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My six chosen composers are Jean Coulthard, Jacques Hétu, Colin McPhee, Ann Southam, Claude Vivier and Healey Willan. The astute reader will notice that they all have one thing in common: they are deceased. This was a deliberate decision on my part. The living can fend for themselves; but composers who have passed on must be championed, if their music is to survive beyond them. As well, anyone who tried to publish a list of the six “best” living Canadian composers would surely be challenged to pistols at dawn by someone who didn’t make the cut.
© Colin Eatock 2011