Joseph Beaulieu (21 May 1895 – 1 October 1965) was a Canadian

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 ...

folklorist Folklore studies, less often known as folkloristics, and occasionally tradition studies or folk life studies in the United Kingdom, is the branch of anthropology devoted to the study of folklore. This term, along with its synonyms, gained currenc ...

, 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 ...

. He traveled extensively throughout Canada collecting folk songs, which he compiled in several published books. As a composer, his works reflect his strong interest in folk music in there structure and melody. He wrote over 200 works, most of them folk-inspired songs or sacred songs. Also of note is his

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 ...

''Le Trésor du pauvre'' and his

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 ...

for four mixed voices, the ''Vatican II Mass'', which was written for ceremonies held during the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st Catholic ecumenical councils, ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions) ...

. A number of his pieces have been published by La Bonne Chanson and Thompson.

Life

Born in

Mattawa, Ontario Mattawa is a town in northeastern Ontario, Canada on Algonquin Nation land at the confluence of the Mattawa and Ottawa Rivers in Nipissing District. Mattawa means "Meeting of the Waters" in the Algonquin language. The first Europeans to pass th ...

, Beaulieu began his musical training at the relatively late age of 20, studying

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 ...

with

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

Amédée Tremblay Pierre-Joseph Amédée Tremblay (14 April 1876 – 14 July 1949) was a Canadian organist, composer, and music educator. A largely self-taught composer, his output includes several motets, two masses, a few patriotic songs, works for solo orga ...

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

. He soon after began performing in evening entertainments with his teachers and

baritone A baritone is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice-types. The term originates from the Greek (), meaning "heavy sounding". Composers typically write music for this voice in the r ...

Charles Marchand Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was "f ...

. With Marchand he traveled throughout the provinces of Ontario and Quebec giving concerts of folk music. During these travels, he began collecting Canadian folksongs which became a lifelong passion of his. In the early 1920s, Beaulieu pursued further training at the

Canadian Conservatory of Music The Canadian Conservatory of Music was a music conservatory in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada that was actively providing higher education in music during the first half of the 20th century. History Founded by Harry Puddicombe in 1902, the school was loc ...

where he was a student of Harry Puddicombe, ultimately joining the conservatory's faculty. After the conservatory closed in 1937, he joined the faculty of the

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (french: Université d'Ottawa), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ottawa ...

where he taught courses in piano, singing, and business. In 1942 he became a voice teacher at the Benedictines of St-Benoît-du-Lac. In 1931 Beaulieu founded the Petits Chanteurs céciliens, a musical ensemble dedicated to performing Canadian folk music. He served as the ensemble's director through 1943 and for this group he arranged many Canadian folk songs from his collection. He published several books of Canadian folk song collections, including ''Chantez, les petits'' (Thompson 1960), the eight-volume series ''Mon école chante'' (La Bonne Chanson 1956–64), ''Gerbes de chansons nouvelles'' and ''Chantez petits et grands''. In 1943 Beaulieu moved to Toronto to assume the role of assistant director in charge of music education for the

Ontario Ministry of Education The Ministry of Education is the ministry of the Government of Ontario responsible for government policy, funding, curriculum planning and direction in all levels of public education, including elementary and secondary schools. The ministry is re ...

. He remained in that post for the next 22 years. He was also highly active teaching in the North Bay area where he died in 1965 at the age of 70.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beaulieu, Joseph 1895 births 1965 deaths Canadian classical composers Canadian male classical composers Canadian classical pianists Male classical pianists Canadian Conservatory of Music alumni Academic staff of the Canadian Conservatory of Music Canadian folklorists Canadian music educators Canadian opera composers Male opera composers Academic staff of the University of Ottawa 20th-century classical composers 20th-century classical pianists 20th-century Canadian pianists Canadian male pianists 20th-century Canadian male musicians