Murray, Bain

Bain Murray was born in 1926 in Evanston Ill. and died at the age of 66 in January of 1993. Murray surpassed dedication to the musical profession. He worked diligently on his opera Mary Stuart: A Queen betrayed, while in the ICU at University Hospitals of Cleveland. During cardiac and renal complications he continued to attend the concerts of the Cleveland Chamber Symphony. Bain Murray worked full-time until the day before his death. He loved music, and he devoted his life to sharing his passion.

Bain Murray was a prolific composer with an affinity for vocal music. He has written numerous song cycles with orchestra, chamber ensembles, piano and organ compositions, over 30 choral works, over 30 individual songs, string quartets, a woodwind quintet, trio for flute, cello and piano, a ballet and two operas --The Legend (1987) and Mary Stuart: A Queen Betrayed (1991). A third opera based on Eleanor of Aquitaine remains unfinished. Murray created romantic pieces of a lyrical quality. He appreciated tradition and made great contributions to the American art song literature, setting poems to music.

Murray received a Bachelor's degree from Oberlin College and a Master's degree from Harvard University. He taught at both schools. Murray came to Cleveland in 1959. Beginning in 1966 he headed the Theory-Composition Division of Cleveland State University. His composition teachers were Herbert Elwell (who studied with Dvorak), Walter Piston, Randall Thompson and Nadia Boulanger.

In the summer of 1949 Murray assisted Professor Willard Rhodes of Columbia in recording chants and dances of the Navajo, Hopi and Zuni. In 1950 he recorded the Northwest tribes of Washington, Oregon and Idaho for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Department of the Interior. All of the recordings are stored in the Library of Congress and some were issued on Ethnic Folkways Discs. Murray wrote a String Quartet on Indian Themes while a student at Oberlin, The Hopi Flute Song, a choral work, and used Indian materials in some subsequent compositions including his Opera-Oratorio The Legend.

Murray also maintained a strong interest in the music of Poland (see Related Materials ). He visited Poland six times, wrote numerous articles on Polish music published in the U.S. and abroad, and wrote a book on the History of Polish Music. Further writing endeavors included the creation of the music column for the Sun Newspapers; Murray is known as a music critic and reviewer.

Bain Murray's awards include a Fulbright Grant to Belgium, the Medal of Distinction from the Polish Composers Union, the Brookline Music Library Association Prize, the Knight and Boott Prizes of Harvard University, the Cleveland Fine Arts Prize, numerous ASCAP awards, several Creative Research Grants from Cleveland State University Graduate Research Council, recording grants from the Bascom Little Fund, and others from private foundations.

He received commissions from J. Heywood Alexander, the William Appling Singers, Leslie Chabay, Marie Kraft, Arthur Loesser, Daisy Newman, Rosiland Reed, Robert Shaw, the Gregg Smith Singers, the Westport Madrigal Singers, Sendai (Japan) New Music Ensemble, and the Cleveland Chamber Symphony under Edwin London.

His publishers include Lawson-Gould, Ludwig Music Co., Galaxy Gailliard, Theodore Presser, Summy Birchard and Studio P/R. His works appear on the Gregg Smith Singers, Move (Scotland), and the True Media record labels.

From the guide to the Bain Murray Music collection, 1939-1992, (Cleveland State University)