Music of Canada
Encyclopedia
The music of Canada
has influences that have shaped the country
. Aboriginals
, the British
, and the French
have all made unique contributions to the musical heritage of Canada
. The music has subsequently been heavily influenced by American culture
because of its proximity and migration between the two countries. Since French explorer Samuel de Champlain
arrived in 1605 and established the first permanent Canadian settlements at Port Royal
and Quebec City
in 1608, the country has produced its own composers, musicians and ensembles.
Canada's music industry has produced internationally renowned Canadian artists. Canada has developed a music infrastructure, that includes church hall
s, chamber hall
s, conservatories, academies, performing arts center
s, record companies, radio stations, television music video
channels. Canada's music broadcasting is regulated by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC). The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
administers Canada's music industry awards, the Juno Award
s, which commenced in 1970.
came to what is now Canada
, the region was occupied by a large number of Aboriginal peoples
, including the West Coast Salish and Haida, the centrally located Iroquois
, Blackfoot
and Huron, the Inuit
and Dene
people to the North, and the Innu
and Mi'kmaq in the East. Each of the aboriginal communities had (and have) their own unique musical traditions. Chanting - singing is widely popular and most use a variety of musical instruments. Being resourceful and creative they used the materials at hand to make their instruments for thousands of years before Europeans immigrated to the new world
. They made gourds and animal horns
into rattles
, many rattles were elaborately carved and beautifully painted. In woodland areas, they made horns of birchbark and drumsticks of carved antlers and wood. Drums were generally made of carved wood and animal hides. These musical instruments provide the background for songs and led to aboriginal dances. For many years after Europeans came to Canada, First Nations
and Inuit
peoples were discouraged from practicing their traditional ceremonies.
to New France
brought with them a great love of song, dance and fiddle playing. In 1606-1607 Marc Lescarbot
collected the earliest extant transcriptions of a songs from the Americas: three songs of Henri Membertou
, the sakmow (Grand Chief) of the Mi'kmaq First Nations
tribe situated near Port Royal
, present-day Nova Scotia
.
Beginning in the 1630s French and Aboriginal children at Quebec City
were taught to sing and play European instruments, like viols, violins, guitars, transverse flutes
, drums, fifes
and trumpets. Ecole des Ursulines
and The Ursuline Convent
are among North America
's oldest schools and the first institutions of learning for women in North America. Both where founded in 1639 by French nun
Marie de l'Incarnation (1599–1672) alongside laywoman Marie-Madeline de Chauvigny de la Peltrie
(1603–1671) and are the first Canadian institutions to have music as part of the curriculum.
The earliest written record of violin
s in Canada comes from the Jesuit Relation
of 1645. The Jesuits additionally have the first documented organ sale, imported for their Quebec City chapel in 1657. Notre-Dame de Québec Cathedral
build in 1647 is the primate
church of Canada and seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Quebec
. It is the oldest Catholic
"Episcopal see"
in the New World
north of Mexico
and site of the first documented choir in Canada.
Canada, New France
first formal ball was given by Louis-Théandre Chartier de Lotbinière
(1612–1688) on 4 Feb. 1667. Louis Jolliet
(1645–1700) is on record as one of the first classically trained practicing musicians in New France, although history has recognized him more as an explorer, hydrographer
and voyageur
. Jolliet is said to have played the organ, harpsichord
, flute, and trumpet. 1700, under British rule
at this time, an organ was installed in Notre-Dame Basilica
in Montreal
and military bands gave concerts on the Champ de Mars
. A French-born priest, René Ménard
, composed motets around 1640, and a second Canadian-born priest, Charles-Amador Martin
, is credited with the plainchant
music for the Sacrae familiae felix spectaculum, in celebration of the Holy Family feast day
in 1700.
Historically, music was composed in Canada's colonies and settlements
during the 18th century, although very few popular named works have survived or were even published. The French and Indian Wars
began and left the population economically drained and ill-equipped to develop cultural pursuits properly. The part-time composers of this period were nonetheless often quite skilled. Traditional songs and dances, such as those of the Habitants
and Métis
, were transmitted orally, from generation to generation and from village to village, thus people felt no need to transcribe or publish them. Printed music was required, for music teachers and their pupils, who were from the privileged minority where domestic music making was considered a proof of gentility. Music publishing and printing in Europe by this time was a thriving industry, but it did not begin in Canada until the 19th century. Canadian composers were not able to focus entirely on creating new music in these years, most made their living in other musical activities such as leading choirs, church organists
and teaching. Regimental bands
were musically part of civil life, they featured perhaps a dozen woodwind and brass instruments, performing at parades, festive ceremonies, minuet
s, country dances and balls.
After the 1760s, regular concerts became a part of the cultural landscape, as well as a wide variety of dancing. Operatic excerpts began to appear, and before the end of the century Canada had its first home-grown grand opera. A "Concert Hall" existed in Québec City by 1764 and subscription concerts by 1770, given, one may presume, by band players and skilled amateurs. Programs for the Québec City and Halifax
concerts of the 1790s reveal orchestral and chamber music by Handel
, J.C. Bach, Haydn, Mozart and Pleyel. Canada's first wildly published sheet music are two operas written in late 18th century by New France composer, poet
, and playwright
Joseph Quesnel
(1746–1809). The instrument of favor for the lower-class
was the fiddle. Fiddlers were a fixture in most public drinking establishments. The late 18th century two new melodic instruments the diatonic harmonica and the button accordion
make their appearance in folk-music tradition. God Save the Queen has been sung in Canada since British rule and by the mid-20th century was, along with "O Canada
", one of the country's two de facto national anthems.
s. The first volumes of music printed in the Canadas
was the "Graduel romain" in 1800 followed by the "Processional 'sic' romain" in 1801. Folk music was still thriving, as recounted in the poem titled "A Canadian Boat Song". The poem was composed by the Irish
poet Thomas Moore
(1779–1852) during a visit to Canada in 1804. "The Canadian Boat Song" was so popular that it was published several times over the next forty years in Boston
, New York
and Philadelphia. Dancing likewise was extremely popular form of entertainment as noted In 1807 by the Scottish
traveler and artist George Heriot
(1759–1839), who wrote..
Among the earliest musical societies were Halifax
s "New Union Singing Society" of 1809 and Quebec's "Harmonic Society" of 1820. One of the first registered all-civilian musical ensemble was a religious sect organized from Upper Canada
called Children of Peace
in 1820. 1833, a student orchestra
was organized at the Séminaire de Québec the Société Ste-Cécile, as it was known, is one of the earliest ensemble of its kind in Lower Canada
. The first appearance of a piece of music in a newspaper or magazine was in the pages of the Montreal
twice-weekly newspaper, La Minerve
, on September 19, 1831. Many immigrants during this time lived in relative isolation and music sometimes obtained through subscriptions to newspapers and magazines, provided entertainment and a life line to civilization. One of the earliest surviving publication in Canada of a song for the piano in sheet music format is The Merry Bells of England by J.F. Lehmann, in 1840.
The Great Migration of Canada
from 1815 to 1850, done largely by Irish
, British
and Scottish
immigrants, broadened considerably the Canadian musical culture. 1844, Samuel Nordheimer
(1824–1912) opened a music store in Toronto
selling pianos and soon thereafter began to publish engraved sheet music
. Samuel Nordheimer store was among the first and the largest specialized music publisher in the Province of Canada
. They initially had the sole right to publish copies of Alexander Muir
's "The Maple Leaf Forever
" that for many years served as an unofficial Canadian national anthem. By the time of Canadian Confederation
(1867), songwriting had become a favored means of personal expression across the land. In a society in which most middle-class families now owned a piano, and standard education included at least the rudiments of music, the result was often an original song. Such stirrings frequently occurred in response to noteworthy events, and few local or national excitements were allowed to pass without some musical comment.
The 1870s saw several conservatories opened their doors, providing their string, woodwind and brass faculty, leading to the opportunity for any class level of society to learn music. One Sweetly Solemn Thought in 1876 by Hamilton
-based Robert S. Ambrose, became one of the most popular songs to ever be published in the 19th century. It fulfilled the purpose of being an appropriate song to sing in the parlors of homes that would not permit any non-sacred
music to be performed on Sundays. At the same time it could be sung in dance halls or on the stage along operas and operettas.
"O Canada" was originally commissioned by the Lieutenant Governor of Quebec
, the Honourable Théodore Robitaille
(1834–1897), for the 1880 St. Jean-Baptiste Day
ceremony. Calixa Lavallée
(1842–1891) wrote the music, which was a setting of a patriotic poem composed by the poet and judge Sir Adolphe-Basile Routhier
(1839–1920). The text was originally only in French, before it was translated to English in 1906.
Leo, the Royal Cadet
a light opera
with music by Oscar Ferdinand Telgmann
and a libretto
by George Frederick Cameron
was composed in Kingston, Ontario
in 1889. The work centres on Nellie's love for Leo, a cadet at the Royal Military College of Canada
who becomes a hero serving during the Anglo-Zulu War
in 1879. The operetta focussed on typical character types, events and concerns of Telgmann and Cameron's time and place.
, Canadian songwriters' works were published as sheet music, or in periodicals in local newspapers such as The Montreal Gazette
and Toronto Empire
. Most recordings purchased by Canadians in the early days of the gramophone were made by American and British singers, behind some of these international hits were Canadian songwriters. Robert Nathaniel Dett
(1882–1943) was among the first Black Canadian composers during the early years of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. His works often appeared among the programs of William Marion Cook
's New York syncopated Orchestra. Dett himself performed at Carnegie Hall
and at the Boston Symphony Hall as a pianist and choir director. Following quickly on the gramophone's spread came Canada's involvement in the First World War. The war was the catalyst for the writing and recording of large numbers of Canadian-written popular songs, some of which achieved lasting international commercial success. The military during WWI produced official music such as regimental marches
and songs as well as utilitarian bugle call
s. The soldiers had a repertoire of their own, largely consisting of new, often ribald, lyrics to older tunes.
