Queen’s associate professor and composer Dean Burry shares his “life changing” research into the work of Canadian war artist Alex Colville – the inspiration behind his symphony Tracing Colville. Dr. Burry also shares what it meant to represent Canada at the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Netherlands that took place Sept. 21. 

How did you get involved with this historic concert?

The Tracing Colville Project really started with a Research Initiation Grant (RIG) when I began working at Queen’s in the fall of 2018. I confess I didn’t really know what a RIG was, but it has evolved into such a rich experience, centred on the orchestral composition. Shortly after commencing the research I found an online paper detailing two Canadian artist-soldiers’ (painter Alex Colville and poet Earle Birney) perspectives of a Dutch city called Nijmegen. I reached out to the author, Dr. Hans Bak, a professor of North American Studies at Radboud University in Nijmegen and he was the one who reached out to Symfonieorkest Nijmegen with my work. 

Why is Nijmegen such a symbolic location to debut two movements of Tracing Colville?

For those who know the famous book and movie from the 1970s, Nijmegen Bridge was the “bridge NOT too far.”  When Operation Market Garden (the push through the Netherlands in the months following D-Day) stalled at Arnhem, it was the Nijmegen Salient area where the Canadians settled in for the winter of 1944-45. A strong bond was formed with the locals in that time and Colville painted many images of the famous bridge and surroundings 

Your symphony was inspired by Canadian artist Alex Colville, who painted pictures of camaraderie, hope, determination, and despair. The Dutch have a unique relationship with Canada because of our role in the liberation. Was it an emotional event?

Without doubt. For the Dutch, years of occupation led to what is known as the hongerwinter – the starvation which resulted from the Germans confiscating food and flooding fields as the Allies approached. While any occupying army has its challenges, the Dutch are still so very appreciative of Canadian efforts. The other movement of my piece to be presented is Bergen-Belsen - April 1945. So many Dutch Jews were sent to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, including Anne Frank and her sister Margot. I’ll admit that writing the piece itself was quite emotional for me.   

What can listeners/attendees expect from this concert?

The concert was designed as part of the 80th anniversary of liberation. The producers wanted to create a concert incorporating music from the four Allied countries associated with liberation: Edward Elgar from England, Charles Ives from America, Witold Lutaslawski from Poland, and myself (happy to say the one living composer!) from Canada. It’s quite an honour to be included with those composers for sure. The Canadian War Museum has been a great partner since this project began so we will also be projecting Colville’s war art above the orchestra throughout the performance of my piece.

Two of the four movements of the piece were presented. What is the significance of these two movements?

Nijmegen and Bergen-Belsen represent the last portion of Colville’s war experience (he had previously been in Yorkshire and the Mediterranean). I think these two movements were selected for their close association with the local experience. It is exhilarating to know that the Nijmegen movement, inspired by that very place, will be performed at the Concertgebouw Vereeniging – a concert hall where Canadians were entertained during the war. While sitting at the north end of the bridge during my initial 2019 research trip, I heard a church carillon begin to play across in the river in Nijmegen, then another started behind me in (the neighbourhood of) Lent, followed by yet another back across the river. This movement of Tracing Colville ends with three tubular bells surrounding the audience that play the Dutch national anthem, O Canada and my own Colville theme.  

Dr. Burry's symphony, ’Tracing Colville’, is inspired by the works of Alex Colville, a Canadian war artist during the Second World War

You have partnered with the Canadian War Museum on this initiative. Please tell us more about that.

As part of the process of creating this project, I reached out to Meredith Maclean, Collections Specialist at the museum in Ottawa. Their archives hold almost all of the 300 examples of Colville’s war art, from simple pencil sketches and water colours to fully-realized oil paintings. They are always eager to get these works, mostly locked away in a basement vault, out into the public. It’s been so wonderful being able to explore this collection and I think my own research has revealed a few previously unknown details about the catalogue. There is a major exhibition of the war art planned for a Canadian gallery next year which resulted from the connections made through the Tracing Colville Project. There are a lot of Alex Colville fans out there and this renewed interest in his war art seems like something that was just waiting to happen.  

Your time in the Netherlands also involves some speaking engagements. Who do you plan to connect with?

I was invited to Nijmegen for the whole week leading up to the concert on Sept. 21. The Canadian involvement in the liberation lives large in the memory of the Dutch and I will be speaking at a number of events at local museums and the university and a presentation at the residence of the Canadian Ambassador in Wassenaar, just outside of The Hague. In fact, at the university I’m leading a workshop on creating soundscapes (a very Canadian compositional style) which allows me not only to talk about sections of Tracing Colville, but also my opera Shanawdithit, written with Algonquin librettist Yvette Nolan, which details the last days of the Beothuk First Nation in Newfoundland. It’s very rewarding to be bringing some CanCon to the Netherlands.