Pierre-Aurèle Asselin (1881–1964) was a

French Canadian French Canadians, referred to as Canadiens mainly before the nineteenth century, are an ethnic group descended from French people, French colonists first arriving in Canada (New France), France's colony of Canada in 1608. The vast majority of ...

furrier Fur clothing is clothing made from the preserved skins of mammals. Fur is one of the oldest forms of clothing and is thought to have been widely used by people for at least 120,000 years. The term 'fur' is often used to refer to a specific item ...

and

tenor A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below m ...

singer. Asselin came from a musical family; he was the brother of

mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano (, ), or mezzo ( ), is a type of classical music, classical female singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A bel ...

Marie-Anne Asselin Marie-Anne Asselin (5 September 1888 – 1971) was a French Canadian mezzo-soprano and voice teacher. She came from a musical family, being the sister of Pierre-Aurèle Asselin. Life Asselin was born in the town of Sainte-Famille on l'Île d' ...

and great uncle of pianist André Asselin. Asselin was born in the town of Sainte-Famille on

Île d'Orléans Île d'Orléans (; ) is an island located in the Saint Lawrence River about east of downtown Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. It was one of the first parts of the province to be colonized by the French, and a large percentage of French Canadians c ...

in 1881. He moved with his family to Montreal around 1901, and, in 1903, he married Cora Laviolette in

Notre-Dame cathedral Notre-Dame de Paris ( ; meaning "Cathedral of Our Lady of Paris"), often referred to simply as Notre-Dame, is a medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité (an island in the River Seine), in the 4th arrondissement of Paris, France. It ...

Singing career

Asselin began a career as a furrier soon after his marriage. He would remain a furrier until his retirement. Asselin sang in church for some time, but it would not be until 1916, when he was 35, that he would make his first professional performance. He performed for Ladies' Morning Musical Club of Quebec City, a club devoted to

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

appreciation. He was well received and, within a year, had signed a contract with

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

. Under this contract, he recorded

arias In music, an aria (, ; : , ; ''arias'' in common usage; diminutive form: arietta, ; : ariette; in English simply air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompaniment, normally part of a larger ...

from French operas, various songs from

operettas Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs and including dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, and length of the work. Apart from its shorter length, the ope ...

, and other classical songs. Asselin also gave live performances. In April 1917, he performed in the

oratorio An oratorio () is a musical composition with dramatic or narrative text for choir, soloists and orchestra or other ensemble. Similar to opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguisha ...

Les Sept Paroles du Christ at the Montreal Cathedral. His first

solo Solo or SOLO may refer to: Arts and entertainment Characters * Han Solo, a ''Star Wars'' character * Jacen Solo, a Jedi in the non-canonical ''Star Wars Legends'' continuity * Kylo Ren (Ben Solo), a ''Star Wars'' character * Napoleon Solo, fr ...

concert followed that October. He joined the Sociéte nationale d'opéra comique, but it quickly disbanded. In September 1918, he appeared at the Cartier Theatre and the Orpheum Theatre, alongside Blanche Gonthier. Starting in November 1918, Asselin made recordings for the Edison recording label. His recordings were released in several formats, including Royal Purple Grand Opera Cylinder Records 29000 series, the Blue Amberol 27000 cylinder series and the Edison Diamonds 74000 series of disks. Through Edison, Asselin released a variety of recordings of arias and other serious classical works. Asselin continued recording with Edison until December 1920. In May 1921, Asselin resigned with Columbia Records. He recorded eight songs in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

with them, which included arias by

Donizetti Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (29 November 1797 – 8 April 1848) was an Italian Romantic composer, best known for his almost 70 operas. Along with Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini, he was a leading composer of the ''bel canto'' opera ...

Godard Jean-Luc Godard ( , ; ; 3 December 193013 September 2022) was a French and Swiss film director, screenwriter, and film critic. He rose to prominence as a pioneer of the French New Wave film movement of the 1960s, alongside such filmmakers as F ...

, and

Massenet Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet (; 12 May 1842 – 13 August 1912) was a French composer of the Romantic music, Romantic era best known for his operas, of which he wrote more than thirty. The two most frequently staged are ''Manon'' (1884 ...

, two duets with Guillaume Dupuis using contemporary melodies and a duet with Blanche Gonthier of Sur le lac d'argent by Fauré. Asselin made his last recording for the Brunswick record company in 1929. Soon after, he disappeared from professional music and focused his efforts on his fur business. Asselin died in Montreal on December 27, 1964, leaving his fur business to his son Raymond.

Recordings

ee the talk page regarding Edison recordings 1917 *''Columbia 3069'' Side A: Aime-moi by Bemberg (Tenor solo in French, with orchestra) (3:27) Side B: Noël du mariage by Choudens (Tenor solo in French, with orchestra) (3:13) * ''Columbia E3203'' Side A: À l'inconnue by

Cécile Chaminade Cécile Louise Stéphanie Chaminade (8 August 1857 – 13 April 1944) was a French composer and pianist. In 1913, she was awarded the Légion d'Honneur, a first for a female composer. Ambroise Thomas said, "This is not a woman who composes, but a ...