Canada's first independent record label Compo Company
built a pressing plant (the largest of its day) in 1918 at Lachine, Quebec
. Compo was originally created to serve the several American independent record companies such as Okeh Records
which wanted to distribute records in Canada. The 1920s saw Canada's first radio stations, this allowed Canadian songwriters to contribute some of the most famous popular music of the early 20th century. Canada's first commercial radio station CFCF (formerly XWA) begins broadcasting regularly scheduled programming in Montreal in 1920, followed by CKAC, Canada's first French language radio station, in 1922. By 1923, there were 34 radio stations in Canada and subsequently proliferated at a remarkable rate, and with them spread the popularity of jazz
. Jazz became associated with all things modern, sophisticated, and also decadent.
In 1925, the Canadian Performing Rights Society was formed to administer public performance and royalties
for composers and lyricists. it became known as the Composers, Authors and Publishers Association of Canada (CAPAC). Toronto-born Murray Adaskin
(1906–2002) was a violinist, composer, conductor and teacher at the University of Saskatchewan
. From 1923 to 1936 he was an orchestral and chamber musician with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra
, he was later named head of music at the University of Saskatchewan. He was a composer-in-residence
at the University of Saskatchewan, the first appointment of this type in Canada.
, the majority of people listened to what today would be called swing
(Jazz) just as country
was starting its roots. The diversity in the evolution of swing dancing in Canada is reflected in its many American names, Jive
, Jitterbug and Lindy
. Canada's first big band star was Guy Lombardo
(1902–1977), who formed his easy listening
band, The Royal Canadians, with his brothers and friends. They achieved international success starting in the mid 1920s selling an estimated 250 million phonograph records, and were the first Canadians to have a #1 single on Billboards top 100. 1932, the first Broadcasting Act
was passed by Parliament creating the Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission
. It was to both to regulate all broadcasting and create a new national public radio network. 1936, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
came into existence, at the time, a million Canadian households had a radio.
Emerging out of the great depression on near equal-footing to American popular music
, Canadian popular music continued to enjoyed considerable success at home and abroad in the preceding years. Among them Montreal
's jazz virtuoso
Oscar Peterson
(1925–2007) who is considered to have been one of the greatest pianists of all time, releasing over 200 recordings and receiving several Grammy Awards during his lifetime. Also notable is Hank Snow
(1914–1999), who signed with RCA Victor in 1936 and went on to become one of America's biggest and most innovative country music
superstars of the 1940s and 1950s. Snow became a regular performer at the Grand Ole Opry
on WSM
in Nashville and released more than 45 LPs
over his lifetime. Snow was one of the inaugural inductees to the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame
started in 2003.
Canada during the Second World War
produced some patriotic songs, but were not hits in the music industry sense. A number of Canadian singers who learned their craft in Canadian opera companies in the 1930s went on to sing in major international opera houses. Most notable from the 1940s is contralto
singer Portia White
(1911–1968). She achieved international fame because of her voice and stage presence. As a Canadian female of African descent, her popularity helped to open previously-closed doors for talented women who followed. She has been declared "A person of national historic significance
" by the Government of Canada
. In 1964 she performed for Queen Elizabeth II, at the opening of the Confederation Centre of the Arts
.
Following World War II
a growth phase for Canadian bands was experienced, this time among school bands. Rapid advances in the inclusion of instrumental music study in formal school curricula brought about fundamental changes to the philosophy of the band movement and the type of repertoire available. The CHUM Chart
debuted on May 27, 1957, under the name CHUM's Weekly Hit Parade, was in response to the fast growing diversity of music that needed to be subdivided and categorized. The CHUM charts were the longest-running Top 40 chart in Canada ending in 1986.
1958 saw its first Canadian rock and roll
teen idol
Paul Anka
, who went to New York City
where he auditioned for ABC
with the song, Diana
. This song brought Anka instant stardom as it reached number one on the US Billboard charts
. "Diana" has gone on to be one of the best selling 45s
in music history. US-born rockabilly
pioneer Ronnie Hawkins
came to Canada in 1958, where he became a key player in the Canadian blues
and rock scene. The 4th of October was declared "Ronnie Hawkins Day" by the city of Toronto
when Hawkins was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame
. He was also inducted into the Canadian Music Industry Hall of Fame and his pioneering contribution to rockabilly has been recognized with induction into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame
.
's Neil Young
who has been inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame
, Canada's Walk of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
twice. Leonard Cohen
has been inducted into both the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame and is also a Companion of the Order of Canada. Walt Grealis
of Toronto started in the music business with Apex Records in 1960, the Ontario distributor for Compo Company. He later joined London Records
, where he worked until February 1964, when he then established RPM weekly trade magazine
. From the first issue of RPM Weekly on February 24, 1964 to its final issue on November 13, 2000, RPM was the defining charts in Canada.
The American and British counterculture explosion
and hippie movement
had diverted music to that which was dominated by socially and American politically incisive lyrics by the late 1960s . The music was an attempt to reflect upon the events of the time -- civil rights
, the war in Vietnam
and the rise of feminism
. This led to the Canadian government passing Canadian content
legislation to help Canadian artists. On January 18, 1971 regulations came into force requiring AM radio stations to devote 30 per cent of their musical selections to Canadian content. Although this was (and still is) controversial, it quite clearly contributed to the development of a nascent Canadian pop star system.
With the introduction in the mid 1970s of mainstream music on FM radio stations, where it was common practice to program extended performances, musicians were no longer limited to songs of three minutes' duration as dictated by AM stations for decades. The most notable musicians to benefit from this and one of the largest Canadian exports is Rush
. They have produced 25 gold records
and 14 platinum (3 multi-platinum) records, making them one of the best-selling ensembles in history.
Canada's first nation-wide music awards began as a reader poll conducted by Canadian music industry trade magazine RPM Weekly in December 1964. A similar balloting process continued until 1970 when the RPM Gold Leaf Awards, as they were then known, were changed to the Juno Awards. The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
held the first Juno Award ceremony in 1975. This was in response to rectifying the same concerns about promotion of Canadian artist that the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission had.
Things changed course in the 1980s and 1990s, the changing fast-paced culture was accompanied by an explosion in youth culture
. Until the mid-1960s, little attention was paid to music by Canadian daily newspapers except as news or novelty. With the introduction during the late 1970s of the "Music critic", coverage began to rival that of any other topic. Canadian publications devoted to all styles of music either exclusively or in tandem with more general editorial content directed to young readers, was expanding exponentially.
The influence and innovations of Canadian hip hop
came to the foreground in Canada when Music video
s became an important marketing tool for Canadian musicians, with the debut of MuchMusic
in 1984 and MusiquePlus
in 1986. Now both English and French Canadian musicians had outlets to promote all forms of music through video in Canada. The networks were not just an opportunity for artists to get their videos played—the networks created VideoFACT
, a fund to help emerging artists produce their videos.
Canadian women at the end of the 20th century enjoyed greater international commercial success than ever before. Canadian women set a new pinnacle of success, in terms financial, critical and in their immediate and strong influence on their respective genres. They were the women and daughters who had fought for emancipation and equality a generation before. Most notable is French-Canadian
singer, Celine Dion
, who became Canada's best-selling music artist, and who, in 2004, received the Chopard Diamond Award
from the World Music Awards
for surpassing 175 million in album sales, worldwide.
launched PromoFACT, a funding program to help new artists produce electronic press kits and websites. At about the same time, the CD (cheap to manufacture) replaced the vinyl album and Compact Cassette
(expensive to manufacture). Shortly thereafter, the Internet
allowed musicians to directly distribute their music, thus bypassing the selection of the old-fashioned "record label
". Canada's main stream music industry has suffered as a result of the internet and the boom of independent music. The drop in annual sales between 1999 - the year that Napster
's unauthorized peer-to-peer
file sharing service launched - and the end of 2004 was $465 million. In 2007, Canada joined the controversial Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement
talks, whose outcome will have a significant impact on the Canadian music industry. In 2010 Canada introduced new copyright legislation. The amended law makes hacking digital locks illegal, but enshrine into law the ability of purchasers to record and copy music from a CD to portable devices.
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...
has influences that have shaped the country
History of Canada
The history of Canada covers the period from the arrival of Paleo-Indians thousands of years ago to the present day. Canada has been inhabited for millennia by distinctive groups of Aboriginal peoples, among whom evolved trade networks, spiritual beliefs, and social hierarchies...
. Aboriginals
Aboriginal peoples in Canada
Aboriginal peoples in Canada comprise the First Nations, Inuit and Métis. The descriptors "Indian" and "Eskimo" have fallen into disuse in Canada and are commonly considered pejorative....
, the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, and the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
have all made unique contributions to the musical heritage of Canada
Culture of Canada
Canadian culture is a term that explains the artistic, musical, literary, culinary, political and social elements that are representative of Canada and Canadians, not only to its own population, but people all over the world. Canada's culture has historically been influenced by European culture and...
. The music has subsequently been heavily influenced by American culture
Culture of the United States
The Culture of the United States is a Western culture originally influenced by European cultures. It has been developing since long before the United States became a country with its own unique social and cultural characteristics such as dialect, music, arts, social habits, cuisine, and folklore...
because of its proximity and migration between the two countries. Since French explorer Samuel de Champlain
Samuel de Champlain
Samuel de Champlain , "The Father of New France", was a French navigator, cartographer, draughtsman, soldier, explorer, geographer, ethnologist, diplomat, and chronicler. He founded New France and Quebec City on July 3, 1608....
arrived in 1605 and established the first permanent Canadian settlements at Port Royal
Port Royal, Nova Scotia
Port Royal was the capital of Acadia from 1605 to 1710 and is now a town called Annapolis Royal in the western part of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. Initially Port Royal was located on the north shore of the Annapolis Basin, Nova Scotia, at the site of the present reconstruction of the...
and Quebec City
Quebec City
Quebec , 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...
in 1608, the country has produced its own composers, musicians and ensembles.
