Joseph Albert Maurice Blackburn (22 May 1914 – 29 March 1988) 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 ...

, conductor, sound editor for film, and builder of

string instrument String instruments, stringed instruments, or chordophones are musical instruments that produce sound from vibrating strings when a performer plays or sounds the strings in some manner. Musicians play some string instruments by plucking the ...

s. He is known for his soundtracks for animated film.

Personal life

Blackburn was born in

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Communauté métrop ...

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 ...

.Nichola Dobson.
Norman McLaren: Between the Frames
'. Bloomsbury Publishing; 25 January 2018. . p. 147–. He was a graduate of the

Université Laval Université Laval is a public research university in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The university was founded by royal charter issued by Queen Victoria in 1852, with roots in the founding of the Séminaire de Québec in 1663 by François de Montmo ...

and 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 ...

in Boston. He won the George Allan Prize in 1940. He was married to screenwriter Marthe Blackburn, and was the father of science fiction writer

Esther Rochon Esther Rochon (née Blackburn) (born 27 June 1948) is a Canadian science fiction writer. Born in Quebec City, Quebec, the daughter of screenwriter Marthe Blackburn and composer Maurice Blackburn (composer), Maurice Blackburn, at the age of 16 sh ...

Career

From 1942-1978 Blackburn worked as a film composer for the

National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; french: Office national du film du Canada (ONF)) is Canada's public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary f ...

, where he was a frequent collaborator of

Norman McLaren William Norman McLaren, LL. D. (11 April 1914 – 27 January 1987) was a Scottish Canadian animator, director and producer known for his work for the National Film Board of Canada (NFB).Rosenthal, Alan. ''The new documentary in action: a caseb ...

. Together they developed techniques for etching sound and image directly on film. Blackburn composed the music for McLaren's animation film ''

Blinkity Blank ''Blinkity Blank'' is a 1955 animated short film by Norman McLaren, engraved directly onto black film leader, ''Blinkity Blank'' features a soundtrack combining improvisational jazz from composer Maurice Blackburn along with graphical sounds c ...

'' (1954)
The Music and Sound of Experimental Film
'. Oxford University Press; 29 June 2017. . p. 99–. which won twelve prizes, including the

Short Film Palme d'Or The Short Film Palme d'Or (french: Palme d'Or du court métrage) is the highest prize given to a short film at the Cannes Film Festival. Since the creation of the Cinéfondation La ''Cinéfondation'' is a foundation under the aegis of the Cannes ...

at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

.Gary Evans.
In the National Interest: A Chronicle of the National Film Board of Canada from 1949 to 1989
'. University of Toronto Press; 1991. . p. 34–. In 1969 he created an animated film of his own, ''Ciné-Crimé''.Giannalberto Bendazzi.
Animation: A World History: Volume II: The Birth of a Style - The Three Markets
'. CRC Press; 23 October 2015. . p. 350–. He composed the opera ''Une mesure de silence'', whose libretto was written by his wife Marthe."Canadian Opera Premieres". ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'', 3 November 1956. In 1983 he was awarded the Albert-Tessier Prize by the Quebec government.

Discography

Compilations

* ''Filmusique-Filmopéra'' with

Yves Daoust Yves Daoust (born 10 April 1946) is a Canadian composer who is particularly known for his works of electroacoustic music. He currently resides in Montréal. Life Born in Longueuil, Quebec, Daoust began his musical studies at the age of seven ...

(

Analekta Analekta is Canada's largest independent classical music recording label. The label, which takes its name from the Greek word ''analekta'' ("a collection of the finest works"), was founded in 1988 by the Canadian music industry manager and entre ...

, AN 7005/06, 1996) (2CD)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blackburn, Maurice 1914 births 1988 deaths Canadian film score composers Male film score composers New England Conservatory alumni Université Laval alumni National Film Board of Canada people French Quebecers Musicians from Quebec City Graphical sound Canadian opera composers Prix Albert-Tessier winners 20th-century Canadian composers 20th-century Canadian male musicians