Architects of a musical practice
When the mandolin isn't taught in a convent or college, you have to rely on the initiative of a network of private teachers who advertise extensively in newspapers. Public demonstrations by teachers with their students are numerous. They perform in the private salons of associations, at village fairs or during the intermissions of plays.
“A. C. Lachance, professor at Institut Mont St-Louis and Collège Ste-Marie, a guitarist and mandolinist almost without equal, inculcated the new taste among young people. Clubs sprang up everywhere under his skillful direction, with society and convents clamoring for Professor Lachance’s lessons. On many occasions, he has given of himself to charity concerts, for his zeal is indefatigable. His pupils are very well known, and many of them are a credit to him.”
Profesor A.C. Lachance (BAnQ)
“Still a young man, he has, over the years, created an enviable position for himself in the world of Montreal musicians. We remember his past successes, not to mention the current successes of his students, who have made the most of so many concerts. He abhors banality, and the instruments he teaches are far from banal. The guitar makes us think of Andalusian serenades in the softness of June nights, and the mandolin, whose mawkish notes evoke in our souls harlequin steps and colombinades, through the tohu-bohu of a Neapolitan carnival. Such poetic visions, unfailingly provoked by these primarily exotic instruments, were bound to attract young souls, vibrant with enthusiasm for fresh things, flowers, bursts of laughter, young love, with color winning out over nuance.”
The Neapolitan School in Montreal
Camillo d'Alessio, born in Italy in 1869, is a mandolinist, violinist, composer and conductor. He began his musical studies at the Royal College of Naples, and pursued a career in Egypt, Greece and England, where he gave over 100 concerts before immigrating to Canada in 1904. Actively involved in the Montreal community, he composed several pieces of music and founded his mandolin orchestra "Estudiantina". He emigrated to the United States in 1915. Signor Camillo d'Alessio is without doubt the most dazzling mandolinist to have visited Canada.
“We were delighted to have accepted his gracious invitation: it was the first time we had had the good fortune to hear an orchestra of this kind, it was charming, and, we can, say, with the Birmingham Daily Post and the Daily Mail: “We had never heard such music!” Mr d’Alessio has a solid reputation as a musician: his dexterity is marvellous and his orchestration superb! This orchestra is made up of first and second mandolins, guitars, mandola, cello and mandolone. Mr. d’Alessio then showed us his repertoire and several of his compositions: there are, among others, numerous potpourri, excerpts from French, Italian, English and German operas; overtures, melodies, etc. He showed us an album containing some of his best-known compositions. He showed us an album containing articles, cut from French, English and Italian newspapers, highly complimentary of him. We wish him all the success he deserves; and, to conclude, we express the wish that his orchestra be completed by ladies (it’s such a charming sight to see fresh women’s toilettes on a Theatre! )”
Entrepreneurial virtuosos
John Jules Levert, born in 1867, is a mandolinist, banjoist and bandleader. Starting in 1898, this entrepreneurial musician, a graduate of the New York Conservatory, began distributing a new type of instrument marketed by the Gibson company.
“Gibson mandolins and guitars, scientifically built on the principle of the violin, the most up-to-date, the richest musical quality, the most beautiful artistic design, a revelation for mandolinists and guitarists, used by all the great artists. For descriptive terms of catalogs, etc., please contact our exclusive agent for Montreal and surrounding areas. J.J. LEVERT, 352 St. Catherine West”
George Alfred Peate, born in New York in 1880, is a mandolin virtuoso. A businessman, he opened a music store in Montreal in 1899 and published educational methods that were sold worldwide. The store was passed down from father to son until 1990, and Peate Musical Supplies is one of the oldest musical instrument distributors in North America.
WEBSITES
J.E. Bélair (1895-), Le Passe-Temps
https://collections.banq.qc.ca/ark:/52327/2272562
www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca
Readings
SPARKS, P. (1995) The Classical Mandolin, BÉLANGER, R. (1986) Wilfrid Laurier, quand la politique devient passion, SAINT-JACQUES D. et DES RIVIÈRES M.J. (2015) De la belle époque à la crise, BORDES E. (1980) Le Mémorial du Québec, le Québec 1839-1889, AMTMANN, W. (1976) La musique au Québec 1600 - 1875, LINTEAU, P.-A. (1997). Quelle Belle Époque? Cap-aux-Diamants, COTÉ, C. (1990). Les racines de la musique populaire québécoise.