Canada's music industry has produced internationally renowned Canadian artists. Canada has developed a music infrastructure, that includes church hall
Church hall
A church hall is a room or building associated with a church, general for community and charitable use . It is normally located near the church, typically in smaller and village communities. Activities in the hall are not necessarily religious, but are typically an important part of local community...
s, chamber hall
Chamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...
s, conservatories, academies, performing arts center
Performing arts center
Performing arts center, often abbreviated PAC, is used to refer to* A multi-use performance space that is intended for use by various types of the performing arts, including dance, music and theatre....
s, record companies, radio stations, television music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
channels. Canada's music broadcasting is regulated by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC). The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences is the organization responsible for conducting the Juno Awards, Canada's primary national musical honours...
administers Canada's music industry awards, the Juno Award
Juno Award
The Juno Awards are presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music...
s, which commenced in 1970.
History
Before European settlersEuropean colonization of the Americas
The start of the European colonization of the Americas is typically dated to 1492. The first Europeans to reach the Americas were the Vikings during the 11th century, who established several colonies in Greenland and one short-lived settlement in present day Newfoundland...
came to what is now Canada
Territorial evolution of Canada
The federation of Canada was created in 1867 when three colonies of British North America were united. One of these colonies split into two new provinces, three other colonies joined later...
, the region was occupied by a large number of Aboriginal peoples
Aboriginal peoples in Canada
Aboriginal peoples in Canada comprise the First Nations, Inuit and Métis. The descriptors "Indian" and "Eskimo" have fallen into disuse in Canada and are commonly considered pejorative....
, including the West Coast Salish and Haida, the centrally located Iroquois
Iroquois
The Iroquois , also known as the Haudenosaunee or the "People of the Longhouse", are an association of several tribes of indigenous people of North America...
, Blackfoot
Blackfoot
The Blackfoot Confederacy or Niitsítapi is the collective name of three First Nations in Alberta and one Native American tribe in Montana....
and Huron, the Inuit
Inuit
The Inuit are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic regions of Canada , Denmark , Russia and the United States . Inuit means “the people” in the Inuktitut language...
and Dene
Dene
The Dene are an aboriginal group of First Nations who live in the northern boreal and Arctic regions of Canada. The Dené speak Northern Athabaskan languages. Dene is the common Athabaskan word for "people" . The term "Dene" has two usages...
people to the North, and the Innu
Innu
The Innu are the indigenous inhabitants of an area they refer to as Nitassinan , which comprises most of the northeastern portions of the provinces of Quebec and some western portions of Labrador...
and Mi'kmaq in the East. Each of the aboriginal communities had (and have) their own unique musical traditions. Chanting - singing is widely popular and most use a variety of musical instruments. Being resourceful and creative they used the materials at hand to make their instruments for thousands of years before Europeans immigrated to the new world
New World
The New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...
. They made gourds and animal horns
Blowing horn
The blowing horn or winding horn is a sound device by and large shaped like a horn or actually a cattle or other animal horn arranged to blow from a hole in the pointed end of it...
into rattles
Rattle (percussion)
A rattle is a percussion instrument. It consists of a hollow body filled with small uniform solid objects, like sand or nuts. Rhythmical shaking of this instrument produces repetitive, rather dry timbre noises. In some kinds of music, a rattle assumes the role of the metronome, as an alternative to...
, many rattles were elaborately carved and beautifully painted. In woodland areas, they made horns of birchbark and drumsticks of carved antlers and wood. Drums were generally made of carved wood and animal hides. These musical instruments provide the background for songs and led to aboriginal dances. For many years after Europeans came to Canada, First Nations
First Nations
First Nations is a term that collectively refers to various Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis. There are currently over 630 recognised First Nations governments or bands spread across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. The...
and Inuit
Inuit
The Inuit are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic regions of Canada , Denmark , Russia and the United States . Inuit means “the people” in the Inuktitut language...
peoples were discouraged from practicing their traditional ceremonies.
17th century
French settlers and explorersFrench colonization of the Americas
The French colonization of the Americas began in the 16th century, and continued in the following centuries as France established a colonial empire in the Western Hemisphere. France founded colonies in much of eastern North America, on a number of Caribbean islands, and in South America...
to New France
New France
New France was the area colonized by France in North America during a period beginning with the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Spain and Great Britain in 1763...
brought with them a great love of song, dance and fiddle playing. In 1606-1607 Marc Lescarbot
Marc Lescarbot
Marc Lescarbot was a French author, poet and lawyer, best known for his Histoire de la Nouvelle-France , based on his expedition to Acadia and research into French exploration. Considered one of the first great books in the history of Canada, it was printed in three editions, and was translated...
collected the earliest extant transcriptions of a songs from the Americas: three songs of Henri Membertou
Henri Membertou
Henri Membertou was the sakmow of the Mi'kmaq First Nations tribe situated near Port Royal, site of the first French settlement in Acadia, present-day Nova Scotia, Canada. Originally sakmow of the Kespukwitk district, he was appointed as Grand Chief by the sakmowk of the other six districts.His...
, the sakmow (Grand Chief) of the Mi'kmaq First Nations
First Nations
First Nations is a term that collectively refers to various Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis. There are currently over 630 recognised First Nations governments or bands spread across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. The...
tribe situated near Port Royal
Port Royal
Port Royal was a city located at the end of the Palisadoes at the mouth of the Kingston Harbour, in southeastern Jamaica. Founded in 1518, it was the centre of shipping commerce in the Caribbean Sea during the latter half of the 17th century...
, present-day Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
.
Beginning in the 1630s French and Aboriginal children at Quebec City
Quebec City
Quebec , 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...
were taught to sing and play European instruments, like viols, violins, guitars, transverse flutes
Western concert flute
The Western concert flute is a transverse woodwind instrument made of metal or wood. It is the most common variant of the flute. A musician who plays the flute is called a flautist, flutist, or flute player....
, drums, fifes
Fife (musical instrument)
A fife is a small, high-pitched, transverse flute that is similar to the piccolo, but louder and shriller due to its narrower bore. The fife originated in medieval Europe and is often used in military and marching bands. Someone who plays the fife is called a fifer...
and trumpets. Ecole des Ursulines
Ecole des Ursulines, Quebec
The Ecole des Ursulines, known in English as the School of the Ursulines, is among North America's oldest schools. Still operating as a private girls school, it was founded in 1639 by French nun Marie de l'Incarnation and laywoman Marie-Madeline de Chauvigny de la Peltrie...
and The Ursuline Convent
Ursulines of Quebec
The Ursuline Convent of Quebec City, , founded in 1639, is the oldest institution of learning for women in North America...
are among North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
's oldest schools and the first institutions of learning for women in North America. Both where founded in 1639 by French nun
Nun
A nun is a woman who has taken vows committing her to live a spiritual life. She may be an ascetic who voluntarily chooses to leave mainstream society and live her life in prayer and contemplation in a monastery or convent...
Marie de l'Incarnation (1599–1672) alongside laywoman Marie-Madeline de Chauvigny de la Peltrie
Marie-Madeline de Chauvigny de la Peltrie
Marie-Madeleine de Chauvigny de la Peltrie was a French woman who started the Order of Ursulines of Quebec.Madame Chauvigny was born at Alençon. She arrived in New France with a number of Ursulines including a future nun, Charlotte Barré and Marie de l'Incarnation, who was to be the religious...
(1603–1671) and are the first Canadian institutions to have music as part of the curriculum.
The earliest written record of violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
s in Canada comes from the Jesuit Relation
Jesuit missions in North America
Jesuit missions in North America started during the 17th century and faltered at the beginning of the 18th. The missions were established as part of the colonial drive of France and Spain during the period, the "conquest of the souls" being an integral part of the constitution of Nouvelle-France...
of 1645. The Jesuits additionally have the first documented organ sale, imported for their Quebec City chapel in 1657. Notre-Dame de Québec Cathedral
Notre-Dame de Québec Cathedral
The Cathedral-minor basilica of Notre-Dame de Québec , located at 20, rue de Buade, Quebec City, Quebec, is the primate church of Canada and seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Quebec, the oldest see in the New World north of Mexico.It is also the parish church of the oldest parish in North...
build in 1647 is the primate
Primate (religion)
Primate is a title or rank bestowed on some bishops in certain Christian churches. Depending on the particular tradition, it can denote either jurisdictional authority or ceremonial precedence ....
church of Canada and seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Quebec
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Quebec
The Archdiocese of Québec is the oldest Catholic see in the New World north of Mexico. The archdiocese was founded as the Apostolic Vicariate of New France in 1658 and was elevated to a Diocese in 1674 and an Archdiocese in 1819...
. It is the oldest Catholic
Catholicism
Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....
"Episcopal see"
Episcopal See
An episcopal see is, in the original sense, the official seat of a bishop. This seat, which is also referred to as the bishop's cathedra, is placed in the bishop's principal church, which is therefore called the bishop's cathedral...
in the New World
New World
The New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...
north of Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
and site of the first documented choir in Canada.
Canada, New France
Canada, New France
Canada was the name of the French colony that once stretched along the St. Lawrence River; the other colonies of New France were Acadia, Louisiana and Newfoundland. Canada, the most developed colony of New France, was divided into three districts, each with its own government: Quebec,...
first formal ball was given by Louis-Théandre Chartier de Lotbinière
Louis-Théandre Chartier de Lotbinière
Louis-Théandre Chartier de Lotbinière , considered by some sources to have been the 'Father of the Canadian Magistrature', he was the disreputable Lieutenant-General of the Provost's Court of New France...
(1612–1688) on 4 Feb. 1667. Louis Jolliet
Louis Jolliet
Louis Jolliet , also known as Louis Joliet, was a French Canadian explorer known for his discoveries in North America...
