# André Mathieu



## RachelW (Nov 23, 2011)

I was wondering if any of you have ever heard about the André Mathieu, otherwise known as the "Mozart of Québec". Here is a link to his "Concerto de Québec" : 




I'd like to see what you think!


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## RachelW (Nov 23, 2011)

Just a little more information : http://www.rachmaninoff.org/board/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=157


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## Tapkaara (Apr 18, 2006)

I once heard his piano concerto on the radio. It was, in a word, AMAZING. I need to get a recording of it.


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## RachelW (Nov 23, 2011)

I think it's sad that he is not very well known...


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## Tapkaara (Apr 18, 2006)

RachelW said:


> I think it's sad that he is not very well known...


There are a lot of composers that are not well known. I attribute this to a lack of desire to SERIOUSLY explore outside of the Mozart/Beethoven/Bach etc. pantheon. Perhaps some have the attitude 'Well, If I don't know 'em, he must not be any good." Or perhaps someone took a chance on a little known composer and was let down, so the assumption is that taking chances will likely yield crappy music, most of the time.

It's no secret that I champion at least one little known composer and, for the most part, most of the people around here do not give a crap. I cannot expect them to, just as it would be unrealistic to expect me to get aroused and excited about every composer mentioned in here with a name I do not recognize. But I should try to explore and everyone else should too.

There is a whole world outside of the "big names." We classical music fans need to dispense with the assumptions that if we don't know it we won't like it.

*In many ways, I feel a lot of classical music fans need to take the time to discover classical music.*

What I have heard by Mathieu is outstanding.


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## Vaneyes (May 11, 2010)

Cause of death? One bio said he died suddenly in 1968 at age 39. 

Living in GG's time, I could find no mention of contact. Understandable, if AM started drinking heavily in 1947.


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## pjang23 (Oct 8, 2009)

Cheers Rachel! :tiphat: Are you Canadian too?

I consider André Mathieu one of Canada's best composers, and it's such a tragedy he died so young. He had so much potential.  His first composition "Dans la nuit" was written when he was only four, and it sounds almost like Scriabin.

I've actually been pushing for the Concerto de Québec in our forum's list of recommended keyboard works. The concerto is such an accomplishment for a *13-year-old!* 

Although the Concerto de Québec probably won't make our top 200, it will at least get an honorable mention. I have two CD's of his works performed by Alain Lefèvre (Piano Concerto No.4 & Solo Piano Works), and I am currently learning to play his Été Canadien (Canadian Summer).






Much of Mathieu's music has been lost, but of his few known works, I find Été Canadien to be the most representative work of his style/voice. It sounds like Mathieu, and not like Rachmaninoff or Debussy or Gershwin.

His Berceuse is also quite beautiful.


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## pjang23 (Oct 8, 2009)

Other Highlights:

Piano Concerto No.3 "Concerto de Québec" (Orchestral Version)





"Rhapsodie Romantique" from Piano Concerto No.4 2nd Movement





Ballet Scenes


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## hespdelk (Mar 19, 2011)

I know of him, and have enjoyed what little music of his I've been able to track down.

I've had this lovely disc for years:










I've been trying to track down a recording of his violin sonata for a long time - I remember seeing a listing for one recently from one of the quebec based Canadian labels.

Years ago I saw a series of documentaries about him that the CBC produced which included a few intervies of Mathieu himself.. his story fills me with a profound sadness.. so much potential that seems to have gone largely unsupported and left to destroy itself...


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## pjang23 (Oct 8, 2009)

On the Analekta website, you can listen to tracks of his music online for free, and purchase albums/tracks of his music. His chamber music definitely sounds more masterful and mature than his early piano music. Check out his Ballade-Fantaisie for Violin and Piano and his Piano Trio & Piano Quintet.

"He made his New York debut on February 3, 1940 to great acclaim and two years later won first prize in the young composers competition organized by the New York Philharmonic for its centenary celebrations, *beating, notably, a young Leonard Bernstein*. When, that same year, he wrote his Ballade-Fantaisie pour violon et piano, he was therefore at the height of his all-too-brief glory. "


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

Pjang quote:

*I consider André Mathieu one of Canada's best composers,*

I disagree, I think this is Canada's best composer:


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## Machiavel (Apr 12, 2010)

Einstein said of him ANd I quote: He is the genius among geniuses I had the chance to see in my life!

At 12 years old Mathieu won the first prize at the composition competition to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. He also played his Concertino No. 2 for piano and orchestra at Carnegie Hall. Mathieu also played his compositions at a concert of the League of Composers. At this competition, They say Rachmaninoff was there and stood up and praise him as a giant among the greats! His piano concerto do have a certain feeling of debussy and rach but he has a style on his own. To compose late romantic music on a higly level at his age shows his maturity and understanding of the emotions, the tragic.