(Tenor solo in French, with orchestra) (3:30) Side B: Madrigal by Cécile Chaminade (Tenor solo in French, with orchestra) (3:12) * ''Columbia E3213'' Side A: Priez, aimez, chantez by Gregh (Tenor solo in French, with orchestra) (3:10) Side B: Tu me dirais by Chaminade (Tenor solo in French, with orchestra) (2:50) 1918 * ''Columbia E3454'' Side A: Ouvre à l'amour (Tenor solo in French, with orchestra) (3:32) Side B: Ivresse d'oiseaux (Tenor solo in French, with orchestra) (3:18) * ''Columbia E3701'' Side A: L'adieu du matin by Pessard (Tenor solo in French, with orchestra) (3:15) Side B: Crédo by

Faure Faure () is an Occitan family name meaning blacksmith, from Latin . It is pronounced in French (unlike Fauré which is pronounced ). People Politicians * Dominique Faure (born 1959), French politician * Edgar Faure (1908–1988), French poli ...

(Bass solo in French by J.M. Magnan, with orchestra) (3:26) * ''Edison Blue Amberol 27182'' Cantique de Noël by

Adolphe Adam Adolphe Charles Adam (; 24 July 1803 – 3 May 1856) was a French composer, teacher and music critic. A prolific composer for the theatre, he is best known today for his ballets ''Giselle'' (1841) and ''Le corsaire'' (1856), his operas ''Le post ...

(Tenor solo in French, with orchestra) *''Edison Blue Amberol 27183'' Madrigal by

(Tenor solo in French, with orchestra) 1919 *''Edison Blue Amberol 27185'' O salutaris by Théodore Salomé (Tenor solo in Latin, with orchestra) *''Edison Blue Amberol 27184'' L'adieu du matin by

Emile Pessard Emile or Émile may refer to: * Émile (novel) (1827), autobiographical novel based on Émile de Girardin's early life * Emile, Canadian film made in 2003 by Carl Bessai * '' Emile: or, On Education'' (1762) by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, a treatise o ...

and

Louis Gregh Louis Charles Félix François Gregh (16 March 1843 – 21 January 1915) was a French composer, conductor and music publisher. Life Gregh was born in Philippeville, now Skikda, Algeria, on 16 March 1843. His family was of Maltese origin. As a comp ...

(Tenor solo in French, with orchestra) 1920 * ''Edison Royal Purple Amberol: 29055'' Ah! leve-toi, soleil! from

Roméo et Juliette ''Roméo et Juliette'' (, ''Romeo and Juliet'') is an opera in five acts by Charles Gounod to a French libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré, based on ''Romeo and Juliet'' by William Shakespeare. It was first performed at the Théâtre Ly ...

Charles Gounod Charles-François Gounod (; ; 17 June 181818 October 1893), usually known as Charles Gounod, was a French composer. He wrote twelve operas, of which the most popular has always been ''Faust (opera), Faust'' (1859); his ''Roméo et Juliette'' (18 ...

1921 * ''E7183 Columbia'' Side A: Berceuse from the opera

Jocelyn Jocelyn is a surname and first name. It is a unisex (male/female) name. Variants include Jocelin, Joceline, Jocelyne, Jocelynn, Jocelynne, Joscelin, Josceline, Joscelyn, Joscelynn, Joscelynne, Joseline, Joselyn, Joselyne, Joslin, Joslyn, Josselin ...

(Tenor solo in French, with orchestra) (2:34) Side B: Sur les bords de la Riviera (Tenor in French, with Baritone Guillaume Dupuis and orchestra) (2:53) * ''E7195 Columbia'' Side A: Ah fuyez, douce image from

Manon ''Manon'' () is an ''opéra comique'' in five acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Henri Meilhac and Philippe Gille, based on the 1731 novel '' L'histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut'' by the Abbé Prévost. It was f ...

(Tenor solo in French, with orchestra) (2:56) Side B: Ange si pur from

La favorite ''La favorite'' (''The Favourite'', frequently referred to by its Italian title: ''La favorita'') is a grand opera in four acts by Gaetano Donizetti to a French-language libretto by Alphonse Royer and Gustave Vaëz, based on the play ''Le com ...

(Tenor solo in French, with orchestra) (2:46) 1922 * ''E7208 Columbia'' Side A: Sur le lac d'argent by Fauré (Tenor in French, with Soprano Blanche Gauthier, and orchestra) (3:04) Side B: Pour toi by Codini and Courtioux (Tenor solo in French, and orchestra) (3:14)

References

External links

Recordings by Pierre-Aurèle Asselin
{{DEFAULTSORT:Asselin, Pierre-Aurele 1881 births 1964 deaths People from Capitale-Nationale Canadian operatic tenors 20th-century Canadian male opera singers