Letters

Part of the mandate of the Glick Society is to collect letters and stories from musicians, students, music lovers and those touched by the life of Srul irving Glick. This section includes some of those documents. Enjoy.

If you have something that you'd like to share with The Glick Society, don't hesitate to send us an email. 

December 15, 2014

As a young boy of about 9 years old in 1948, I had the wonderful experience of spending 2 weeks at summer camp in Haliburton (I believe), and I had a cabin councilor who couldn't have been more than double my age at the time. All of the councilors where young like that and all told their wide eyed young(er) wards of the wonderful things that they were destined to accomplish when they themselves were older. My favourite one was a very likeable fellow who told us his dream of becoming a composer. his name was Srul.

Kids usually couldn't care less about sirnames but something made me ask. So the name Srul Glick laid buried in my memory, Ever since then. once or twice or even three times a decade, the fond memories would resurface and I wondered what ever happened to his aspirations. I didn't actively pursue the thread but vowed that some day I would. In 1973, married with, at the time, two children, we moved to Israel to live and as a farmer in the Negev. Srul ever in my mind. Then In 1983 we returned to Toronto.

After re-establishing our lives here and with rudimentary access to computers I searched for this young lad's name. It seems like he had actually done what so few of his peers couldn't and was in the midst of his success. I promised myself that I would contact him just for the brief pleasure of jumping back so far into both of our pasts. By the time I had prepared myself to do just that I read the hear tbreaking news of his passing. I am so sorry that my hesitation cost me the pleasure of meeting him, if for only a moment. His music however has reached out and touched me deeply and I know that he fulfilled the promise that he made to himself and those kids in his "cabin" so many years ago. 

--Paul Grosbein

July 9, 2013

Mr. Glick was my first composition teacher in 1982, when I was a first year music undergraduate at York University.

I cherish fond memories of Mr. Glick's kindness in sharing his craft with students and his earnest desire to nurture others. His authenticity, deep passion for music and humanity made a deep impact in my life. I remember always telling myself, "This is the kind of composer I aspire to be like."

When we listened to his compositions in class, I was struck by the vibrance of his music and the compelling sense of raw, direct expression.  Each phrase spoke deeply from his heart to all of us.  When I meekly asked one day if I could have recordings of his works to study, he immediately loaned me the original cassette tapes of his most important symphonic and chamber works and allowed me to make copies. I listened to these tapes repeatedly, probing each detail and absorbing all I could, so I could apply the principles therein to my own work.  I still have these cassette tapes and although I no longer have the machines to play them with, they are among my most prized possessions.

Mr. Glick once said during class, in a particularly emphatic manner: "When you compose music, do not be afraid of Beauty."  These striking words still resonate in my heart, and have served as a steadfast beacon of artistic truth and honesty amidst the bewildering  compositional experimentation of the '80's, through the postmodern limbo of the 90's, and up till today.   I'm deeply blessed to have had Mr. Glick ground me in the right principles at the onset of my life as a composer. Till today, his teaching and spirit continue to infuse each bar of music I compose.

Thank you for keeping Mr. Glick's legacy alive through this website.

Kelly Tang, PhD,
Dean, Arts
School Of The Arts, Singapore

September 25, 2011

Dear Mr Glick, my Youth Choir of Central Oregon (www.ycco.org) recently returned from a July tour to England  singing in Canterbury Cathedral with eight other choirs from Canada ( White Rock Childrens' choir from Vancouver,. CA, Calgary Children's Choir) Australia and the USA under the direction of Henry Leck and David Flood. I wanted to let you know that of ALL the songs we sang at the festival ( I think there were about 14 of them) YOUR Psalm 23,the Lord is My Shepherd was their absolute favorite. It really grew on them as we learned all the songs for the festival. By the end, it was swirling in our heads and becoming that little "earworm" that finds its place in our minds as we do our daily tasks.

When we returned, I asked the England choristers which of the England repertoire we should do during our concerts this year and your beautiful song was at the top of the list.

We are grateful to you for your compositions, your dedication to your work and for writing something so beautiful that it has changed our musical lives. Many thanks for making a difference to my young singers.

