Galt MacDermot

Galt MacDermot
AP · Public domain · source
Name	Galt MacDermot
Birth date	1928-12-18
Birth place	Montreal
Death date	2018-12-17
Death place	New York City
Occupation	Composer, pianist, conductor
Years active	1950s–2018

Galt MacDermot was a Canadian composer and pianist best known for composing the score for the musical Hair. His work bridged musical theatre, jazz and R&B, influencing artists across Broadway, Off-Broadway, West End, Motown, and hip hop. MacDermot's recordings and compositions have been sampled and revived by performers in Los Angeles, London, Paris, Toronto, and New York City.

Early life and education

MacDermot was born in Montreal to a family with connections to Nova Scotia and the United Kingdom. He studied composition and piano at the Royal Academy of Music in London and later at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. Alongside training that connected him to teachers from the Royal Academy of Music and associations with ensembles in Montreal Symphony Orchestra circles, he pursued advanced composition studies at Columbia University under figures associated with the New York Philharmonic milieu. His early exposure included attendance at performances at Carnegie Hall, collaborations with student groups from Juilliard School, and listening to recordings issued by Blue Note Records and Verve Records.

Career and major works

MacDermot's breakthrough came when he composed the score for the countercultural musical Hair, which premiered on Off-Broadway and moved to Broadway in 1968. Hair featured songs that entered popular culture alongside works by contemporaries associated with Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band era performers and rock composers. Following Hair, MacDermot composed scores for theatre productions staged in London's West End, productions at the National Theatre, and revues in Paris and Toronto. He released solo albums on labels including Motown Records and smaller independents, and his instrumental pieces appeared on compilations curated by DJs from Kingston, Detroit, Chicago, and New Orleans.

Musical style and influences

MacDermot synthesized elements from jazz pianists of the Blue Note Records era, rhythmic patterns reminiscent of African and Caribbean musical traditions, and melodic approaches traceable to classical music pedagogues of the Royal Academy of Music. Listeners have compared aspects of his voicings to pianists associated with Thelonious Monk, Bill Evans, and Herbie Hancock, while his rhythmic emphasis drew parallels with artists linked to Fela Kuti and Sergio Mendes. His harmonic language shows affinities with composers connected to Stravinsky and to modernists whose works were performed by the London Symphony Orchestra and recorded by Decca Records.

Collaborations and productions

MacDermot collaborated with lyricists, directors, and performers who had worked with institutions such as The Public Theater, Lincoln Center, Royal Shakespeare Company, and The Old Vic. He wrote for singers who had associations with Atlantic Records, Island Records, and EMI Records, and his music was arranged by orchestrators linked to the New York City Ballet and the Metropolitan Opera. Notable collaborators included writers and performers active in productions involving figures from Bob Marley's circle, musicians connected to James Brown, and arrangers who had worked with Aretha Franklin and Nina Simone. His compositions were produced in recording sessions alongside engineers from studios in Abbey Road Studios, Sun Studio, and Muscle Shoals Sound Studio.

Later career and legacy

In later decades MacDermot's work found renewed life through sampling by hip hop producers and DJs associated with labels in Brooklyn, Queens, and Los Angeles. Artists who sampled his themes had ties to acts like Wu-Tang Clan, A Tribe Called Quest, and The Roots, while remixers from Paris and London placed his tracks on compilations alongside music by Daft Punk and Massive Attack. Revivals of Hair on Broadway and in the West End reintroduced his songs to new casts influenced by performers from Hamilton (musical), Rent (musical), and Spring Awakening (musical). Educational programs at institutions such as Berklee College of Music, Curtis Institute of Music, and the Royal Conservatory of Music have studied his scores in curricula dealing with 20th-century musical theatre and popular music intersections.

Awards and recognition

Over his career MacDermot received accolades from theatre and music organizations connected to Tony Awards circles, Grammy Awards committees, and cultural institutions in Canada and the United States. Productions of Hair won awards in seasons that included recognition for peers linked to Stephen Sondheim, Andrew Lloyd Webber, and Leonard Bernstein. His compositions have been preserved in archives associated with the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, the Canadian Museum of History, and university collections at McGill University and Columbia University.

Category:Canadian composers Category:Broadway composers