Joseph-A. Fowler (14 November 1845 – 4 January 1917) was 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 ...

choirmaster A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

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, ...

, 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 ...

. His compositional output mainly consists of sacred music, although he did compose some secular songs for voice and piano and a number of works for solo piano. He wrote two

mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

es for choir and orchestra: ''Mass of the Blessed Virgin Mary'' (published by I. Suckling & Sons, 1893) and ''Mass of the Sacred Heart'' (published by Whaley Royce, 1898).

Life and career

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 ...

, Fowler was the son of an Irish father and a French-Canadian mother. He studied the piano with

Paul Letondal Paul may refer to: People * Paul (given name), a given name, including a list of people * Paul (surname), a list of people * Paul the Apostle, an apostle who wrote many of the books of the New Testament * Ray Hildebrand, half of the singing duo P ...

and was notably one of his first students. He visited Europe three times during his life, experiences which enriched his musical life. At the age of 16 he began teaching at the

Collège Sainte-Marie de Montréal Collège Sainte-Marie () was a college in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It ceased to exist in 1969, when it was merged into UQAM (Université du Québec à Montréal). History Collège Ste-Marie was founded by Jesuits in 1848. It had an English se ...

where he worked for seven years. From 1868 to 1890 he taught at the Sacré-Coeur Convent at Sault-au-Récollet just outside Montreal. Among his notable pupils were

Alexis Contant Joseph Pierre Alexis Contant (12 November 1858 – 28 November 1918) was a Canadian composer, organist, pianist, and music educator. Trained as a pianist, he became one of the first Canadians to compose large-scale choral and orchestral works, i ...

and Arthur Pépin. He also occasionally organized concerts and promoted artists in Montreal, notably bringing Irish baritone

William Ludwig William Ludwig may refer to: * William Ludwig (screenwriter) * William Ludwig (baritone) * William F. Ludwig, Sr., American percussionist and founder of Ludwig Drums {{hndis, Ludwig, William ...

to the city among other performers. An active recitalist and accompanist on the piano, Fowler notably performed

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

's Variations on ''

God Save the Queen "God Save the King" ("God Save the Queen" when the monarch is female) is '' de facto'' the national anthem of the United Kingdom. It is one of two national anthems of New Zealand and the royal anthem of the Isle of Man, Australia, Canada and ...

'' in an 1870 concert organized by

Adélard Joseph Boucher Adélard Joseph François-Arthur Boucher (28 June 1835 – 16 November 1912) was a Canadian publisher, importer, choirmaster, organist, conductor, writer on music, composer and numismatist. In 1865 he founded the A.J. Boucher Co. in Montreal ...

on the occasion of composer's centenary birth. He also served as the organist/choirmaster at

St. Patrick's Basilica, Montreal Saint Patrick's Basilica () is a Roman Catholic minor basilica on René-Lévesque Boulevard in Downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada. History The church is known for its historic links to the Irish Canadian community. St. Patrick's celebrated its ...

from 1868 until his retirement in 1908. He was named an organist emeritus by St. Patrick's and in 1915 he donated an organ to the church's Lady Chapel.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fowler, Joseph 1845 births 1917 deaths 19th-century classical composers 19th-century classical pianists 20th-century Canadian pianists 20th-century Canadian classical composers Canadian classical organists Canadian male classical organists Canadian classical pianists Canadian male classical pianists Canadian male conductors (music) Canadian music educators Canadian male classical composers Academic staff of the Université du Québec à Montréal 20th-century Canadian conductors (music) 20th-century Canadian male musicians 19th-century Canadian male musicians