Alfred Joseph Édouard Mignault (8 December 1895 – 10 July 1961) was a Canadian

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

, and

music educator Music education is a field of practice in which educators are trained for careers as elementary or secondary music teachers, school or music conservatory ensemble directors. Music education is also a research area in which scholars do original ...

. A largely self-taught composer, his compositional output includes both vocal and instrumental works such as songs, works for solo piano, choral works, and works for orchestra. Some his compositions were published by

Adélard Joseph Boucher Adélard Joseph François-Arthur Boucher (28 June 1835 – 16 November 1912) was a Canadian publisher, importer, choirmaster, organist, conductor, writer on music, composer and numismatist. In 1865 he founded the A.J. Boucher Co. in Montreal ...

and Archambault Musique. His most well known work is his 1944 ''Messe brève de requiem''.

Life and career

Born in

Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures is a city in central Quebec, Canada, on the Saint Lawrence River, adjacent to Quebec City. The town was founded in 1691 by three families (Desroches, Racette, Couture). It was merged with Quebec City on January 1, 2002 ...

, Mignault received his earliest musical training from his mother who was an organist trained by

Romain-Octave Pelletier I Romain-Octave Pelletier I (sometimes spelled Peltier) (9 September 1843 – 4 March 1927) was a Canadian organist, pianist, composer, writer on music, and music educator. Early life and career Born in Montreal, Pelletier was a member of a prom ...

. In 1916 he began studying the piano with

Alfred La Liberté Alfred La Liberté (10 February 1882 – 7 May 1952) was a Canadian composer, pianist, writer on music, and music educator. He was a disciple and close personal friend of Alexander Scriabin. He was also an admirer of Marcel Dupré and Nikol ...

. He briefly pursued studies at the

Université de Montréal The Université de Montréal (UdeM; ; translates to University of Montreal) is a French-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university's main campus is located in the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood of Côte-de ...

but dropped out to pursue private music studies with pianist Léo-Pol Morin and organists

Eugène Lapierre Eugène Lapierre (8 June 1899 – 21 October 1970) was a Canadian organist, composer, journalist, writer on music, arts administrator, and music educator. He was awarded the King George V Silver Jubilee Medal in 1935 and the King George VI Coron ...

and Émile Lambert. In the early 1920s, Mignault held organist posts briefly at St-Alphonse d'Youville, St-Étienne, Ste-Cunégonde, Ste-Catherine, and St-Georges in Montreal. In 1924 he was appointed organist at St-Enfant-Jésus Church, a position he held through 1957. He also served as that church's choirmaster from 1944 to 1957. In 1937 he began working as an organist and pianist for

CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...

, appearing on radio broadcasts periodically up into the 1950s. He notably succeeded

Henri Letondal Henri Letondal (29 June 1901 – 15 February 1955) was a French-Canadian actor, critic, playwright and musician. He was born in Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by populatio ...

as artistic director of the

CKAC CKAC is a French-language radio station located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Owned by Cogeco, the station operates as a commercial traffic information service branded as ''Radio Circulation 730''. Its studios are located at Place Bonaventure in ...

radio program ''L'Heure provinciale'' from 1938 to 1940. In 1943, Mignault joined the music faculty of the

Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal The Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal (CMQM) is a music conservatory located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. In addition to the Montreal region, the school takes in students from nearby cities, including Granby, Joliette, St-Jean, S ...

where he taught

solfège In music, solfège (, ) or solfeggio (; ), also called sol-fa, solfa, solfeo, among many names, is a music education method used to teach aural skills, Pitch (music), pitch and sight-reading of Western classical music, Western music. Solfège is ...

and musical dictation through 1961. He also taught voice and solfège for the Montreal Catholic School Board from 1944 to 1957. He died in Montreal in 1961 at the age of 65. His son André Mignault had a successful career as a

cellist The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G2, D3 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mignault, Alfred 1895 births 1961 deaths Academic staff of the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal Canadian music educators Canadian male composers Canadian organists Male organists People from Capitale-Nationale Musicians from Quebec Université de Montréal alumni 20th-century Canadian composers 20th-century organists 20th-century Canadian male musicians