Françoise Aubut-Pratte, née Aubut (5 September 1922 – 8 October 1984) was a Canadian concert

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 ...

, and music teacher.

Life

Born in

Saint-Jérôme Saint-Jérôme () ( 2021 population 80,213) is a suburban city located about northwest of Montreal on the Rivière du Nord. It is part of the Montreal of Greater Montreal. It is a gateway to the Laurentian Mountains and its resorts via the ...

(

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 ...

), a great-granddaughter of

Calixa Lavallée Calixa Lavallée (December 28, 1842 – January 21, 1891) was a French-Canadian-American musician and Union Army band musician during the American Civil War. He is best known for composing the music for "O Canada," which officially became the n ...

, she began her piano studies at the age of six. At the Conservatoire national de musique of

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 ...

, she studied organ with

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 Corona ...

, harmony and piano with Antonio Létourneau. She continued her studies at the

New England Conservatory The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the oldest independent music conservatory in the United States and among the most prestigious in the world. The conservatory is located on Hu ...

of Boston under the direction of Carl McKinley (organ), Jesús María Sanroma (piano) and Marian Mason (

harmony In music, harmony is the process by which individual sounds are joined together or composed into whole units or compositions. Often, the term harmony refers to simultaneously occurring frequencies, pitches ( tones, notes), or chords. However ...

), and won a "Soloist Diploma" in 1938. In the fall of 1938, she moved to Paris where she worked at the

Conservatoire de Paris The Conservatoire de Paris (), also known as the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue ...

with

Olivier Messiaen Olivier Eugène Prosper Charles Messiaen (, ; ; 10 December 1908 – 27 April 1992) was a French composer, organist, and ornithologist who was one of the major composers of the 20th century. His music is rhythmically complex; harmonically ...

(musical analysis), Marcel Dupré (organ and improvisation), Simone Plé-Caussade (

counterpoint In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more musical lines (or voices) which are harmonically interdependent yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. It has been most commonly identified in the European classical tradi ...

and

fugue In music, a fugue () is a contrapuntal compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject (a musical theme) that is introduced at the beginning in imitation (repetition at different pitches) and which recurs frequently in the c ...

Norbert Dufourcq Norbert Stéphane Jean-Marie Dufourcq (21 September 1904 – 19 December 1990) was a French organist, music educator, musicologist and musicographer. Biography Norbert Dufourcq was born in 1904 in Saint-Jean-de-Braye in the Loiret department o ...

(music history), and Henri Büsser (

musical composition Musical composition can refer to an original piece or work of music, either vocal or instrumental, the structure of a musical piece or to the process of creating or writing a new piece of music. People who create new compositions are called ...

). At the École normale de musique de Paris, she worked on musical writing with

Nadia Boulanger Juliette Nadia Boulanger (; 16 September 188722 October 1979) was a French music teacher and conductor. She taught many of the leading composers and musicians of the 20th century, and also performed occasionally as a pianist and organist. From a ...

and piano with

Alfred Cortot Alfred Denis Cortot (; 26 September 187715 June 1962) was a French pianist, conductor, and teacher who was one of the most renowned classical musicians of the 20th century. A pianist of massive repertory, he was especially valued for his poeti ...

. Despite the deprivations of the war, the German occupation and an eight-month internment in Besançon, she won an exceptional Grand Premier Prix at the age of 21, crowning all the courses followed at the Paris Conservatory in 1944. This was the first time that a North American citizen had received this honour. She taught organ and fugue at the Faculty of Music of the Université de Montréal from 1951 and gave organ lessons at the

École de musique Vincent-d'Indy The école de musique Vincent-d'Indy is a subsidized private music college situated in Montreal, Quebec, Canada in the Outremont district, that specializes in music education. Programs L'école Vincent-d'Indy offers programs that result in stu ...

from 1967. Among her students were Françoys Bernier, Victor Bouchard, Marthe Lesage, Denis Regnaud,

Jeannine Vanier Marie Antoinette Jeannine Vanier (b. 21 August 1929) is a Canadian composer and organist who was born blind. Vanier was born in the Laval-des-Rapides neighbourhood of Laval, Quebec, to Émile and Alice Laurin Vanier. Her father was an engineer. S ...

, and Christopher Jackson. She was a member of the jury for the 1956

Prix d'Europe The Prix d'Europe is a Canadian study grant that is funded by the Ministère des Affaires culturelles du Québec of the Government of Quebec. Established in 1911, the award has been distributed annually to a single individual through competition wi ...

competition and the 1962 and 1978 Conservatoire de Paris exams. Françoise Aubut died in Montreal at age 62. She was entombed at the Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery in Montreal.

Recordings

* ''3rd Choral'' by Franck, ''Pange lingua'', ''Ave Maris Stella'' and ''Symphonie-Passion'' by Dupré, (RCI 122), 1956. * ''Psaume CL'' by Jean Papineau-Couture avec la Chorale Bach de Montréal. (RCI 128 et 6-ACM 4) 1956.

References

External links

*
Musica et Memoria
Detailed Biography by Michelle Quintal, photos and documents.
Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste
Prix Calixa-Lavallée.

Orgue Casavant (1960) de la chapelle conventuelle Saint-Albert-le-Grand, Montréal.

fonds d'archives conservé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal. {{DEFAULTSORT:Aubut, Francoise 1922 births 1984 deaths People from Saint-Jérôme Canadian classical organists Women organists Canadian music educators Conservatoire de Paris alumni École Normale de Musique de Paris alumni 20th-century Canadian women musicians Musicians from Quebec Women music educators Burials at Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery Canadian people imprisoned abroad 20th-century classical musicians Canadian expatriates in the United States Canadian expatriates in France