(1645–1700) is on record as one of the first classically trained practicing musicians in New France, although history has recognized him more as an explorer, hydrographer
Hydrography
Hydrography is the measurement of the depths, the tides and currents of a body of water and establishment of the sea, river or lake bed topography and morphology. Normally and historically for the purpose of charting a body of water for the safe navigation of shipping...
and voyageur
Voyageurs
The Voyageurs were the persons who engaged in the transportation of furs by canoe during the fur trade era. Voyageur is a French word which literally translates to "traveler"...
. Jolliet is said to have played the organ, harpsichord
Harpsichord
A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It produces sound by plucking a string when a key is pressed.In the narrow sense, "harpsichord" designates only the large wing-shaped instruments in which the strings are perpendicular to the keyboard...
, flute, and trumpet. 1700, under British rule
British America
For American people of British descent, see British American.British America is the anachronistic term used to refer to the territories under the control of the Crown or Parliament in present day North America , Central America, the Caribbean, and Guyana...
at this time, an organ was installed in Notre-Dame Basilica
Notre-Dame Basilica (Montreal)
Notre-Dame Basilica is a basilica in the historic district of Old Montreal, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The church is located at 110 Notre-Dame Street West, at the corner of Saint Sulpice Street...
in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal 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...
and military bands gave concerts on the Champ de Mars
Champ de Mars, Montreal
Champ de Mars is a public park in Old Montreal quarter of Montreal, Quebec, Canada.Formerly a military parade ground, the park had previously been the site of Montreal's fortifications, which were demolished at the beginning of the 19th century soon after Montreal City Hall and the old courthouse...
. A French-born priest, René Ménard
René Menard
René Menard was a French Jesuit missionary explorer who traveled to Canada in 1641, learned the language of the Wyandot, and was soon in charge of many of the satellite missions around Sainte-Marie among the Hurons...
, composed motets around 1640, and a second Canadian-born priest, Charles-Amador Martin
Charles-Amador Martin
Charles-Amador Martin, , second Canadian to be ordained a priest, the first being Germain Morin.Martin was ordained by Bishop Laval in March, 1671, and spent most of his prieshood in or near Quebec City. He was to become well known for his participation in church services as a musician...
, is credited with the plainchant
Plainsong
Plainsong is a body of chants used in the liturgies of the Catholic Church. Though the Eastern Orthodox churches and the Catholic Church did not split until long after the origin of plainchant, Byzantine chants are generally not classified as plainsong.Plainsong is monophonic, consisting of a...
music for the Sacrae familiae felix spectaculum, in celebration of the Holy Family feast day
Holy Family
The Holy Family consists of the Child Jesus, the Virgin Mary, and Saint Joseph.The Feast of the Holy Family is a liturgical celebration in the Roman Catholic Church in honor of Jesus of Nazareth, his mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and his foster father, Saint Joseph, as a family...
in 1700.
18th century
Former colonies and territories in Canada
Former colonies, territories, boundaries, and claims in Canada prior to the current classification of provinces and territories. In North America, ethnographers commonly classify Aboriginals into ten geographical regions with shared cultural traits and by related linguistic dialects...
during the 18th century, although very few popular named works have survived or were even published. The French and Indian Wars
French and Indian Wars
The French and Indian Wars is a name used in the United States for a series of conflicts lasting 74 years in North America that represented colonial events related to the European dynastic wars...
began and left the population economically drained and ill-equipped to develop cultural pursuits properly. The part-time composers of this period were nonetheless often quite skilled. Traditional songs and dances, such as those of the Habitants
Habitants
Habitants is the name used to refer to both the French settlers and the inhabitants of French origin who farmed the land along the two shores of the St. Lawrence Gulf and River in what is the present-day Province of Quebec in Canada...
and Métis
Métis people (Canada)
The Métis are one of the Aboriginal peoples in Canada who trace their descent to mixed First Nations parentage. The term was historically a catch-all describing the offspring of any such union, but within generations the culture syncretised into what is today a distinct aboriginal group, with...
, were transmitted orally, from generation to generation and from village to village, thus people felt no need to transcribe or publish them. Printed music was required, for music teachers and their pupils, who were from the privileged minority where domestic music making was considered a proof of gentility. Music publishing and printing in Europe by this time was a thriving industry, but it did not begin in Canada until the 19th century. Canadian composers were not able to focus entirely on creating new music in these years, most made their living in other musical activities such as leading choirs, church organists
Pipe organ
The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air through pipes selected via a keyboard. Because each organ pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ranks, each of which has a common timbre and volume throughout the keyboard compass...
and teaching. Regimental bands
Military band
A military band originally was a group of personnel that performs musical duties for military functions, usually for the armed forces. A typical military band consists mostly of wind and percussion instruments. The conductor of a band commonly bears the title of Bandmaster or Director of Music...
were musically part of civil life, they featured perhaps a dozen woodwind and brass instruments, performing at parades, festive ceremonies, minuet
Minuet
A minuet, also spelled menuet, is a social dance of French origin for two people, usually in 3/4 time. The word was adapted from Italian minuetto and French menuet, and may have been from French menu meaning slender, small, referring to the very small steps, or from the early 17th-century popular...
s, country dances and balls.
After the 1760s, regular concerts became a part of the cultural landscape, as well as a wide variety of dancing. Operatic excerpts began to appear, and before the end of the century Canada had its first home-grown grand opera. A "Concert Hall" existed in Québec City by 1764 and subscription concerts by 1770, given, one may presume, by band players and skilled amateurs. Programs for the Québec City and Halifax
City of Halifax
Halifax is a city in Canada, which was the capital of the province of Nova Scotia and shire town of Halifax County. It was the largest city in Atlantic Canada until it was amalgamated into Halifax Regional Municipality in 1996...
concerts of the 1790s reveal orchestral and chamber music by Handel
HANDEL
HANDEL was the code-name for the UK's National Attack Warning System in the Cold War. It consisted of a small console consisting of two microphones, lights and gauges. The reason behind this was to provide a back-up if anything failed....
, J.C. Bach, Haydn, Mozart and Pleyel. Canada's first wildly published sheet music are two operas written in late 18th century by New France composer, poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
, and playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
Joseph Quesnel
Joseph Quesnel
Joseph Quesnel was a French Canadian composer, poet, and playwright. Among his works were two operas, Colas et Colinette and Lucas et Cécile; the former is considered to be the first Canadian opera....
(1746–1809). The instrument of favor for the lower-class
Social class
Social classes are economic or cultural arrangements of groups in society. Class is an essential object of analysis for sociologists, political scientists, economists, anthropologists and social historians. In the social sciences, social class is often discussed in terms of 'social stratification'...
was the fiddle. Fiddlers were a fixture in most public drinking establishments. The late 18th century two new melodic instruments the diatonic harmonica and the button accordion
Button accordion
A button accordion is a type of accordion on which the melody-side keyboard consists of a series of buttons rather than piano-style keys. There exists a wide variation in keyboard systems, tuning, action and construction of these instruments...
make their appearance in folk-music tradition. God Save the Queen has been sung in Canada since British rule and by the mid-20th century was, along with "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...
", one of the country's two de facto national anthems.
19th century
The beginning of the 19th century Canadian musical ensembles had started forming in great numbers, writing waltzes, quadrilles, polkas and galopGalop
In dance, the galop, named after the fastest running gait of a horse , a shortened version of the original term galoppade, is a lively country dance, introduced in the late 1820s to Parisian society by the Duchesse de Berry and popular in Vienna, Berlin and London...
s. The first volumes of music printed in the Canadas
The Canadas
The Canadas is the collective name for Upper Canada and Lower Canada, two British colonies in Canada. They were both created by the Constitutional Act of 1791 and abolished in 1841 with the union of Upper and Lower Canada....
was the "Graduel romain" in 1800 followed by the "Processional 'sic' romain" in 1801. Folk music was still thriving, as recounted in the poem titled "A Canadian Boat Song". The poem was composed by the Irish
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
poet Thomas Moore
Thomas Moore
Thomas Moore was an Irish poet, singer, songwriter, and entertainer, now best remembered for the lyrics of The Minstrel Boy and The Last Rose of Summer. He was responsible, with John Murray, for burning Lord Byron's memoirs after his death...
(1779–1852) during a visit to Canada in 1804. "The Canadian Boat Song" was so popular that it was published several times over the next forty years in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and Philadelphia. Dancing likewise was extremely popular form of entertainment as noted In 1807 by the Scottish
Scottish people
The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...
traveler and artist George Heriot
George Heriot (artist)
George Heriot was a Scottish-Canadian civil servant, author and artist. He is most notable as a major figure in early Canadian art.-Early life:...
(1759–1839), who wrote..
Among the earliest musical societies were Halifax
City of Halifax
Halifax is a city in Canada, which was the capital of the province of Nova Scotia and shire town of Halifax County. It was the largest city in Atlantic Canada until it was amalgamated into Halifax Regional Municipality in 1996...
s "New Union Singing Society" of 1809 and Quebec's "Harmonic Society" of 1820. One of the first registered all-civilian musical ensemble was a religious sect organized from Upper Canada
Upper Canada
The Province of Upper Canada was a political division in British Canada established in 1791 by the British Empire to govern the central third of the lands in British North America and to accommodate Loyalist refugees from the United States of America after the American Revolution...
called Children of Peace
David Willson (1778-1866)
David Willson was a religious leader and mystic who was instrumental in founding the breakaway sect of Quakers, 'The Children of Peace' or 'Davidites' based at Sharon in York County, Upper Canada in 1812...
in 1820. 1833, a student orchestra
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
was organized at the Séminaire de Québec the Société Ste-Cécile, as it was known, is one of the earliest ensemble of its kind in Lower Canada
Lower Canada
The Province of Lower Canada was a British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence...