How would you describe his playing, technic? I know the sound is not that good but I'd like the pianist here who have a pretty good knowledge of piano and composition to evaluate the real merit of his genius . Is he that great at the piano?


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## Manok (Aug 29, 2011)

I subscribe to Rhapsody,and was listening while doing something else at the time. I was listening o one of the artist radios, and the 3rd concerto pops up. Only it was listed as apassionata by Beethoven. It was years before I found who that was. I was disappointed with the lack of recordings. I enjoy, non standard composers quite often. This was a happy, and unhappy discovery.


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## RachelW (Nov 23, 2011)

Tapkaara said:


> There are a lot of composers that are not well known. I attribute this to a lack of desire to SERIOUSLY explore outside of the Mozart/Beethoven/Bach etc. pantheon. Perhaps some have the attitude 'Well, If I don't know 'em, he must not be any good." Or perhaps someone took a chance on a little known composer and was let down, so the assumption is that taking chances will likely yield crappy music, most of the time.
> 
> It's no secret that I champion at least one little known composer and, for the most part, most of the people around here do not give a crap. I cannot expect them to, just as it would be unrealistic to expect me to get aroused and excited about every composer mentioned in here with a name I do not recognize. But I should try to explore and everyone else should too.
> 
> ...


Well, that's why, when I hear or read an unknown name, I go type it on Youtube, usually I can get a good example of this composer's music. It doesn't take much time and can open me up to new styles, etc.


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## RachelW (Nov 23, 2011)

violadude said:


> Pjang quote:
> 
> *I consider André Mathieu one of Canada's best composers,*
> 
> I disagree, I think this is Canada's best composer:


Ha ha, very funny (but honestly, she was much better before when she actually wrote _rock_ music).


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## RachelW (Nov 23, 2011)

pjang23 said:


> Cheers Rachel! :tiphat: Are you Canadian too?
> 
> I consider André Mathieu one of Canada's best composers, and it's such a tragedy he died so young. He had so much potential.  His first composition "Dans la nuit" was written when he was only four, and it sounds almost like Scriabin.
> 
> ...


Yes, I am Canadian, from Quebec, QC more precisely! I find it great that Lefrèvre has revived his music, I actually attended a concert of his where he played part of the Concerto de Quebec, this is what made me want to know more about André Mathieu. I hope that Alain Lefèvre will manage to get more people to listen to the "Mozart of Quebec"s works.

That name fits Mathieu very well, not only because he was a real musical genius, but it seems history has repeated itself (his father was also a musician, he started playing and composing music at a very young age, he died young, in a mysterious manner and in poverty, etc.).

I also find Été Canadien to be one of his greatest works. I wish you luck in learning it!


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## itywltmt (May 29, 2011)

I Think pjang23 - who is the TC resource on Mathieu, has said everything there is to say. I can add that local Quebec legend *Vic Vogel* befriended Mathieu in the 1950's, when he was into _pianothons _to make money. That's the same Vic Vogel who was asked to *arrange Mathieu's music for the 1976 Summer Olympics*, where Mathieu came to my attention as a composer.

The Canadian Musoc Centre is a good place to find recordings of Mathioeu's music, and some of them feature Mathieu himself as a pianist.

CMC Mathieu page: http://www.musiccentre.ca/apps/inde...oser.FA_dsp_biography&authpeopleid=13076&by=M

Mathieu performing some of his very earliy solo piano pieces: http://www.musiccentre.ca/apps/inde...yByItemId&bibliographyId=18686&recordTypeId=8

Mathieu performing the Concerto de Quebec: http://www.musiccentre.ca/apps/inde...yByItemId&bibliographyId=18690&recordTypeId=8

Note: to access some of the CentreStreams audio, you may have to register - quick, painless and free of charge.


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## waldvogel (Jul 10, 2011)

I had the pleasure of hearing Andre Mathieu's Fourth Piano Concerto in Paris - part of a concert sponsored by the Canadian government to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the founding of Quebec. 

The concerto had been lost - there was no score available for it, even though there were reviews of its performance in Paris during the 1940's. The concert was recorded, however, on old acetate records. Musicologists reconstructed the score - how hard would this have been, considering the audio quality of an old record! 

The concerto was truly excellent, sounding more like Rachmaninoff than any other composer that I know. It required a huge orchestra, with a large percussion section. 

Alain Lefevre has recorded a lot of Mathieu's work for Analekta records. He was the soloist at the concert that I saw in Paris.

