Oscar Peterson on CBC's Canadiana Suite special, 1979 © CBC

My profession has taken me to every part of the world, none of them more beautiful than where I live. As a musician, I respond to the harmony and rhythm of life, and when I'm deeply moved it leaves something singing inside me. With a country as large and as full of contrast as Canada, I had a lot of themes to choose from when I wrote the Canadiana Suite. This is my musical portrait of the Canada I love.

- Oscar Peterson 1

Wanting to express the genuine love and pride he felt for his native country, Oscar Peterson composed and recorded the Canadiana Suite in 1964. Nominated for a Grammy Award as best jazz composition in 1965, it remains one of Oscar Peterson's best-known compositions and contains his personal favourite, Wheatland.

Made up of blues and swing themes inspired by cities and regions from across Canada, the suite moves from east to west, following the rail journey from the Atlantic to the Pacific. It begins with Ballad to the East (Maritimes), is followed by Laurentide Waltz (Laurentian Mountains) and Place St. Henri (Montreal) - where Peterson grew up - and moves on to Hogtown Blues (Toronto), Wheatland, Blues of the Prairies (Manitoba and Saskatchewan), March Past (refers to the Calgary Stampede parade), and ends with Land of the Misty Giants (the mountains of British Columbia). The pieces may be compared to views from a train window, or perhaps memories of his father's descriptions of the land he saw and experienced in his job as a railway porter. 2

Originally composed by Peterson for his Trio, the Suite was later orchestrated for larger ensembles first by Phil Nimmons in 1970, and then Rick Wilkins in 1979 and Ron Collier in 1997. The Canadiana Suite was made into an hour-long CBC television special which aired in March 1979. Produced, designed and directed by Durnford King, the special was a visual and dance interpretation of Peterson's music. Dancer Pat Miner wove the visual elements through movement across such contrasting landscapes as mountain tops, river beds and lakes, linking it all together to symbolize Canadian unity. 3

Please click below to go to the Canadiana Suite album in the audio tour section. There you can listen to RealAudio samples of the Songs from this special Oscar Peterson album.

Canadiana Suite

Footnotes

1. Moody, Lois K.   Oscar Peterson Exhibition; Phase I. "Display Resource Survey and Assessment". December, 1997.

2. Lees, Gene.   Oscar Peterson: The Will to Swing.   Rocklin, California: Prima Publishing & Communications, 1990.

3. CBC Television news release, March 1, 1979. Oscar Peterson fonds, National Library of Canada.