. The first appearance of a piece of music in a newspaper or magazine was in the pages of the Montreal
Montreal
Montreal 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...
twice-weekly newspaper, La Minerve
La Minerve
La Minerve was a newspaper founded in Montreal, Lower Canada by Augustin-Norbert Morin to promote the political goals of Louis-Joseph Papineau's Parti patriote. It was notably directed by Ludger Duvernay in its earlier years. It existed from 1826 to 1837, and again from 1842 to May 27, 1899...
, on September 19, 1831. Many immigrants during this time lived in relative isolation and music sometimes obtained through subscriptions to newspapers and magazines, provided entertainment and a life line to civilization. One of the earliest surviving publication in Canada of a song for the piano in sheet music format is The Merry Bells of England by J.F. Lehmann, in 1840.
Great Migration of Canada
The Great Migration of Canada was a period of high immigration to Canada from 1815 to 1850, involving over 800,000 immigrants...
from 1815 to 1850, done largely by Irish
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
, British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and Scottish
Scottish people
The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...
immigrants, broadened considerably the Canadian musical culture. 1844, Samuel Nordheimer
Samuel Nordheimer
Samuel Nordheimer was a prominent businessman and music promoter in 19th century Toronto. A Bavarian immigrant, he lived first in New York and then in Kingston, Ontario, before settling in Toronto in 1844. He and his older brother Abraham established a piano importing business, A.& S. Nordheimer Co...
(1824–1912) opened a music store in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
selling pianos and soon thereafter began to publish engraved sheet music
Sheet music
Sheet music is a hand-written or printed form of music notation that uses modern musical symbols; like its analogs—books, pamphlets, etc.—the medium of sheet music typically is paper , although the access to musical notation in recent years includes also presentation on computer screens...
. Samuel Nordheimer store was among the first and the largest specialized music publisher in the Province of Canada
Province of Canada
The Province of Canada, United Province of Canada, or the United Canadas was a British colony in North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham in the Report on the Affairs of British North America following the Rebellions of...
. They initially had the sole right to publish copies of Alexander Muir
Alexander Muir
Alexander Muir was a Canadian songwriter, poet, soldier, and school headmaster. He was the composer of The Maple Leaf Forever, which he wrote in October 1867 to celebrate the Confederation of Canada.-Early life:...
's "The Maple Leaf Forever
The Maple Leaf Forever
"The Maple Leaf Forever" is a Canadian song written by Alexander Muir in 1867, the year of Canada's Confederation. He wrote the work after serving with The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada in the Battle of Ridgeway against the Fenians in 1866....
" that for many years served as an unofficial Canadian national anthem. By the time of Canadian Confederation
Canadian Confederation
Canadian Confederation was the process by which the federal Dominion of Canada was formed on July 1, 1867. On that day, three British colonies were formed into four Canadian provinces...
(1867), songwriting had become a favored means of personal expression across the land. In a society in which most middle-class families now owned a piano, and standard education included at least the rudiments of music, the result was often an original song. Such stirrings frequently occurred in response to noteworthy events, and few local or national excitements were allowed to pass without some musical comment.
Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe...
-based Robert S. Ambrose, became one of the most popular songs to ever be published in the 19th century. It fulfilled the purpose of being an appropriate song to sing in the parlors of homes that would not permit any non-sacred
Sacred
Holiness, or sanctity, is in general the state of being holy or sacred...
music to be performed on Sundays. At the same time it could be sung in dance halls or on the stage along operas and operettas.
"O Canada" was originally commissioned by the Lieutenant Governor of Quebec
Lieutenant Governor of Quebec
The Lieutenant Governor of Quebec : Lieutenant-gouverneur du Québec, or : Lieutenant-gouverneure du Québec) is the viceregal representative in Quebec of the Canadian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, who operates distinctly within the province but is also shared equally with the ten other jurisdictions...
, the Honourable Théodore Robitaille
Théodore Robitaille
Théodore Robitaille, PC was a Canadian physician, politician, and the fourth Lieutenant Governor of Quebec....
(1834–1897), for the 1880 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...
ceremony. Calixa Lavallée
Calixa Lavallée
Calixa Lavallée, , born Calixte Lavallée, was a French-Canadian-American musician and Union officer during the American Civil War who composed the music for O Canada, which officially became the national anthem of Canada in 1980.-Biography:Calixa Lavallée was born at Verchères, a suburb of...
(1842–1891) wrote the music, which was a setting of a patriotic poem composed by the poet and judge Sir 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...
(1839–1920). The text was originally only in French, before it was translated to English in 1906.
Leo, the Royal Cadet
Leo, the Royal Cadet
Leo, the Royal Cadet is a light opera with music by Oscar Ferdinand Telgmann. The libretto was by George Frederick Cameron. It was composed in Kingston, Ontario, Canada in 1889. The work centres on Nellie's love for Leo, a cadet at the Royal Military College of Canada who becomes a hero serving...
a light opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
with music by Oscar Ferdinand Telgmann
Oscar Ferdinand Telgmann
Oscar Ferdinand Telgmann was a Canadian composer of operettas, conductor and educator, and violinist best known for his operetta Leo, the Royal Cadet....
and a libretto
Libretto
A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
by George Frederick Cameron
George Frederick Cameron
George Frederick Cameron was a Canadian poet, lawyer, and journalist, best known for the libretto for the operetta Leo, the Royal Cadet.-Life:...
was composed in Kingston, Ontario
Kingston, Ontario
Kingston, Ontario is a Canadian city located in Eastern Ontario where the St. Lawrence River flows out of Lake Ontario. Originally a First Nations settlement called "Katarowki," , growing European exploration in the 17th Century made it an important trading post...
in 1889. The work centres on Nellie's love for Leo, a cadet at the Royal Military College of Canada
Royal Military College of Canada
The Royal Military College of Canada, RMC, or RMCC , is the military academy of the Canadian Forces, and is a degree-granting university. RMC was established in 1876. RMC is the only federal institution in Canada with degree granting powers...
who becomes a hero serving during the Anglo-Zulu War
Anglo-Zulu War
The Anglo-Zulu War was fought in 1879 between the British Empire and the Zulu Kingdom.Following the imperialist scheme by which Lord Carnarvon had successfully brought about federation in Canada, it was thought that a similar plan might succeed with the various African kingdoms, tribal areas and...
in 1879. The operetta focussed on typical character types, events and concerns of Telgmann and Cameron's time and place.
1900–1929
Prior to the development of the gramophonePhonograph
The phonograph record player, or gramophone is a device introduced in 1877 that has had continued common use for reproducing sound recordings, although when first developed, the phonograph was used to both record and reproduce sounds...
, Canadian songwriters' works were published as sheet music, or in periodicals in local newspapers such as The Montreal Gazette
The Gazette (Montreal)
The Gazette, often called the Montreal Gazette to avoid ambiguity, is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, with three other daily English newspapers all having shut down at different times during the second half of the 20th century.-History:In 1778,...
and Toronto Empire
Toronto Empire
Toronto Empire was a newspaper established in Toronto, Canada, in 1887 and the voice of the conservatives in the city. It merged with another paper, The Toronto Mail, in 1895 to form The Mail and Empire, which is a predecessor of today's Globe and Mail newspaper....
. Most recordings purchased by Canadians in the early days of the gramophone were made by American and British singers, behind some of these international hits were Canadian songwriters. Robert Nathaniel Dett
Robert Nathaniel Dett
Robert Nathaniel Dett , often known as R. Nathaniel Dett, was a composer in the United States and Canada...
(1882–1943) was among the first Black Canadian composers during the early years of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. His works often appeared among the programs of William Marion Cook
Will Marion Cook
William Mercer Cook , better known as Will Marion Cook, was an African American composer and violinist from the United States. Cook was a student of Antonín Dvořák and performed for King George V among others...
's New York syncopated Orchestra. Dett himself performed at Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
and at the Boston Symphony Hall as a pianist and choir director. Following quickly on the gramophone's spread came Canada's involvement in the First World War. The war was the catalyst for the writing and recording of large numbers of Canadian-written popular songs, some of which achieved lasting international commercial success. The military during WWI produced official music such as regimental marches
March (music)
A march, as a musical genre, is a piece of music with a strong regular rhythm which in origin was expressly written for marching to and most frequently performed by a military band. In mood, marches range from the moving death march in Wagner's Götterdämmerung to the brisk military marches of John...
and songs as well as utilitarian bugle call
Bugle call
A bugle call is a short tune, originating as a military signal announcing scheduled and certain non-scheduled events on a military installation, battlefield, or ship. Historically, bugles, drums, and other loud musical instruments were used for clear communication in the noise and confusion of a...
s. The soldiers had a repertoire of their own, largely consisting of new, often ribald, lyrics to older tunes.
Canada's first independent record label Compo Company
Compo Company
Compo Company Ltd. was Canada's first independent record company.The Compo Company was founded in 1918 in Lachine, Quebec by Herbert Berliner, an executive of Berliner Gramophone of Canada and the oldest son of disc record inventor Emile Berliner....
built a pressing plant (the largest of its day) in 1918 at Lachine, Quebec
Lachine, Quebec
Lachine was a city on the Island of Montreal in southwestern Quebec, Canada. It is now a borough within the city of Montreal.-History:...
. Compo was originally created to serve the several American independent record companies such as Okeh Records
Okeh Records
Okeh Records began as an independent record label based in the United States of America in 1918. From 1926 on, it was a subsidiary of Columbia Records.-History:...
which wanted to distribute records in Canada. The 1920s saw Canada's first radio stations, this allowed Canadian songwriters to contribute some of the most famous popular music of the early 20th century. Canada's first commercial radio station CFCF (formerly XWA) begins broadcasting regularly scheduled programming in Montreal in 1920, followed by CKAC, Canada's first French language radio station, in 1922. By 1923, there were 34 radio stations in Canada and subsequently proliferated at a remarkable rate, and with them spread the popularity of jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
. Jazz became associated with all things modern, sophisticated, and also decadent.
