Pierre-Joseph Amédée Tremblay (14 April 1876 – 14 July 1949) 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 output includes several

motet In Western classical music, a motet is mainly a vocal musical composition, of highly diverse form and style, from high medieval music to the present. The motet was one of the pre-eminent polyphonic forms of Renaissance music. According to Margar ...

s, two

mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...

es, a few patriotic songs, works for solo organ, and the

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs, and dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, length of the work, and at face value, subject matter. Apart from its s ...

''L'Intransigeant'' (produced in Ottawa in 1906). His organ piece ''Suite de quatre pièces pour grand orgue'' is his most well known composition. Dedicated to

Joseph Bonnet Joseph Élie Georges-Marie Bonnet (17 March 1884 – 2 August 1944) was a French composer and organist. Biography One of the major French pipe organists, Joseph Bonnet was born in Bordeaux. He first studied with his father, an organist at S ...

, it is noted for its "brilliant toccata" at the finale. His works have been published by Orme, Le Passe-Temps, and Ed. Archambault. Composers

Guillaume Couture Guillaume Couture (January 14, 1618 – April 4, 1701) was a citizen of New France. During his life he was a lay missionary with the Jesuits, a survivor of torture, a member of an Iroquois council, a translator, a diplomat, a militia captain, a ...

and

Vincent d'Indy Paul Marie Théodore Vincent d'Indy (; 27 March 18512 December 1931) was a French composer and teacher. His influence as a teacher, in particular, was considerable. He was a co-founder of the Schola Cantorum de Paris and also taught at the Par ...

were admirers of Tremblay's music.

Life and career

Born in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

, Tremblay, along with

Alexis Contant Joseph Pierre Alexis Contant (12 November 1858 – 28 November 1918) was a Canadian composer, organist, pianist, and music educator. Trained as a pianist, he became one of the first Canadians to compose large-scale choral and orchestral works, ...

, was one of the first major Canadian composers to be trained exclusively in his native country. At the age of 12 he began studying music with Father Sauvé, the organist at Saint Joseph's Church in Montreal. He later studied with

Alcibiade Béique Alcibiade may refer to: *Alcibiade, winner of 1865 Grand National The 1865 Grand National was the 27th renewal of the Grand National horse race that took place at Aintree near Liverpool, England, on 8 March 1865. Finishing Order Non-finishe ...

(piano and organ), Father Cléophas Borduas (Gregorian chant), and

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 ...

(organ and fugue). Tremblay became the organist at Saint Joseph's Church in 1892 after having turned down a similar position at the Dominican Church in

Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec Saint-Hyacinthe (; French: ) is a city in southwestern Quebec east of Montreal on the Yamaska River. The population as of the 2021 Canadian census was 57,239. The city is located in Les Maskoutains Regional County Municipality of the Montérég ...

. He remained in that post until 1894 when he became the organist at the

Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica, Ottawa The Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica is a Roman Catholic minor basilica in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada located on 385 Sussex Drive in the Lower Town neighbourhood. It was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1990. The basilica is the oldes ...

. He was the organist at that church for the next 26 years during which time he also worked as a prominent organist, composer, and teacher in Ottawa. His pupils in that city included

Joseph Beaulieu Joseph Beaulieu (21 May 1895 – 1 October 1965) was a Canadian composer, folklorist, and music educator. He traveled extensively throughout Canada collecting folk songs, which he compiled in several published books. As a composer, his works ref ...

, Wilfrid Charette,

Oscar O'Brien Oscar O'Brien (7 September 1892 – 20 September 1958) was a Canadian folklorist, composer, pianist, organist, music educator, and Roman Catholic priest. A large portion of his compositions were based in folklore and he also arranged and harm ...

, and his own son, the composer

George Tremblay George Amédée Tremblay (14 January 1911 – 14 July 1982) was a Canadian (and later, naturalized American citizen) pianist, composer, and author who was active in the United States. Although his works display a broad range of stylistic influence ...

. In 1920 Tremblay moved to

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

to assume the post of organist at the

Cathedral of the Madeleine The Cathedral of the Madeleine is a Roman Catholic church in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was completed in 1909 and currently serves as the cathedral, or mother church, of the Diocese of Salt Lake City. It is the only cathedral in the ...

. He left there in 1925 to become the organist at St. Vincent de Paul Church in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. He remained at that church until his death in Los Angeles in 1949.

Scores

External links

Canadian Encyclopedia
Article by Gilles Potvin.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tremblay, Amedee 1876 births 1949 deaths Canadian composers Canadian male composers Canadian music educators Canadian organists Male organists