Pépin, (Jean-Josephat) Clermont

Pépin, (Jean-Josephat) Clermont, Canadian composer; b. St.-Georges-de-Beauce, May 15, 1926. He studied piano and harmony as a child with Georgette Dionne, then piano with Arthur Letondal and harmony and counterpoint with Claude Champagne in Montreal (1937–41). He was a scholarship student of Jeanne Behrend (piano) and Rosario Scalero (composition) at the Curtis Inst. of Music in Philadelphia (diploma, 1945). After further training from Lubka Kolessa (piano) and Arnold Walter (composition) at the Toronto Cons., he won the Prix d’Europe (1949) and went to Paris to complete his composition studies with Jolivet, Honegger, and Messiaen. He taught composition at the Montreal Cons. from 1955 to 1964, and later was its director from 1967 to 1973. He taught there again from 1978 to 1987. In 1981 he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada and in 1990 an Officier of the Ordre national du Quebec. In his music, he has explored various aspects of serialism while adhering to classical forms.

Works

dramatic: Ballet: Les Portes de l’enfer (1953); L’Oiseaux-Phénix (1956); Le Porte-rêve (1957–58). orch.: 2 piano concertos (1946, 1949); Variations symphoniques (1947); 5 syms.: No. 1 (1948), No. 2 (Montreal, Dec. 22, 1957), No. 3, Quasars (Montreal, Feb. 7, 1967), No. 4, La Messe sur le monde, for Narrator, Chorus, and Orch. (1975), and No. 5, Implosion (Montreal, Sept. 13, 1983); Guernica, symphonie poem after Picasso’s painting (Quebec, Dec. 8, 1952); Le Rite de soleil noir, symphonic poem (Luxembourg, Sept. 1955); Monologue for Chamber Orch. (1961); Nombres for 2 Pianos and Orch. (Montreal, Feb. 6, 1963); Monade for Strings (1964); Prismes et cristaux for Strings (Montreal, April 9, 1974); Monade for Violin and Orch. (1972); Chroma (Guelph, Ontario, May 5, 1973); Marimba Concerto (1988). chamber: Piano Sonata (1947); 5 string quartets (1948, 1955, 1956, 1960, 1976); Musique pour Athalie for Woodwinds and Brass (1956); Suite for Piano Trio (1958); Sequences for Flute, English Horn, Violin, Viola, and Cello (1972); Monade IV-Réseaux for Violin and Piano (1974); Monade VI-Réseaux for Violin (1974–76); Interactions for 7 Groups of Percussion and 2 Pianos (1977); Trio No. 2 for Violin, Cello, and Piano (1982); Monade VII for Violin and Piano (1986). vocal:Cycle-Eluard for Soprano and Piano (1948–49); Hymne au vent du nord, cantata (1960); Paysage for Soprano, Clarinet, Cello, and Piano (1987); Trois incantations for Voice and Piano (1987).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kaun/Dennis McIntire