Louis Applebaum: A Passion for Culture

Desmond Maley is the music librarian at the J.W. Tate Library,
Huntington College, Laurentian University, and editor of the CAML
Review.

Not until I arrived at the concluding “acknowledgements” of this
very long book was its purpose revealed: to enhance the understanding of
Canada’s culture through an examination of Louis Applebaum’s life.
Until this point, I wasn’t entirely sure where author Walter Pitman
was taking me.

A conventional biography normally divides between discussing the life
and the music. Applebaum, who died in Toronto in 2000, was “Mr.
Canadian Music” when it came to writing for film, television, and
theatre. But while Pitman does chronicle Applebaum’s works along with
snippets of critical reception, there are no musical examples or new
insights into Applebaum’s compositional craft. Also lacking is a
discography and a compendium of Applebaum’s prolific compositional
oeuvre.

This contrasts with the rich detail concerning Applebaum’s work as an
arts administrator beginning with his tenure as music director at the
newly founded National Film Board during World War II. Throughout his
life, Applebaum was deeply involved with a legion of arts-related
organizations, agencies, enterprises, and commissions. Along the way, he
wrote hundreds of scores, including for the NFB, the CBC, and the
Stratford Festival. During his brief American sojourn in the 1940s, he
received an Academy Award nomination for his score for The Story of G.I.
Joe.

Applying the “cultural” yardstick, the biography does succeed.
Pitman, a former Ryerson University president who was elected to
parliament at the provincial and federal levels, vividly portrays the
man and his era. Applebaum emerges as a profound and thoughtful cultural
nationalist who was universally respected for his modesty and integrity.
The research is drawn from extensive personal interviews with the
composer, his family, and close associates, as well as the Louis
Applebaum fonds at York University.

There are signs of hasty editing, however. It is marred by a number of
small errors, some unnecessary repetition, and a tendency to lavish
praise when Applebaum’s accomplishments should be allowed to speak for
themselves. The generous number of black-and-white photographs is a
bonus, but in one of them Aaron Copland is misidentified as Igor
Stravinsky.