In 1925, the Canadian Performing Rights Society was formed to administer public performance and royalties
Royalties
Royalties are usage-based payments made by one party to another for the right to ongoing use of an asset, sometimes an intellectual property...
for composers and lyricists. it became known as the Composers, Authors and Publishers Association of Canada (CAPAC). Toronto-born Murray Adaskin
Murray Adaskin
-External links:*...
(1906–2002) was a violinist, composer, conductor and teacher at the University of Saskatchewan
University of Saskatchewan
The University of Saskatchewan is a Canadian public research university, founded in 1907, and located on the east side of the South Saskatchewan River in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. An "Act to establish and incorporate a University for the Province of Saskatchewan" was passed by the...
. From 1923 to 1936 he was an orchestral and chamber musician with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra
Toronto Symphony Orchestra
The Toronto Symphony Orchestra is a Canadian orchestra based in Toronto, Ontario.-History:The TSO was founded in 1922 as the New Symphony Orchestra, and gave its first concert at Massey Hall in April 1923. The orchestra changed its name to the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in 1927. The TSO...
, he was later named head of music at the University of Saskatchewan. He was a composer-in-residence
Artist in residence
Artist-in-residence programs and other residency opportunities allow visiting artists to stay and work so that they may apply singular focus to their art practice....
at the University of Saskatchewan, the first appointment of this type in Canada.
1930–1959
During the great depression in CanadaGreat Depression in Canada
Canada was hit hard by the Great Depression. Between 1929 and 1939, the gross national product dropped 40% . Unemployment reached 27% at the depth of the Depression in 1933...
, the majority of people listened to what today would be called swing
Swing (dance)
"Swing dance" is a group of dances that developed with the swing style of jazz music in the 1920s-1950s, although the earliest of these dances predate swing jazz music. The best known of these dances is the Lindy Hop, a popular partner dance that originated in Harlem and is still danced today...
(Jazz) just as country
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
was starting its roots. The diversity in the evolution of swing dancing in Canada is reflected in its many American names, Jive
Jive (dance)
In Ballroom dancing, Jive is a dance style in 4/4 time that originated in the United States from African-Americans in the early 1930s. It was originally presented to the public as 'Jive' in 1934 by Cab Calloway. It is a lively and uninhibited variation of the Jitterbug, a form of Swing dance...
, Jitterbug and Lindy
Lindy Hop
The Lindy Hop is an American social dance, from the swing dance family. It evolved in Harlem, New York City in the 1920s and '30s and originally evolved with the jazz music of that time. Lindy was a fusion of many dances that preceded it or were popular during its development but is mainly based...
. Canada's first big band star was Guy Lombardo
Guy Lombardo
Gaetano Alberto "Guy" Lombardo was a Canadian-American bandleader and violinist.Forming "The Royal Canadians" in 1924 with his brothers Carmen, Lebert, and Victor and other musicians from his hometown, Lombardo led the group to international success, billing themselves as creating "The Sweetest...
(1902–1977), who formed his easy listening
Easy listening
Easy listening is a broad style of popular music and radio format that emerged in the 1950s, evolving out of big band music, and related to MOR music as played on many AM radio stations. It encompasses the exotica, beautiful music, light music, lounge music, ambient music, and space age pop genres...
band, The Royal Canadians, with his brothers and friends. They achieved international success starting in the mid 1920s selling an estimated 250 million phonograph records, and were the first Canadians to have a #1 single on Billboards top 100. 1932, the first Broadcasting Act
Royal Commission on Radio Broadcasting
The Royal Commission on Radio Broadcasting, otherwise known as the Aird Commission, was chaired by John Aird and examined Canada's broadcasting industry. The report released its findings in 1929 when it concluded that Canada was in need of a publicly funded radio broadcast system...
was passed by Parliament creating the Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission
Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission
The Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission was Canada's first public broadcaster and the immediate precursor to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.-Origins:...
. It was to both to regulate all broadcasting and create a new national public radio network. 1936, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
came into existence, at the time, a million Canadian households had a radio.
Emerging out of the great depression on near equal-footing to American popular music
American popular music
American popular music had a profound effect on music across the world. The country has seen the rise of popular styles that have had a significant influence on global culture, including ragtime, blues, jazz, swing, rock, R&B, doo wop, gospel, soul, funk, heavy metal, punk, disco, house, techno,...
, Canadian popular music continued to enjoyed considerable success at home and abroad in the preceding years. Among them Montreal
Montreal
Montreal 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...
's jazz virtuoso
Virtuoso
A virtuoso is an individual who possesses outstanding technical ability in the fine arts, at singing or playing a musical instrument. The plural form is either virtuosi or the Anglicisation, virtuosos, and the feminine form sometimes used is virtuosa...
Oscar Peterson
Oscar Peterson
Oscar Emmanuel Peterson was a Canadian jazz pianist and composer. He was called the "Maharaja of the keyboard" by Duke Ellington, "O.P." by his friends. He released over 200 recordings, won seven Grammy Awards, and received other numerous awards and honours over the course of his career...
(1925–2007) who is considered to have been one of the greatest pianists of all time, releasing over 200 recordings and receiving several Grammy Awards during his lifetime. Also notable is Hank Snow
Hank Snow
Clarence Eugene "Hank" Snow was a Canadian-American country music artist. He charted more than 70 singles on the Billboard country charts from 1950 until 1980...
(1914–1999), who signed with RCA Victor in 1936 and went on to become one of America's biggest and most innovative country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
superstars of the 1940s and 1950s. Snow became a regular performer at the Grand Ole Opry
Grand Ole Opry
The Grand Ole Opry is a weekly country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, that has presented the biggest stars of that genre since 1925. It is also among the longest-running broadcasts in history since its beginnings as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM-AM...
on WSM
WSMV-TV
WSMV-TV, virtual channel 4, is the NBC-affiliated television station serving the Nashville, Tennessee area. It broadcasts its digital signal on VHF channel 10. Owned by Meredith Corporation, its transmitter and tower are located adjacent to its studios on Knob Road in west Nashville, south of...
in Nashville and released more than 45 LPs
LP album
The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry...
over his lifetime. Snow was one of the inaugural inductees to the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame
Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame
The Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame is a Canadian non-profit organization, founded in 1998 by Frank Davies, that inducts Canadians into their Hall of Fame within three different categories: songwriters, songs, and those others who have made a significant contribution with respect to...
started in 2003.
Canada during the Second World War
Military history of Canada during the Second World War
The Second World War officially began on September 1, 1939, with the German invasion of Poland. Britain and France declared war on the Nazi Third Reich on September 3, 1939...
produced some patriotic songs, but were not hits in the music industry sense. A number of Canadian singers who learned their craft in Canadian opera companies in the 1930s went on to sing in major international opera houses. Most notable from the 1940s is contralto
Contralto
Contralto is the deepest female classical singing voice, with the lowest tessitura, falling between tenor and mezzo-soprano. It typically ranges between the F below middle C to the second G above middle C , although at the extremes some voices can reach the E below middle C or the second B above...
singer Portia White
Portia White
Portia May White , was a singer who achieved international fame because of her voice and stage presence. As a Black Canadian, her popularity helped to open previously closed doors for talented blacks who followed....
(1911–1968). She achieved international fame because of her voice and stage presence. As a Canadian female of African descent, her popularity helped to open previously-closed doors for talented women who followed. She has been declared "A person of national historic significance
Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada)
Persons of National Historic Significance, , are people designated by the Canadian government as being nationally significant in the history of the country. Designations are made by the Minister of the Environment on the recommendation of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada....
" by the Government of Canada
Government of Canada
The Government of Canada, formally Her Majesty's Government, is the system whereby the federation of Canada is administered by a common authority; in Canadian English, the term can mean either the collective set of institutions or specifically the Queen-in-Council...
. In 1964 she performed for Queen Elizabeth II, at the opening of the Confederation Centre of the Arts
Confederation Centre of the Arts
The Confederation Centre of the Arts is a cultural centre dedicated to the visual and performing arts located in the city of Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada.-History:...
.
Following World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
a growth phase for Canadian bands was experienced, this time among school bands. Rapid advances in the inclusion of instrumental music study in formal school curricula brought about fundamental changes to the philosophy of the band movement and the type of repertoire available. The CHUM Chart
CHUM Chart
The CHUM Chart was a ranking of top 30 songs on Toronto, Ontario radio station CHUM 1050 AM, from 1957 to 1986, and was the longest-running Top 40 chart in the world produced by an individual radio station...
debuted on May 27, 1957, under the name CHUM's Weekly Hit Parade, was in response to the fast growing diversity of music that needed to be subdivided and categorized. The CHUM charts were the longest-running Top 40 chart in Canada ending in 1986.
1958 saw its first Canadian rock and roll
Canadian rock
Canadian rock describes a wide and diverse variety of music produced by Canadians, beginning with American style rock 'n' roll in the mid-20th century. Since then Canada has had a considerable impact on the development of the modern popular music called rock...
teen idol
Teen idol
A teen idol is a celebrity who is widely idolized by teenagers; he or she is often young but not necessarily teenaged. Often teen idols are actors or pop singers, but some sports figures have an appeal to teenagers. Some teen idols began their careers as child actors...
Paul Anka
Paul Anka
Paul Albert Anka, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and actor.Anka first became famous as a teen idol in the late 1950s and 1960s with hit songs like "Diana'", "Lonely Boy", and "Put Your Head on My Shoulder"...
, who went to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
where he auditioned for ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
with the song, Diana
Diana (song)
"Diana" is a song written and made famous by Paul Anka in 1957. It was inspired by a high school friend named Diana Ayoub. The original Paul Anka 1957 recording reached number one on the Billboard "Best Sellers In Stores" chart and has reportedly sold over 9 million copies...
