Claude Champagne (27 May 1891 – 21 December 1965) was a French Canadian composer, teacher, pianist, and violinist.

Early life and education

Born as Joseph-Arthur-Adonaï Claude Champagne 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 ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, Champagne began piano and theory at 10 with Orpha-F. Deveaux, and continued with

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 ...

and

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, ...

at the

Conservatoire national de musique Conservatoire national de musique was a music conservatory in Montreal, Quebec that was actively providing higher education in music during the first eight decades of the 20th century. Founded in 1905 by Alphonse Lavallée-Smith as the Conservatoir ...

. At 14, he studied

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

with

Albert Chamberland Albert Chamberland (12 October 1886 – 4 April 1975) was a Canadian violinist, composer, conductor, music producer, and music educator. As a violinist he performed as a chamber musician with a number of ensembles, including the Beethove ...

. He earned diplomas from private institutions: the Dominion College of Music (theory and piano, 1908) and the Conservatoire national of Montreal.

Career

Early career

Between 1910 and 1921 Champagne taught piano, violin, and other instruments at the Varennes and Longueuil colleges. He performed on viola and saxophone with the Canadian Grenadier Guards Band directed by

J.-J. Gagnier Jean-Josaphat Gagnier (2 December 1885 – 16 September 1949) was a Canadian conducting, conductor, composer, clarinetist, bassoonist, pianist, arts administrator, and music educator. His compositional output mainly consists of works for orchestr ...

and gave private lessons in theory and harmony. He accompanied choirs, including that of the Maisonneuve district, and played violin during intermissions at the National, a variety theatre. In 1921 Champagne went to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

to study music. By then he had developed an interest in

modality Modality may refer to: Humanities * Modality (theology), the organization and structure of the church, as distinct from sodality or parachurch organizations * Modality (music), in music, the subject concerning certain diatonic scales * Modalitie ...

, which stayed with him the rest of his life.

Later career

At his return to Canada, Champagne became heavily involved in teaching. HIn 1932 he joined the Faculty of Music at McGill University, where he taught until 1941. He played an instrumental role in establishing the

Conservatoire de musique et d'art dramatique du Québec The Conservatoire de musique et d'art dramatique du Québec (CMADQ) is a public network of nine state-subsidised schools offering higher education in music and theatre in Quebec, Canada. The organization was established in 1942 as a branch of the ...

in 1942. In 1943 he was appointed the first assistant director of the Montreal Conservatoire. In the 1950s, with Boris Berlin, he published a series of sight reading exercise books for students. In 1950 his post-romantic work ''Concerto'' was recorded by BMI Canada, and in about 1955 his First String Quartet was performed by the Montreal String Quartet, and recorded by the CBC Transcription Service. He was attached to the

Montreal Catholic School Commission The Montreal Catholic School Commission (Commission des écoles catholiques de Montréal, CECM) was a Roman Catholic school district in Montreal, Quebec, Canada which operated both French-language and English-language schools. It was the largest s ...

as co-ordinator of solfége in elementary schools, and he was at the same time professor at the

McGill Conservatory The Schulich School of Music (also known as Schulich) is one of the constituent faculties of McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is located at 555, rue Sherbrooke Ouest (555, Sherbrooke Street West). The faculty was named after benef ...

. After that, he taught many Canadian composers including

Jean Vallerand Jean Vallerand, National Order of Quebec, CQ (December 24, 1915 – June 24, 1994) was a composer, music critic, violinist, conductor, arts administrator, writer, and music educator from Quebec. As a composer he was active from 1935 to 1969. An a ...

and

François Morel François Morel (14 March 1926 – 14 January 2018) was a Canadian composer, pianist, conductor, and music educator. An associate of the Canadian Music Centre, he was made a Knight of the National Order of Quebec in 1994 and was awarded t ...

Death

He died in Montreal on December 21, 1965. A concert hall at the Université de Montréal was later named for him.

Works

*Symphonie Gaspésienne *Fantaisie "J'ai du bon tabac" - for orchestra *Hercule et Omphale - for orchestra *La Laurentienne - for orchestra *Danse Villageoise *Piano Concerto (Fiesta) *Suite Canadienne - for choir and orchestra *Berceuse - for small orchestra *Prière - for organ *''Quadrilha Brasileira'' for Piano (1942) *Many choral pieces

Awards and honours

In 1963, Champagne was presented with an award by the

Canada Council The Canada Council for the Arts (french: Conseil des arts du Canada), commonly called the Canada Council, is a Crown corporation established in 1957 as an arts council of the Government of Canada. It acts as the federal government's principal i ...

References

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20060821190307/http://www.collectionscanada.ca/champagne/index-e.html
Suite Canadienne
at

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

Canadian Sheet Music Collection {{DEFAULTSORT:Champagne, Claude 1891 births 1965 deaths Canadian male composers Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal faculty Conservatoire national de musique alumni Conservatoire national de musique faculty McGill University faculty Musicians from Montreal Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada) 20th-century Canadian composers 20th-century Canadian male musicians Canadian military musicians