Joseph Beaulieu (21 May 1895 – 1 October 1965) 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 ...

folklorist Folklore studies (also known as folkloristics, tradition studies or folk life studies in the UK) is the academic discipline devoted to the study of folklore. This term, along with its synonyms, gained currency in the 1950s to distinguish the ac ...

, 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 ...

. He traveled extensively throughout Canada collecting folk songs, which he compiled in several published books. As a composer, his works reflect his strong interest in folk music in there structure and melody. He wrote over 200 works, most of them folk-inspired songs or sacred songs. Also of note is his

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs and including dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, and length of the work. Apart from its shorter length, the oper ...

''Le Trésor du pauvre'' and his

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 ...

for four mixed voices, the ''Vatican II Mass'', which was written for ceremonies held during the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the or , was the 21st and most recent ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City for session ...

. A number of his pieces have been published by La Bonne Chanson and Thompson.

Life

Born in

Mattawa, Ontario Mattawa is a town in northeastern Ontario, Canada at the confluence of the Mattawa and Ottawa Rivers in Nipissing District. The first Europeans to pass through this area were Étienne Brûlé and Samuel de Champlain. History In 1610, Étienne Br ...

, Beaulieu began his musical training at the relatively late age of 20, studying

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

with Oscar O'Brien and

Amédée Tremblay Pierre-Joseph Amédée Tremblay (14 April 1876 – 14 July 1949) was a Canadian organist, composer, and music educator. A largely self-taught composer, his output includes several motets, two masses, a few patriotic songs, works for solo o ...

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

. He soon after began performing in evening entertainments with his teachers and

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 ...

Charles Marchand. With Marchand he traveled throughout the provinces of Ontario and Quebec giving concerts of folk music. During these travels, he began collecting Canadian folksongs which became a lifelong passion of his. In the early 1920s, Beaulieu pursued further training at the Canadian Conservatory of Music where he was a student of Harry Puddicombe, ultimately joining the conservatory's faculty. After the conservatory closed in 1937, he joined the faculty of the

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a Official bilingualism in Canada, bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ot ...

where he taught courses in piano, singing, and business. In 1942 he became a voice teacher at the Benedictines of St-Benoît-du-Lac. In 1931 Beaulieu founded the Petits Chanteurs céciliens, a musical ensemble dedicated to performing Canadian folk music. He served as the ensemble's director through 1943 and for this group he arranged many Canadian folk songs from his collection. He published several books of Canadian folk song collections, including ''Chantez, les petits'' (Thompson 1960), the eight-volume series ''Mon école chante'' (La Bonne Chanson 1956–64), ''Gerbes de chansons nouvelles'' and ''Chantez petits et grands''. In 1943 Beaulieu moved to Toronto to assume the role of assistant director in charge of music education for the

Ontario Ministry of Education The Ministry of Education () is the ministry of the Government of Ontario responsible for government policy, funding, curriculum planning and direction in all levels of public education, including elementary and secondary schools. The ministry ...

. He remained in that post for the next 22 years. He was also highly active teaching in the North Bay area where he died in 1965 at the age of 70.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beaulieu, Joseph 1895 births 1965 deaths Canadian male classical pianists Canadian Conservatory of Music alumni Academic staff of the Canadian Conservatory of Music Canadian folklorists Canadian music educators Canadian opera composers Canadian male opera composers Academic staff of the University of Ottawa 20th-century Canadian classical composers 20th-century Canadian classical pianists 20th-century Canadian male musicians