Gabriel Cusson (2 April 1903,

Roxton Pond, Quebec Roxton Pond is a municipality in the Canadian province of Quebec, located within La Haute-Yamaska Regional County Municipality. The population as of the 2021 Canadian Census was 4,224. The municipality was created in 1997 with the merger of the ...

- 18 Apr 1972,

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 ...

) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

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 ...

. As a composer, his music was heavily influenced by the style of early 20th-century French composers. Most of his work remains unpublished, although a few of his compositions have been recorded including his ''Sérénade for orchestra'' and one of his suites by the

Orchestre Métropolitain The Orchestre Métropolitain (OM) is a symphony orchestra in Montréal, Québec, formed in 1981. It performs primarily in the Montreal Symphony House at Place des Arts but also at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier and Théâtre Maisonneuve. Outside the c ...

. The Canadian publishing company

La Bonne Chanson La Bonne Chanson is a Canadian publishing and independent record label that is "dedicated to the dissemination of French and French-Canadian songs of quality". It was founded in Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, Canada Canada is a country in ...

has printed a number of his

folksong Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

arrangements. His other unpublished works include several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, the

cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir. The meaning of ...

''À la gloire de Jeanne Mance'' (1942), and incidental music for ''

Antigone In Greek mythology, Antigone ( ; Ancient Greek: Ἀντιγόνη) is the daughter of Oedipus and either his mother Jocasta or, in another variation of the myth, Euryganeia. She is a sister of Polynices, Eteocles, and Ismene.Roman, L., & Roma ...

'' and the biblical dramas ''Jonathas'' and ''Tobie''.Gabriel Cusson
at

Encyclopedia of Music in Canada ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; french: L'Encyclopédie canadienne) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with the support of Canadian Heritage. Available for ...

Training

Cusson was trained at the Institut Nazareth, a music conservatory in Montreal that awarded degrees through the

University of Montreal A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...

. While there he studied the

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...

with

Gustave Labelle Gustav, Gustaf or Gustave may refer to: *Gustav (name), a male given name of Old Swedish origin Art, entertainment, and media * ''Primeval'' (film), a 2007 American horror film * ''Gustav'' (film series), a Hungarian series of animated short cart ...

singing Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

with Alfred Lamoureux,

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

and

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

with

Arthur Letondal Arthur is a common male given name of Brythonic origin. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. The etymology is disputed. It may derive from the Celtic ''Artos'' meaning “Bear”. Another theory, more ...

, and

music theory Music theory is the study of the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory". The first is the "rudiments", that are needed to understand music notation (ke ...

with both

Achille Fortier Achille Fortier (23 October 1864 – 19 August 1939) was a Canadians, Canadian composer and music educator. His compositional output includes a modest amount of choir, choral and chamber music, chamber works, several songs and motets, and a small ...

and

Romain Pelletier Romain Pelletier (sometimes spelled Peltier) (22 August 1875 – 24 November 1953) was a Canadian organist, choir conductor, composer, and music educator. His compositional output consists entirely of works for solo organ and motets. He was ...

. He graduated from the school in 1924 with a

Bachelor of Music Bachelor of Music (BM or BMus) is an academic degree awarded by a college, university, or conservatory upon completion of a program of study in music. In the United States, it is a professional degree, and the majority of work consists of prescr ...

and that same year won the

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 ...

for cello performance. That competition win enabled him to study at the

École Normale de Musique de Paris The École Normale de Musique de Paris "Alfred Cortot" (ENMP) is a leading conservatoire located in Paris, Île-de-France, France. At the time of the school's foundation in 1919 by Auguste Mangeot, Alfred Cortot. The term ''école normale'' (Engl ...

in France from 1924 to 1930 with such teachers as

Diran Alexanian Diran Alexanian ( hy, Տիրան Ալեքսանեան) (April 12, 1881, Constantinople – 1954, Chamonix, France) was an Armenian cello teacher and one of the world's greatest virtuoso cellists. Early life He started his studies in music und ...

(cello),

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 ...

(composition), and

Charles Panzéra Charles uguste LouisPanzéra (February 16, 1896 in Geneva – June 6, 1976 in Paris) was a Swiss operatic and concert baritone.''Piano ma non solo'', Jean-Pierre Thiollet, Anagramme Ed., 2012, Overview Panzéra's studies at the Paris Conser ...

(voice).

Career

In 1931 Cusson returned to Montreal and became active as both a composer and teacher in that city. As a teacher he first worked as a private tutor in

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 ...

, with

Jean Papineau-Couture Jean Papineau-Couture, (November 12, 1916August 11, 2000) was a Canadian composer and academic. Born in Montreal, Papineau-Couture is the grandson of conductor and composer Guillaume Couture. As a child he studied piano with his mother. He fir ...

being one of his notable students during the 1930s. In 1943 he joined the music faculty of the newly established

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 ...

(CMQM) at the invitation of

Wilfrid Pelletier Joseph Louis Wilfrid Pelletier (sometimes spelled Wilfred), (20 June 1896 – 9 April 1982) was a Canadian conductor, pianist, composer, and arts administrator. He was instrumental in establishing the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, serving a ...

. He taught at the CMQM through 1971, where his notable students included Gaston Arel,

Raymond Daveluy Joseph Eugène Raymond-Marie Daveluy (23 December 1926 – 1 September 2016) was a Canadian composer, organist, music educator, and arts administrator. An associate composer of the Canadian Music Centre, his compositional output consisted mainly ...

Kenneth Gilbert Kenneth Albert Gilbert (December 16, 1931 – April 15, 2020) was a Canadian harpsichordist, organist, musicologist, and music educator. Biography Born in Montreal, Gilbert studied at the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal under ...

, Bernard Lagacé, Aline Letendre,

Lucienne L'Heureux-Arel Lucienne is a given French name. It is the feminine form of Lucien, meaning "Light". Variants include Lucinda, Lucie (French) and Lucy. People named Lucienne include: * Lucienne Abraham * Lucienne Bisson * Lucienne Bloch * Lucienne Boyer * Luci ...

, and

Michel Perrault Michel Brunet Perrault (born 20 July 1925) is a Canadian composer, conductor, music educator, and percussionist. As a composer, his work largely pulls on Canadian folk melodies and his compositions include classical of harmony and counterpoint. ...

. A recital hall at the conservatoire bears his name. He also served as the president of the

Académie de musique du Québec The Quebec Music Academy (''L'académie de musique du Québec'') is a nonprofit association based in Montreal, Canada, founded in 1868. It was built by order of Queen Victoria in 1870 and brought together the most renowned musicians of Quebec. The ...

from 1952 to 1953 and again from 1956 to 1959. Cusson also published works on the teaching of music, including ''Quelques souvenirs des années'' and ''30 et sur un sujet bien actuel'' ('' Vie musicale'', December 1970). He also wrote four volumes of

ear training Ear training or aural skills is a music theory study in which musicians learn to identify pitches, intervals, melody, chords, rhythms, solfeges, and other basic elements of music, solely by hearing. The application of this skill is analogous t ...

music methods and exercises which remain unpublished. Manuscripts of these works and several of his unpublished scores are currently part of the collection at the

Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec The Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec ( 'National Library and Archives of Quebec') or BAnQ is a Quebec government agency which manages the province's legal deposit system, national archives, and national library. Located at the Gr ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cusson, Gabriel 1903 births 1972 deaths Canadian male composers Academic staff of the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal École Normale de Musique de Paris alumni Canadian music educators Université de Montréal alumni 20th-century Canadian composers 20th-century Canadian male musicians