Canadian Journal for Traditional Music (1997)

BOOKS REVIEWS:
The Making of Musical Instruments in Canada

Paula Conlon

Reviews

Carmelle Begin, with the assistance of Constance Nebel. Opus: The Making of Musical Instruments in Canada. Hull: Canadian Museum of Civilization, 1992. 148 pp. $29.95 hardcover. ISBN 0-660-14006-3

Although the art of instrument making in Canada developed slowly over a century, it has experienced a revival in the last two decades. Carmelle Begin, curator of the Ethnomusicology Programme at the Canadian Museum of Civilization, has chosen instruments which reflect this upsurge of interest, and presents the artists who created them.

Begin's book features over 100 musical instruments made in Canada by some sixty artisans traditional, folk, and symphonic, including reproductions of early European instruments. it is the first work of such scope on Canadian instrument making.

In her descriptions of the instruments, Begin highlights features of their history, decoration, and social significance. Each description is complemented by a short biography of the instrument maker. The instruments are presented in four sections: the making of instruments, historical overview, aesthetics, and symbolism.

In "Making Musical Instruments," Begin considers medieval, renaissance, and baroque instruments, substitute materials, and the jazz ensemble. This section includes reproductions of such early instruments as Dominik Zuchowicz's pardessus de viole in the manner of Nicolas Bertrand (d. 1725). Anecdotes about the artisans add much to the book's appeal: for example, Linda Manser's penchant for creative inlays, as illustrated by her steel-string guitar with motifs representing eight animal species that are endangered or already extinct in Canada.

The section on "History" traces the development of the guitar, the string quartet, the marimba, and the flute. Included are citations of recently developed instrument , e.g., the Butterfly flute headjoint created by Jack Goosman.

. The "Aesthetics" section deals with the lute and the trio sonata. A colour photograph of the soundboard on a 17th-century Flemish-style harpsichord. by Yves Beaupré shows the beautiful artwork of Danièle Forget, with a foliage motif, tulips, a parakeet, a dragonfly and bees — all characteristic of Flemish ornamentation.

The section on "Symbolism" discusses materials and sounds as wel.l as symbolic instruments, including folk instruments of North American origin and instruments originating outside North America.

Canada's mosaic nature is revealed in the heritage of such artisans as Constantin Tingas, whose Greek parents took him back to their homeland for much of his childhood. In his Toronto workshop, Tingas builds violins, violas, 'cellos and guitars, alongside such traditional Greek instruments as the bouzouki, the baglama, the tzouras and the luouto.

The numerous photographs (both colour and black-and-white) result in a charming, small "coffee-table" book that doubles as an academic resource for those who wish to learn about the current state of instrument making in Canada. Begin includes photographs of the artisans at work along with their creations.

Especially useful is each caption's acknowledgment of the historical instrument's original creator as well as the maker of the instrument illustrated, where the artisan resides, the year of construction, the materials used, the dimensions and the Canadian. Museum of Civilization catalogue number. Two indices help one look up instrument makers and instruments. But for researchers, an initial division into instrument-families would have been preferable and would still have allowed for Begin's four sections.

A useful research tool is tucked away at the back of the book after the general bibliography. Kevin James has compiled a selected bibliography of newspaper and periodical articles written between 1971 and 1991 that contain important information on instrument makers active in Canada as well as relevant pre-1971 articles that had been located in the course of his main search.

Because the instruments featured in this book are part of the Museum's permanent collection , you can not only read about instrument making in Canada, but actually view the instruments in one place. Since the entire country is represented, you can also see who [has made instruments] in your own backyard. Begin has indeed filled a gap in Canadian musical history.

Paula Conlon