Léo-Pol Morin

Léo-Pol Morin (13 July 1892 – 29 May 1941) was a Canadian pianist, music critic, composer, and music educator. He composed under the name James Callihou, with his most well known works being Suite canadienne (1945) and Three Eskimos for piano. He also composed works based on Canadian and Inuit folklore/folk music and harmonized a number of French-Canadian folksongs. Victor Brault notably transcribed his Inuit folklore inspired Chants de sacrifice for choir and 2 pianos.

As a writer, Morin displayed a heavy interest in the music of Canada and the use of various folklore traditions within music composition. He wrote musical criticism for several Canadian publications and also published a book and a collection of essays. As a pianist, he played a major role in advocating music by French composers in his native country; notably performing the Canadian premieres of works by Claude Debussy, Gabriel Fauré, Darius Milhaud, Francis Poulenc, Maurice Ravel, Albert Roussel, and Erik Satie among others. He likewise was an exponent of works by Canadian composers in France, including pieces by François Brassard, Claude Champagne, Henri Gagnon, Émiliano Renaud, Léo Roy, and Georges-Émile Tanguay. Composer Rodolphe Mathieu notably dedicated two of his works to him: Trois Préludes (1921) and Sonata (1927).

Born in Cap-Saint-Ignace, Quebec, Morin studied solfège, music dictation, and piano with Gustave Gagnon and the piano and organ with Gustave's son Henri Gagnon in Quebec City. He gave his first professional piano recital at the Club musical de Québec in 1909. In 1910 he relocated to Montreal where he studied harmony with Guillaume Couture and the piano with Arthur Letondal. In 1912 he was awarded the prestigious Prix d'Europe prize which enabled him to pursue further studies in Paris at the Conservatoire de Paris and with private instructors from 1912-1914.

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