Maurice Blackburn (composer)

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Joseph Albert Maurice Blackburn (22 May 1914 – 29 March 1988) was a Canadian composer, conductor, sound editor for film, and builder of string instruments. He is known for his soundtracks for animated film.[1]

Personal life

Blackburn was born in

New England Conservatory in Boston.[2] He won the George Allan Prize
in 1940.

He was married to screenwriter Marthe Blackburn, and was the father of science fiction writer Esther Rochon.[3]

Career

From 1942 to 1978 Blackburn worked as a film composer for the National Film Board of Canada, where he was a frequent collaborator of Norman McLaren.[2] Together they developed techniques for etching sound and image directly on film.[4] Blackburn composed the music for McLaren's animation film Blinkity Blank (1954)[5] which won twelve prizes, including the Short Film Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival.[6] In 1969 he created an animated film of his own, Ciné-Crimé.[7]

He composed the opera Une mesure de silence, whose libretto was written by his wife Marthe.[8]

In 1983 he was awarded the Albert-Tessier Prize by the Quebec government.[3]

Discography

Compilations

References

  1. ^ Studies in Music from the University of Western Ontario. Department of Music History, University of Western Ontario.; 1985. p. 43, 60.
  2. ^ . p. 147–.
  3. ^ a b Denis Allaire. "Maurice Blackburn". The Canadian Encyclopedia.
  4. ^ "Making synthetic music". Focus on Animation. National Film Board of Canada. Archived from the original on 2 January 2014. Retrieved 2 January 2014.
  5. . p. 99–.
  6. . p. 34–.
  7. . p. 350–.
  8. ^ "Canadian Opera Premieres". The Globe and Mail, 3 November 1956.