Brian Cherney
Brian Cherney is a Canadian composer, teacher and writer.
Cherney was born in Peterborough, Ontario. He studied at the University of Toronto where he was a pupil of John Weinzweig, Samuel Dolin, and John Beckwith. In 1972 he joined the Schulich School of Music at McGill University, where he has taught analysis and composition for over fifty years. His pieces, often characterized by carefully calculated formal trajectories and a rich harmonic language, give the impression of a quiet intensity, usually featuring "stillness" in some manner. Cherney was awarded the Jules Léger Prize for New Chamber Music in 1985 for River of Fire. His works have been played throughout North America, Europe, and elsewhere. His book, Harry Somers, remains one of the most important and detailed studies of this composer.
The Cherney portrait in the Canadian Composers Portraits series was released in 2005.
Illuminations: Essays in Honour of Brian Cherney, a special edition of the journal, Musical Intersections, was published in 2017.
Cherney was made a member of the Order of Canada in 2021.
He is the brother of oboist Lawrence Cherney.
Works
OrchestraVariations for Orchestra Seven Images for Twenty Two Players Adieux In the Stillness Between Into the Distant Stillness Illuminations Transfiguration Et la solitude dérive au fil des fleuves...Concertante
- Concerto for Violin and Orchestra Six Miniatures for Oboe and Strings Chamber Concerto for Viola and Ten Players Oboe Concerto Et j'entends la nuit qui chante dans les cloches
Chamber music
- Sonata for violin and piano
- Quintet for saxophone and string quartet
- Woodwind Quintet Interlude and Variations for woodwind quintet
- String Quartet No.1 Six Miniatures for oboe and piano
- String Quartet No.2 Notturno for piano and woodwind quintet
- String Trio Group Portrait – With Piano for piano and woodwind quintet Beyond the Seventh Palace for viola and percussion Accord for accordion, oboe and cello Triolet for flute, harp and bassoon Playing for Time for oboe, percussion and piano Gan Eden for violin and piano River of Fire for oboe d'amore and harp
- String Quartet No.3 In Stillness Ascending for viola and piano In the Stillness of the Summer Wind for oboe and string quartet Trois petites pièces désséchées... En forme de sandwich for viola and piano Le fil d'ariane for guitar and percussion Dunkle Stimmen... Am Rande der Nacht for violin, cello and contrabass Dopplegänger for two flutes Like Ghosts from an Enchanter Fleeing for cello and piano
- String Quartet No.4 In the Great Museum of our Memory for bass oboe and bass clarinet Echoes in the Memory for clarinet, cello and piano Entendre marcher un ange... for flute and percussion Qui entendrait le cri d'un ange dans les ténèbres? for clarinet, ondes Martenot and cello Music for a Summer Wedding for flute, viola and harp
- String Quartet No. 6 In Time's Wake for oboe and Piano 22 Arguments for the Suspense of Disbelief for flute, cello and Piano
PianoSix Miniatures
- Sonata Jest Intervalls, Patterns, Shapes Pieces for Young Pianists Dans le crépuscule de souvenir, 5 pieces In the Stillness of the Seventh Autumn Quelques fois, à l'ombre de la nuit... au lointain... Tombeau, 7 pieces