Romain-Octave Pelletier I
Encyclopedia
Romain-Octave Pelletier I (sometimes spelled Peltier) (9 September 1843 - 4 March 1927) was a Canadian organist
, pianist
, composer
, writer on music, and music educator.
, Romain Pelletier
, and Victor Pelletier. His grandson, Romain-Octave Pelletier II
, was a well known violin
ist. His elder brother, Orphir Pelletier, was a composer and organist at St. Patrick's Basilica, Montreal. Largely self-taught, it is from Orphir that he received his only early music lessons. He later studied for two years in Europe during the early 1870s after having worked for almost 15 years as a church organist.
In 1857, at the age of 15, Pelletier succeeded Jean-Chrysostome Brauneis II as organist at Saint-Jacques Cathedral
. He remained there for the next ten years, during which time he studied law and obtained certification as a notary. He notably officiated the marriage license of violinist Frantz Jehin-Prume
, whom he accompanied numerous times in recital, and mezzo-soprano
Rosita del Vecchio in 1866.
In 1866-1867 Pelletier spent some months in Hartford, Connecticut
where he made the acquaintance of organist Samuel Prowse Warren. From 1867-1875 he served as organist at the Church of St James-the-Less on St-Denis St where he caused some controversy for daring to play works by Protestant composers like Johann Sebastian Bach
and Felix Mendelssohn
. In 1869 he married, after which he began actively teaching piano and organ lessons privately.
, William Thomas Best
, and John Baptiste Calkin
in London, Jacques-Nicolas Lemmens
in Brussels, and with pianist Antoine François Marmontel
and organist Louis Lebel
in Paris. He notably performed works by Bach in the presence of Charles-Marie Widor
at the Église Saint-Sulpice in 1872. He later sojourned to Europe again in 1900 in the company of organ builders Joseph-Claver Casavant and Samuel-Marie Casavant.
After returning to Montreal in 1872, Pelletier resumed teaching and playing the organ at St James the lesser. He taught solfège
at the École normale Jacques-Cartier from 1876 to 1907. He served as interim president of the Académie de musique du Québec on several occasions (1884-5, 1894-5, 1902-4, 1909–10, and 1915–16) in addition to teaching at a number of religious schools in Montreal. He was once again appointed organist of St James Cathedral
in 1887 (at the St-Joseph Chapel until the inauguration of the new cathedral on Dominion Square in 1894) and remained in that post until 1923.
In 1904 Pelletier became one of the original music faculty members at McGill University
where he taught piano up into the latter years of his life. In 1919 he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the Université de Montréal
. Among his many notable students during his long career are: Alcibiade Béique, Albertine Caron-Legris
, Victoria Cartier, Claude Champagne
, Édouard Clarke, Alexandre-M. Clerk, Jean Dansereau, Jean Deslauriers
, Joseph-Daniel Dussault, J.-J. Gagnier
, Henri Gagnon
, Alfred La Liberté
, Alfred Lamoureux, Alphonse Lavallée-Smith, Émery Lavigne, Ernest Lavigne, Antonio Létourneau, Clarence Lucas
, Alfred Mignault
, Albertine Morin-Labrecque
, Joseph Piché, William Reed
, Léon Ringuet, and Amédée Tremblay
.
Organist
An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists...
, pianist
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
, 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...
, writer on music, and music educator.
Early life and career
Born in Montreal, Pelletier was a member of a prominent musical family. Three of his sons had successful musical careers: Frédéric PelletierFrédéric Pelletier
Frédéric Pelletier was a Canadian choir conductor, music educator, composer, music critic, journalist, civil servant, military officer, and physician. He was one of the principal music critics in Montreal during the first half of the 20th century, having worked in that capacity for every major...
, Romain Pelletier
Romain Pelletier
Romain Pelletier was a Canadian organist, choir conductor, composer, and music educator. His compositional output consists entirely of works for solo organ and motets...
, and Victor Pelletier. His grandson, Romain-Octave Pelletier II
Romain-Octave Pelletier II
Romain-Octave Pelletier II was a Canadian music critic, music producer, and violinist.-Early life and career:...
, was a well known 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....
ist. His elder brother, Orphir Pelletier, was a composer and organist at St. Patrick's Basilica, Montreal. Largely self-taught, it is from Orphir that he received his only early music lessons. He later studied for two years in Europe during the early 1870s after having worked for almost 15 years as a church organist.
