Gilles Tremblay, (6 September 1932 – 27 July 2017) was a Canadian composer from

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 thirte ...

Early life and education

Trembay studied at the conservatories of Québec in Montréal and Paris (1954–61), where his teachers included

Olivier Messiaen Olivier Eugène Prosper Charles Messiaen (, ; ; 10 December 1908 – 27 April 1992) was a French composer, organist, and ornithology, ornithologist who was one of the major composers of the 20th-century classical music, 20th century. His m ...

(analysis), Andrée Vaurabourg-Honegger (

counterpoint In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more musical lines (or voices) which are harmonically interdependent yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. It has been most commonly identified in the European classical tra ...

Yvonne Loriod Yvonne Louise Georgette Loriod-Messiaen (; 20 January 1924 – 17 May 2010) was a French pianist, teacher, and composer, and the second wife of composer Olivier Messiaen. Her sister was the Ondes Martenot player Jeanne Loriod. Biography Loriod ...

(piano), and

Maurice Martenot Maurice Louis Eugène Martenot (; October 14, 1898 – October 8, 1980) was a French cellist, a radio telegrapher during the first World War, and an inventor. Born in Paris, he is best known for his invention of the ondes Martenot, an instrument ...

(inventor of the

ondes Martenot The ondes Martenot ( ; , "Martenot waves") or ondes musicales ("musical waves") is an early electronic musical instrument. It is played with a keyboard or by moving a ring along a wire, creating "wavering" sounds similar to a theremin. A player ...

). He also attended

Stockhausen Karlheinz Stockhausen (; 22 August 1928 – 5 December 2007) was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th and early 21st centuries. He is known for his groundb ...

's summer courses at Darmstadt, where he became interested in electro-acoustic techniques.

Career

Tremblay returned to Quebec in 1961. He taught musical analysis at the and at the

Conservatoire de musique du Québec A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger ins ...

in Quebec City. Beginning in 1962, and for many years, he taught composition at the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal. Among his pupils are ,

Raynald Arseneault Raynald Arseneault (9 June 1945 – 27 January 1995) was a Canadian composer and organist. An associate of the Canadian Music Centre, his compositional output consists of more than 50 works. His style was particularly influenced by Ivan Wys ...

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, ...

, François Dompierre, Marc Hyland, Ramon Lazkano,

Robin Minard Robin Minard (born 1953) is a Canadian composer and installation artist. Minard was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He began his studies of composition at the University of Ontario, then at the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montré ...

, Éric Morin, Silvio Palmieri,

Micheline Coulombe Saint-Marcoux Micheline Coulombe Saint-Marcoux (9 August 1938 – 2 February 1985) was a Canadian composer and music educator who played an important role in the contemporary classical music scene of Canada and France from the late 1960s through the mid-198 ...

, ,

André Villeneuve André Villeneuve is a Canadian politician. Villeneuve was elected to represent the riding of Berthier in the National Assembly of Quebec in the 2008 provincial election. He is a member of the Parti Québécois The Parti Québécois (; ; P ...

Claude Vivier Claude Vivier ( ; baptised as Claude Roger; 14 April 19487 March 1983) was a Canadian contemporary composer, pianist, poet and ethnomusicologist of Québécois origin. After studying with Karlheinz Stockhausen in Cologne, Vivier became an in ...

, and Wolf Edwards. Early in his career he performed as a specialist on the ondes Martenot. In 1991, he was made an Officer of the

National Order of Quebec The National Order of Quebec, termed officially in French as ''l'Ordre national du Québec'', and in English abbreviation as the Order of Quebec, is an order of merit in the Canadian province of Quebec. Instituted in 1984 when Lieutenant Govern ...

. Tremblay died August 4, 2017, at

Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce (, ) is a borough (''arrondissement'') of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The borough was created following the 2002 municipal reorganization of Montreal. It comprises two main neighbourhoods, Côte-des-Neiges ...

Compositions (selective list)

*''Mobile'', for violin and piano (1962) *''Champs I'', for piano and 2 percussionists (1965) *''Cantique de durées'', for seven groups of instruments (1960) *''Sonorisation du Pavillon du Québec'', 24-channel electronic music (1967) *''Souffles (Champs II)'', for 2 flutes, oboe, clarinet, horn, 2 trumpets, 2 trombones, piano, 2 percussionists, and contrabass (1968) *''Vers (Champs III)'', for 2 flutes, clarinet, trumpet, horn, 3 percussionists, 3 violins, and contrabass (1969) *''Jeux de solstices'', for orchestra (1974) *''Oralléluiants'', for soprano, bass clarinet, horn, 2 percussionists, and 3 contrabasses (1975) *''Fleuves'', for piano, percussion, and orchestra (1976) *''Vers le soleil'', for orchestra (1978) *''Le Signe du lion'', for horn and tam-tam (1981) *''Triojubilus "À Raphaël"'', for flute, harp, and cowbells (1985) *''Les Vêpres de la Vierge'', for soprano and orchestra (1986) *''Musique du feu'', for piano and orchestra (1991) *''L'arbre de Borobudur'', for horn, 2 harps, double bass, ondes Martenot, 2 percussionists, and gamelan ensemble (1994) *''L'espace du coeur (Miron-Machaut)'', for mixed voices and percussion (1997) *''Les pierres crieront'', for cello and large orchestra (1998) *''A quelle heure commence le temps?'', for baritone, percussion, piano, and orchestra (1999) *''L'appel de Kondiaronk: symphonie portuaire'', environmental work for battle sirens and 2 locomotives (2000) *String Quartet ''Croissant'' (2001) *''En partage'' (Concerto), for viola and orchestra (2002) *''L'eau qui danse, la pomme qui chante et l'oiseau qui dit la vérité'', Opéra féerie based on " The Dancing Water, the Singing Apple, and the Speaking Bird" (2009)

Writings

* 1968. "Note pour ''Cantique de durées''." ''Revue d'esthetique'' 21, nos. 2–4 ("Musiques nouvelles"): 51–58.

References

Sources * * * * * * Peyser, Joan. 1976. ''Boulez: Composer, Conductor, Enigma''. New York: Schirmer Books. ; London: Cassell. *Villeneuve, André. 2001. "''Souffles (Champs II'', the Mobile, and the Musical Language of Gilles Tremblay." ''Ex tempore'' 10, no. 2 (Spring–Summer): 58–147.

External links

"Gilles Tremblay"
by Robert Richard (2006)
"Gilles Tremblay"
by Alexis Luko, Rachelle Taylor, Hélène Plouffe (2008) ''

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