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In a bizarre coincidence, three important Canadian women composers from the same generation recently died within five weeks of each other: Barbara Pentland on 6 February 2000, Violet Archer on 22 February 2000, and Jean Coulthard on 9 March 2000. As a tribute to their lives and work, this colloquy gathers remembrances of them by friends and colleagues, ranging from brief anecdotes to extended memoirs. It is thus a collection of primary documents, which yield many new insights into the lives of our composers, ranging from personal habits to the way they taught composition.
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This article provides an overview of the literature devoted to women composers in Quebec during the twentieth century. Research on women's accomplishments in concert music began largely in the wake of International Women's Year in 1975, a pivotal moment when women asserted their rightful presence in the world of artistic, literary, and musical creation. Highlighted by a non-exhaustive inventory of concerts, reviews, and research works presented in the appendix, 1975 appears as a turning point within the Quebec creative and critical milieus.
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AbstractThe successful compositional careers of Jean Coulthard, Barbara Pentland, and Violet Archer spanned all but the first three decades of the twentieth century. Entering a compositional career at this time had many challenges: as Western Canadians, these composers had to establish their credibility with a public that could not be counted on to recognize the worth of their work due to sexist bias and a prevailing critical stance: public approval was evidence of a lack of true creativity. This was especially problematic for women, who had to keep to the center of progressive composition, away from the experimental and conservative margins, in order to gain recognition. Following World War II, the pressure of modernism increased, due at least in part to initiatives by the U. S. Government in occupied Germany, countering the stereotype of the unsophisticated American with a new narrative of American experimental tradition.
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Neoclassicism was an important trend in Canada in the 1940s and 1950s, particularly in Quebec. According to historian George Proctor, it served as a middle-ground between the old and the new, between conservatism and the “extreme” modernism of the twelve-tone school. The European origins of the current is discussed and so are the main musical characteristics that generally define it, even though no real consensus exists on that matter. A survey of various performances of neoclassical works by Montreal orchestras and a study of their reception in the press help bring to light a few key-moments attesting the penetration of musical neoclassicism in Quebec. Considered the main leader of the movement from the middle of the 1920s onward, Igor Stravinsky visited Montreal three times between 1937 and 1946. His influence in Quebec is emphasized, as that of French pedagogue Nadia Boulanger, a strong promoter of his works and teacher of many French-Canadians in the 1940s and 1950s. Other renowned French modernists, such as Ravel and Poulenc, had an impact in the province, as did the works and theoretical writings of Paul Hindemith. This is clearly demonstrated in composer Jean Vallerand's work as a music critic. In Quebec, the main proponent of neoclassicism is without doubt Jean Papineau-Couture (1916-2000), but Maurice Blackburn (1914-1988) presents another interesting case. Finally, in view of the quality of many works composed during or after World-War ii, in Quebec and elsewhere, one should question the derogatory aura of the “neoclassical” label, too often reduced to a couple of simple traits, such as the use of pastiche. This harsh judgement is mainly due to composers of the following generation, advocates of a more pronounced avant-gardism. A wider perspective should allow to reconsider the importance of the neoclassical trend in Canadian contemporary music as a whole.
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