Barbara Pentland

• Name — Barbara Pentland • Born — 2 January 1912 • Birthplace — Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada • Died — 5 February 2000 • Place of death — Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada • Education — Juilliard School of Music • Occupation — Composer

Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Pentland suffered from a heart disorder which significantly limited both her physical and social activities during her childhood. As a result, she devoted much of her time from an early age to academic pursuits and other intellectual activities. At the age of 9 she began studying the piano in her native city at the Rupert's Land Girls' School. She soon developed an interest in music composition but her early ventures into this area were strongly discouraged by both her teacher and her relatively wealthy and conservative family, who viewed the pursuit as an eccentric hobby that was "too exciting for a delicate child." Pentland's parents, especially her mother, intended for their daughter to adopt their values and pursue a life spent amongst the upper classes of Canadian high society, rather than a career as a professional composer. Despite her family's objections, Pentland continued to compose privately as a young teenager. She finally was encouraged in this pursuit by one of her teachers, the organist and conductor Frederick H. Blair, who taught her piano and music theory while she attended boarding school at Miss Edgar's and Miss Cramp's School in Montreal from 1927 to 1929. In 1929, Pentland was surprised when her parents finally allowed her to study composition with Cécile Gauthiez, professor of harmony at the Schola Cantorum in Paris. Under Gauthiez's tutelage, Pentland received a formal, conservatory style music education, including lessons in form, harmony, and analysis by composers such as Cesar Franck, Vincent d'Indy, and Ludwig van Beethoven. On a trip to Fontainebleau, Pentland found herself outside of the Fontainbleau Schools of Music, where she would sit underneath open windows listening to performances or rehearsals, and further dreaming of being able to participate herself. Pentland eventually returned to Winnipeg, and continued to take lessons from Gauthiez through written correspondence. Unfortunately, her professional wishes and those of her parents still did not align, and they made it increasingly clear that they expected Barbara to give up composition, settle down, and get married. After a disastrous debutante ball, Pentland spent six years focusing on music, including composing, learning new instruments, and performing. She formed a piano trio with Margaret Mitchell on violin and Charlotte McConnell on cello, give her a new avenue to perform music. As a result, she purchased a violin for $3.50 and taught herself to play; it is no coincidence that many of her pieces from this period included string instruments. After her parents refusal to finance her musical education thwarted Pentland's plans to study at the Eastman School of Music, she began taking lessons with two new teachers, H. Hugh Bancroft (organ) and Eva Clare (piano). In 1935, Pentland fell seriously ill and spent three months in the hospital, but returning to her unhappy home did nothing to aid her recovery. She then traveled to Victoria, where she once again buoyed her spirits before yet another return to Winnipeg. At Eva Clare's suggestion, Pentland sent several of her compositions to both composer Ralph Vaughan Williams and the editor of Musical America, Walter Kramer. In 1936, Pentland entered the graduate music program at the Juilliard School in New York City where she studied 16th-century counterpoint with Frederick Jacobi and modern composition techniques with Bernard Wagenaar through 1939. During these years, her own compositions took on a language that was primarily neoclassical, showing the influence of Paul Hindemith, Igor Stravinsky, and later Aaron Copland, with whom she studied at the Tanglewood Music Center during summers in 1941 and 1942. Her work was part of the music event in the art competition at the 1948 Summer Olympics.

• Studies in Line, piano (1941) • Symphony no. 2 (1950) • The Lake. One-act chamber opera (1952) • Sonata, 2 pianos (1954) • Concerto, piano, strings (1955–56) • (1957) • Duo for viola and piano (1960) • Variations for viola (1965) • Suite Borealis, piano (1966) • String Quartet no. 3 (1969) • Disasters of the Sun, mezzo-soprano, 9 instruments, tape (1976) • (1983)