L'Ensemble Claude-Gervaise is a music group based 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 ...

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, ...

. Led by recorder player Gilles Plante, the group performs early music as well as traditional music, particularly from Quebec and France, in period costume. The Ensemble Claude-Gervais was formed in Montreal in 1967 by four flutists or recorder players: Gilles Plante, François Barre, Jean Gagné, and Joseph Guilmette. The group took its name from Claude Gervaise, a

French Renaissance The French Renaissance was the cultural and artistic movement in France between the 15th and early 17th centuries. The period is associated with the pan-European Renaissance, a word first used by the French historian Jules Michelet to define ...

composer, editor and arranger (fl. in Paris ca. 1540–1560), who was mainly known for his instrumental music. Between 1971 and 1975, the ensemble published a quarterly review entitled ''Carnet musical''. Michael Desroches was the publisher, and Jean-Pierre Pinson was the editor. The current group maintains a core of ten members, all of whom are also singers and dancers. Most group members have been members or students of the Faculty of Music and the Institute of Medieval Studies at 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 ...

. Many group members of the group have studied the works of

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

and

renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

theorists, including Arbeau and

Mersenne Marin Mersenne, OM (also known as Marinus Mersennus or ''le Père'' Mersenne; ; 8 September 1588 – 1 September 1648) was a French polymath whose works touched a wide variety of fields. He is perhaps best known today among mathematicians for ...

. The Ensemble Claude-Gervais has given concerts throughout North America and Europe, and its recordings have often been featured on television and radio broadcasts by the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is the Canadian Public broadcasting, public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a Crown corporation that serves as the national public broadcaster, with its E ...

. In 1988, the group performed a series of concerts in Montreal churches. Two years later, at the 1990 Festival international de Lanaudière, they performed music from the court of

Francis I of France Francis I (; ; 12 September 1494 – 31 March 1547) was King of France from 1515 until his death in 1547. He was the son of Charles, Count of Angoulême, and Louise of Savoy. He succeeded his first cousin once removed and father-in-law Louis&nbs ...

. The ensemble maintains a large collection of over three hundred string, wind and percussion instruments. Some of these are rare originals.

Discography

*''Tout l'monde est malheureux'' (1976) Music of Gilles Vigneault *''L'Ensemble Claude-Gervaise chante l'amour et la guerre'' (1977) *''Jouissance vous donneray'' (1981) *''La Rencontre'' (1982) *''Géographie sonore du monde de la mer'' (c. 1984) *''Initiation à la musique'' (c. 1985) *''Musique au temps de Léonard de Vinci'' (1987) *''Noëls de la Renaissance'' (1988) *''Noëls des temps anciens'' (c. 1994) *''Musique au temps de Jacques Cartier'' (c. 1995) *''Douce dame jolie'' (1997) *''Complaintes médiévales'' (c. 1999) *''Musique populaire des Temps Anciens'' (2000) *''Nouvelle France'' (2001)

Literature

Ensemble Claude Gervaise in the Canadian Encyclopedia
{{Authority control Canadian classical music groups Musical groups from Montreal Musical groups established in 1967 1967 establishments in Quebec