 Blessings, Beth Basham, Artistic and Founding Director, Youth Choir of Central Oregon

July 2, 2009

Dear Paula, your father (I Presume, forgive me if I don't have the relation right) meant the world to me and all of Canada. I performed twice at Beth Tivkah for Tracey Atin. Tracey and I went through the "Seven Tableau" tonight for the first time in much much too long and it was unbelievably life affirming all over again. A work of sheer genious, every note just rings true!!! We hope to perform it often and never stop. Why we ever lost touch with it is unfortunate. This little thing called life gets in the way, but now we have no excuses and must preserve the legacy of this great and wonderful man.

I remember coming across his name and music for the first time. A one page little piece in the Grade 6? conservatory book when I taught piano and thought, "This piece is all of about 50 notes, but boy does it speak volumes with those notes". The sign of a brilliant composer: saying a great deal with an economy of material.

My Best for your continued health and efforts. On behalf of all musicians, especially Canadian Musicians We Thank-You!!!
Matthew Kulbacki, pianist
April 3, 2009
Thank you very much for adding our concert to your list. All of your father's work that I have sung or conducted touched me. It is actually the reason why, I chose one of his work for my last essay in my Masters degree in conducting.
Best regards, Lucie Roy
Musical Director, Modulation

March 13, 2009

I would like to say that Srul Irving Glick's Flute Sonata is likely one of the greatest Sonatas ever written for the instrument. After discovering it, I immediately searched the Canadian Music Centre for other flute offerings by Glick, and discovered the enchanting Suite Hebraique no. 5. It is my hope that these works continue to be discovered by other instrumentalists, and that we all will have many years of enjoying the works of your father. Thank you so much for the opportunity to reach out and speak about his incredible artistry.
There is nothing so moving as the deepest musical feelings, shared.
Jennifer Cluff

July 24, 2008

While I never actually met Srul Irving Glick, I did have several opportunities to observe him rehearse and conduct music concerts with the New Chamber Orchestra (formerly the Hart House Orchestra at the University of Toronto). These programs contained a variety of compositions, including a number of his own. I well remember the way in which he would comment upon and explain his musical intentions to the members of the orchestra. His utterances reflected acute intelligence, penetrating musical insight, a compassionate and optimistic nature and a deep spirituality that made a lasting impression on me and resonate in my memory to this day. I find similar attributes in much of his music as well.
I will visit the Canadian Music Centre in the next week or so.
Harvey Houghton

August 7, 2007

I'd like to inform you that we played the flute sonata in a concert of 28. July with jewish music and lyrics (it was the seventh concert of a series of programmes I organise at the beginning of our summer holidays in the little village where I live) The audience of ca. 120 People (mostly not from our little village but  from the region between Heilbronn and Heidelberg) received the sonata  with warmth and joy.

The Pianist (a former student of Lev Naoumov at the Tchaikowsky  Conservatory in Moskow and also son of the former Fluteprofessor of the Musikhochschule/ State University Würzburg) and i also liked it very much and if possible we will play it again and develop our execution which was quite acceptable for the first time.The Pressarticle after the concert did not mention the sonata, though it was announced before as a german premiere (all informations I could get from the German GEMA, the Canadian Socan etc. seamed to allow this; additionally I do not know any professional  flutist under my colleagues  and former Professors who ever heared of this wonderful piece). I'm very disapointed that the writer of the pressarticle does not mention the sonata. He writes a lot about our execution of the Milhaud-Sonatine and of the "Songs without words" from Mendelssohn, but does not mention Glick and the Sonata by A. Tansmann. I have no explanation for this (...well we live in a kind of diaspora concerning  parts and classical music and sometimes it's even hard to find somebody who writes...).Nevertheless I'd like to inform you of our "premiere".
Kind regards
Martin Schmidt, flutist

January 22, 2007

Dear Glick family:
I love your father's music. I used to have shivers down by spine when the Beth Tikvah choir would sing his music with Sril conducting at Beth Tikvah regularly. My late father Max Yan and my mum Betty Yan were both in his Kol Shirah choir and both active members of Beth Tikvah. My mum has been president of the Beth Tikvah senior friendship group for over 15 years. As ritual chair of Adath Shalom a small lay-led conservative synagogue in Ottawa, I brought some of his melodies to our shul.

My wife Toby and I are both singers who sing in the Musica Ebraica choir in Ottawa - a choir founded about 5 years ago to celebrate and share and promote Jewish choral music. Musica Ebraica has sung a couple of Sril's pieces through this choir and I have encouraged our choir to sing more of his work. In fact we are singing his Ashrei at our upcoming concert at the University of Ottawa on February 11th.
Yours sincerely,
Joel Yan
Ottawa