Alexis Contant
| Alexis Contant | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born | 12 November 1858 Montreal, Canada East |
| Died | 28 November 1918 (aged 60) Montreal, Quebec, Canada |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Occupation | composer,musician,educator |
Joseph Pierre Alexis Contant (12 November 1858 – 28 November 1918) was a Canadian composer, organist, pianist, and music educator. The first notable Canadian composer to be entirely trained in his native country, he stated "I write not for glory but rather to satisfy an irresistible need." Although he had considerable training as a pianist, his knowledge of musical composition was largely self-taught, although not by choice as his life afforded him little opportunity to find suitable teachers. Much of his time was spent dedicated towards teaching, family, and work as a church organist, and his compositional output was minimal before 1900. As his children grew older, he was able to devote more time to composition and therefore his later life was his most productive. A stroke in 1914 virtually ended his activity as a composer.
Born in Montreal, Contant was the son of two highly talented amateur musicians. His father was a violinist who was involved in a number of community ensembles and his mother was a piano and voice student of Emma Albani. His younger siblings, Marie and Joseph-Albert, also became musicians. All three children had their initial musical lessons from their mother. At the age of 11, Constant became a pupil of organist and pianist Joseph-A. Fowler and two years later gave his first public recital. At the age of 17 he became a student of Calixa Lavallée, who had just returned from Paris. Constant himself wanted to pursue studies in Europe, but his father forbade him to go in fear that European society might be detrimental to Alexis's religious faith.
Constant spent his late teenage years and early twenties working as an accompanist for a variety of artists, including violinist Frantz Jehin-Prume. He took a post teaching at the Collège de L'Assomption in 1880–1881. In 1883 he traveled with Lavallée to Boston where he was able to pursue intense studies with his teacher in music composition, harmony, and counterpoint. While there he also had the opportunity to attend operas for the first time and went to many orchestral concerts and recitals. He was particularly moved by a concert of Charles Gounod's La Rédemption. During the trip, Lavallée became ill and Constant was asked to substitute for his teacher in several concerts; performances which gave him attacks of severe stage fright. These attacks led him to decide to abandon a performance career in favor of composition, teaching, and the organ for church work.
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