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Léo-Pol Morin (13 July 1892 – 29 May 1941) was a Canadianpianist,music critic,composer, andmusic educator. He composed under the nameJames Callihou, with his most well known works beingSuite canadienne (1945) andThree 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 hisInuit folklore inspiredChants de sacrifice forchoir and 2 pianos.[1]
As a writer, Morin displayed a heavy interest in themusic 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 byClaude Debussy,Gabriel Fauré,Darius Milhaud,Francis Poulenc,Maurice Ravel,Albert Roussel, andErik Satie among others. He likewise was an exponent of works by Canadian composers in France, including pieces byFrançois Brassard,Claude Champagne,Henri Gagnon,Émiliano Renaud,Léo Roy, andGeorges-Émile Tanguay. ComposerRodolphe Mathieu notably dedicated two of his works to him:Trois Préludes (1921) andSonata (1927).[1]
Born inCap-Saint-Ignace, Quebec, Morin studiedsolfège,music dictation, and piano withGustave Gagnon and the piano andorgan with Gustave's sonHenri Gagnon inQuebec City. He gave his first professional piano recital at theClub musical de Québec in 1909. In 1910 he relocated to Montreal where he studiedharmony withGuillaume Couture and the piano withArthur Letondal. In 1912 he was awarded the prestigiousPrix d'Europe prize which enabled him to pursue further studies in Paris at theConservatoire de Paris and with private instructors from 1912 to 1914.
While in Paris, Morin studied harmony,counterpoint, andfugue withJules Mouquet and the piano underIsidor Philipp andRaoul Pugno. He gave his first Paris recital in late 1912 in thesalon of the wife of poetCharles de Pomairols. On 29 May 1913 he attended the world premiere ofIgor Stravinsky's famousballetThe Rite of Spring. In January 1914 Pugno died in the midst of their studies together, and the famed Spanish pianistRicardo Viñes took his place as Morin's teacher. Pugno had previously performed the world premieres of several works by Ravel and Debussy, and he instilled in Morin a deep love for the works of these two composers.[1]
With the outbreak ofWorld War I in 1914, Morin returned to Canada where he remained for the next five years. Living in Montreal, he worked actively as a teacher and a concert pianist inQuebec province. In 1918 he co-founded the arts magazineLe Nigog with architectFernand Préfontaine and writerRobert de Roquebrune.[1]
Morin returned to Paris in 1919 after the conclusion of the war. Over the next six years he played an active role in the musical life of that city, collaborating with such notable artists asAlexis Roland-Manuel, Ravel, andRicardo Viñes. During those years he returned periodically to Canada to visit family and perform in concerts, but spent the majority of his time in Paris. In 1920 he spent some months on a recital tour of England, Belgium, and the Netherlands for which proceeds went towards a monument raised in Debussy's hobour. He later returned to those countries in 1923 in a recital tour with Ravel. In 1926 theConservatoire de Paris inducted him into the Comité d'honneur alongsideManuel de Falla,Paul Dukas,Arthur Honegger,José Iturbi,Yves Nat,Gabriel Pierné, Ravel,Albert Roussel,Arthur Rubinstein, andHeitor Villa-Lobos.[1]
During the early 1920s Morin performed the Parisian premieres of several notable works, includingAlban Berg'sPiano Sonata in 1922. ComposerRodolphe Mathieu notably dedicated hisTrois Préludes to him and he performed the work in its premiere at theSalle Pleyel in 1921.[1]Paul Le Flem wrote the following in his review of a 15 January 1923 recital given by Morin at Paris'sSalle Gaveau:
"Much praise is due the initiative of this intelligent musician who in a single evening was able to present so effectively music of such diversity. Evincing the subtlest grasp of idiom this artist passed easily from one composer's music to another's, finding the appropriate expression and the right emphasis for each one's thought. He brought to bear brilliant technical accomplishment as well, yet only to demonstrate how a vibrant touch and a sure instinct for sonority could remain submissive to the control of the spirit of the music."[2]
Morin moved from his home in Paris back to Montreal in the fall of 1925, where he quickly began advocating new French music through his concerts and writings; sometimes with protest from his peers. He began including his own works in his recitals in 1927, disguising them under the pseudonym James Callihou. WithVictor Brault he put together the first festival in North America dedicated to the works of Debussy in December 1927. The festival notably included performances bymezzo-sopranoCédia Brault and theviolinistRobert Imandt. ForLa Patrie criticMarcel Valois wrote in his review of Morin's recital at that festival:
"[Morin is] always the incomparable interpreter of Debussy, and all who heard, in Montreal or Paris, his performance of the Cathédrale engloutie, retain a keepsake of this beautiful work carved in memory."[3]
In 1926 Morin was appointed secretary of the Montreal chapter of thePro-Musica Society of New York and in 1928 he appeared alongside Ravel in concerts in Montreal. From 1926 to 1929 he was a music critic forLa Patrie, and from 1929 to 1931 he taught on the faculty of theConservatoire national in Montreal. He also contributed articles to other Canadian periodicals during the 1920s and early 1930s, includingCanadian Forum,Vie canadienne, andOpinions Musicologist.Andrée Desautels wrote inThe Canadian Encyclopedia, "Both his writings and his concerts showed Morin to be ahead of his time. [He was] a caustic spirit, an original, a personality compounded of intelligence and sensibility."
In 1931 Morin moved back to Paris where he spent most of his time up through the spring of 1936. In Paris he was active as a concert pianist, lecturer on music, and music critic for various periodicals. He returned to Montreal for a few months in 1933 during which time he performed a concert of contemporary French music at the Stella Theatre (now theThéâtre du Rideau Vert). He returned to the city again to performFelix Mendelssohn'sCapriccio brilliant in B minor for the inaugural performance of theMontreal Symphony Orchestra on 14 January 1935. In 1934 he gave a recital tour in the United States and in 1936 he gave recitals in Spain and Morocco.[1]
Morin moved backed to Montreal in 1936 to join the faculty of theÉcole de musique Vincent-d'Indy where he taught until his death in 1941 in an automobile accident in the Laurentians. He also served during that time as the music critic forLe Canada. His notable students includedPaule-Aimée Bailly,François Brassard,Jean Papineau-Couture, andAlfred Mignault. He made one final trip to Europe in the summer of 1939 which was cut short by the outbreak ofWorld War II. He performed in several concerts and gave lectures for theCanadian Broadcasting Corporation during the late 1930s; notably being a regular participant on theCBC Radioquiz showS.V.P.[1]
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