Timothy McGee

McGee, Timothy

Timothy (James) McGee. Musicologist, teacher, b Glens Falls, NY, 23 Nov 1936; B MUS ED (Notre Dame) 1958, MA music history (Connecticut) 1961, PH D musicology (Pittsburgh) 1974. In addition to his degree studies, McGee also studied performance 1959-60 at Yale University. (His doctoral dissertation was The liturgical origin and early history of the Quem quaeritis dialogue).

McGee held a Mellon fellowship 1969 and Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council grants. He taught at St Francis Xavier University 1966-9 and the University of Toronto 1973-2003. His research was primarily on subjects in medieval and renaissance music, and his secondary area of research was Canadian music. In the latter domain he wrote The Music of Canada (1985), the first major survey of music in Canada, a textbook and guide used by many students and other readers, a book on the music of Barbara Pentland (1983 with Sheila Eastman), and various articles.

The main body of McGee's work on early music is concerned with the application of performance practice research to performance and in performing editions. In this vein he wrote Medieval and Renaissance Music: A Performer's Guide (Toronto, 1985) and prepared editions of Isaac's Alla Battaglia (1988) and Medieval Instrumental Dances (1989). His book The Sound of Medieval Song: Ornamentation and Vocal Style According to the Treatises (1998) includes a close reading of passages from several treatises applied to specific questions of performance.

McGee was the founding director and a performer in the Toronto Consort, and a director of other ensembles at the University of Toronto. In 2001 Early Music America gave him the Howard Mayer Brown Award for lifetime achievement in early music.