Rosario Bourdon
Encyclopedia
Doctor of Music
The Doctor of Music degree , like other doctorates, is an academic degree of the highest level. The D.Mus. is intended for musicians and composers who wish to combine the highest attainments in their area of specialization with doctoral-level academic study in music...
(March 6, 1885 – April 24, 1961) was a French Canadian
French Canadian
French Canadian or Francophone Canadian, , generally refers to the descendents of French colonists who arrived in New France in the 17th and 18th centuries...
cellist
Cello
The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
, 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, conductor, arranger 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 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...
skilled with many musical instrument
Musical instrument
A musical instrument is a device created or adapted for the purpose of making musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can serve as a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. The history of musical instruments dates back to the...
s. Bourdon worked much of his life for the Victor Talking Machine Company
Victor Talking Machine Company
The Victor Talking Machine Company was an American corporation, the leading American producer of phonographs and phonograph records and one of the leading phonograph companies in the world at the time. It was headquartered in Camden, New Jersey....
where he exerted considerable influence.
Childhood
Bourdon was born in Longueuil, QuebecLongueuil, Quebec
Longueuil is a city in the province of Quebec, Canada. It is the seat of the Montérégie administrative region and sits on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River directly across from Montreal. The population as of the Canada 2006 Census totaled 229,330, making it the third largest city in...
into a family with musical talents. His father was an amateur singer. Louis-Honoré Bourdon, his half-brother was a renowned impresario
Impresario
An impresario is a person who organizes and often finances concerts, plays or operas; analogous to a film producer in filmmaking, television production and an angel investor in business...
. Caroline Derome, his mother, began Bourdon's musical instruction with the cello when he was seven. She would later marry Jean-Baptiste Dubois, a professional cellist who would further instruct Bourdon in the instrument. Around this same time Bourdon learned to play the piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
.
In 1897, Bourdan was invited to attend the Ghent Conservatory in 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...
. There he continued his training on the cello under Joseph Jacob
Joseph Jacob (cellist)
Joseph Jacob was a Belgian cellist who taught at the Ghent Conservatory and played in the Ysaÿe Quartet from 1886.Jacob's students included Rosario Bourdon....
. He did well, winning a "first prize with great distinction" in a school competition after spending only eight months there. He was touring Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
shortly thereafter. In 1899 he returned to Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
to tour, and was received well 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...
and Quebec City
Quebec City
Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...
.
Career
Bourdon moved to the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
seeking better career opportunities than he could find in Canada. From 1902 until 1904 he played with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
As the fifth oldest orchestra in the United States, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra has a legacy of fine music making as reflected in its performances in historic Music Hall, recordings, and international tours...
. He travelled back to Quebec during the summer of 1903 to perform Le Désir with the Quebec Symphony Orchestra on the opening of the Auditorium de Québec on August 31, 1903. In 1904 he moved to Philadelphia where he played with the Philadelphia Orchestra
Philadelphia Orchestra
The Philadelphia Orchestra is a symphony orchestra based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States. One of the "Big Five" American orchestras, it was founded in 1900...
. In 1905 he made his first recording for the Victor Talking Machine Company
Victor Talking Machine Company
The Victor Talking Machine Company was an American corporation, the leading American producer of phonographs and phonograph records and one of the leading phonograph companies in the world at the time. It was headquartered in Camden, New Jersey....
. In 1908 he moved again, this time to Saint Paul, Minnesota
Saint Paul, Minnesota
Saint Paul is the capital and second-most populous city of the U.S. state of Minnesota. The city lies mostly on the east bank of the Mississippi River in the area surrounding its point of confluence with the Minnesota River, and adjoins Minneapolis, the state's largest city...
. In 1909, the Victor Talking Machine Company hired Bourdon as the "in-house" cellist, and he did a number of tasks for the company. He performed on piano and cello for Victor artists. He served as conductor for the Victor Concert Orchestra, the Victor Symphony Orchestra, the Victor Salon Orchestra and occasionally Sousa's Band. Thousands of Victor recordings for which Bourdon was the conductor or an instrumentalist are documented on the EDVR (Encyclopedic Discography of Victor Recordings). In 1920, he was promoted to musical co-director at Victor, a position shared by Josef Pasternack
Josef Pasternack
Josef Alexander Pasternack was a well-known conductor and composer in the first half of the 20th century.-Biography:...
. In 1922, he became a naturalized citizen of the United States.
Bourdon left Victor in 1931. Afterward, he worked in a number of jobs in the music industry. He directed musical scores for films by Laurel and Hardy
Laurel and Hardy
Laurel and Hardy were one of the most popular and critically acclaimed comedy double acts of the early Classical Hollywood era of American cinema...
and Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse is a cartoon character created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks at The Walt Disney Studio. Mickey is an anthropomorphic black mouse and typically wears red shorts, large yellow shoes, and white gloves...
cartoons by Walt Disney
Walt Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
. From 1927 until 1938 he directed Cities Service Concerts
Cities Service Concerts
The Cities Service Concerts were musical broadcasts which had a long three-decade run on radio from 1925 to 1956, encompassing a variety of vocalists and musicians.The concerts began with trial broadcasts in the New York area during 1925 and 1926...
on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
radio. The programme had been on the air for only half a year before Bourdon took over directing; it went on another 11 seasons and was very successful. He worked as a musical director at Muzak
Muzak
Muzak Holdings LLC is a company based in metro Fort Mill, South Carolina, United States, just outside of Charlotte, North Carolina. Founded in 1934, Muzak Holdings is best known for distribution of background music to retail stores and other companies....
, Brunswick Records
Brunswick Records
Brunswick Records is a United States based record label. The label is currently distributed by E1 Entertainment.-From 1916:Records under the "Brunswick" label were first produced by the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company...
, and Thesaurus Records. Bourdon was hired to conduct the newly formed Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, which gave their first concert on January 14, 1935 at Plateau Hall. He retained that position for many years. In 1944, he was awarded an honorary doctorate in music by 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...
.
Bourdon died in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
on April 24, 1961.