André Mathieu

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Sculpture of Mathieu by Céline and Jean-Guy White
André Mathieu at eleven years of age

André Mathieu (18 February 1929 – 2 June 1968) was a Canadian pianist and composer.

Life

André Mathieu at 11 with his sister

Mathieu was born René André Rodolphe Mathieu on 18 February 1929 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada,[1][2] in the parish of Saint-Jacques-le-Majeur[3] to father Rodolphe Mathieu and mother Wilhemine Gagnon-Mathieu. His father was a music teacher and composer, and his mother a cellist and teacher. Mathieu was fascinated by the world of music from an early age, and received his first music lessons from his father. Mathieu as a child was unusually precocious. He spoke his first words at the age of 4 months and took his first steps before seven months.

Rodolphe Mathieu was at first reluctant to teach his son music, and forbade him to touch the piano. This is because the senior Mathieu regarded music as a pauper's profession. Even so, Rodolphe Mathieu resigned himself to teaching his son music, because he recognized the exceptional talent in Mathieu. Mathieu began composing at the age of 4. At age 6 Mathieu gave his first recital of his own composition at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in

Salle Gaveau on 26 March 1939. His recitals as a soloist[4] were received very enthusiastically by the Parisian critics. They unanimously agreed that André Mathieu was a "Canadian Mozart".[5]

Mathieu returned to Montreal for the holidays, but due to the outbreak of war he could not return to Europe. Instead, Mathieu performed in a series of recitals in Canada and the United States of America, and gave a performance at the New York City Town Hall on 3 February 1940. He remained in New York with his family until 1943, studying composition with Harold Morris and fulfilling concert and radio engagements. In 1941 when he was not yet 12 years old, Mathieu won the first prize at the composition competition to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. He also played his Concertino No. 2 for piano and orchestra at Carnegie Hall. Mathieu also played his compositions at a concert of the League of Composers.

In 1943 he returned to Montreal and gave numerous concerts performing

Ravel
, as well as his own works.

In 1946 he left Montreal for Paris to study composition with Arthur Honegger and piano with Jules Gentil. Unfortunately the trip did not go as planned. Mathieu was disappointed by his teachers, bored and short of money. He felt lonely, homesick and vulnerable. In 1947 he returned to Montreal a changed man, tired and exhausted. He took part in Pianothons to break records at events. He also began teaching and continued to compose. During the following years he succumbed to alcoholism. He married Marie-Ange Massicotte in 1960, but their marriage was short-lived due to André's alcoholism and emotional problems. André died suddenly at the age of 39 on 2 June 1968 and was entombed at the Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery in Montreal.[6] He was a prolific composer and left behind a wide range of music.

The welcoming song and the official theme-music of the

Montmorency College in Laval, Quebec, in honour of Mathieu's talent and contribution to music.[8] In 1987 a street was named after Mathieu in the Pointe-aux-Trembles district in Montreal. Another street was also named in memory of his great work, in Mirabel, Quebec, in 2006. The renowned pianist and classical music activist Alain Lefèvre
has popularized several of André Mathieu's works.

Works

As a composer Mathieu's style leaned towards the late Romantic school of Rachmaninov, and his music was influenced by Debussy as well. Mathieu wrote many works for piano. Among the compositions of his youth are the Trois Études (1933), Les Gros Chars (1934), Procession d'éléphants (1934), Trois Pièces pittoresques (1936), Hommage à Mozart enfant (1937), and Les Mouettes (1938).

In 1939 he wrote two suites for twin pianos: Les Vagues and Saisons canadiennes.

In 1943 he wrote a third concerto for piano and orchestra titled Concerto Romantique (also known as the Concerto de Québec).

CBC Montreal
orchestra under Jean-Marie Beaudet, was presented in 1977 in Tunisia by pianist André-Sébastien Savoie and the Tunis Orchestra conducted by Raymond Dessaints.

He also composed a fourth concerto around the year 1947, considered by some as a more mature and original work, which is currently being rediscovered and has received its first integral recording in 2008 from the Quebec music company

Alain Lefevre's work to revive Mathieu's work was underway, the woman met Lefevre backstage after a Concerto de Québec, and delivered to him the recordings. Lefevre worked with conductor and composer Gilles Bellemare to reconstruct and publicize the composition, and on 10 December 2013, 70 years after the last of Mathieu's three appearances on stage at Carnegie Hall in New York City, Lefevre appeared at Carnegie Hall and gave the New York premiere of Mathieu's previously lost Piano Concerto No.4.[10]

Among Mathieu's works for piano and violin are Fantaisie brésilienne,[11] a sonata, a berceuse, and Complainte. Mathieu's vocal works include Le ciel est si bleu, Hymne du Bloc Populaire, Les Chères Mains (1946), and Quatre Mélodies (1948).

Legacy

He is the subject of Jean-Claude Labrecque's 1993 documentary film André Mathieu, musicien,[12] and his childhood was dramatized by Luc Dionne in the 2010 biographical drama film The Child Prodigy (L'enfant prodige).[13]

References

Citations
  1. ^
    Encyclopedia of Music in Canada. Historica Canada
    . Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  2. ^ a b Johnston, Blair. "André Mathieu » MUSIC: music biography". allmovie.com.
    Allmovie. Archived from the original
    on 16 January 2013. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  3. ^ a b "Salle André-Mathieu » À propos d'André Mathieu: Le petit Mozart canadien" [The Andre-Mathieu Room » In connection with Andre Mathieu: The small Canadian Mozart]. salleandremathieu.com (in French). The André-Mathieu Corporation. salleandremathieu.com. Archived from the original on 16 December 2011. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  4. ISBN 978-2-3505-5192-0
  5. ^ Vuillermoz, Émile (1939). LeMozartCanadien. Paris: Excelsior.
  6. ^ Répertoire des personnages inhumés au cimetière ayant marqué l'histoire de notre société (in French). Montreal: Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery.
  7. ^ ""Games of the XXI Olympiad, Montreal, 1976" (sound recording)", Collections Canada,
    OCLC 4283721
    , AMICUS No. 13425414, retrieved 4 January 2012
  8. ^ "Salle André-Mathieu » Historique" [The Andre-Mathieu Room » History]. salleandremathieu.com (in French). The André-Mathieu Room Corporation. Archived from the original on 19 June 2013. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  9. ^ ""Quebec concerto" (music) – Concerto de Québec / by André Mathieu ; arranged for piano", Collections Canada,
    OCLC 423513067
    , AMICUS No. 10264655, retrieved 4 January 2012
  10. ^ Nicholson, Georges (December 2013). "Andre Mathieu Piano Concerto No.4". Carnegie Hall Playbill.
  11. ^ ""Fantaisie brésilienne" (musique) : for violin and piano – pour violon et piano / by – par André Mathieu", Collections Canada,
    OCLC 214285773
    , AMICUS No. 26642526, retrieved 4 January 2012
  12. ^ Josiane Ouellet, "André Mathieu, musicien : Regain de mémoire". Voir, April 12, 2006.
  13. ^ François Lévesque, "Genie brisé". Le Devoir, May 29, 2010.

Further reading

  • Rudel-Tessier, J. André Mathieu, un genie. Montreal, Que.: Éditions Héritage, 1976. Without ISBN.

External links

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