. This song brought Anka instant stardom as it reached number one on the US Billboard charts
Billboard charts
The Billboard charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs or albums in the United States. The results are published in Billboard magazine...
. "Diana" has gone on to be one of the best selling 45s
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
in music history. US-born rockabilly
Rockabilly
Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music, dating to the early 1950s.The term rockabilly is a portmanteau of rock and hillbilly, the latter a reference to the country music that contributed strongly to the style's development...
pioneer Ronnie Hawkins
Ronnie Hawkins
Ronald "Ronnie" Hawkins is a Juno Award-winning rockabilly musician whose career has spanned more than half a century. Though his career began in Arkansas, USA, where he'd been born and raised, it was in Ontario, Canada where he found success and settled for most of his life...
came to Canada in 1958, where he became a key player in the Canadian blues
Canadian blues
Canadian blues refers to the blues and blues-related music performed by blues bands and performers in Canada. In Canada, there are hundreds of local and regionally-based Canadian blues bands and performers. As well, there is a smaller number of bands or performers that have achieved national or...
and rock scene. The 4th of October was declared "Ronnie Hawkins Day" by the city of Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
when Hawkins was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame
Canada's Walk of Fame
Canada's Walk of Fame , located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, is a walk of fame that acknowledges the achievements and accomplishments of successful Canadians...
. He was also inducted into the Canadian Music Industry Hall of Fame and his pioneering contribution to rockabilly has been recognized with induction into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame
Rockabilly Hall of Fame
The Rockabilly Hall of Fame was established on the internet on March 21, 1997, to present early rock and roll history and information relative to the artists and personalities involved in this pioneering American music genre....
.
1960–1999
Canadian artists and Canadian ensembles were generally forced to turn toward the United States to establish healthy long lasting careers during the 1960s. Canada would produce some of the world's most influential singer-songwriters during this time. Among the most notable is WinnipegWinnipeg
Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
's Neil Young
Neil Young
Neil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...
who has been inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame
Canadian Music Hall of Fame
The Canadian Music Hall of Fame honors Canadian musicians for their lifetime achievements in music. The ceremony is held each year as part of the Juno Award ceremonies. Members of the Canadian Music Hall of Fame represent many of the world's great talents...
, Canada's Walk of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers and others who have, in some major way,...
twice. Leonard Cohen
Leonard Cohen
Leonard Norman Cohen, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, poet and novelist. Cohen published his first book of poetry in Montreal in 1956 and his first novel in 1963. His work often explores religion, isolation, sexuality and interpersonal relationships...
has been inducted into both the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame and is also a Companion of the Order of Canada. Walt Grealis
Walt Grealis
Walter Grealis, OC was a Canadian publisher and music industry leader. With partner Stan Klees, he co-founded Canada's national music honours, the Juno Awards...
of Toronto started in the music business with Apex Records in 1960, the Ontario distributor for Compo Company. He later joined London Records
London Records
London Records, referred to as London Recordings in logo, is a record label headquartered in the United Kingdom, originally marketing records in the United States, Canada and Latin America from 1947 to 1979, then becoming a semi-independent label....
, where he worked until February 1964, when he then established RPM weekly trade magazine
RPM (magazine)
RPM was a Canadian music industry publication that featured song and album charts for Canada. The publication was founded by Walt Grealis in February 1964, supported through its existence by record label owner Stan Klees. RPM ceased publication in November 2000.RPM stood for "Records, Promotion,...
. From the first issue of RPM Weekly on February 24, 1964 to its final issue on November 13, 2000, RPM was the defining charts in Canada.
The American and British counterculture explosion
Counterculture of the 1960s
The counterculture of the 1960s refers to a cultural movement that mainly developed in the United States and spread throughout much of the western world between 1960 and 1973. The movement gained momentum during the U.S. government's extensive military intervention in Vietnam...
and hippie movement
History of the hippie movement
The hippie subculture developed as a youth movement that began in the United States during the early 1960s and spread around the world. Its origins can be traced back to classical culture, and to European social movements in the early 20th century i.e.: Fabians and Bohemians...
had diverted music to that which was dominated by socially and American politically incisive lyrics by the late 1960s . The music was an attempt to reflect upon the events of the time -- civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
, the war in Vietnam
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
and the rise of feminism
Feminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
. This led to the Canadian government passing Canadian content
Canadian content
Canadian content refers to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission requirements that radio and television broadcasters must air a certain percentage of content that was at least partly written, produced, presented, or otherwise contributed to by persons from...
legislation to help Canadian artists. On January 18, 1971 regulations came into force requiring AM radio stations to devote 30 per cent of their musical selections to Canadian content. Although this was (and still is) controversial, it quite clearly contributed to the development of a nascent Canadian pop star system.
Rush (band)
Rush is a Canadian rock band formed in August 1968, in the Willowdale neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario. The band is composed of bassist, keyboardist, and lead vocalist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson, and drummer and lyricist Neil Peart...
. They have produced 25 gold records
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
and 14 platinum (3 multi-platinum) records, making them one of the best-selling ensembles in history.
Canada's first nation-wide music awards began as a reader poll conducted by Canadian music industry trade magazine RPM Weekly in December 1964. A similar balloting process continued until 1970 when the RPM Gold Leaf Awards, as they were then known, were changed to the Juno Awards. The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences is the organization responsible for conducting the Juno Awards, Canada's primary national musical honours...
held the first Juno Award ceremony in 1975. This was in response to rectifying the same concerns about promotion of Canadian artist that the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission had.
Things changed course in the 1980s and 1990s, the changing fast-paced culture was accompanied by an explosion in youth culture
Youth subculture
A youth subculture is a youth-based subculture with distinct styles, behaviors, and interests. Youth subcultures offer participants an identity outside of that ascribed by social institutions such as family, work, home and school...
. Until the mid-1960s, little attention was paid to music by Canadian daily newspapers except as news or novelty. With the introduction during the late 1970s of the "Music critic", coverage began to rival that of any other topic. Canadian publications devoted to all styles of music either exclusively or in tandem with more general editorial content directed to young readers, was expanding exponentially.
Canadian hip hop
The Canadian hip hop scene was first established in the 1980s. Through a variety of factors, it developed much more slowly than Canada's popular rock music scene, and apart from a short-lived burst of mainstream popularity from 1989 to 1991, it remained largely an underground phenomenon until the...
came to the foreground in Canada when Music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
s became an important marketing tool for Canadian musicians, with the debut of MuchMusic
MuchMusic
MuchMusic is a Canadian English language Category A specialty channel owned by Bell Media. MuchMusic is dedicated to music-related programs, pop and youth culture.-History:...
in 1984 and MusiquePlus
MusiquePlus
MusiquePlus is a Canadian French language Category A specialty channel owned by Astral Media operating from Montreal, Quebec.MusiquePlus is devoted to music and music related programming from various genres including pop, rock, RnB and focuses on a younger demographic than its sister station, MusiMax...
in 1986. Now both English and French Canadian musicians had outlets to promote all forms of music through video in Canada. The networks were not just an opportunity for artists to get their videos played—the networks created VideoFACT
VideoFACT
MuchFACT is a Canadian fund that provides grants to Canadian recording artists to help them produce music videos. FACT stands for Foundation To Assist Canadian Talent...
, a fund to help emerging artists produce their videos.
Canadian women at the end of the 20th century enjoyed greater international commercial success than ever before. Canadian women set a new pinnacle of success, in terms financial, critical and in their immediate and strong influence on their respective genres. They were the women and daughters who had fought for emancipation and equality a generation before. Most notable is French-Canadian
French Canadian
French Canadian or Francophone Canadian, , generally refers to the descendents of French colonists who arrived in New France in the 17th and 18th centuries...
singer, Celine Dion
Celine Dion
Céline Marie Claudette Dion, , , is a Canadian singer. Born to a large family from Charlemagne, Quebec, Dion emerged as a teen star in the French-speaking world after her manager and future husband René Angélil mortgaged his home to finance her first record...
, who became Canada's best-selling music artist, and who, in 2004, received the Chopard Diamond Award
Chopard Diamond award
The Chopard Diamond award, or simply the Diamond award, is a special award of merit given by the World Music Awards to recording artists who have sold over 100 million albums throughout their career. The World Music Awards were established in 1989...
from the World Music Awards
World Music Awards
The World Music Awards is an international awards show founded in 1989 that annually honors recording artists based on worldwide sales figures provided by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry . John Martinotti is an executive producer and co-founder of the show...
for surpassing 175 million in album sales, worldwide.
21st century
The turn of the millennium was a time of incredible nationalism, at least as far as Canadian radio is concerned. The 1971 CRTC rules (30% Canadian content on Canadian radio) finally come into full effect and by the end of the 20th century radio stations would have to play 35% Canadian content. This led to an explosion in the 21st century of Canadian pop musicians dominating the airwaves unlike any era before. In 1996, VideoFACTVideoFACT
MuchFACT is a Canadian fund that provides grants to Canadian recording artists to help them produce music videos. FACT stands for Foundation To Assist Canadian Talent...
launched PromoFACT, a funding program to help new artists produce electronic press kits and websites. At about the same time, the CD (cheap to manufacture) replaced the vinyl album and Compact Cassette
Compact Cassette
The Compact Cassette, often referred to as audio cassette, cassette tape, cassette, or simply tape, is a magnetic tape sound recording format. It was designed originally for dictation, but improvements in fidelity led the Compact Cassette to supplant the Stereo 8-track cartridge and reel-to-reel...
(expensive to manufacture). Shortly thereafter, the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
allowed musicians to directly distribute their music, thus bypassing the selection of the old-fashioned "record label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
". Canada's main stream music industry has suffered as a result of the internet and the boom of independent music. The drop in annual sales between 1999 - the year that Napster
Napster
Napster is an online music store and a Best Buy company. It was originally founded as a pioneering peer-to-peer file sharing Internet service that emphasized sharing audio files that were typically digitally encoded music as MP3 format files...
