Vallerand, Jean (d’Auray)

Vallerand, Jean (d’Auray), Canadian composer, music critic, teacher, and administrator; b. Montreal, Dec. 24,1915; d. there, June 24, 1994. He received violin lessons from Lucien Sicotte (1921-36), and also studied at the Collège Ste.-Marie de Montréal (B.A., 1935), and was a composition pupil of Claude Champagne (1935-42). He also obtained a diploma in journalism (1938) and a licence es lettres (1939) from the Univ. of Montreal. He éd. Quartier Latin (1937-39); then wrote music criticism for Le Canada (1941-6), Montréal-Matin (1948--9), Le Devoir (1952-61), Nouveau Journal (1961-62), and La Presse (1962-66). From 1942 to 1963 he was secretary general of the Montreal Cons., where he also taught orchestration. He also taught orchestration and music history at the Univ. of Montreal from 1950 to 1966. After serving as head of radio music for the CBC in Montreal (1963-66), he was cultural attaché for the Quebec government in Paris (1966-70). In 1971 he was named director of music education for the Ministry of Cultural Affairs of Quebec. Following its reorganization that year, he was its director of performing arts until 1975. From 1971 to 1978 he also was director of the Cons, de musique et cTart dramatique du Québec. In 1967 he was awarded the Centenary Medal of Canada, and in 1975 received an honorary doctorate from the Univ. of Ottawa. In 1991 he was made a Chevalier of the Ordre national du Québec. In addition to his many reviews and articles in journals, he publ. the books Introduction a la musique (Montreal, 1949) and La Musique et les tout-petits (Montreal, 1950). He wrote music in a neo-Romantic manner; in his later compositions, he experimented with serial techniques.

Works

dramatic: Opera: Le Magicien (Orford, Quebec, Sept. 2,1961, with piano; Montreal, May 30, 1962, with orch.). O R C H. : Le Diable dans le beffroi,symphonie poem (1939; Montreal, April 24,1942); Nocturne (1944); Prélude (1946); Réverbérations contradictoires (1960; Montreal, Feb. 26,1961); Cordes en mouvementfor Strings (Montreal, March 27,1961); Étude concertantefor Violin and Orch. (1968; Montreal, June 1969). CHAMBER: Violin Sonata (Montreal, Nov. 9,1950; also for Violin and Orch., 1951); String Quartet (Radio Canada, Feb. 28, 1955). VOCAL: Les Roses a la merfor Voice and Piano (1939; also for Voice and String Orch.); Notre-Dame de la Couronneand Notre-Dame du Pain,cantatas for Tenor, Chorus, and Orch. (1946); Quatre mélodies sur des poèmes de St. Denys Garneaufor Voice and Piano (1954).

Bibliography

M.-T. Lefebvre, J. V. et la vie musicale du Québec, 1915-1994 (Montreal, 1996).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire