Émilien Allard was a Canadian carillon

Carillon

A carillon is a musical instrument that is typically housed in a free-standing bell tower, or the belfry of a church or other municipal building. The instrument consists of at least 23 cast bronze, cup-shaped bells, which are played serially to play a melody, or sounded together to play a chord...

neur, 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:...

, clarinet

Clarinet

The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...

ist, and 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...

. He composed more than 50 works for carillon and made more than 700 transcriptions of carillon music; many of which are still performed in Europe and North America. In 1958 he won the International Carillonneurs' Prize at the Brussels World’s Fair. For RCA Victor he released the LP album

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...

 Carols at the Carillon of Saint Joseph's Oratory for which he wrote the arrangements. His Marche du maréchal and his Marche H.I.C. were recorded by Howard Cable

Howard Cable

Howard Reid Cable is a conductor, arranger, music director, composer, and radio and television producer.-Biography:...

 and his Notule No. 1 and Profil canadien no 2. were included on Gordon Slater

Gordon Slater (carillonneur)

Gordon Slater is a Canadian carillonneur and bassoonist. He released several records in the 1970s, including the 1978 record Bells and Brass with the Canadian Brass. He is a graduate of The Royal Conservatory of Music and the University of Toronto.-References:...

's LP Bells and Brass. Many of his original manuscripts and papers are a part of the collection at the Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec

Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec

Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec is the Crown corporation acting as the provincial library and archives of Quebec...

.

Life and career

Born 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...

, Allard's initial musical training was with Antonio Thompson and Father Joseph-Gers Turcotte at the Trois-Rivières seminary where he studied piano and music theory. He was a clarinetist in the city concert band of Grand-Mère, Quebec

Grand-Mère, Quebec

Grand Mère is a settlement and former municipality in central Quebec, Canada on the Saint-Maurice River. As a result of the municipal reorganization in Quebec which took effect at the beginning of 2002, Grand-Mère now forms part of the City of Shawinigan. Population in 2001 was...

 during his youth and later served as that ensemble's conductor. He also worked as an organist at a few churches in that town. He earned a lauréat diploma from the Université Laval

Université Laval

Laval University is the oldest centre of education in Canada and was the first institution in North America to offer higher education in French...

 and then entered the Conservatoire national de musique

Conservatoire national de musique

Conservatoire national de musique was a music conservatory in Montreal, Quebec that was actively providing higher education in music during the first eight decades of the 20th century...

 in Montreal where he earned a licentiate diploma. At the conservatoire he was a pupil of Eugène Lapierre

Eugène Lapierre

Eugène Lapierre was a Canadian organist, composer, journalist, writer on music, arts administrator, and music educator. He was awarded the King George V Silver Jubilee Medal in 1935 and the King George VI Coronation Medal in 1937...

 in organ and harmony.

After graduating from the conservatoire, Allard was a clarinetist in the Central Band of the Royal Canadian Air Force

Royal Canadian Air Force

The history of the Royal Canadian Air Force begins in 1920, when the air force was created as the Canadian Air Force . In 1924 the CAF was renamed the Royal Canadian Air Force and granted royal sanction by King George V. The RCAF existed as an independent service until 1968...

 in Rockcliffe, Ontario from 1942-1945. He then entered the Royal Carillon School "Jef Denyn" in Mechelen

Mechelen

Mechelen Footnote: Mechelen became known in English as 'Mechlin' from which the adjective 'Mechlinian' is derived...

, Belgium

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

 in 1946 where he earned a carillonneur diploma in 1948. At the school he studied composition with Jef van Hoof

Jef van Hoof

Jef van Hoof was a Belgian composer and conductor.Born in Antwerp, Van Hoof was a pupil of Paul Gilson and was highly influenced by the works of Peter Benoit. He composed chamber music, symphonic works, art songs, works for solo piano and organ and sacred music...

 and bell ringing with Staf Nees. He pursued further studies at the Conservatoire de Paris

Conservatoire de Paris

The Conservatoire de Paris is a college of music and dance founded in 1795, now situated in the avenue Jean Jaurès in the 19th arrondissement of Paris, France...

 in 1948-1949 where his teachers included Eugène Bigot

Eugène Bigot

Eugène Bigot was a French composer and conductor. He also taught at the Conservatoire de Paris where his notable pupils included Émilien Allard, Louis de Froment, Henri-Claude Fantapié, António Fortunato de Figueiredo, Karel Husa, Paul Kuentz, Jean-Bernard Pommier, Pierre Rolland, and Mikis...

 (conducting), Maurice Duruflé

Maurice Duruflé

Maurice Duruflé was a French composer, organist, and pedagogue.Duruflé was born in Louviers, Eure. In 1912, he became chorister at the Rouen Cathedral Choir School, where he studied piano and organ with Jules Haelling...

 (orchestration), and Olivier Messiaen

Olivier Messiaen

Olivier Messiaen was a French composer, organist and ornithologist, one of the major composers of the 20th century. His music is rhythmically complex ; harmonically and melodically it is based on modes of limited transposition, which he abstracted from his early compositions and improvisations...

 (aesthetics).

In 1949 Allard returned to Canada where he initially struggled to find a suitable appointement in his chosen career as a carillonneur. He finally attained a position as the carillonneur at Saint Joseph's Oratory

Saint Joseph's Oratory

Saint Joseph's Oratory of Mount Royal, , is a Roman Catholic minor basilica and national shrine on the west slope of Mount Royal in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.-History:...

 in Montreal in 1955, a post he remained in for two decades. He gave annual concert tours throughout North America between 1959-1976. In 1975 he left Saint Joseph's to become the carillonneur at the Peace Tower

Peace Tower

The Peace Tower is a focal bell and clock tower, sitting on the central axis of the Centre Block of the Canadian parliament buildings in Ottawa, Ontario. The present incarnation replaced the Victoria Tower after the latter burned down in 1916, along with most of the Centre Block...

in Ottawa, Ontario; a position he remained in until his death two years later at the age of 62.