Art and Politics. Sarah Jennings

       Jean-Marie Beaudet came from the CBC to be the NAC’s first director of music. Photo © John Evans.

      Beaudet’s contribution to the creation of the NAC orchestra would be hard to overestimate. This balding, slightly foppish, late-marrying bachelor, who smoked cigarettes from an ebony holder and peered out beneath a deeply furrowed brow through dark horn-rimmed glasses, gave all his support to the creation of this new all-Canadian orchestra. Like Applebaum, he was completely dedicated to the growth and development of the Canadian musical scene. With his excellent experience in managing musical programs and their budgets at the CBC, he had, by October 1964, laid out the preliminary budget for a conductor and expenses for a forty-piece orchestra operating for a forty-eight-week season. Although the CBC had made no commitment as yet, Beaudet suggested that the corporation could contribute to the budget by taking weekly one-hour broadcasts from the new orchestra for the radio network, and he pointed to the potential for television work as well. When the Arts Centre later got down to real budgeting, Beaudet’s numbers were found to be close to the mark. His vision for the orchestra read like a recipe for making a cake: “10 first violins … 8 second … 6 violas … 4 cellos … 3 bass … etc.”¹¹ He also presented sound advice on contentious issues such as salaries, the role of the powerful musicians’ union, and what should happen when the orchestra needed to hire local musicians to augment itself for larger works. Beaudet’s “masterplan” memo became an invaluable tool for Southam for use with everyone—from the government’s Interdepartmental Steering Committee to members of the local musical community. It provided the groundwork for future discussions on musical life in Ottawa.

      Throughout the fall of 1964, Beaudet continued to pour out ideas to his committee colleagues. Writing in both English and French, he pointed out to Southam the cost problems of a big symphonic orchestra, the role of the National Youth Orchestra as a source of musicians, and the importance of professional experience to music students still pursuing their studies. When Dr. Frederick Karam mentioned that he was thinking about establishing a music school at the University of Ottawa, Beaudet wrote to Southam that the whole enterprise engendered a “spirit of hope” in him.

      Faced with this enthusiasm, Southam followed the advice of another committee member, Dr. Arnold Walter, and wrote to Professor Ezra Schabas at the University of Toronto’s School of Music, asking for his comments on Beaudet’s ideas. Schabas not only backed up Beaudet’s proposals but expanded on them.¹² As a former general manager of the National Youth Orchestra, Schabas was sensitive to Beaudet’s suggestion of integrating young musicians into the new orchestra, and he wrote a long and detailed response to Southam. With this backing in hand, Southam took the next step, asking Applebaum and his committee to prepare a full in-depth report on how this plan could be achieved.

      While awaiting this study, Southam organized a generous reception on March 1, 1965, for parliamentarians in the West Block on Parliament Hill. There, architect Fred Lebensold, using the latest models and plans for the project, set out for the assembled MPs, senators, and others the details of this artistic work in progress. The politicians were charmed. Like a juggler whirling a series of plates in the air, Southam moved easily back and forth in the following weeks on all fronts, keeping up the momentum. His diary notes confirm that he missed no occasion or opportunity to promote the centre. He also continued his hectic social life and attended performances of plays, music, and dance in every city he visited.

      Applebaum presented his report in May 1965. It would become the official blueprint for the development of serious music in the capital region for the foreseeable future. While not all of his dreams and aspirations would be fulfilled, most of the report’s key planks were introduced. At its core was the simple premise that “orchestral musicians must be involved in the community’s life and in the education of its children.”¹³

      While compiling the document, Applebaum met with officials at both of Ottawa’s universities. Davidson Dunton, the president of Carleton University, had expressed some interest in expanding its music options but was not interested in a full-scale Faculty of Music. At the Université d’Ottawa, however, Applebaum found a more sympathetic ear in its rector, Father Roger Guindon, and its PR director, Bill Boss. Both became enthusiastic cheerleaders for the new centre. Applebaum and Southam were invited to make a presentation to the university’s Senate, and by February of the following year they were assured that the governors had found money in their budget for a School of Music. Applebaum also recommended a conservatory for primary music education and a special school for gifted children, although these particular dreams were not to be realized.¹⁴ All Applebaum’s suggestions were based on the importance of a good education in music.

      In the early months of 1967, as the Board of Trustees met for the first time, the question of the new orchestra was among the biggest topics of discussion. The board was having a hard time making up its mind what to do. Applebaum’s carefully prepared report advocated a regional approach to music, but the trustees dithered over approving the core idea of the orchestra. Their uncertainty was reflected in an anguished paper prepared by Toronto trustee A.C. McKim entitled “To Be or Not to Be—An Orchestra,” which attempted to set out the different points of view.¹⁵ Despite all the preparatory work, it was up to the new trustees to make the real decisions. By July, Dr. Arnold Walter and a number of the other musical heavyweights on the board were becoming impatient. Walter wrote Southam a stern note urging him to get on with things. He advised the new director general to get together with Beaudet to resolve such issues as union negotiations, auditioning musicians, and hiring a conductor. There was no time to waste.

      Although the trustees had yet to give the go-ahead for an orchestra, this indecision did not stop them from discussing whom they might hire as a conductor. They were thinking big—Charles Munch, the former music director of the Boston Symphony, Cleveland’s George Szell, and London’s Sir John Barbirolli would be asked for advice. Perhaps one of them could be engaged on a limited basis, maybe with a Canadian conductor as an assistant and the possibility of succeeding him in due course. The importance of having a Canadian conductor was noted, but it was felt more important to have a first-class person who could develop the ensemble.

      As the controversy over the existence of the orchestra continued, the civil servants inside the office of the secretary of state were feeling the heat. There were sustained protests from Montreal and Toronto, whose orchestras feared they would be robbed of both players and money, and who argued that they could provide all the music Ottawa needed. Southam tried to ease matters by arranging meetings, attended by Freiman, with the other orchestra boards, but these encounters were of little avail. Intense lobbying continued at the political level to forestall the creation of the NAC ensemble. Henry Hindley, a senior adviser to Judy LaMarsh and a behind-the-scenes friend to the new centre, urged Southam to write out a solid case for the creation of the new orchestra and to present it to the minister. The final decision to authorize the NAC Orchestra would be made by the federal Cabinet.

      Other arguments raged internally at the Arts Centre, especially over the proposed orchestra’s size. Despite the careful groundwork laid out by Beaudet and Applebaum, which examined every aspect and implication of a chamber-sized ensemble, Lawrence Freiman much preferred large symphony orchestras. He insisted that Southam travel to New York with him to meet with Leonard Bernstein at the New York Philharmonic. Bernstein urged the creation of a larger orchestra because of the vastly greater number of works it could perform.

      Freiman’s view reflected local opinion. The Ottawa Philharmonic had functioned well in the postwar period, and Ottawa’s classical music lovers were still enamoured of large symphonic orchestras. Southam had to tread carefully to try to maintain their support. Gradually Freiman began to see that creating a larger orchestra in direct competition with Toronto and Montreal would present insoluble political problems, and he came