music for Wilderness Lake (1979), Flute Concerto (1984), and the World Soundscape Project, as well as his 12-part Patria music theatre cycle. Murray Schaefer's most important book, The Tuning of the World (1977), documents the findings of his World Soundscape Project, which united the social, scientific and artistic aspects of sound, and introduced the concept of acoustic ecology.

               The concept of soundscape unifies most of his musical and dramatic work, as well as his educational and cultural theories. Murray's other major books include E.T.A. Hoffmann and Music (1975), Ezra Pound and his Music (1977), On Canadian Music (1984), Voices of Tyranny: Temples of Silence (1993), and The Thinking Ear: On Music Education (1986).

               He has received commissions from numerous organizations as well as several prizes. He was the first winner of the Glenn Gould Prize for Music and Communication as well as the Molson Award for distinctive service to the arts.

               R. Murray Schafer has repeatedly challenged and transcended orthodox approaches to music and the presentation of music. Through his unique explorations of the relationships between music, performer, audience and setting, he has expanded the potential and appreciation of music and its place in the arts and culture of his time.

               landmark compositions

               Many of his compositions and writings stand as landmarks in the evolution of music and its communication in the 20th century. His many string quartets are a major contribution to the quartet literature and have been performed and recorded by the Orford and Molinari Quartets. In 1991 the Orford String Quartet's recordings of his complete works garnered the ensemble two Juno Awards.

               Murray Schafer has been honoured with many awards throughout his career. As first recipient of the Jules Leger Prize for New Chamber Music, in 1977 for his String Quartet No. 2, he continued to attract praise, accepting the Prix International Arthur-Honegger in 1980 for String Quartet No. 1, and the Banff National Award in the Arts in 1985.

               He has continued to be recognized for his "strong, benevolent and highly original imagination and intellect" as the first recipient of the triennial Glenn Gould Award presented by Sir Yehudi Menuhin in 1987. In 1983, Schafer was awarded the Canada Council Molson Prize for the Arts for his outstanding contribution to the cultural and intellectual life of Canada. In 1999, Mr. Schafer received the Ontario Arts Council's first Lifetime Achievement Award.

               Mr. Schafer has been celebrated artist-in-residence at many prestigious new music festivals, such as the Seattle Spring Festival of Contemporary Music, and the Sixth Annual duMaurier New Music Festival. Recently, he was composer-in-residence at Stratford Summer Music, where several of his works were performed.

               For more about R. Murray Schafer's music dramas go to http://www.patria.org.

               Patria is the title of a cycle of related music dramas that Canadian composer R. Murray Schafer has been creating during the last thirty years.