Calixa Lavallée
Encyclopedia
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
and Union officer during the American Civil War who composed the music for O Canada
O Canada
It has been noted that the opening theme of "O Canada" bears a strong resemblance to the "Marsch der Priester" , from the opera Die Zauberflöte , composed in 1791 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and that Lavallée's melody was inspired by Mozart's tune...
, which officially became the national anthem
National anthem
A national anthem is a generally patriotic musical composition that evokes and eulogizes the history, traditions and struggles of its people, recognized either by a nation's government as the official national song, or by convention through use by the people.- History :Anthems rose to prominence...
of Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
in 1980.
Biography
Calixa Lavallée was born at Verchères, a suburb of Montreal, QuebecQuebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
. His father, Augustin Lavallée, was accomplished in many trades, including those of blacksmith, logger, bandmaster, and self-taught luthier
Luthier
A luthier is someone who makes or repairs lutes and other string instruments. In the United States, the term is used interchangeably with a term for the specialty of each maker, such as violinmaker, guitar maker, lute maker, etc...
. Calixa began his musical education with his father and studied in Montréal with Charles Wugk Sabatier
Charles Wugk Sabatier
Charles-Désiré-Joseph Wugk Sabatier was a Canadian pianist, organist, composer, and music educator of French birth.-Early life and career in Europe:...
. In 1857, he moved to the U.S. and lived in Rhode Island
Rhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
where he enlisted in the 4th Rhode Island Volunteers of the Union army during the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, attaining the rank of Lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
.
During and after the war, he traveled between Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
building his career in music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
. Lavallée resided in Louisiana, California, and in the French Canadian community of Lowell, Massachusetts
Lowell, Massachusetts
Lowell is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA. According to the 2010 census, the city's population was 106,519. It is the fourth largest city in the state. Lowell and Cambridge are the county seats of Middlesex County...
where he married an American woman, Josephine Gentilly (or "Gently"), in 1867. He conducted major orchestral and operatic productions in important concert halls such as the Montréal Academy of Music in Montréal and directed at the Grand Opera House
Pike's Opera House
Pike's Opera House, later renamed the Grand Opera House, was a theatre in New York City on the northwest corner of 8th Avenue and 23rd Street, in Chelsea, Manhattan.His other Pike's Opera House, in Cincinnati, burned in the Great Fire of Cincinnati, in 1866. Rebuilt after the fire, and the first...
in New York. Among his notable pupils was composer Alexis Contant
Alexis Contant
Joseph Pierre Alexis Contant was a Canadian composer, organist, pianist, and music educator. The first notable Canadian composer to be entirely trained in his native country, he stated "I write not for glory but rather to satisfy an irresistible need." Although he had considerable training as a...
.
To celebrate St. Jean-Baptiste Day
Fête nationale du Québec
Quebec's National Holiday is celebrated annually on June 24, St. John the Baptist DayIn Quebec, the national holiday is a paid statutory public holiday covered under the Act Respecting Labour Standards...
in 1880, the Lieutenant Governor of Québec, Théodore Robitaille
Théodore Robitaille
Théodore Robitaille, PC was a Canadian physician, politician, and the fourth Lieutenant Governor of Quebec....
, commissioned Lavallée to compose O Canada
O Canada
It has been noted that the opening theme of "O Canada" bears a strong resemblance to the "Marsch der Priester" , from the opera Die Zauberflöte , composed in 1791 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and that Lavallée's melody was inspired by Mozart's tune...
to a patriotic poem by Adolphe-Basile Routhier
Adolphe-Basile Routhier
Sir Adolphe-Basile Routhier was a Canadian judge, author, and lyricist. He wrote the lyrics of the original French version of the Canadian national anthem O Canada. He was born in Saint-Placide, Quebec to Charles Routhier and Angélique Lafleur.Routhier studied law at Université Laval and graduated...
.
During the later years of his life, Lavallée was the choirmaster at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross
Cathedral of the Holy Cross
The Cathedral of the Holy Cross is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston and the largest Roman Catholic church in New England....
in Boston and he died in that city in 1891. As the result of the campaign by the Montréal based music director of the Victoria's Rifles, Joseph-Laurent Gariépy, his remains were returned to Montréal and reinterred at Côte-des-Neiges Cemetery
Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery
Founded in 1854, Cimetière Notre-Dame-des-Neiges is a 343-acre cemetery located in the borough of Côte-des-Neiges—Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The entrance and the grounds run along a part of chemin Côte-des-Neiges and up the slopes of Mount Royal...
in 1933.
Selected musical works
- Loulou, comic operaComic operaComic opera denotes a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending.Forms of comic opera first developed in late 17th-century Italy. By the 1730s, a new operatic genre, opera buffa, emerged as an alternative to opera seria...
- The Bridal Rose Overture, operettaOperettaOperetta is a genre of light opera, light in terms both of music and subject matter. It is also closely related, in English-language works, to forms of musical theatre.-Origins:...
- The King of Diamonds, operetta
- L'Absence, lyrics by Remi Tremblay, 1882–1885
- L'Oiseau Mouche, Bluette de Salon, Op.11, 1865?
- Le Papillon (The Butterfly) Étude de Concert for fluteFluteThe flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
, clarinetClarinetThe clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
and pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, 1884 - Marche funèbre, 1878
- O CanadaO CanadaIt has been noted that the opening theme of "O Canada" bears a strong resemblance to the "Marsch der Priester" , from the opera Die Zauberflöte , composed in 1791 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and that Lavallée's melody was inspired by Mozart's tune...
, 1880 - La veuve, 1881, comic opera (known in English as "The widow")
- Une Couronne de Lauriers, Caprice de Genre, Op.10, 1864?
- Violette, cantilène, lyrics by Napoleon Legendre and P.J. Curran, 1879
Honours
The town of Calixa-LavalléeCalixa-Lavallée, Quebec
Calixa-Lavallée, named for the composer of the same name, is an off-island suburb of Montreal, in southwestern Quebec, Canada, east of Montreal in the Regional County Municipality of Lajemmerais. The population as of the Canada 2006 Census was 533.-Population:...
, northeast of Montreal, is named after him.
The following roads were named to honour Calixa Lavallée:
- Avenue Calixa-Lavallée, located in Shawinigan, QuebecQuebecQuebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, CanadaCanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. - Avenue Calixa-Lavallée, located in QuebecQuebec CityQuebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...
, QuebecQuebecQuebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, CanadaCanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. - Rue Calixa-Lavallée, a dead-end street entering into Lafontaine Park, MontrealMontrealMontreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, QuebecQuebecQuebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, CanadaCanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. - Calixa-Lavallée Privée (Calixa-Lavallée Pvt.) a small dead-end laneway on the University of Ottawa campus
The professional training school Calixa-Lavallée in Quebec also bears his name.