Lydia Boucher (28 February 1890 – 5 March 1971) was a Canadian composer, music educator, and nun. [1] She was active as a composer from 1923 to 1971, producing several choral works and pieces for solo piano and organ. Most of her works are sacred and many of them were published by L'Édition Belgo-Canadienne, Musica Enrégistré, and Éditions canadiennes. Her first composition was Ave Maria (1923) and her last work was Hommage à Mère Marie-Anne (1971). Of particular note is her oratorio L'Oeuvre d'Esther Blondin which premiered in 1949. Some of her other notable pieces include the piano works Trois Préludes (1928–30) and La Ronde des aiguilles (1950), and the Alleluia for organ (1958). [2]
Born in Saint-Ambroise-de-Kildare, Quebec, Boucher studied music with Claude Champagne (music composition), Fleurette Contant (singing), J. Alexandre Delcourt (violin), Auguste Descarries (piano and composition), Rodolphe Mathieu (piano and harmony), Louis Michiels (composition), [3] and Raoul Paquet (organ). She became a novitiate at the Sisters of Saint Anne in 1907. She took her vows in 1909 [2] at which time she took the name Sister Marie-Thérèse. [4] Composer Alice Vinette (Sister Marie-Jocelyne) was a contemporary of Boucher's.[ citation needed ]
Boucher was active as a teacher of piano, voice, violin, and organ from 1909 to 1969. She taught at several different schools and institutions during her 60-year teaching career, including the Maison-Mère Mont-Ste-Anne in Lachine and the École de musique Wilfrid-Pelletier in Montreal. She died in Montreal in 1971 at the age of 81. [2]
Marie-Juliette Olga "Lili" Boulanger was a French composer and the first female winner of the Prix de Rome composition prize. Her older sister was the noted composer and composition teacher Nadia Boulanger.
Arthur William Foote was an American classical composer, and a member of the "Boston Six." The other five were George Whitefield Chadwick, Amy Beach, Edward MacDowell, John Knowles Paine, and Horatio Parker.
Johanna Senfter was a German composer.
André Mathieu was a Canadian pianist and composer.
Claude Étienne Edmond Marie Pierre Delvincourt was a French pianist and composer of classical music.
Mélanie Hélène "Mel" Bonis was a prolific French late-Romantic composer. She wrote more than 300 pieces, including works for piano solo and four hands, organ pieces, chamber music, mélodies, choral music, a mass, and works for orchestra. She attended the Paris Conservatoire, where her teachers included César Franck, Ernest Guiraud, and Auguste Bazille.
Jean-Baptiste Labelle was a Canadian composer, organist, pianist, and conductor. He is best known for composing the music to the song Ô Canada! mon pays, mes amours with words by George-Étienne Cartier. He also used words by Cartier for the song Avant tout je suis Canadien (1860). Some of his other notable works include the cantatas Cantate: La Confédération (1868) and La Croisade canadienne (1886); the operetta La Conversion d'un pêcheur de la Nouvelle-Écosse ; the piano pieces Marche canadienne (1846) and Quadrille national canadien; and the song Chant des Zouaves canadiens (1881).
Joseph Pierre Alexis Contant 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, in spite of the difficulty of finding suitable teachers of musical composition. His younger years were spent mostly in teaching, family, and work as a church organist, and many of his compositions were written later in life.
Patricia Blomfield Holt was a Canadian composer, pianist and music educator. An associate of the Canadian Music Centre and a member of the Association of Canadian Women Composers, her compositions have been performed by notable musical ensembles throughout North America and Europe.
Joseph Rodolphe Mathieu was a Canadian composer, pianist, writer on music, and music educator. The Canadian Encyclopedia states, "Considered too avant-garde for his time because of Debussy's influence on his music, Mathieu gained recognition too late to inspire the generation that followed." The pianist Léo-Pol Morin was one of the few important exponents of his work, notably including Mathieu's Chevauchée and Trois Préludes in his concert repertoire. Mathieu's song Un peu d'ombre (1913) was included in a number of recitals given by Marguerite Bériza and Sarah Fischer in Europe.
Ruth Louise Watson Henderson is a Canadian composer and pianist. She was the accompanist for the Festival Singers of Canada under Dr. Elmer Iseler for many years, where she developed her ear for composing mixed-choral works. Henderson also accompanied the Toronto Children's Chorus under Jean Ashworth Bartle from its inception in 1978 to 2007 and was music director for Kingsway-Lambton United Church in Toronto from 1996 to 2013.
Ernest Gagnon was a Canadian folklorist, composer, and organist. He is best known for compiling a large amount of French Canadian folk music which he published as Chansons populaires du Canada in 1865–1867. He was greatly admired for his virtuoso performances on the organ and was also considered an expert at plainsong accompaniment.
Benoît Fidèle Poirier was a Canadian organist, composer, and music educator. He was a church organist and taught at several educational and religious institutions in Montreal, Quebec. He created a number of compositions for organ and piano.
Jocelyne Binet was a Canadian composer, pianist, and music educator. She studied in Montreal and Paris, France, and returned to compose and teach music in Canada.
Hélène-Gabrielle Fleury-Roy was a French composer and the first woman to gain a prize at the prestigious Prix de Rome for composition.
Ethel Barns was an English violinist, pianist and composer. She was born in London and entered the Royal Academy of Music at as a teenager, where she studied with Emile Sauret for violin, Ebenezer Prout for composition and Frederick Westlake for piano.
Roger Boucher was a French organist and composer.
Alice Vinette was a Canadian composer, organist, and nun. Her religious name was Sister Marie-Jocelyne.
Marie Antoinette Jeannine Vanier was a Canadian composer and organist who was born blind.
Celia Torrá was an Argentine composer, conductor, and violinist. She was the first woman to conduct an orchestra at the Teatro Colón.
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