In 1857, at the age of 15, Pelletier succeeded Jean-Chrysostome Brauneis II as organist at Saint-Jacques Cathedral
Saint-Jacques Cathedral (Montreal)
Saint-Jacques Cathedral was the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Montreal from 1825 to 1852, named for St. James the Greater....
. He remained there for the next ten years, during which time he studied law and obtained certification as a notary. He notably officiated the marriage license of violinist Frantz Jehin-Prume
Frantz Jehin-Prume
Frantz Jehin-Prume was a Canadian violinist, composer, and music educator of Belgian birth. He began his career as a highly successful concert violinist in Europe. From 1865 on he lived and worked mainly in Montreal, Canada; becoming one of the most important 19th century musical figures in Quebec...
, whom he accompanied numerous times in recital, and mezzo-soprano
Mezzo-soprano
A mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above...
Rosita del Vecchio in 1866.
In 1866-1867 Pelletier spent some months in Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the capital of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960, it is the second most populous city on New England's largest river, the Connecticut River. As of the 2010 Census, Hartford's population was 124,775, making...
where he made the acquaintance of organist Samuel Prowse Warren. From 1867-1875 he served as organist at the Church of St James-the-Less on St-Denis St where he caused some controversy for daring to play works by Protestant composers like Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
and Felix Mendelssohn
Felix Mendelssohn
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Barthóldy , use the form 'Mendelssohn' and not 'Mendelssohn Bartholdy'. The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians gives ' Felix Mendelssohn' as the entry, with 'Mendelssohn' used in the body text...
. In 1869 he married, after which he began actively teaching piano and organ lessons privately.
Studies in Europe and later career
Pelletier spent almost two years touring Europe in 1871-1872. During that time he studied under George CooperGeorge Cooper (organist)
George Cooper was an English organist and music educator. Born in Lambeth, Cooper was the son of organist George Cooper, Sr. He succeeded his father as assistant organist at St Paul's Cathedral in 1838; having already substituted for his father periodically since 1831...
, William Thomas Best
William Thomas Best
William Thomas Best was an English organist.The son of a solicitor, he was born at Carlisle. Having decided on a musical career, he became a pupil of the cathedral organist. He became particularly skilled in the interpretation of Bach's music...
, and John Baptiste Calkin
John Baptiste Calkin
John Baptiste Calkin was an English composer, organist and music teacher.Calkin got his musical education from his father James Calkin , a pianist, cellist and composer. From 1846 to 1853, he worked as an organist, preceptor and choirmaster at the St. Columba's College in Dublin...
in London, Jacques-Nicolas Lemmens
Jacques-Nicolas Lemmens
Jacques-Nicolas Lemmens , was an organist and composer for his instrument.Born at Zoerle-Parwijs, near Westerlo, Belgium, Lemmens took lessons from François-Joseph Fétis, who wanted to make him into a musician capable of renewing the organ-player's art in Belgium...
in Brussels, and with pianist Antoine François Marmontel
Antoine François Marmontel
Antoine François Marmontel was a French pianist, teacher and musicographer.Marmontel entered the Paris Conservatory in 1827. His teachers were Pierre Zimmerman in pianoforte, Victor Dourlen in harmony, Jacques Fromental Halévy in fugue and Jean-François Le Sueur in composition...
and organist Louis Lebel
Louis LeBel
Louis LeBel is a puisne justice on the Supreme Court of Canada.LeBel was born in Quebec City. He was the son of lawyer Paul LeBel, Q.C. He went to school at the Collège des Jésuites, graduating with a BA in 1958 from College des Jesuites. He earned his law degree at Université Laval in 1962 and...
in Paris. He notably performed works by Bach in the presence of Charles-Marie Widor
Charles-Marie Widor
Charles-Marie Jean Albert Widor was a French organist, composer and teacher.-Life:Widor was born in Lyon, to a family of organ builders, and initially studied music there with his father, François-Charles Widor, titular organist of Saint-François-de-Sales from 1838 to 1889...
at the Église Saint-Sulpice in 1872. He later sojourned to Europe again in 1900 in the company of organ builders Joseph-Claver Casavant and Samuel-Marie Casavant.
