George Amédée Tremblay was a Canadian composer

Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

 who was active in the United States. Although his works display a broad range of stylistic influences, he is particularly associated with the twelve-tone technique

Twelve-tone technique

Twelve-tone technique is a method of musical composition devised by Arnold Schoenberg...

. His compositional output includes three string quartet

String quartet

A string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string players – usually two violin players, a violist and a cellist – or a piece written to be performed by such a group...

s, three sonata

Sonata

Sonata , in music, literally means a piece played as opposed to a cantata , a piece sung. The term, being vague, naturally evolved through the history of music, designating a variety of forms prior to the Classical era...

s, and three symphonies, one of which was recorded by the Hamburger Symphoniker

Hamburger Symphoniker

The Hamburger Symphoniker is a German orchestra based in Hamburg, Germany. Founded in 1957, it is one of the city's three largest orchestras...

.

Born in Ottawa

Ottawa

Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...

, Tremblay was the son of composer and organist Amédée Tremblay

Amédée Tremblay

Pierre-Joseph Amédée Tremblay was a Canadian organist, composer, and music educator. A largely self-taught composer, his output includes several motets, two masses, a few patriotic songs, works for solo organ, and the operetta L'Intransigeant...

. He began his initial musical training at a young age with his father. In 1920 the family moved to Salt Lake City, Utah

Utah

Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...

 when his father was appointed organist at the Cathedral of the Madeleine

Cathedral of the Madeleine

The Cathedral of the Madeleine is a Roman Catholic church in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was completed in 1909, and currently serves as the cathedral, or mother church, of the Diocese of Salt Lake City. It is the only cathedral in the U.S. under the patronage of St. Mary Magdalene.The...

. They moved again in 1925 when Amédée become the organist at St. Vincent de Paul Church

St. Vincent de Paul Church (Los Angeles, California)

St. Vincent de Paul Church is a Roman Catholic parish and Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument in the West Adams section of Los Angeles, California. The church was built in the 1920s and designed by architect Albert C. Martin, Sr...

 in Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

. Soon after, Tremblay became a pupil of Arnold Schoenberg

Arnold Schoenberg

Arnold Schoenberg was an Austrian composer, associated with the expressionist movement in German poetry and art, and leader of the Second Viennese School...

in that city. In 1965 he founded the School for the Discovery and Advancement of New Serial Techniques.