Adélard Joseph Boucher

Adélard Joseph François-Arthur Boucher (28 June 1835 – 16 November 1912) was a Canadian publisher, importer, choirmaster, organist, conductor, writer on music, composer and numismatist. In 1865 he founded the A.J. Boucher Co. in Montreal which published the works of Canadian and foreign composers until it closed in 1975. In 1862 he founded the Société de numismatique de Montréal, serving as the organization's first president. He composed several works for solo piano, of which his most well known are Coecilia, a mazurka caprice; Les Canotiers du St-Laurent, a 'quadrille canadien'; Jolly Dogs Galop; and Souvenir de Sabatier, a suite of waltzes. Most of his compositions were written and published before 1866.

Born in Maskinongé, Quebec, Boucher's parents died in 1845 when he was 10 years old. He spent the next six years living and studying at the St. Joseph's College and Mother Seton Shrine in Emmitsburg, Maryland. He was particularly influenced by his music teacher at the school, Henry Dielman, who instructed him in the organ, piano, flute, violin, and singing. He then was a pupil at the Séminaire d'Issy-les-Moulineaux near Paris where his foster father, Antoine LaRocque, enrolled him in September 1851. In March 1852 he became a novitiate in the Society of Jesus in Amiens. He returned to Canada the following August where he continued to spend time with the Jesuits for the next six months.

Although interested in the religious life, Boucher eventually decided to abandon this career path in order to pursue other interests. After pursuing professional studies in law, he became an employee of the Montreal and Bytown Railway where he was eventually appointed the company's secretary-treasurer in 1854. From 1855-1858 he worked for the Commission seigneuriale as a registrar. He then worked for the Trust & Loan Co. as a broker from 1855-1859.

During the 1850s, Boucher considered going into politics and also spent time studying genealogy, music, and numismatics; all of which remained lifelong interests. He taught part-time at the Collège Sainte-Marie de Montréal and the school at the Villa-Maria Convent as in instructor in piano and voice. In 1853 he was appointed organist at St. Patrick's Basilica, Montreal where he remained until 1858 when he was appointed to the same position at Saint-Pierre Church. At Saint-Pierre he founded and directed a renowned choir school. In 1860 he founded the Société Ste-Cécile in 1860. That same year he became organist at Saint-Jacques Cathedral, later adding the role of choirmaster to his responsibilities there in 1865.

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