Musicatlas
Music
Choral
- From Song of Solomon — for SATB and piano
- An Immorality — for SATB and piano
- The Latest Decalogue — for SATB a cappella
- The Shrine of Kotje — for SATB and orchestra
- Songs from the Sanskrit — for SATB a cappella
- Hermione: A Portrait — for SSA, clarinet and bass clarinet
- The Birds (arr. of Czech carol) — for children’s voices, recorder and harp
- March of the 3 Kings (arr.) — for TTB a cappella
- Irish Carol (arr.) — for soprano and tenor soli, recorder, harp and SATB
- Irish Carol (arr.) — for SSAATTBB a cappella with recorder obbligato
- Les Anges dans nos Campagnes (arr.) — for TTBB a cappella
- Mister Lear — for SATB and brass quartet
- Four Canons for Three Voices — for mixed voices and piano
- Three Romantic Madrigals — for SSATB a cappella
- O Canada (canonic arr.) — for SATB a cappella
- Motet: I Shall Remember — for SATB a cappella
- Alleluia — for SATB a cappella
- Overheard on a Saltmarsh — for SATB a cappella
- Deep River (arr.) — for SSAATTBB and piano
- The Lord’s Prayer — for SATB choir, organ and piano
- The Lord’s Prayer — for SATB choir and organ
- Le Chat — for SATB a cappella
- Of Youth and Time — for SATB, youth and children’s choirs, and 2 pianos
- Three Pastoral Songs for 2-part treble choir and piano
Vocal
- Morning’s Minion — song cycle for soprano and piano
- The Dinner-Party — song cycle for soprano or tenor, clarinet, and piano
- Three African Songs — song cycle for tenor or soprano and piano
- Nightsong and Earthvision — for soprano, piano, violin, and horn (Songs of Myself #1)
- A Decade (Songs of Myself #2) — for medium voice, harp, synthesizer and viola
- Credo (Songs of Myself #3) — for mezzo-soprano, viola and piano
- Prologue (Songs of Myself #4) — for soprano, flute, clarinet, piano, violin, and cello
- Two Songs — for alto and piano
- Three Songs on Poems of Robert Graves — for voice and tape
- Four Arias from “Hypatia” — for mezzo-soprano and piano
- Vocalise and Song — for soprano and percussion
Chamber music
- Rag-Sextet — for piano and woodwind quintet
- String Quartet #1
- Concert Piece — for flute and piano
- Meditation — for cello and piano
- Sonata for French Horn and Piano
- Prelude and Meditation on Coventry Cathedral — for trumpet and organ
- The Lonely Princess — for flute and guitar
- Piano Trio #1
- Toccatissimo! — for 2 pianos and percussion
- LYS — Theme & Variations for piano, flute and cello
- Holland Point Music — for soprano saxophone and marimba
- Chinese Impressions — for erhu and guzheng
- Saxophone Quartet #1
Solo instrumental
- Two Twelve-Tone Inventions for piano
- 5 Variations on a Theme of Violet Archer — for piano [Download PDF]
- Visions of Nothingness — Piano Sonata in 2 movements
- Five Preludes for Organ
- Suite for Elan — for piano [Download PDF]
- Fantasia on “Ein’ Feste Burg” — for organ
- Chorale Prelude on ‘O Sacred Head now Wounded’ for organ
- Chorale Prelude on ‘Yigdal’ — for organ
- Pastoral Suite — for guitar
- Ballade for piano [Download PDF]
- Pinocchio’s Theme — for piano [Download PDF]
- Deep River Rag — for piano
Orchestra/band
- Grade 7 Superstar — for junior band
- Divertimento for Strings
- Land of the Silver Birch / Huron Carol — for handbell choir
- Suite of Orchestral Dances
- Symphony on Chinese Folktunes (Symphony #1)
- Symphony #2 (in progress)
- The Dawn Comes Up Like Thunder — Tone Poem for orchestra
- Cantata for a Beloved Planet — for orchestra, choir and vocal soloists
Theatre/opera
- Macbett — (Incidental Music for the play by Eugene Ionesco) for piano, trumpet, french horn, and percussion
- Mademoiselle Fifi — chamber opera in 2 scenes (libretto by Rowland Holt-Wilson)
- Hypatia — A play with songs
- A Sea Liturgy — (Incidental Music for the play by Gloria Sawai) for harp, recorder, SATB, synthesizer and viola
- Lady from the Past — Documentary Soundtrack for tape
- Aladdin — Ballet
- Pinocchio — Ballet
- 3 Electronic Dances
- Hundreds and Thousands — Chamber Opera for mezzo-soprano solo
- The Weapons of the Weak — opera on the history of Guatemala (libretto by the composer)
Life
Mr. Hannah was born in 1945 at Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, and has resided most of his life in various parts of Western Canada. He studied piano and clarinet as a child, and later took cello lessons in order to better understand how to write for strings. In 2009 returned to his homeland after several years of backpacking the world.
His interests are eclectic, ranging from travel and the sciences to Eastern philosophy. In 1969 he received a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from the University of Alberta in Edmonton, and a Bachelor of Music and a Master of Music degree (student of Violet Archer and Malcolm Forsyth) from the same institution in 1973 and 1975 respectively. He taught in public schools in Edmonton after receiving a Diploma in Education in 1980, finally burning out in 1996 from the years of patiently trying to present a rich and thoughtful music curriculum to people with a hockey mentality. At his website, visitors can listen to and download many of his pieces of music and read his lively descriptions of same.
His works have been performed in Canada and internationally, and many of them appear on CDs produced by the Edmonton Composers’ Concert Society (now Tonus Vivus Society), of which he was the founding president. He is also a reviewer and essayist, and some of his writings may be read at his website.
His catalogue includes some eighty works: choral, chamber, song cycles, orchestral, two ballets and three operas, the most recent being based on the tragic history of Guatemala where he lived during its composition. He prefers texts and stories that express the human condition in a vivid and honest manner, and that are colorful in language and irreverent in tone. His music tends toward the conservative, written in a style that he describes as "dissonant tonality", but elements of the atonal, of textural writing, of minimalism, and of randomness can also be found. He has received commissions from many sources.