Alfred La Liberté (10 February 1882 – 7 May 1952) 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 def ...

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

, writer on music, 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 origina ...

. He was a disciple and close personal friend of

Alexander Scriabin Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin, scientific transliteration: ''Aleksandr Nikolaevič Skrjabin''; also transliterated variously as Skriabin, Skryabin, and (in French) Scriabine. The composer himselused the French spelling "Scriabine" which was a ...

. He was also an admirer of

Marcel Dupré Marcel Jean-Jules Dupré (; 3 May 1886 – 30 May 1971) was a French organist, composer, and pedagogue. Early life and education Born in Rouen into a wealthy musical family, Marcel Dupré was a child prodigy. His father Aimable Albert Dupré ...

and

Nikolai Medtner Nikolai Karlovich Medtner (; – 13 November 1951) was a Russian composer and pianist. After a period of comparative obscurity in the 25 years immediately after his death, he is now becoming recognized as one of the most significant Russian com ...

. Dupré notably dedicated his ''Variations, Opus 22'' for piano to him and Medtner dedicated his ''Sonata minacciosa, Opus 53 no. 2'' and his song ''The Captive, Opus 52 no. 7'' to La Liberté. Most of his own compositions remain unfinished. He also contributed articles to ''Le Passe-Temps'', including one on Scriabin in May 1946.

Life and career

Born in

Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu () is a city in eastern Montérégie in the Canadian province of Quebec, about southeast of Montreal, located roughly halfway between Montreal and the Canada–United States border with the state of Vermont. It is sit ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, La Liberté was named after the Canadian sculptor of the same name. He began his piano studies as a teenager with a Miss Malsberg. His later piano teachers included J.-B. Denys,

Dominique Ducharme Dominique Ducharme (; 15 May 1765 – 3 August 1853), from Lachine, Quebec, was a French Canadian fur trader, settler, militia officer, and public servant. He was named François Ducharme at birth, the son of Jean-Marie Ducharme. In 1793 Du ...

Romain-Octave Pelletier I Romain-Octave Pelletier I (sometimes spelled Peltier) (9 September 1843 – 4 March 1927) was a Canadian organist, pianist, composer, writer on music, and music educator. Early life and career Born in Montreal, Pelletier was a member of a promi ...

, and Émiliano Renaud. In 1902 he entered the

Stern Conservatory The Stern Conservatory (''Stern'sches Konservatorium'') was a private music school in Berlin with many distinguished tutors and alumni. The school is now part of Berlin University of the Arts. History It was founded in 1850 as the ''Berliner Mu ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

where he studied with such teachers as Ernst Baeker (harmony), Paul Lutzenko (piano), and

Wilhelm Klatte Wilhelm Klatte (13 February 1870 – 25 July 1930) was a German Music theory, music theoretician, pedagogue, journalist and Conducting, conductor. Life Born in Bremen, after studying music in Leipzig, Klatte began his professional career as a ...

(counterpoint and composition) through 1906. The expenses of his education in Berlin were paid largely through grants obtained from the German government after winning a series of piano competitions. He notably played in concert for

Wilhelm II Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor and King of Prussia from 1888 until Abdication of Wilhelm II, his abdication in 1918, which marked the end of the German Empire as well as th ...

at both the imperial court of Berlin and the ducal court of Cobourg. In 1906 La Liberté returned to Canada and began teaching at the Canadian Conservatory of Music in Ottawa in the autumn of 1906. He gave a highly lauded recital at the Monument national in Montreal on 22 November 1906. An admirer of the works of

, he began a correspondence with the composer in February 1907 while Scriabin was staying in New York City. Scriabin invited La Liberté to visit him in New York, and La Liberté came to that city for a visit in the summer of 1907. Scriabin convinced La Liberté to return to Berlin, and the composer soon began further studies in that city with

Teresa Carreño María Teresa Gertrudis de Jesús Carreño García (December 22, 1853June 12, 1917) was a Venezuelans, Venezuelan pianist, composer, soprano, and conductor. Over the course of her 54-year concert career, she became an internationally renowned v ...

