Clermont Pépin (May 15, 1926 – September 2, 2006) was a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

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, ...

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 teacher who lived in Quebec.

Early life and education

Jean Joseph Clermont Pépin was born in Saint-Georges,

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, ...

in 1926. Pépin studied with influential Canadian composers

Claude Champagne Claude Champagne (27 May 1891 – 21 December 1965) was a French Canadian composer, teacher, pianist, and violinist. Early life and education Born as Joseph-Arthur-Adonaï Claude Champagne in Montreal, Quebec, Champagne began piano and the ...

(Montreal) and Arnold Walter (Toronto), and at the

Curtis Institute of Music The Curtis Institute of Music is a private conservatory in Philadelphia. It offers a performance diploma, a Bachelor of Music, Master of Music in opera, and a Professional Studies Certificate in opera. All students attend on a full scholarshi ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

from 1941 to 1944 with Rosario Scalero. He composed music for a film in 1948. In 1949 he won the

government study grant

Prix d'Europe The Prix d'Europe () is a Canadian study grant that is funded by the Ministère des Affaires culturelles du Québec of the Government of Quebec. Established in 1911, the award has been distributed annually to a single individual through competition ...

as a pianist, which afforded him the opportunity to study several years in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

(1949–1955). During this time he studied composition with

Arthur Honegger Arthur Honegger (; 10 March 1892 – 27 November 1955) was a Swiss-French composer who was born in France and lived a large part of his life in Paris. Honegger was a member of Les Six. For Halbreich, '' Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher'' is "more even ...

and

André Jolivet André Jolivet (; 8 August 1905 – 20 December 1974) was a French composer. Known for his devotion to French culture and musical thought, Jolivet drew on his interest in acoustics and atonality, as well as both ancient and modern musical influ ...

, and analysis with

Olivier Messiaen Olivier Eugène Prosper Charles Messiaen (, ; ; 10 December 1908 – 27 April 1992) was a French composer, organist, and ornithology, ornithologist. One of the major composers of the 20th-century classical music, 20th century, he was also an ou ...

at the same time as

Pierre Boulez Pierre Louis Joseph Boulez (; 26 March 19255 January 2016) was a French composer, conductor and writer, and the founder of several musical institutions. He was one of the dominant figures of post-war contemporary classical music. Born in Montb ...

Karlheinz 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 groun ...

, and

Serge Garant Albert Antonio Serge Garant, (September 22, 1929 – November 1, 1986) was a Canadian composer, conductor, music critic, professor of music at the University of Montreal and radio host of ''Musique de notre siècle'' on Radio-Canada. In 1966, ...

. His work was also part of the music event in the art competition at the

1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and officially branded as London 1948, were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus cau ...

Career

In the 1950s Pépin's compositions were performed by a number of symphony orchestras. He taught 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 ...

from 1955 to 1964 and later served as director from 1967 to 1973. His pupils included

François Dompierre François Dompierre C.M. (born July 1, 1943) is a Canadian musician, songwriter and composer, best known as a composer of film scores.André Gagnon André Gagnon (2 August 1936 – 3 December 2020) was a Canadian pianist, composer, conductor, arranger, and actor, known for his fusion of classical and pop styles,Jean-Pierre Thiollet, ''88 notes pour piano solo'', Neva Editions, 2015, p.16 ...

, André Prévost,

Jeannine Vanier Marie Antoinette Jeannine Vanier (21 August 1929 – 7 March 2023) was a Canadian composer and organist who was born blind. Vanier was born in the Laval-des-Rapides neighbourhood of Laval, Quebec, to Émile and Alice Laurin Vanier. Her father was ...

Jacques Hétu Jacques Joseph Robert Hétu (August 8, 1938 – February 9, 2010) was a prominent Canadian composer and music educator. Hétu is the most frequently performed of Canadian classical composers, both within Canada and internationally. Educati ...

Silvio Palmieri Silvio Palmieri (10 November 1957 – 22 October 2018) was a Canadian composer. He was born in LaSalle, Quebec. Early life and education Silvio Palmieri received his musical training at the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal. He ...

and

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-1980s ...

. Pépin was best known for his String Quartets Nos. 3 and 4, his Symphonies Nos. 3 (''Quasars''), 4 (''La messe sur le monde'') and 5 (''Implosion'') and his ballets ''L'Oiseau-phénix'' and ''Le Porte-rêve''. Pépin's work was performed regularly on CBC Radio in the 1980s. He was named to the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

in 1981. In 1985, he established the Concours de Musique Clermont-Pépin to encourage the development of artists from the

Beauce Beauce may refer to: * Beauce, France, a natural region in north-central France * Beaucé, a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine department, Brittany, France * Beauce, Quebec Beauce (; ) is a historical and traditional region of Quebec, Canada, lo ...

region of Quebec. In 1990, he was named an officer of the

National Order of Quebec The National Order of Quebec ( French: ), also known as the Order of Quebec, is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of Quebec. Instituted in 1984 when Lieutenant Governor Jean-Pierre Côté granted royal assent to the (Natio ...

. He died of

liver cancer Liver cancer, also known as hepatic cancer, primary hepatic cancer, or primary hepatic malignancy, is cancer that starts in the liver. Liver cancer can be primary in which the cancer starts in the liver, or it can be liver metastasis, or secondar ...

in 2006, aged 80.

Honors

*1949 -

*1952 -

Prix du Centenaire de l'Université Laval Prix was an American power pop band formed in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1975 by Tommy Hoehn and Jon Tiven. The group ended up primarily as a studio project. Its recordings were produced by Tiven along with former Big Star member Chris Bell, who al ...

*1955 - Prix international de composition de Radio-Luxembourg *1970 -

Prix Calixa-Lavallée Prix was an American power pop band formed in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1975 by Tommy Hoehn and Jon Tiven. The group ended up primarily as a studio project. Its recordings were produced by Tiven along with former Big Star member Chris Bell, who al ...

*1970 - Bene merenti de patria *1981 - Officer of the Order of Canada *1990 - Officer of the National Order of Quebec

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pepin, Clermont 1926 births 2006 deaths 20th-century Canadian composers 20th-century Canadian musicologists 20th-century Canadian male musicians Canadian male composers Canadian music academics Academic staff of the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal Deaths from cancer in Quebec Deaths from liver cancer in Canada Musicians from Quebec Officers of the Order of Canada Officers of the National Order of Quebec Art competitors at the 1948 Summer Olympics People from Saint-Georges, Quebec