Jean Deslauriers
Encyclopedia
Jean Deslauriers was a Canadian conductor
, violin
ist, and composer
. As a conductor he had a long and fruitful partnership with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
; conducting orchestra
s for feature films and television and radio programs for more than 40 years. He also worked as a guest conductor with orchestras and opera
companies throughout Canada and served on the conducting staff of the Opéra du Québec. The Canadian Encyclopedia
describes him as "a conductor with a sober but efficient technique, who was always faithful to the written score [and] equally at ease conducting concerts, opera, and lighter repertoire." His best known compositions are his Prélude for strings and the song, La Musique des yeux. He is the father of soprano Yolande Deslauriers-Husaruk.
, Deslauriers was a child prodigy
and began his career as a concert violinist as a young teenager. He studied the violin with Émile Taranto and Camille Couture. He notably gave annual concert tours with singers Paul Dufault and Joseph Saucier in Canada and the United States between 1924-1929. He also studied with Claude Champagne
(orchestration) Auguste Descarries (counterpoint and instrumentation), Romain-Octave Pelletier I
(harmony and solfège) between 1918-1923. During the early 1930s he worked as a violinist and conductor aboard cruise ships.
In 1935 Deslauriers became a member of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra
with whom he played for the next decade. In 1936 he began working for CBC Radio
in Montreal as a conductor, conducting orchestras for such programs as Radio-Concerts canadiens, Théâtre lyrique Molson, and Concerts d'opéras among others. As television became a more established medium he also conducted for CBC TV programs like L'Heure du concert, Sérénade, and Concerts populaires. He notably conducted the orchestra for the LaFlèche Trophy Award winning radio and television program Serenade for Strings from 1937-1957. Following World War II he began arranging and conducting the scores for many films for the CBC. In 1954 he conducted one of the first opera
broadcasts by CBC TV with a televised version of Gioachino Rossini's The Barber of Seville
. He conducted several more opera broadcasts for the CBC, including performances of André Messager
's Monsieur Beaucaire
(1954), Charles Gounod
's Roméo et Juliette
(1971) and Giacomo Puccini
's Madama Butterfly
(1977).
During the 1960s and 1970s Deslauriers was highly active as a guest conductor with symphony orchestras in such Canadian cities as Montreal, Quebec City, Toronto, Ottawa, Halifax, Vancouver, and Winnipeg. He notably conducted the Toronto Symphony Orchestra
in the world premiere of Robert Turner
's Three Episodes for Orchestra in 1966 and conducted the premiere of François Morel
's Prismes-Anamorphoses with the CBC Symphony Orchestra
in 1968. He also worked as a conductor for opera productions, notably serving as the music director of the Théâtre lyrique du Québec from 1967–1970 and as the assistant conductor of the Opéra du Québec from 1972-1975. During the 1970s he worked as a guest conductor for productions with the Canadian Opera Company
and the Edmonton Opera
. He also taught on the music faculty of the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Trois-Rivières
where he was the first conductor of the school's orchestra.
Having never retired, Deslauriers died in Saint-Jérôme, Quebec
in 1978 at the age of 68. Upon his death, his large collection of musical scores was donated to the library at the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal. His personal papers are part of the collection at the Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec
. In 1975 the Montreal concert auditorium Plateau Hall was re-named the Salle Jean-Deslauriers in his honor.
Conducting
Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...
, 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, 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...
. As a conductor he had a long and fruitful partnership with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
; conducting orchestra
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
s for feature films and television and radio programs for more than 40 years. He also worked as a guest conductor with orchestras and opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
companies throughout Canada and served on the conducting staff of the Opéra du Québec. The Canadian Encyclopedia
The Canadian Encyclopedia
The Canadian Encyclopedia is a source of information on Canada. It is available online, at no cost. The Canadian Encyclopedia is available in both English and French and includes some 14,000 articles in each language on a wide variety of subjects including history, popular culture, events, people,...
describes him as "a conductor with a sober but efficient technique, who was always faithful to the written score [and] equally at ease conducting concerts, opera, and lighter repertoire." His best known compositions are his Prélude for strings and the song, La Musique des yeux. He is the father of soprano Yolande Deslauriers-Husaruk.
Life and career
Born in MontrealMontreal
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...
, Deslauriers was a child prodigy
Child prodigy
A child prodigy is someone who, at an early age, masters one or more skills far beyond his or her level of maturity. One criterion for classifying prodigies is: a prodigy is a child, typically younger than 18 years old, who is performing at the level of a highly trained adult in a very demanding...
and began his career as a concert violinist as a young teenager. He studied the violin with Émile Taranto and Camille Couture. He notably gave annual concert tours with singers Paul Dufault and Joseph Saucier in Canada and the United States between 1924-1929. He also studied with 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...
(orchestration) Auguste Descarries (counterpoint and instrumentation), Romain-Octave Pelletier I
Romain-Octave Pelletier I
Romain-Octave Pelletier I was a Canadian organist, pianist, composer, writer on music, and music educator.-Early life and career:...
(harmony and solfège) between 1918-1923. During the early 1930s he worked as a violinist and conductor aboard cruise ships.
