Charles-Émile Gadbois

Abbé Charles-Émile Gadbois (born June 1, 1906 in Saint-Barnabé-Sud , † May 24, 1981 in Montreal ) was a Canadian clergyman, music publisher and composer.

Gadbois studied piano with Télesphore Urbain , the organist of the Cathedral of Saint-Hyacinthe , violin with Maurice Onderet and harp with Juliette Drouin . After completing a classical degree at the Séminaire de Saint-Hyacinthe (1918–1926) and theology at the Grand Séminaire de Montréal (1926–1930), he was ordained as a priest in 1930: he began to teach music and singing at the Saint-Hycinthe seminary and was director of its fanfare orchestra for five years.

In 1937 he founded the music publisher La Bonne Chanson , which publishes French and French-Canadian songs. He composed around 60 songs himself and wrote around 20 arrangements of folk songs. with RCA Victor he released 70 78 records in 1939, which they dedicated to the "bonne chanson". "On Radio Canada (1939–1941) and later at CKAC (1941–1952) his program Le Quart d'heure de la Bonne Chanson ran . In 1942 he founded the company Amis de la Bonne Chanson , which by 1945 had more than 12,000 members .

To promote his idea of the "bonne chanson", Gadbois continued to organize festivals, competitions and congresses in the Montreal Forum (1942), the Quebec Coliseum (1943) and Lewiston (1944). With Conrad Letendre , he published the monthly Musique et Musiciens from 1952 to 1954 . In 1952 he founded the radio station CJMS ( Canada: Je me souviens ), which his brother Raoul Gadbois later took over.

In 1955, the La Bonne Chanson publishing house became the property of the Frères de l'Instruction chrétienne of La Prairie. Gadbois was pastor of the parish of Sainte-Famille in Sherbrooke and 1958-1960 chaplain at the secondary school of Mont-Saint-Bernard de Sorel. In 1960 he entered the Cistercian monastery of Rougemont. After a serious illness, he lived with his mother from 1964 to 1966, after which he was looked after by his sister, the nun mother St-Charles de Jésus, with the consent of the Vatican . After his death, his brother Raoul founded the Foundation Abbé-Charles-Émile-Gadbois in 1986 , the aim of which is to continue his work for the "bonne chanson".

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personal data
SURNAME	Gadbois, Charles-Émile
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Canadian clergyman, music publisher and composer
DATE OF BIRTH	June 1, 1906
PLACE OF BIRTH	Saint-Barnabé-Sud
DATE OF DEATH	May 24, 1981
Place of death	Montreal