Le trésor de la langue (English: The treasure of language) is an album by guitarist

René Lussier René Lussier (born April 15, 1957) is a jazz guitarist based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He is a composer, guitarist, bass guitarist, percussionist, bass clarinetist, and singer. Lussier has collaborated with Fred Frith, Chris Cutler, Jean Dero ...

. It was released by

Ambiances Magnétiques Ambiances Magnétiques is a Canadian record company and label started by Jean Derome, René Lussier, and others, and the artists' collective that preceded it. History In 1982, "guitarist René Lussier and saxophonist/flutist Jean Derome presente ...

in 1989. The album contains several interviews with residents of

Québec Quebec ( ; )According to the Government of Canada, 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 ...

on the importance of the

french language French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in Nor ...

within the province. A number of famous historical recordings are also featured, including

Charles de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (; ; (commonly abbreviated as CDG) 22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French army officer and statesman who led Free France against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government ...

's famous "Vive le Québec libre!" speech of 1967 and a recitation of the FLQ Manifesto. These spoken-word recordings are interspersed with the music, as Lussier plays a single note on his guitar to correspond with every syllable of speech. He is quoted as saying, "It's remarkable what melodies we speak to each other every day! And no one's the least bothered by these phrases, but transpose them into music and they can become surprising, even disturbing!" Although much of ''Le trésor de la langue'' is devoted to the continued importance of French in Québécois culture, its message is not one of unadulterated

Québec nationalism Quebec nationalism or Québécois nationalism is a feeling and a political doctrine that prioritizes cultural belonging to, the defence of the interests of, and the recognition of the political legitimacy of the Québécois nation. It has been ...

. The album includes a poem by

Richard Desjardins Richard Desjardins (born March 16, 1948) is a Québécois folk singer and film director. Career Desjardins and his friends formed the country rock ensemble Abbitibbi in the 1970s; Desjardins played piano, guitar, and sang. When the group disban ...

entitled "Qui s'en souvient?", which chronicles the destruction of several Native American societies by English and French colonialists. The liner notes also refer to contemporary events in Canadian politics as a "poisoned chalice" for the survival of the language.

Track listing

#La Française du début/Le non-lieu/Vox pop 1/Le départ des aventuriers (4:26) #Arts et traditions (direction 1)/L'heure du dîner (archives 1)/Les 2 soeurs de Trois-Rivières (direction 2)/Rue Principale/Montage 28 (archives 2) (7:55) #La visite de Charles de Gaulle/De Gaulle revisité/L'Anglaise de Québec (direction 3)/Kiki/Manifeste du F.L.Q. (9:04) #Vestibule/Çé ça qu'on va faire!/Le gars du Irving (direction 4)/Le tic-tac d'la veille/Le blues des résultats/Lend'main d'veille/Qui se souvient? (8:24) #L'appel d'la pelle (direction 5)/Ya tout' mon estime/Le manifeste du F.L.Q. (instrumental) (5:24) #Le message d'la reine/Échange de bar (2:59) #Fanfare et tradition (vox pop 2)/L'indécise (2:45) #C't'écoeurant/Vestibule léger (direction 6)/Ma mère/Ha bein çé l'fun (6:18) #Ouin çé ça (vox pop 3)/Vous me m'nez à bout'/Le commercial (4:36) #Mme Xavier Martin revisitée/Le p'tit Jésus de M. Chose (4:38) #Le Diable (archives 3)/L'enfer (Le reel de l'estime)/Le réveil (3:25) #L'amygdalite à Duchesne (téléphone 1)/Wow bec! (4:15) #On peut parler (téléphone 2) (1:38)

Personnel

*René Lussier: guitars, six-string bass, casiotone, percussion, ambiances, voice *

Jean Derome Jean Derome (born June 29, 1955) is a French Canadian avant-garde saxophonist, flautist, and composer. A prominent figure in the Montreal ''musique actuelle'' (new music) scene, Derome has been a member of experimental, jazz, and rock groups, and ...

: saxophone, flute, keyboards, voice *

Fred Frith Jeremy Webster "Fred" Frith (born 17 February 1949) is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer, and improviser. Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock ...

: electric bass, violin, piano *Claude Beaugrand: ambiances magnétiques, voice * Claude Simard: upright bass *

Alain Trudel Alain Trudel (born 13 June 1966) is a Canadian conductor, trombonist and composer. Biography Born in Montreal, Quebec, Trudel first became known to the public as a trombone soloist. He made his solo debut at the age of 18, with Charles Dutoit a ...

: trombone, euphonium * Céline Chaput: voice * Jean-Denis Levasseur: clarinet *

: voice * Pierre St-Jak: piano * Tom Cora: cello All tracks written by René Lussier. Arranged by Lussier with Jean Derome and Fred Frith. All tracks produced by Lussier; tracks 1-4 co-produced by Hélène Prévost. Tracks 1-4 mixed by Gaétan Pilon, Lussier and Frith. Tracks 5-13 mixed by Pilon, Lussier and Jean Derome.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tresor De La Langue 1989 albums Rock albums by Canadian artists