Rosette Renshaw

Rosette Madelaine Renshaw (4 May 1920 - 13 March 1997) was a Canadian composer, ethnomusicologist, music educator, pianist and translator.^[1] She studied music from India, Japan, and South Asia, and worked as a translator for Canada’s House of Commons and Secretary of State.^[2]^[3]^[4]

Renshaw was born in Montreal.^[5] She studied at the Ecole Vincent-d’Indy, then earned a B.A. from McGill University and a doctorate from Toronto University. She also studied at the Peabody Conservatory and the Paris Conservatory. Her teachers included Nadia Boulanger, Claude Champagne, Nicolas Nabokov, and Dr. Alfred Whitehead.^[2]^[3]

Renshaw began working as one of the first women translators in the Ottawa House of Commons in 1943, also serving later as a translator for the Secretary of State.^[6] Her teaching career included time at:

1956-57 Ecole Vincent-d’Indy

1959-64 University of Montreal

1960s McGill University

1967-(1990?) State University of New York (New Paltz, NY).^[3]^[7]

In England, Renshaw lectured at the Bath International Music Festival, the Yehudi Menuhin School, and the Royal Conservatory of Music. She received a UNESCO grant to study in India, and made annual visits there towards the end of her life. In 1957, Renshaw provided commentary for a Ravi Shankar concert presented on CBC TV. During her tenure at SUNY, she arranged concerts there by Indian musicians such as Ali Akbar Khan, Amir Khan, and Ravi Shankar. She also produced video tapes on the music of South Asia and Japan.^[3]^[7]

Renshaw’s library was donated to the University of Ottawa Library.^[7] Her works included:

Music

Madrigal for Strings^[8]

Symphony in G^[3]

Writing

Erik Satie (1866-1925) La Nouvelle Revue Canadienne 1/2 1951 avril-mai 1951

[pp] 76-80^[9]^[10]

“Rhythmic Structures in Indian and Western Music” in R. Ashton, ed., Music East and West New Delhi 1966^[11]

References

^ Stern, Susan (1978). Women composers: a handbook. Metuchen London: the Scarecrow press. p. 140. ISBN 978-0-8108-1138-6.
^ ^a ^b Cohen, Aaron I. (1987). International Encyclopedia of Women Composers. Books & Music (USA). p. 579. ISBN 978-0-9617485-1-7.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "Rosette Renshaw". thecanadianencyclopedia.ca. Retrieved 2025-08-07.
^ Stewart-Green, Miriam (1980). Women composers: a checklist of works for the solo voice. A Reference publication in women's studies. Boston, Mass: G.K. Hall. p. 113. ISBN 978-0-8161-8498-9.
^ Heinrich, Adel (1991). Organ and harpsichord music by women composers: an annotated catalog. Music reference collection. New York: Greenwood Press. p. 349. ISBN 978-0-313-26802-1.
^ Gouvernement du Canada, Services publics et Approvisionnement Canada (2025-08-07). "Through the Lens of History". www.noslangues-ourlanguages.gc.ca. Retrieved 2025-08-07.
^ ^a ^b ^c "WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO. . .? | SUNY New Paltz". www.newpaltz.edu. Retrieved 2025-08-07.
^ Canadian Saturday Night. New Leaf Publications. 1949.
^ Orledge, Robert (1990-10-26). Satie the Composer. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-35037-2.
^ Shattuck, Roger (1968-06-12). The Banquet Years: The Origins of the Avant-Garde in France, 1885 to World War I. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-394-70415-9.
^ Clayton, Martin (2008). Time in Indian Music: Rhythm, Metre, and Form in North Indian Rāg Performance. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-533968-0.

[1] Stern, Susan (1978). Women composers: a handbook. Metuchen London: the Scarecrow press. p. 140. ISBN 978-0-8108-1138-6.

[:0-2] Cohen, Aaron I. (1987). International Encyclopedia of Women Composers. Books & Music (USA). p. 579. ISBN 978-0-9617485-1-7.

[:1-3] "Rosette Renshaw". thecanadianencyclopedia.ca. Retrieved 2025-08-07.

[4] Stewart-Green, Miriam (1980). Women composers: a checklist of works for the solo voice. A Reference publication in women's studies. Boston, Mass: G.K. Hall. p. 113. ISBN 978-0-8161-8498-9.

[5] Heinrich, Adel (1991). Organ and harpsichord music by women composers: an annotated catalog. Music reference collection. New York: Greenwood Press. p. 349. ISBN 978-0-313-26802-1.

[6] Gouvernement du Canada, Services publics et Approvisionnement Canada (2025-08-07). "Through the Lens of History". www.noslangues-ourlanguages.gc.ca. Retrieved 2025-08-07.

[:2-7] "WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO. . .? | SUNY New Paltz". www.newpaltz.edu. Retrieved 2025-08-07.

[8] Canadian Saturday Night. New Leaf Publications. 1949.

[9] Orledge, Robert (1990-10-26). Satie the Composer. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-35037-2.

[10] Shattuck, Roger (1968-06-12). The Banquet Years: The Origins of the Avant-Garde in France, 1885 to World War I. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-394-70415-9.

[11] Clayton, Martin (2008). Time in Indian Music: Rhythm, Metre, and Form in North Indian Rāg Performance. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-533968-0.

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Rosette Renshaw

Music

Writing

References

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