Albert Viau (6 November 1910 – 27 June 2001) was a Canadian

baritone A baritone is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the bass (voice type), bass and the tenor voice type, voice-types. It is the most common male voice. The term originates from the ...

, folksinger,

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 ...

, 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 ...

. After beginning his career as a musician in the classical repertoire, he specialized in

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

and

traditional song Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has been ...

s. He released about 50

78 rpm record A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English) or a vinyl record (for later varieties only) is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The gr ...

s during his career, mostly for La Bonne Chanson. He also recorded a few songs under the pseudonym Jacques Dupont, including ''Partons, la mer est belle'', ''Le Soir sur l'eau'', and ''Le Lac des amours'', and recorded the song ''Le Rêve passe'' with the

Canadian Grenadier Guards Band The Canadian Grenadier Guards Band (sometimes referred to as His Majesty's Canadian Grenadier Guards Band) was a Canadian military band that was active for more than 60 years during the 20th century. In addition to performing for military events, ...

for

RCA RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded in 1919 as the Radio Corporation of America. It was initially a patent pool, patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Westinghou ...

. Many of his recordings include his own compositions. During his lifetime he wrote more than 200 songs, many of them comic patter songs, as well as

hymn A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' d ...

s and two

requiem masses A Requiem (Latin: ''rest'') or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead () or Mass of the dead (), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the souls of the deceased, using a particular form of the Roman Missal. It is u ...

Early life and education

Born in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, Viau studied the piano in his youth with Arthur Caron. At the age of 17 he began studying

singing Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...

seriously. He received his early training privately and only later in life pursued university studies. In 1966 he earned a

Bachelor of Music A Bachelor of Music (BMus; sometimes conferred as Bachelor of Musical Arts) is an academic degree awarded by a college, university, or conservatory upon completion of a program of study in music. The degree may be awarded for performance, music ed ...

from the

Université de Montréal The Université de Montréal (; UdeM; ) is a French-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university's main campus is located in the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood of Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce on M ...

and that same year was awarded a teaching certificate from the

Quebec Ministry of Education The Ministry of Education and Higher Education (in French: Ministère de l’Éducation et de l'Enseignement supérieur, abbreviated as MEES) was the combined government ministry of Quebec that governed education, recreation, and sports from 27 Fe ...

. His teachers included Victor Brault, Arthur Laurendeau (voice), Conrad Letendre (diction), Georges Mercure (Gregorian chant), Oscar O'Brien, Michel Perrault, and Roland Van de Goor (harmony).

Career

Viau made his professional

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

debut as Mercutio in

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 ...

's ''

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 ...

'' at Loew's Theatre in Montreal in 1931. From 1932 to 1934 he sang in

Paul-Émile Corbeil Paul-Émile may refer to: *Paul-Émile Allard (1920–1995), Canadian provincial politician *Paul Émile Appell (1855–1930), French mathematician, Rector of the University of Paris *Paul-Émile Bécat (1885–1960), French painter, printmaker and ...

's Imperial Grenadiers. For the

Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission The Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission (CRBC/CCR; ), also referred to as the Canadian Radio Commission (CRC), was Canada's first public broadcaster and the immediate precursor to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Origins The CRBC was est ...

he performed in two series in 1934: ''La Petite Histoire'' and ''Le Chanteur de lied''. For the latter series he collaborated with pianists

Léo-Pol Morin Léo-Pol Morin (13 July 1892 – 29 May 1941) was a Canadian pianist, music critic, composer, and music educator. He composed under the name James Callihou, with his most well known works being ''Suite canadienne'' (1945) and ''Three Eskimos'' f ...

and

Jean-Marie Beaudet Jean-Marie Beaudet (20 February 1908 – 19 March 1971) was a Canadian conducting, conductor, organist, pianist, radio producer, and music educator. He had a long career with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, serving variously as a music prod ...

. He soon after began singing on

CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...

programs. He notably performed for 21 years on ''Le Réveil rural'' and 15 years on ''Le Quart d'heure de La Bonne Chanson''. The majority of his recordings were made from the late 1930s through the 1950s. Viau began composing his own works in the late 1930s. In 1954 he published ''Six Chansonnettes pour bambins et bambines'' and in 1958 ''Six Chansons enfantines with Éditions Albert Viau''. From 1953 to 1954 he worked for

CJMS CJMS was a French language radio station located in Saint-Constant, Quebec, Saint-Constant, Quebec, Canada, a suburb of Montreal. It broadcast on 1040 kHz with a daytime power of 10,000 watts and a nighttime power of 5,000 watts as a List of Nort ...

as a radio producer. He served as the choirmaster at St-Sixte Church in Ville St-Laurent, Montreal from 1950 to 1983; also operating a private studio during those years where he taught voice, piano, guitar, and recorder lessons. From 1965 to 1985 he taught music for the Catholic School Commission of Montreal. He continued to give recitals in Canada and the United States and work with vocal groups as a director and arranger until his retirement in 1986. In 2001 Viau died in Montreal at the age of 90. His archives are currently held by the Société d'histoire de la Haute-Yamaska.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Viau, Albert 1910 births 2001 deaths Université de Montréal alumni Canadian baritones Canadian male composers Canadian folk singers Canadian music educators Canadian operatic baritones Musicians from Montreal 20th-century Canadian male opera singers 20th-century Canadian composers