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Howard Cable

1920 – 2016

Canadian Conductor, arranger, music director,composer, and radio and television producer

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About Howard Cable

Lived 1920 – 2016 (aged 95). Howard Cable was a Canadian conductor, music director, composer, television producer, author and musician.

Howard Reid Cable (December 15, 1920 – March 30, 2016) was a conductor, arranger, music director, composer, and radio and television producer. He was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Biography Cable received an Associate diploma (ATCM) from The Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto in conducting and bandmastership 1939. He is also a recipient of an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts (DFA) degree from the University of Lethbridge in 2002. Cable studied piano, clarinet, and oboe, and played in the Parkdale Collegiate Institute orchestra under Leslie Bell. While leading a dance band, the Cavaliers, 1935-41 in Toronto and at southern Ontario summer resorts, he studied at the Toronto Conservatory of Music with Sir Ernest MacMillan, Ettore Mazzoleni, and Healey Willan. He also studied with John Weinzweig in 1945.

Cable composed and arranged the original theme for the Hockey Night in Canada television broadcast, Saturday's Game, which opened the broadcast from 1952 until 1968. His arrangement for solo piano of Dolores Claman's The Hockey Theme that was the show's theme from 1968 until the mid-2000s is one of the best selling pieces of sheet music in Canada. (Jerry Toth arranged the broadcast version of "The Hockey Theme".)

Cable was conductor for the early CBC TV variety programs General Electric Showtime and Mr. Show Business. In addition he conducted and arranged music for various CBC radio and TV programs in the 1960s. From 1971 to 1985 he was host of the program Howard Cable Presents heard on St. Catharines radio station "CHRE-fm", and for most of the years it was the station's highest rated program.

It was Howard Cable's longtime relationship with Canadian Brass that put him on the international stage through numerous recordings and radio appearances.

In 1999, he was made a Member of the Order of Canada in recognition of his "legendary contribution to the Canadian music industry".

Musical works

Brass Quintet Agnus Dei Carnival of Venice Civil War Medley Concerto Op 4 No 6 Contrapunctus No. 9 Coranto Alarm Cum rides mihi D'ou viens-tu, bergere Data est de lachryis mihi voluptas First Nowell Flight of the Tuba [Bumble] Bee Greensleeves Holly and the Ivy Ida and Dottie Jig Jingle Bells Joker, The Joy to World It Came Upon a Midnight Clear La Cloche de Noel La Rose Nuptiale La Virgen de la Macarena Lassus Trombone Lo How a Rose e'er Blooming Maple Leaf Rag McIntyre Ranch Country Newfoundland Rhapsody Newfoundland Sketch Noël Nouvelet O Christmas Tree O Come All Ye Faithful O Little Town of Bethlehem Midnight Clear Perpetual Motion Point Pelee (Horn solo with, 2nd mvt to "Ontario Pictures") Queen of Night Rowland (Lord Willowbye's Welcome Home) Saddles and Saloons Satyr's Dance Silent Night Six Carols A-Singing Sousa Collection Spinning Song St. David's Day Stephen Foster Treasury, A The Challenge Twelve Days of Christmas Two Little Bullfinches War Between the States Wm Boyce Suite

Brass Ensemble Atlantic Medley Canzon in echo duodecimi toni Canzon No. 28 Canzon per sonar septimi et octavi toni a 12 Credo Domine labia mea aperies E questra vita Gloria: Et in terra pax Hodie completi sunt Jubilate Deo Kyrie eleison Un Canadien Errant Olympic Fanfare Peter Amberly Sanctus Sanctus VI: Hosanna in excelsis Sonata octavi toni

Brass & Choir Ding Dong Merrily On High O Christmas Tree Six Carols A-Singing Twelve Days of Christmas Up on a Rooftop

Choir Anne of Green Gables (SSA) Up on a Rooftop (SATB)

Wind Ensemble/Concert Band Newfoundland Rhapsody (1956) Quebec Folk Fantasy (1953) Snake Fence Country (1954) Ontario Pictures (1986) McIntyre Ranch Country (2002) Good Medicine (2005) Saskatchewan Overture (2007) Canadian Musical Heroes (2015) A Musical Tribute to a Legendary Music Man (2016) Concertino for Bass Trombone (2016)

Marching Band 10 Provinces March (an arrangement of folk tunes)

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Important facts

Birth century
Nationality
Education
The Royal Conservatory of Music
Awards
Member of the Order of Canada
Also known as
Howard Reid Cable

People in Howard Cable's life

Named in this biography and alive at the same time

Contemporaries

People whose lives overlapped Howard Cable's

Frequently asked questions

Who was Howard Cable?

Canadian Conductor, arranger, music director,composer, and radio and television producer

When was Howard Cable born?

Howard Cable was born on 15 December 1920 in Toronto.

When did Howard Cable die?

Howard Cable died on 30 March 2016 in Toronto.

What was Howard Cable's occupation?

Howard Cable was a conductor, music director, composer, television producer, author and musician.

What nationality was Howard Cable?

Howard Cable was Canadian.

Sources & further reading

· Wikipedia: Howard Cable

· Wikidata: Q15458212

· DBpedia: Howard Cable

Cite this page

APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Howard Cable. https://biography.guide/howard-cable/

MLA: "Howard Cable." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/howard-cable/.

Chicago: "Howard Cable." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/howard-cable/.

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