McGill Library
McLennan Library Building3459 rue McTavish
Montreal, Quebec
H3A 0C9
Paul Pedersen Collection
Collection
5.5 m of textual records, graphic material, and sound recording
1935 28 August Born Paul Richard Pedersen in Camrose, Alberta, Canada.
1956 Married artist Jean Stollery.
1957 Received BA from the University of Saskatchewan. Studied composition with Murray Adaskin.
1961 Received MMus from the University of Toronto, where he studied with John Weinzweig.
1961-1962 Taught at Parkdale Collegiate.
1962 Studied electronic music under Myron Schaeffer.
1962-1964 Music Director at Camrose Lutheran University College.
1965 During his doctoral studies, his article “The Mel Scale” was published in the Journal of Music Theory.
1966 Joined the Faculty of Music at McGill University.
1970 Received his Ph.D. in Musicology at the University of Toronto with his dissertation “The perception on musical pitch structure.”
1970-1974 Chairman of the Theory Department, McGill University.
1971-1974 Head of Electronic Music Studio at McGill University.
1973 An Old Song of the Sun and the Moon and the Fear of Loneliness performed at the I.S.C.M. Festival in Reykjavìk, Iceland.
1973-1974 On sabbatical leave in Nice, France; Travelled to Stockholm, Sweden; Utrecht, Holland; London, England; Rastaat, Freiburg and Berlin, Germany; Moscow, Russia; and Tokyo, Japan to examine their efforts at the computerization of electronic music studios.
1974-1976 Associate Dean of the Faculty of Music, McGill University.
1975 An Old Song of the Sun and the Moon and the Fear of Loneliness performed at Carnegie Hall New Music Concerts in New York, NY.
1976-1986 Dean of the Faculty of Music, McGill University.
1976-1990 Director and executive producer of McGill University Records.
1977 Initiated a series of recordings featuring McGill performers and composers.
1987 On sabbatical leave in Copenhagen, Denmark. Travelled also to London and Vienna to investigate contemporary choral music, while working on own composition.
1990-1995 Dean, Faculty of Music, University of Toronto.
2001 1 July Appointed Professor Emeritus at the University of Toronto.
The Paul Pedersen Collection consists of Paul Pedersen’s complete portfolio of published and unpublished compositions, sketches, lecture notes and writings. In addition, it contains documentary artifacts including correspondence, teaching and course materials, concert programmes and posters, project reports, etc, that chronicle his early education and life in Alberta and Toronto, through his professorship and deanship at McGill University and finally his appointment of Dean and professor of Music at the University of Toronto.
Gift from Paul Pedersen; 2009.
The Paul Pedersen Collection is organized into 10 series:
• Compositions
• Teaching Materials and Administration
• Correspondence
• Literary Writings
• Special Projects and Consultations
• Concert Programmes
• Clippings and Reviews
• Photographs
• Biography
• Audio/Visual Materials
Collection material in English, French, German and Swedish.
Brief description also found at: http://www.mcgill.ca/library/library-findinfo/subjects/music/special/paul-pedersen
The Paul Pedersen Collection is open to research. Researchers are advised to contact the Marvin Duchow Library prior to visiting.
Certain restrictions to use or copying of materials may apply.
Currently, no further accruals are expected.
The status of copyright on the materials of the Paul Pedersen Collection is governed by the Copyright Law of Canada.
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: container number, Paul Pedersen Collection, Marvin Duchow Library, Schulich School of Music, McGill University, Montréal, Québec.
Prepared by Michaela Dickey and edited by Cynthia A. Leive. Revision July 2012; updated and entered into AtoM by Geneviève Beaudry, May 2019.