Kenneth Albert Gilbert (December16, 1931April15, 2020) was a Canadian

harpsichordist A harpsichordist is a person who plays the harpsichord. Harpsichordists may play as soloists, as accompanists, as chamber musicians, or as members of an orchestra, or some combination of these roles. Solo harpsichordists may play unaccompanied son ...

, organist,

musicologist Musicology is the academic, research-based study of music, as opposed to musical composition or performance. Musicology research combines and intersects with many fields, including psychology, sociology, acoustics, neurology, natural sciences, f ...

, and music educator.

Biography

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 ...

, Gilbert studied 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 ...

under Yvonne Hubert (piano) and Gabriel Cusson (harmony and counterpoint). He also studied the organ with Conrad Letendre in Montréal. In 1953 he won the

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 ...

for organ performance, an award which enabled him to pursue studies in Paris with

Nadia Boulanger Juliette Nadia Boulanger (; 16 September 188722 October 1979) was a French music teacher, conductor and composer. She taught many of the leading composers and musicians of the 20th century, and also performed occasionally as a pianist and organis ...

(composition),

Maurice Duruflé Maurice Gustave Duruflé (; 11 January 1902 – 16 June 1986) was a French composer, organist, musicologist, and teacher. Life and career Duruflé was born in Louviers, Eure in 1902. He attended Rouen Cathedral Choir School from 1912 to 1918, ...

(organ), Ruggero Gerlin (harpsichord), Gaston Litaize (organ), and Sylvie Spicket (harpsichord) from 1953 to 1955. He later studied the harpsichord privately under

Wanda Landowska Wanda Aleksandra Landowska (5 July 1879 – 16 August 1959) was a Polish harpsichordist and pianist whose performances, teaching, writings and especially her many recordings played a large role in reviving the popularity of the harpsichord in t ...

. Gilbert made his first recordings with the Canadian label Baroque Records Co. of Canada Ltd. in 1962 – an all-J. S. Bach program, followed by several more solo harpsichord recordings of music by Bach, another of Rameau, and several chamber music albums with other Canadian artists: Mario Duschenes (flute & recorder), Steven Staryk (violin), Jacques Simard (oboe), as well as French flautist

Jean-Pierre Rampal Jean-Pierre Louis Rampal (7 January 1922 – 20 May 2000) was a French flautist. Rampal popularised the flute in the post–World War II years, recovering flute compositions from the Baroque era, and spurring contemporary composers, ...

. As organist, he recorded an album of works by Boehm, Buxtehude and Walther on two Casavant-built instruments in Quebec. (All of these recordings were subsequently reissued on Orion Master Recordings in the U.S.) In 1983 he recorded a two-CD selection from the Montreal Organ Book on the Hellmuth Wolff organ at

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, ...

for the Canadian label Analekta. Gilbert performed for the Peabody Mason concert series in 1974. He died on April 15, 2020, at the age of 88.

Students

* Pascal Dubreuil * Elisabetta Guglielmin * Emmanuelle Haïm * Sébastien d'Hérin * Wolfgang Karius * Oscar Milani * Davitt Moroney * María Luisa Ozaita * Mario Raskin * Ludger Rémy * Scott Ross * Heather Slade-Lipkin *

Jos Van Immerseel Jos Van Immerseel (born 9 November 1945) is a Belgian harpsichordist, pianist and Conducting, conductor. Van Immerseel studied Pipe organ, organ, piano and harpsichord at the Antwerp Conservatory under Flor Peeters, Eugène Traey and harpsicho ...

* Jory Vinikour * Giorgio Cerasoli * John Whitelaw *Ilton Wjuniski
Paola Erdas

Decorations and awards

*Officer of 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 ...

(1986) *Fellow of the

Royal Society of Canada The Royal Society of Canada (RSC; , SRC), also known as the Academies of Arts, Humanities, and Sciences of Canada (French: ''Académies des arts, des lettres et des sciences du Canada''), is the senior national, bilingual council of distinguishe ...

(1988) *Honorary doctorate in Music (

, Montreal) *Honorary Member of the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is one of the oldest music schools in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the firs ...

(London) *Officer of the

Ordre des Arts et des Lettres The Order of Arts and Letters () is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is the recognition of significant ...

(France) *

Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, 1st class The Austrian Decoration for Science and Art () is a state decoration of the Republic of Austria and forms part of the Austrian national honours system. History The "Austrian Decoration for Science and Art" was established by the National C ...

(1999)

References

External links

Kenneth Gilbert
at

The Canadian Encyclopedia ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; ) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with financial support by the federal Department of Canadian Heritage and Society of Com ...

*
IMSLP

Avis de décès
Academics of the Royal Academy of Music Canadian classical musicians Canadian harpsichordists Canadian performers of early music Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal alumni Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada Honorary members of the Royal Academy of Music 2020 deaths Academic staff of Mozarteum University Salzburg Musicians from Montreal Officers of the Order of Canada Officiers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Recipients of the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, 1st class 1931 births Academic staff of Université Laval {{Keyboardist-stub