After returning to Montreal in 1872, Pelletier resumed teaching and playing the organ at St James the lesser. He taught solfège
Solfege
In music, solfège is a pedagogical solmization technique for the teaching of sight-singing in which each note of the score is sung to a special syllable, called a solfège syllable...
at the École normale Jacques-Cartier from 1876 to 1907. He served as interim president of the Académie de musique du Québec on several occasions (1884-5, 1894-5, 1902-4, 1909–10, and 1915–16) in addition to teaching at a number of religious schools in Montreal. He was once again appointed organist of St James Cathedral
Mary, Queen of the World Cathedral
The Cathedral-Basilica of Mary, Queen of the World in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, is the seat of the Roman Catholic archdiocese of Montreal. It is the third largest church in Quebec after St. Joseph's Oratory and the Basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré east of Quebec City...
in 1887 (at the St-Joseph Chapel until the inauguration of the new cathedral on Dominion Square in 1894) and remained in that post until 1923.
In 1904 Pelletier became one of the original music faculty members at McGill University
McGill University
Mohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...
where he taught piano up into the latter years of his life. In 1919 he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the Université de Montréal
Université de Montréal
The Université de Montréal is a public francophone research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It comprises thirteen faculties, more than sixty departments and two affiliated schools: the École Polytechnique and HEC Montréal...
. Among his many notable students during his long career are: Alcibiade Béique, Albertine Caron-Legris
Albertine Caron-Legris
Gaylord Caron-Legris was a Canadian pianist, composer, and music educator. Many of her manuscripts and personal papers are held in the collection at the Library and Archives Canada.-Life and career:...
, Victoria Cartier, Claude Champagne
Claude Champagne
Claude Champagne was a Canadian composer.Born in Montreal, Quebec, he studied violin with Albert Chamberland, organ with Orpha-F. Deveaux, and piano with Romain-Octave Pelletier I and Alexis Contant at the Conservatoire national de musique. In 1921 he went straight to Paris to study music...
, Édouard Clarke, Alexandre-M. Clerk, Jean Dansereau, Jean Deslauriers
Jean Deslauriers
Jean Deslauriers was a Canadian conductor, violinist, and composer. As a conductor he had a long and fruitful partnership with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation; conducting orchestras for feature films and television and radio programs for more than 40 years...
, Joseph-Daniel Dussault, J.-J. Gagnier
J.-J. Gagnier
Jean-Josaphat Gagnier was a Canadian conductor, composer, clarinetist, bassoonist, pianist, arts administrator, and music educator. His compositional output mainly consists of works for orchestra and band, although he did write some choral pieces, songs, works for solo piano and organ, some...
, Henri Gagnon
Henri Gagnon
Henri Gagnon was a Canadian composer, organist, and music educator. He spent 51 years playing the organ at the Basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré where, according to music historian François Brassard, he earned "a prestige similar to that of the famous organists of Europe"...
, Alfred La Liberté
Alfred La Liberté
Alfred La Liberté was a Canadian composer, pianist, writer on music, and music educator. He was a disciple and close personal friend of Alexander Scriabin. He was also an admirer of Marcel Dupré and Nikolai Medtner. Dupré notably dedicated his Variations, Opus 22 for piano to him and Medtner...
, Alfred Lamoureux, Alphonse Lavallée-Smith, Émery Lavigne, Ernest Lavigne, Antonio Létourneau, Clarence Lucas
Clarence Lucas
Clarence Lucas , was a Canadian composer, lyricist, conductor, and music professor.Lucas was born at Six Nations Reserve, Ontario and was a student of Romain-Octave Pelletier I. He taught at the Toronto College of Music, taught in Utica, New York, and was the musical director at Wesleyan Ladies...
, Alfred Mignault
Alfred Mignault
Alfred Joseph Édouard Mignault was a Canadian organist, composer, and music educator. A largely self-taught composer, his compositional output includes both vocal and instrumental works such as songs, works for solo piano, choral works, and works for orchestra. Some his compositions were published...
, Albertine Morin-Labrecque
Albertine Morin-Labrecque
Albertine Morin-Labrecque was a Canadian pianist, soprano, composer, and music educator. Her compositional output includes 4 ballets, 2 comic operas, the Chinese Opera Pas-chu, 2 concertos for two pianos, the symphonic poem Le Matin, numerous symphonic works, and compositions for band...
, Joseph Piché, William Reed
William Reed (musician)
William Reed was a Canadian organist, choir conductor, and composer. He held numerous organ and choirmaster posts in churches throughout Canada from 1884-1913. His career in this area was cut short as his affliction from deafness worsened. He spent the remainder of his career composing and...
, Léon Ringuet, and 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...
.