Charles Labelle

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Charles William Labelle (born August 15, 1849 in Champlain / New York , † March 21, 1903 in New York City ) was a Canadian composer, choir director, conductor and music teacher.

Life

Labelle attended the Collège de Montréal , where he was accepted into the solfège class at the age of twelve and was also a school organist. He studied law and worked in the office of George-Étienne Cartier , François-Pierre Pominville and Louis Bétournay before opening his own law firm in 1873. He ran this until the end of the 1880s, initially with François-Xavier-Anselme Trudel and Louis-Olivier Taillon , and later with Benjamin-Antoine Testard de Montigny .

He began his musical career in 1873 as a choir director as the successor to Guillaume Couture at the Church of St-Jacques ; from 1876 to 1879 he was choirmaster at St-Henri . In 1878 he appeared as a singer in a performance of François-Adrien Boieldieu's opera La dame blanche under the direction of Calixa Lavallée . Around 1880 he traveled to Paris, where he is said to have had singing lessons from Romain Bussine .

On his return to Canada he was first choirmaster at Saint-Jacques (1881–84), then at Notre-Dame (1884–91) and finally until his death at the Church of St-Louis-de-France . Here he founded the Association chorale Saint-Louis-de-France , as a singing teacher Labelle worked at the Hochelaga Convent , the Collège de Montréal and the Collège Ste-Marie-de-Monnoir ; from 1895 he also taught solfège and choral singing at the Canadian Artistic Society's Conservatory . In addition to his children Gustave and Adrienne , his private students also included the singer Celine Marier .

In 1889, Labelle founded the Société philharmonique canadienne-française , with which he performed Gioachino Rossini's Stabat mater and choirs from Charles Gounod's Mass à la mémoire de Jeanne d'Arc in the Queen's Hall in 1890 . From 1882 to 1884 he was the editor of L'Album musical , and in 1888 of L'Écho musical . He also published articles in other music magazines. In 1892 his Petit traité de solfège was published . His compositions include a Funeral Mass , a Pie Jesu , Dies Irae and O Salutaris , two Ave Marias , as well as songs, piano and cello pieces. Around 1895 he became an honorary member of the Institut populaire de France .

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personal data
SURNAME Labelle, Charles
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Labelle, Charles William
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Canadian composer, choir director, conductor and music teacher
DATE OF BIRTH August 15, 1849
PLACE OF BIRTH Champlain (Town, New York)
DATE OF DEATH March 21, 1903
Place of death New York City