's unauthorized peer-to-peer
Peer-to-peer
Peer-to-peer computing or networking is a distributed application architecture that partitions tasks or workloads among peers. Peers are equally privileged, equipotent participants in the application...
file sharing service launched - and the end of 2004 was $465 million. In 2007, Canada joined the controversial Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement
Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement
The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement is a proposed plurilateral agreement for the purpose of establishing international standards on intellectual property rights enforcement...
talks, whose outcome will have a significant impact on the Canadian music industry. In 2010 Canada introduced new copyright legislation. The amended law makes hacking digital locks illegal, but enshrine into law the ability of purchasers to record and copy music from a CD to portable devices.
Anthems
- "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...
" - the national anthem adopted in 1980. - "God Save the QueenGod Save the Queen"God Save the Queen" is an anthem used in a number of Commonwealth realms and British Crown Dependencies. The words of the song, like its title, are adapted to the gender of the current monarch, with "King" replacing "Queen", "he" replacing "she", and so forth, when a king reigns...
" - Royal Anthem of Canada and previously the national anthem until 1980. - "The Maple Leaf ForeverThe Maple Leaf Forever"The Maple Leaf Forever" is a Canadian song written by Alexander Muir in 1867, the year of Canada's Confederation. He wrote the work after serving with The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada in the Battle of Ridgeway against the Fenians in 1866....
" - unofficial old national anthem 1867. - "Ode to NewfoundlandOde to Newfoundland"Ode to Newfoundland" is the official provincial anthem of Newfoundland and Labrador. It was composed by Governor Sir Cavendish Boyle in 1902. as a four-verse poem entitled Newfoundland. On December 22, 1902 it was sung by Frances Daisy Foster at the Casino Theatre of St. John's during the closing...
" - official anthem of Newfoundland and LabradorNewfoundland and LabradorNewfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada. Situated in the country's Atlantic region, it incorporates the island of Newfoundland and mainland Labrador with a combined area of . As of April 2011, the province's estimated population is 508,400...
.
Music awards
Canada has many different music awards, both for different genres of music and for geographic regions:- Juno AwardJuno AwardThe Juno Awards are presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music...
s – Canada's main annual music industry awards - CASBY AwardCASBY AwardThe CASBY Award is a Canadian award for independent and alternative music, presented annually by Toronto, Ontario radio station CFNY, currently branded as 102.1 The Edge. The name CASBY stands for Canadian Artists Selected By You....
s – Canada’s annual independentIndie rockIndie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
and alternativeAlternative rockAlternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
music awards - Canadian Country Music Awards – Canada’s annual country musicCountry musicCountry music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
industry awards - GMA CanadaGMA CanadaGMA Canada is the Gospel Music Association of Canada . Created in 1974, the organization is a not for profit association whose mission is to promote the growth and ministry of Christian music arts in Canada...
Covenant AwardsCovenant AwardsThe Covenant Awards are handed out annually by GMA Canada, the Gospel Music Association of Canada . Created in 1974, the association is a non-profit organization whose mission is to promote the growth and ministry of Christian music arts in Canada...
– Canada’s national awards for the Gospel musicGospel musicGospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
industry - East Coast Music Awards – annual music appreciation for the East Coast of 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...
- Felix AwardFélix AwardThe Félix Award is a music award, given on an annual basis to artists in the Canadian province of Quebec.The first Félix awards were presented on September 23, 1979, by the Association du disque, de l'industrie du spectacle québécois...
s – annual prize for members of the 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....
music industry - MuchMusic Video Awards – Canada’s annual music videoMusic videoA music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
awards - Polaris Music PrizePolaris Music PrizeThe Polaris Music Prize is a music award annually given to the best full-length Canadian album based on artistic merit, regardless of genre, sales, or record label...
– award annually given to the best full-length Canadian albumAlbumAn album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
based on artistic merit - Canadian Urban Music Awards – Canada’s annual urban music awards
- Canadian Aboriginal Music AwardsAboriginal rockAboriginal rock refers to a style of music which mixes rock music with the instrumentation and singing styles of Aboriginal people. Two countries with prominent Aboriginal rock scenes are Australia and Canada.-Australia:...
– Canada’s annual appreciation for the promoters, creators and performers of Aboriginal musicAboriginal rockAboriginal rock refers to a style of music which mixes rock music with the instrumentation and singing styles of Aboriginal people. Two countries with prominent Aboriginal rock scenes are Australia and Canada.-Australia:... - Western Canadian Music AwardsWestern Canadian Music AwardsThe Western Canadian Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony for music in the western portion of Canada, that originated in its current form in 2003...
– annual music appreciation for the western part of 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...
See also
- Canadian music genresCanadian music genresCanadian music genres identifies musical sounds as belonging to a particular category and type of music that can be distinguished from other types of music made by Canadians. The music of Canada has reflected the multi-cultural influences that have shaped the country...
- Music of Canadian culturesMusic of Canadian culturesMusic of Canadian Cultures is a wide and divers accumulation of music from many different individual communities all across Canada. With Canada being vast in size, the country throughout its history has had regional music scenes. The music of Canada has reflected the multi-cultural influences...
- The Top 100 Canadian AlbumsThe Top 100 Canadian AlbumsThe Top 100 Canadian Albums is a book by Bob Mersereau, published in 2007 by Goose Lane Editions.Mersereau acknowledged that the list will cause heated debate among music fans across the country. "The important part is to talk about Canadian music and enjoy it", he said...
- List of diamond-certified albums in Canada
- List of number-one singles (Canada)
- List of radio stations in Canada
- List of Canadian composers
- List of Canadian musicians
- List of bands from Canada
Further reading
- Music in Canada, capturing landscape and diversity by Elaine Keillor. Montreal McGill-Queen's University Press. (1939) (ISBN 0-7735-3177-7)
- Canadian Music Catalogues and Acquisitions lists. Toronto, (1971) various lists of Canadian music (orchestral, vocal, chamber, choral).
- Canadian native art; arts and crafts of Canadian Indians and Eskimos. by Patterson, Nancy-Lou. Don Mills, Ont., Collier-Macmillan, (1973) (ISBN 0-02-975610-3)
- Music in Canada, 1600-1800 by Willy Amtmann (1975), Habitex Books. (ISBN 0-88912-020-X)
- Contemporary Canadian Composers ed. by Keith MacMillan and John Beckwith. Toronto : Oxford University Press, (1975)
- La Musique au Québec 1600-1875 by Michelle Pharand. Montreal: Les Éditions de l'Homme (1976) (ISBN 0-7759-0517-8)
- Canadian Musical works 1900-1980 a bibliography of general and analytical sources. Ottawa : Canadian Association of Music Libraries, (1983) (ISBN 0708896358)
- Heart of Gold: 30 years of Canadian pop music by Martin Melhuish, (Toronto ON: CBC Enterprises, (1983) (ISBN 08-87841-125)
- The Penguin Book of Canadian Folk Songs by Edith Fowke. Markham, ON: Penguin, (1986) (ISBN 0-14-070842-1)
- The Piano Concert In Canada, 1900-1980 a bibliographic survey.by Zuk, Ireneus. Baltimore, Md. : Peabody Institute, (1985) (Ref ML128 .P3Z85)
- Canadian music fast facts : profiles of Canada's pop music pioneers. by Randy Ray and Mark Kearney London, Ont. : Sparky Jefferson Productions, (1991) (ISBN 0-9695149-0-5)
- Canadian Music Fast Facts: Canadian pop music history by Mark Kearney, Randy Ray, (London, ON: Sparky Productions, (1991) (ISBN 0-9695149-0-5)
- Encyclopedia of Canadian rock, pop and folk music by Rick Jackson, (Kingston, ON: Quarry Press, (1994) (ISBN 1-55082-107-5)
- Women Musicians in Canada "on the record the Music Division of the National Library of Canada by C. Gillard. Ottawa : NLC, (1995) (ISBN 0-7759-0517-8)
- Canadian musician periodical Unionville Branch v. 20 no. 4, (1998) (ISBN 0-547-08963-5)
- Profiles of Canada. edited by Kenneth G. Pryke, Walter C. Soderlund. Boulder, Colo. : NetLibrary, (2000)(ISBN 0-585-27925-X)
- Garland Encyclopedia of World Music, Volume 3: The United States and Canada. Koskoff, Ellen (ed.), ed (2000). Garland Publishing. (ISBN 0-8240-4944-6)
- The Top 100 Canadian Albums by Bob Mersereau, Fredericton: Goose Lane Editions, (2007) (ISBN 978-0-86492-500-8)
External links
- Canadian Music Periodical (CMPI) - Library and Archives CanadaLibrary and Archives CanadaLibrary and Archives Canada is a national memory institution dedicated to providing the best possible account of Canadian life through acquiring, preserving and making Canada's documentary heritage accessible for use in the 21st century and beyond...
- RPM Magazine, 1964-2000 - Library and Archives Canada
- Canadian General Research Guide For Music Bishop's UniversityBishop's UniversityBishop's University is a predominantly undergraduate university in Lennoxville, Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. Bishop's is one of three universities in the province of Quebec that teach primarily in the English language...
- Teach with Music: songs that can be used in a classroom setting to teach Canadian history and culture
- The CMC- Canadian Music CentreCanadian Music CentreThe Canadian Music Centre holds Canada's largest collection of Canadian concert music. The CMC exists to promote the works of its Associate Composers in Canada and around the world....
- CanadianBands.com biographies on Canadian Classic Rock
- Canoe.ca Jam!
- New Music Canada by CBC Radio 3CBC Radio 3CBC Radio 3 is a radio station that consists of two parts devoted to Canadian arts and music: a radio service which is available on Sirius Satellite Radio and streaming audio, and several daily and weekly podcasts from the CBC Radio 3 website...