Composers

Walter Boudreau (b. 1947) is a Quebecois composer, saxophonist and conductor. He is best known as the artistic director of the SMCQ, an important new music organisation in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, a position he has held since 1988. His compositions are essentially post-modern and include reinterpretations of

Walter Boudreau (Sorel, 1947 -) is a Quebecois composer, saxophonist and conductor. In 1969, he founded the group L’Infonie with Raoul Duguay, which dissolved in 1973. Since 1988, he has been the artistic director of the Société de musique contemporaine du Québec in Montreal. He was a principal collaborator in the Symphonie du Millénaire which took place in Montréal in 2000.

Born December 11, 1803, Hector Berlioz is best known for his Symphonie Fantastique (1830), Grande Messe des Morts (1837), the choral symphony Romeo et Juliette (1939), and La Damnation de Faust (1946). In addition, he also wrote the Treatise on Instrumentation (1844), in which he provided a technical study of Western musical instruments. Rediscovered in the 1950s, Berlioz’s compositions and criticisms are important foundations for both classic and modern musical studies. He is the quintessential artist who’s not appreciated during his time.

Though not a musical prodigy, Berlioz started composing at an early age. Twelve to be exact. As would be the case later on his life as well, much of his musical pursuits were self-taught. For instance, Berlioz studied harmony via textbooks. His earliest musical instruments of choice were the guitar and the flute. For the most part, Berlioz’s formative education was concentrated on the literary arts and linguistics. At university, he would first study medicine, but ultimately leave it for music three years later (1824). His passion for music came from his own research, poring over books, scores, and operas.

In 1826, Berlioz began attending the Conservatoire de Paris, truly delving into the study of composition. That first year, he competed for the highly competitive scholarship “Prix de Rome.” He would not win, but would continue to pursue it until he did in 1830. With the prize, he also won an all-important five-year pension. That year would also mark the debut of one of his most important works Symphonie Fantastique, an orchestral work that would introduce new approaches to composition.

In addition, other major orchestral works included Harold en Italie (1834) and overtures for literary works by Shakespeare (King Lear) and Sir Walter Scott (Waverley and Rob Roy). His Romeo et Juliette (1839) was influenced by his love affair with actress Harriet Smithson, whom he would marry in 1833. In 1834, the two would welcome a son, but their marriage was overall unsuccessful and full of heartbreak. In 1841, they would officially part ways. Berlioz would marry once more in 1854 to Marie Récio, a long-time love. Their marriage however would also not be one of lasting bliss. As a Romantic, it’s not surprising to find Berlioz’s personal passions and disappointments would impact his work.

Among his choral works are La Damnation de Faust and the Christmas oratorio L’enfance du Christ. Among his operas, Les Troyens would prove pivotal in Berlioz’s renaissance. During his time, Berlioz’s style was a bit too removed from the establishment to be fully embraced. However, as time passed and distance provided perspective, his innovation came into sharper focus. Upon his death, it is said that Berlioz’s final (prescient) words were: “They are finally going to play my music.” And indeed they would, some 50 years later.

Berlioz’s final years were marked by fame abroad, though his home of Paris was as said, still resistant. He passed away on March 8, 1869, and was buried in Montmarte Cemetery. In the end, his legacy would prove to be not only his compositions, but his contributions to theory and the development of symphonic form and instrumentation. Along with Wilhelm Richard Wagner and Franz Liszt, Berlioz was regarded one of the “Great Trinity of Progress” for 19th century Romanticism. Though somewhat of an “outsider” during his time, Berlioz is today celebrated for that very maverick vision.

Prominent German composer Johannes Brahms was born in Hamburg, Germany on May 7, 1833. He had composed most of his works during the romantic era. Later in his life, Brahms moved to Vienna, Austria. Brahm had inherited the taste for music from his father who was also a talented musician and could play number of instruments. Brahm’s father was responsible for teaching music to his son for the first time. At an young age of seven, he had started studying piano with Otto Friedrich Willibald Cossel. From the early years, musical talents were evident in Brahms. Read more…

Ludwig van Beethoven was born in Bonn, Germany December 16, 1770 and began to learn music at the early age of four. By the age of eight he was studying the piano, organ and viola under various tutors including Christian Gottlob Neffe, the Court Organist in Bonn. Beethoven is said to have visited Vienna in 1787 to study under Mozart, though no one is certain as to why he did not study with him. He quickly returned home due to his mother’s failing health and her death in July 1787.

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Johann Sebastian Bach was born 21 March 1685 in Eisenach, located in modern day Germany into a family of prominent musicians. Yet his first composition was not musical but genealogical, entitled “Origin of the Musical Bach Family.” During his childhood he was instructed in the harpsichord, organ and violin. Unfortunately both his mother and father died within eight months of each other around his tenth birthday. This turn of events found him moving in with his oldest brother Johann Christoph and receiving instruction on clavichord as well as studying and performing music in general.

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