![Raynald arseneault](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a9/Raynald_arseneault.jpg)
Raynald Arseneault (9 June 1945 – 27 January 1995) 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 ...
and
organist
An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...
. An associate 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 ...
, his compositional output consists of more than 50 works. His style was particularly influenced by
Ivan Wyschnegradsky
Ivan Alexandrovich Wyschnegradsky; Is also transliterated as Vïshnegradsky, Wyshnegradsky, Wischnegradsky, Vishnegradsky, or Wishnegradsky (after he emigrated to France, he used "Wyschnegradsky" as spelling for his surname)., group=n ( ; Septe ...
and
Giacinto Scelsi
Giacinto Francesco Maria Scelsi (; 8 January 1905 – 9 August 1988, sometimes cited as 8 August 1988) was an Italian composer who also wrote surrealist poetry in French.
He is best known for having composed music based around only one pitch, ...
; both of whom he met with in Europe during the 1970s. He served for many years as the organist and director of sacred music at Saint-Marc Church in Rosemont.
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 ...
, Arseneault studied with
Françoise Aubut and
Gilles Tremblay at the
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 ...
where he graduated with a premier prix in composition in 1973. That same year he won the
Prix d’Europe which enabled him to pursue studies in France. He remained for eight years in that country where he studied composition with
Tony Aubin
Tony Louis Alexandre Aubin (8 December 1907 – 21 September 1981) was a French composer.
Career
Aubin was born in Paris. From 1925 to 1930, he studied at the Paris Conservatory under Samuel Rousseau (composer), Samuel Rousseau (music theory), ...
,
Claude Lefebvre,
Claude Ballif
Claude Ballif (22 May 1924 – 24 July 2004) was a French composer, writer, and pedagogue. He worked at a number of institutions throughout more than 40 years of teaching, one of which he had attended as a student. Among his pupils were Raynald A ...
,
Ivo Malec
Ivo Malec (30 March 1925, in Zagreb – 14 August 2019, in Paris) was a Croatian-born French composer, music educator and conductor. One of the earliest Yugoslav composers to obtain high international regard, his works have been performed by s ...
and
Michel Philippot Michel Paul Philippot (2 February 1925 – 28 July 1996) was a French composer, mathematician, acoustician, musicologist, aesthetician, broadcaster, and educator.
Life
Philippot was born in Verzy. His studies of mathematics were interrupted by Wo ...
.
Raynald Arseneault's music has been performed in numerous music festivals around the world, and has been recorded by the
RTBF
The ''Radio-télévision belge de la Communauté française'' (RTBF, ''Belgian Radio-television of the French Community'', branded as rtbf.be) is a public service broadcaster delivering radio and television services to the French-speaking Commu ...
, the
ORTF and the
CBC. Some of the principal performers of his music are, notably, the
Orchestre symphonique de Montréal
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 ...
, the Nouvel Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio-France (Edgar Cosma), 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 ...
(Walter Boudreau), the Orchestre symphonique de la Radio-Télévision Belge (
Simon Streatfeild
Simon Nicolas Streatfeild (5 October 1929 – 7 December 2019) was a British-Canadian violist, conductor and teacher.
Simon Nicolas Streatfeild was born in Windsor, Berkshire, England in 1929. He studied viola with Frederick Riddle at the ...
), the
Société de musique contemporaine du Québec
The Quebec Contemporary Music Society, or Société de musique contemporaine du Québec in French (SMCQ), is a contemporary classical-music organization based in Montreal, Quebec. It was founded in 1966 by Montreal composers and musicians, includin ...
(Gilles Auger); organists
Bernard Foccroulle
Bernard Charles M. E. T. H. Foccroulle (born 23 November 1953) is a Belgian Organ (music), organist, composer, conductor and opera director.
Biography
He was born in Liège and studied at the Conservatoire de Liège. Initially, he became known ...
, Michelle Quintal, André Laberge and Gisèle Guibord, singer Natalie Choquette, pianists Louis-Philippe Pelletier, Suzanne Fournier, Daniel Cholette and Julio Laks, violinist Carmen Fournier, guitarist
Michael Laucke
Michael Laucke (; 29 January 1947 – 2 December 2021) was a Canadian classical, new flamenco and flamenco guitarist and composer. Starting at the age of thirteen, Laucke gave professional snooker demonstrations and his winnings allowed him t ...
, and flautists Lise Daoust, Claire Marchand and Helmut W. Erdmann.
He has been awarded several grants from the Ministère de l'Éducation and the Ministère des Affaires culturelles du Québec, as well as from The Canada Council. Arseneault was also a resident at the Cité Internationale des Arts de Paris in the studio of The Canada Council (1979–80) and in the studio of the Ministère des Affaires culturelles du Québec (1980–81).
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arseneault, Raynald
1945 births
1995 deaths
Canadian male composers
Canadian organists
Male organists
Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal alumni
Musicians from Quebec City
20th-century Canadian composers
20th-century organists
20th-century Canadian male musicians