Gilles Tremblay (composer)
Gilles Tremblay, OQ (born September 6, 1932) is a Canadian composer. He studied at the Conservatories of Montreal and Paris (1954–61), where his teachers including Olivier Messiaen (analysis), Yvonne Loriod (piano), and Maurice Martenot (ondes Martenot). He also attended Stockhausen's summer courses at Darmstadt, where he became interested in electro-acoustic techniques. Since 1962 he has taught composition at the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal. Among his notable pupils are Serge Arcuri, Raynald Arseneault, Yves Daoust, François Dompierre, Marc Hyland, Ramon Lazkano, Robin Minard, Éric Morin, Silvio Palmieri, Micheline Coulombe Saint-Marcoux, André Villeneuve, Claude Vivier, and Wolf Edwards.
Early in his career he performed as a specialist on the ondes Martenot (Orton and Davies 2001).
In 1991, he was made an Officer of the National Order of Quebec.
Compositions (selective list)
- Champs I, for piano and 2 percussionists (1965)
- Cantique de durées, for seven groups of instruments (1960)
- Sonorisation du Pavillon du Québec, 24-channel electronic music (1967)
- Souffles (Champs II), for 2 flutes, oboe, clarinet, horn, 2 trumpets, 2 trombones, piano, 2 percussionists, and contrabass (1968)
- Vers (Champs III), for 2 flutes, clarinet, trumpet, horn, 3 percussionists, 3 violins, and contrabass (1969)
- Jeux de solstices, for orchestra (1974)
- Oralléluiants, for soprano, bass clarinet, horn, 2 percussionists, and 3 contrabasses (1975)
- Fleuves, for piano, percussion, and orchestra (1976)
- Vers le soleil, for orchestra (1978)
- Le Signe du lion, for horn and tam-tam (1981)
- Triojubilus "À Raphaël", for flute, harp, and cowbells (1985)
- Les Vêpres de la Vierge, for soprano and orchestra (1986)
- Musique du feu, for piano and orchestra (1991)
- L’arbre de Borobudur, for horn, 2 harps, double bass, ondes Martenot, 2 percussionists, and gamelan ensemble (1994)
- L’espace du coeur (Miron-Machaut), for mixed voices and percussion (1997)
- Les pierres crieront, for cello and large orchestra (1998)
- A quelle heure commence le temps?, for baritone, percussion, piano, and orchestra (1999)
- L’appel de Kondiaronk: symphonie portuaire, environmental work for battle sirens and 2 locomotives (2000)
- String Quartet ‘Croissant’ (2001)
- En partage (Concerto), for viola and orchestra (2002)
- Opéra Féerie, (2009)
Writings
- 1968. "Note pour Cantique de durées." Revue d'esthetique 21, nos. 2–4 ("Musiques nouvelles"): 51–58.
Sources
- Mather, Bruce. 2001. "Gilles Tremblay". The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell. London: Macmillan Publishers.
- Orton, Richard, and Hugh Davies. 2001. "Ondes martenot". The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell. London: Macmillan Publishers.
- Peyser, Joan. 1976. Boulez: Composer, Conductor, Enigma. New York: Schirmer Books. ISBN 0-02-871700-7; London: Cassell. ISBN 0-304-29901-4
- Villeneuve, André. 2001. "Souffles (Champs II, the Mobile, and the Musical Language of Gilles Tremblay." Ex tempore 10, no. 2 (Spring-Summer): 58–147.