Mathieu returned to Quebec after his stay in Paris, where he lived in obscurity. He became an alcoholic, and died due to complications from his alcohol abuse.


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## itywltmt (May 29, 2011)

waldvogel said:


> [...]
> The concerto had been lost - there was no score available for it, even though there were reviews of its performance in Paris during the 1940's. The concert was recorded, however, on old acetate records. Musicologists reconstructed the score - how hard would this have been, considering the audio quality of an old record!
> 
> The concerto was truly excellent, sounding more like Rachmaninoff than any other composer that I know. It required a huge orchestra, with a large percussion section.
> ...


About the reconstruction of the 4th PC: The story goes that Lefevre was given the acetates by an old flame of Mathieu's after a concert. He and Trois-Riviere's *Gilles Bellemare* did the reconstruction. Bellemare helped him reconstruct the _Rhapsodie Romantique_ a couple of years earlier.

As for Mathieu after his teenage years, he did continue to compose, but alcohol and the French Canadian musical establishment shunned him (envy? Jealousy? Duplessism? Who knows...). He earned a living as a piano teacher (his most "famous" pupil is *Daniel Hetu*, son or popular organist *Lucien Hetu* (no relation to Jacques or Pierre Hetu) who had something of a career as a musical director on the TVA network and for pop singers).

I believe there is one large scale work of his still missing - _Mistassini_, something of a solo piano Liszt-like fantasy he played excerpts of on Radio Canada television a year or two before his death.


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## itywltmt (May 29, 2011)

Read the feature I wrote on Mathieu on my blog this week:
http://www.talkclassical.com/blogs/itywltmt/922-andr-mathieu-pianist-composer.html


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## hespdelk (Mar 19, 2011)

itywltmt said:


> Read the feature I wrote on Mathieu on my blog this week:
> http://www.talkclassical.com/blogs/itywltmt/922-andr-mathieu-pianist-composer.html


Great blog post - informative and well written.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

I hate child prodigies who win prizes when they're six months old (or ... twelve years ... never mind). They think they're so good and everyone thinks they're so good and the prodigy is the always the centre of everyone's attention etc. etc. etc. I'm glad I was never a child.

Nah I'm joking really (except for me not being a child) but this Canadian doesn't seem very adventurous with his compositions. All very nice but very conventional. No wonder he's not more famous than he is.

(gosh I'm cranky tonight aren't I? :lol: )


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## itywltmt (May 29, 2011)

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> I hate child prodigies who win prizes when they're six months old (or ... twelve years ... never mind). They think they're so good and everyone thinks they're so good and the prodigy is the always the centre of everyone's attention etc. etc. etc. I'm glad I was never a child.
> 
> Nah I'm joking really (except for me not being a child) but this Canadian doesn't seem very adventurous with his compositions. All very nice but very conventional. No wonder he's not more famous than he is.
> 
> (gosh I'm cranky tonight aren't I? :lol: )


I don't think you're cranky, I think you are quite right.

The fact Mathieu "bucked the trend" when it comes to modern music by sticking to a neo-romantic style _does _make him less adventurous and (as I wrote) explains to a large degree why his works fell into obscurity. What I deplored in the article was the more sinister aspect, his ostracism if you will. Not that the man helped his cause by behaving he way he did... Or was it pre-ordained that he would (as so many child performers have through the years).

It is human nature to wonder "what if". _What if_ he were born five or ten years earlier? Would we view his neo-romantic tendencies as retrograde? Would his development as a composer have been stunted the way WW II did?


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## Kevin Pearson (Aug 14, 2009)

With so little available of his music it is hard to judge. I think his music is beautiful but not really anything we haven't heard from the likes of Rachmaninoff, and may I add better. I don't mind listening to his concertos once in a while on Spotify but not a composer I would go out of my way to hunt down CDs of his music. I do like his trio for violin and piano and his quintet for piano and string quartet though.

Kevin


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## Souhayl (Jan 17, 2012)

Have you watched the movie " L'enfant prodige" ? It's an amazing one talking about his difficult life including his most famous pieces, I really recommend you to watch it guys !


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## itywltmt (May 29, 2011)

I heard about the film - Lefèvre acted as a special adviser and provided piano instruction for the young actor portraying Mathieu in the film.

I suspect - as most of these bio-pics do, that there is (too much) artistic and dramatic licence taken by the moviemaker, so I'd probably be better off not watching it, and stick to the information I have gleaned from the interview I featured in the blog (which was very revealing), and probably would spend money to pick up Georges Nicholson's biography of Mathieu: http://www.quebec-amerique.com/livre-details.php?id=1158


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## Souhayl (Jan 17, 2012)

Though, for biographies I'd rather read a book than watch a movie, thank you !


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