Donald Patriquin (born October 21, 1938, in

Sherbrooke Sherbrooke ( , ) is a city in southern Quebec, Canada. It is at the confluence of the Saint-François River, Saint-François and Magog River, Magog rivers in the heart of the Estrie administrative region. Sherbrooke is also the name of a territ ...

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, ...

) is 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 ...

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...

, and

choral conductor Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance, such as an orchestral or Choir, choral concert. It has been defined as "the art of directing the simultaneous performance of several players or singers by the use of gesture." The primary d ...

. Known internationally for choral and instrumental arrangements of

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 ...

, Patriquin was a member of the Faculty of Music of

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

from 1965 to 1996. He currently resides in the

Eastern Townships The Eastern Townships (, ) is a historical administrative region in southeastern Quebec, Canada. It lies between the Great Lakes–St. Lawrence Lowlands, St. Lawrence Lowlands and the American border, and extends from Granby, Quebec, Granby in ...

of Quebec.

Musical background

Patriquin began composing at the age of 11, winning several awards through his youth while studying composition with Jean Papineau-Couture during summer sessions. He completed a biology degree at

Bishop's University Bishop's University () is a small English-language Liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Lennoxville, a borough of Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. The founder of the institution was the Anglican Diocese of Quebec, Anglican Bishop of Quebec ...

in 1959 before beginning his formal studies in music. He studied composition at

with

István Anhalt István Anhalt (April 12, 1919 – February 24, 2012) was a Hungarian-Canadian composer. Anhalt served as a professor of music at McGill University and founded the McGill University Electronic Music Studio. He also served as head of music at Q ...

and at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

with John Weinzwig, earning a Bachelor of Music degree from McGill in 1964 and an M.A. from Toronto in 1970. He also holds an A.Mus. degree in organ performance from McGill and an RCCO

Music

Patriquin's compositions are best known for the use of folk music elements, and in his instrumental work for abstract noises imitating sounds of nature. This compositional style can be seen in such pieces as the ''Fantasy for Fiddle'' and the ''Hangman's Reel/Suite Carignan''. Some of Patriquin's works include visual or other

multimedia Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms, such as Text (literary theory), writing, Sound, audio, images, animations, or video, into a single presentation. T ...

elements. ''Trois mois'', composed in 1982, includes a diaporama, and ''Earthpeace II'', a 1998 composition commemorating the victims of Chernobyl, is written for dancers and choir. His music is published by Earthsongs, A Tempo, and Canadian International Music.

Discography

*En la Fête de Noël - O Holy Night. Various artists, 1999. Naxos *Songs of Light. Jean Ashworth Bartle conductor, Ruth Watson Henderson piano,

Toronto Children's Chorus The Toronto Children's Chorus (TCC) is a children's choir based in Toronto. It was founded in 1978 by Jean Ashworth Bartle. The group has close to 350 members aged 6 to 18. History In 1982, the choir won first prize at the International Eisteddf ...

. Marquis Classics, 253 (CD)

Works

Choral - a capella

*Take, O Take Those Lips Away. 1962 *The Greenwood Tree. 1963 *A Lover and His Lass. 1965 *Black is the Colour of My True Love's Hair, arr. 1968 *Sortilege. 1979 *Magnificat. 1983 *Il est né le divin enfant, arr. 1989 *Sixtyfold Amen. 1989 *An Old Gaelic Blessing. 1990 *Antiphon and the Child of Mary. 1992

Choral - with accompaniment

*A Child's Carol. 1952 rev. 1992 *Six Songs of Early Canada, arr. 1980 rev. 1992 *Listen Sweet Dove. 1981 *Six Noëls Anciens, arr. 1982 *Songs of Innocence. 1984 *Carol of the Fieldmice. 1985, rev. 1992 *Chantons Noël. 1985 rev. 1992 *Earthpeace Two. 1988 *All Through the Night. arr. 1989 *Introit. 1990 *Prayer of Saint Francis. 1990 *Requiem at Sea (The Titanic). 1992 *'A Soalin', arr. 1992 *On Christmas Day, arr. 1992 *J'entends le Moulin, arr. 1992 *Sister Mary Had One Child, arr. 1992 *Un Canadien errant, arr. 1993 *Overture to Christmas. 1993 *The Five Seasons. 1997 *World Music Suite. 1997 *Mass for the Caribbean. 1998 *Canadian Mosaic. 2000 *Psalms & Canticles of Praise and Peace. 2003 *Three love songs from the British Isles. 2007

Instrumental/Other

*Fantasy for Fiddle. 1975 *Hangman's Reel/Suite Carignan. 1978 *Blanche de Percé (for narrator, guitar, flute and percussion). 1982 *Trois mois. 1982 *Cycles (for soprano, piano and clarinet). 2004 *Louisa's Story (musical with

libretto A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to th ...

by Sunil Mahtani). 2005

External links

Donald Patriquin at The Encyclopedia of Music in CanadaPersonal website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Patriquin, Donald 1938 births Living people 20th-century Canadian classical composers Canadian people of Ulster-Scottish descent Musicians from Sherbrooke Canadian male classical composers 20th-century Canadian male musicians