. He then went to Brussels where he studied composition under Scriabin, becoming one of his close disciples. He gave recital tours in Germany and England from 1908 to 1910, notably appearing in concert with

Emma Albani Dame Emma Albani, DBE (born Marie-Louise-Emma-Cécile Lajeunesse; 1 November 18473 April 1930) was a Canadian-British operatic coloratura soprano, later spinto soprano and dramatic soprano of the 19th and early 20th century, the first Canadian ...

in London. La Liberté returned to Montreal in 1911 where he opened a private teaching studio. He also was active in that city as a performer where he was a proponent of Scriabin's works. In 1913 he moved to New York City, where he taught as a guest lecturer at several institutions and ran a piano studio. Financial problems related to

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

put an end to his career in America and he once again returned to teaching privately in Montreal. From 1926 to 1935 he worked as a piano instructor for the

Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary The Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary (Soeurs des Saints Noms de Jésus et de Marie) is a teaching religious institute founded at Longueuil, Québec, Canada, in 1843 by Blessed Mother Marie Rose Durocher for the Christian education of ...

. He then taught on the faculty of the Conservatoire national de musique for several years. Among his notable pupils were

Hélène Baillargeon Hélène Baillargeon (1916–1997) was a Canadian singer, actor, and folklorist probably best known as the host of the CBC Television show ''Chez Hélène'' from 1959 to 1973. She was born in Saint-Martin, Quebec, on 28 August 1916 and studied ...

Morris Davis Morris Durham "Moe" Davis (born July 31, 1958) is an American retired U.S. Air Force colonel, attorney, educator, politician, and former administrative law judge. Davis was appointed the third Chief Prosecutor of the Guantanamo military commiss ...

Gérald Desmarais Gérald is a French male given name, a variant of the old Géraud and more common Gérard, both equivalent to Gerald in English. People with the name include: * Gérald Mossé, French jockey * Gérald de Palmas, French recording artist and singer * ...

, Hector Gratton,

Djane Lavoie-Herz Djane Lavoie-Herz (1889–1982) was a Canadian pianist and teacher. She studied in Montreal with Alfred La Liberté and then went to Europe where she studied in London, Paris, Berlin (where she studied with Artur Schnabel), and Brussels (where sh ...

Antonio Létourneau Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language–speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular m ...

Alfred Mignault Alfred Joseph Édouard Mignault (8 December 1895 – 10 July 1961) was a Canadian organist, composer, and music educator. A largely self-taught composer, his compositional output includes both vocal and instrumental works such as songs, wor ...

Marie-Thérèse Paquin Marie-Thérèse Paquin, was born July 4, 1905, in Montreal, Quebec, and died in the same city on May 9, 1997. She was a concert pianist and piano professor. Biography Paquin studied piano with Alfred La Liberté. She had a brilliant career a ...

, and

Wilfrid Pelletier Joseph Louis Wilfrid Pelletier (sometimes spelled Wilfred), (20 June 1896 – 9 April 1982) was a Canadian conductor, pianist, composer, and arts administrator. He was instrumental in establishing the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, serving ...

. Liberté died in Montreal in 1952 at the age of 70. He was made 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 ...

posthumously. At the time of his death he was in possession of a number of Scriabin's original manuscripts, including ''Poem of Ecstasy'' and ''Sonata No. 5'', and his wife donated them to the Scriabin museum in Moscow in 1972.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:La Liberte, Alfred 1882 births 1952 deaths Canadian composers Canadian male composers Canadian writers about music Canadian classical pianists Academic staff of the Conservatoire national de musique Canadian music educators Canadian male pianists 20th-century Canadian pianists 20th-century Canadian male musicians People from Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu Scriabin scholars