Lavallée, Calixa
Lavallée, Calixa
Lavallée, Calixa, Canadian composer, pianist, conductor, and teacher; b. Verchères, Lower Canada (Quebec), Dec. 28, 1842; d. Boston, Jan. 21, 1891. His father (Jean-Baptiste André) Augustin Paquet dit Lavallée (b. Verchères, 1816; d. Montreal, Feb. 15, 1903), was a luthier, bandmaster, teacher, and music dealer. After initial training with him, he displayed proficiency as a pianist, violinist, organist, and cornetist. He also attended college in St.-Hyacinthe before going to Montreal to pursue training in piano with Paul Letondal and Charles Sabatier. In 1857 he went to the U.S., and during the Civil War served as principal cornet in the 4th R.I. Regiment (1861–62). Following his discharge, he was active in Canada (1862–65). In 1865 he returned once again to the U.S., eventually going to N.Y as music director of the Grand Opera House (c. 1870). After further studies in Paris (1873–75) with Marmontel (piano) and Bazin and Boieldieu fils (composition), he went to Quebec City as choirmaster at St. James church (until 1879). When a national convention of French Canadians was announced, Lavallée proceeded to compose the music to a national song, O Canada 7th to a text by Judge A.-B. Routhier, which was first performed with great success in Quebec City on June 24, 1880. After serving as accompanist to Etelka Gerster in the U.S., he settled in Boston about 1882 and taught at the Carlyle Petersilea Music Academy and was choirmaster at the Roman Catholic Cathedral of the Holy Cross. He also became a prominent figure in the Music Teachers’ National Assn. Under its auspices, he organized and participated in the first concert ever devoted exclusively to American composers at its gathering in Cleveland on July 3, 1884. In 1886 he was elected its president, and represented the organization at the National Soc. of Professional Musicians in London in 1888. Returning to the U.S., he resumed his varied activities until ill health overtook him in 1890. Lavallée was a pioneering figure in Canadian music who also contributed much to American music. As a composer, he was adept at producing operettas, cantatas, ballads, and piano pieces. In addition to O Canada/’ he remains best known for his brilliantly written piano pieces, the most celebrated of which is his Le Papillon.
Bibliography
E. Lapierre, C. L: Musicien national du Canada (Montreal, 1936); L.-J.-N. Blanchet, Une vie illustrée de C. L. (Montreal, 1951).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire