Gilles Potvin, (23 October 1923 – 4 September 2000) was a Canadian

music critic ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of mus ...

and

music historian Music history, sometimes called historical musicology, is a highly diverse subfield of the broader discipline of musicology that studies music from a historical point of view. In theory, "music history" could refer to the study of the history o ...

. Potvin was 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 ...

. He was a music critic for ''

Le Devoir ''Le Devoir'' (, "Duty") is a French-language newspaper published in Montreal and distributed in Quebec and throughout Canada. It was founded by journalist and politician Henri Bourassa in 1910. ''Le Devoir'' is one of few independent large-c ...

'' (1961–66, 1973–85) and '' La Presse'' (1966–70). From 1970 to 1976 he served as the editor of '' The Canada Music Book'' and from 1976 to 1980 he was President of the . He was notably the co-editor, with

Helmut Kallmann Helmut Max Kallmann (7 August 1922 – 12 February 2012) was a Canadian musicologist, music educator, librarian, and scholar of Canadian music history. He was a librarian at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, head of the music division at ...

and Kenneth Winters, of '' The Encyclopedia of Music in Canada''; also contributing more than 300 articles to that publication. He was a leading authority on the life and career of

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

Emma Albani Dame Emma Albani, DBE (born Marie-Louise-Emma-Cécile Lajeunesse; 1 November 18473 April 1930) was a Canadian-British operatic soprano of the 19th century and early 20th century, and the first Canadian singer to become an international star. He ...

and he translated the singer's autobiography into the French language (published 1972). For many years he wrote program notes for the

Montreal Symphony Orchestra The Montreal Symphony Orchestra (french: Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, or OSM) is a Canadian symphony orchestra based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The orchestra’s home is the Montreal Symphony House at Place des Arts. It is the only orche ...

(MSO), and in 1984 he published a history of the MSO in the year of that orchestra's 50th anniversary. For 42 years Potvin worked for the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...

in a variety of roles, including record librarian, music consultant, producer, and head of music production for

Radio Canada International Radio Canada International (RCI) is the international broadcasting service of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). Prior to 1970, RCI was known as the CBC International Service. The broadcasting service was also previously referred to as ...

. He also served as chief editor of the ''Anthology of Canadian Music'' collection compiled by the CBC. In 1949 founded the Minute Opera which performed

chamber opera Chamber opera is a designation for operas written to be performed with a chamber ensemble rather than a full orchestra. Early 20th-century operas of this type include Paul Hindemith's ''Cardillac'' (1926). Earlier small-scale operas such as Pergoles ...

s in Montréal for five seasons. Potvin was the recipient of numerous awards and honors. In 1983 he was awarded the

Calixa-Lavallée Award The Calixa-Lavallée Award (french: Prix Calixa-Lavallée) is a music award created in 1959. It is granted by the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society of Montreal (SSJBM) to a Quebecer having distinguished themself in the field of music.http://degree.youthle ...

and in 1984 he was made both a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Canada The Royal Society of Canada (RSC; french: Société royale du Canada, SRC), also known as the Academies of Arts, Humanities and Sciences of Canada (French: ''Académies des arts, des lettres et des sciences du Canada''), is the senior national, bil ...

and a Member of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the ...

. In 1987 he received the

Canadian Music Council Medal 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 ...

and in 1990 he was made an honorary member of the

Canadian Music Centre The Canadian Music Centre was founded in 1959 by a group of Canadian composers who saw a need to create a repository for Canadian music. It now holds Canada's largest collection of Canadian concert music, and works to promote the music of its As ...

. He married soprano Micheline Tessier in 1960.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Potvin, Gilles 1923 births 2000 deaths Canadian Broadcasting Corporation people Canadian music critics Canadian music historians Canadian male non-fiction writers Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada Members of the Order of Canada 20th-century Canadian historians Burials at Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery People from Montreal French Quebecers