In 1935 Deslauriers became a member of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra
Montreal Symphony Orchestra
Orchestre symphonique de Montréal is a symphony orchestra based in Montréal, Québec, Canada, with Montréal's Place des Arts as its home.-History:...
with whom he played for the next decade. In 1936 he began working for CBC Radio
CBC Radio
CBC Radio generally refers to the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which are outlined below.-English:CBC Radio operates three English language...
in Montreal as a conductor, conducting orchestras for such programs as Radio-Concerts canadiens, Théâtre lyrique Molson, and Concerts d'opéras among others. As television became a more established medium he also conducted for CBC TV programs like L'Heure du concert, Sérénade, and Concerts populaires. He notably conducted the orchestra for the LaFlèche Trophy Award winning radio and television program Serenade for Strings from 1937-1957. Following World War II he began arranging and conducting the scores for many films for the CBC. In 1954 he conducted one of the first opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
broadcasts by CBC TV with a televised version of Gioachino Rossini's The Barber of Seville
The Barber of Seville
The Barber of Seville, or The Futile Precaution is an opera buffa in two acts by Gioachino Rossini with a libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was based on Pierre Beaumarchais's comedy Le Barbier de Séville , which was originally an opéra comique, or a mixture of spoken play with music...
. He conducted several more opera broadcasts for the CBC, including performances of André Messager
André Messager
André Charles Prosper Messager , was a French composer, organist, pianist, conductor and administrator. His stage compositions included ballets and 30 opéra comiques and operettas, among which Véronique, had lasting success, with Les p'tites Michu and Monsieur Beaucaire also enjoying international...
's Monsieur Beaucaire
Monsieur Beaucaire (operetta)
Monsieur Beaucaire is a romantic opera in three acts, composed by André Messager. The libretto, based on the 1900 novel by Booth Tarkington, is by Frederick Lonsdale, with lyrics by Adrian Ross...
(1954), Charles Gounod
Charles Gounod
Charles-François Gounod was a French composer, known for his Ave Maria as well as his operas Faust and Roméo et Juliette.-Biography:...
's Roméo et Juliette
Roméo et Juliette
Roméo et Juliette is an opéra in five acts by Charles Gounod to a French libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré, based on The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. It was first performed at the Théâtre Lyrique , Paris on 27 April 1867...
(1971) and Giacomo Puccini
Giacomo Puccini
Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini was an Italian composer whose operas, including La bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, and Turandot, are among the most frequently performed in the standard repertoire...
's Madama Butterfly
Madama Butterfly
Madama Butterfly is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, with an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. Puccini based his opera in part on the short story "Madame Butterfly" by John Luther Long, which was dramatized by David Belasco...
(1977).
During the 1960s and 1970s Deslauriers was highly active as a guest conductor with symphony orchestras in such Canadian cities as Montreal, Quebec City, Toronto, Ottawa, Halifax, Vancouver, and Winnipeg. He notably conducted the Toronto Symphony Orchestra
Toronto Symphony Orchestra
The Toronto Symphony Orchestra is a Canadian orchestra based in Toronto, Ontario.-History:The TSO was founded in 1922 as the New Symphony Orchestra, and gave its first concert at Massey Hall in April 1923. The orchestra changed its name to the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in 1927. The TSO...
in the world premiere of Robert Turner
Robert Turner (composer)
Robert Comrie Turner is a Canadian composer, radio producer, and music educator. He graduated with a bachelors degree in music from McGill University in 1943. While there he studied with Douglas Clarke and Claude Champagne. He continued his studies briefly at Colorado College in 1947, where he met...
's Three Episodes for Orchestra in 1966 and conducted the premiere of François Morel
François Morel
François Morel is a Canadian composer, pianist, conductor, and music education. An associate of the Canadian Music Centre, he was made a Knight of the National Order of Quebec in 1994 and was awarded the Prix Denise-Pelletier in 1996...
's Prismes-Anamorphoses with the CBC Symphony Orchestra
CBC Symphony Orchestra
The CBC Symphony Orchestra was a Canadian orchestra based in Toronto, Ontario that was operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation during the 1950s and 1960s. Founded in 1952, conductor Geoffrey Waddington served as the orchestra'a only music director; although other conductors, such as...
in 1968. He also worked as a conductor for opera productions, notably serving as the music director of the Théâtre lyrique du Québec from 1967–1970 and as the assistant conductor of the Opéra du Québec from 1972-1975. During the 1970s he worked as a guest conductor for productions with the Canadian Opera Company
Canadian Opera Company
The Canadian Opera Company is an opera company in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the largest opera company in Canada and the third largest producer of opera in North America. The COC performs in its own opera house, the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts.-History:For 40 years until...
and the Edmonton Opera
Edmonton Opera
The Edmonton Opera is a Canadian professional opera company in Edmonton, Alberta, it performs in the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium. The opera was founded in 1963 as the Edmonton Professional Opera Association. The name was latter shortened to the current name in 1966. It was born out of its...
. He also taught on the music faculty of the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Trois-Rivières
Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Trois-Rivières
The Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Trois-Rivières is a music conservatory located in Trois-Rivières, Quebec.Most of the school's students come from the Saint-Maurice region of Quebec; many of them from the conservatoire preparatory programs at the school of St-Gabriel du Cap-de-la-Madeleine...
where he was the first conductor of the school's orchestra.
Having never retired, Deslauriers died in Saint-Jérôme, Quebec
Saint-Jérôme, Quebec
Saint-Jérôme is a town in Quebec, Canada, near Mirabel, about northwest of Montreal along Autoroute des Laurentides. The town is a gateway to the Laurentian Mountains and its resorts....
in 1978 at the age of 68. Upon his death, his large collection of musical scores was donated to the library at the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal. His personal papers are 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...
. In 1975 the Montreal concert auditorium Plateau Hall was re-named the Salle Jean-Deslauriers in his honor.