As a cosmopolitan province,Quebec is a home to various genres of music, ranging fromfolk tohip hop. Music has played an important role inQuebecer culture.[1][2] In the 1920s and 1930s, singer/songwriterMadam Bolduc performed comedic songs in a folk style with Irish influences. Quebec's popular artists of the last century includeFélix Leclerc (1950's),Gilles Vigneault (1960s–present),Kate and Anna McGarrigle (1970's–present) andCéline Dion (1980's–present).[3]'
TheFirst Nations and theInuit of Quebec also have their own traditional music.[4][5] A local variety ofCeltic music can also be found there.[6] Quebec also has many well-knownjazz musicians and a culture ofclassical music, as well as a strong presence ofhistorically informed performance ofbaroque and renaissance music.
The songÀ la claire fontaine[7] was the anthem of theNew France,Patriots andFrench Canadian before being replaced byO Canada. Currently, the songGens du pays is preferred by many Quebecers to be the national anthem of Quebec. TheAssociation Québécois de l'industrie du disque, du spectacle et de la vidéo (ADISQ) was created in 1978 to promote the music industry in Quebec.[8] TheOrchestre symphonique de Québec and theMontreal Symphony Orchestra are respectively
When it was under French control, Québec was referred to as Le Canada. It was known as the advanced colony out of all the New France settlements. After some generations of French settlers being born in Canada, the colonists began to identify with their home country and call themselves les Canadiens (the Canadians) as distinct from les Français (the French), those native to France. TheCanadiens brought with them a rich tradition of songs and dances from northern France, namely the regions ofÎle-de-France,Picardy,Normandy,Poitou, andBrittany. Influence from these regions and the Irish immigration to Quebec of the 19th century may explain the Celtic connection that Quebec still shares withBrittany, Ireland,Scotland and theMaritimes.[9]
As time went by, the French Canadians began to develop their own music, and also incorporated and transformed the styles of music played by the settlers from Great Britain, in particular the Scots, after theConquest.[10] (One hundred of these songs were collected byErnest Gagnon for an 1865 compilation, one of the first such collections to be published in Canada.)
Traditional music is infused with many dances, such as thejig, thequadrille, thereel andline dancing, which have developed in the festivities since the early days of colonization.[11][12] And in Quebec's culture, the following musical instruments are the most prominent: harmonica (music-of-mouth or lip-destruction),fiddle,spoons,jaw harp andaccordion. Traditional Quebec music is characterized bypodorythmie which means giving the rhythm with the feet,[13] and is currently provided by various contemporary groups performing mostly during Christmas and New Year's Eve celebrations, theQuebec National Holiday and many local festivals.
Perhaps the phenomenon in the popular music of that century was the career ofLa Bolduc, who became extremely popular singing satirical and sometimes racy songs based on the Quebec and Irish folk traditions, and who also was expert in the wordless vocalization known asturlutte.
By the 1960s, radio and television had begun to help disseminate French folk songs, especially after the 1967 foundation of the Centennial Collection of Canadian Folk Songs, including recordings of Quebec performers like Yves Albert and Jacques Labrecque, as well asAcadianEdith Butler.
The popular songwriters and singers of this period wereGilles Vigneault,Leonard Cohen (attendedMcGill University, d.2016, buried in Montreal), andFélix Leclerc, who brought more influences to the music of France-based singing stars likeJacques Brel. Leclerc, fromLa Tuque, and Vigneault, fromNatashquan in the north of Quebec, became heroes for a new generation of Quebec youth. It was Vigneault's "Mon pays" (My Country), which became a rallying anthem for Quebec nationalism after a 1965 performance byMonique Leyrac, and established a tradition of Quebec artists supporting Quebec's independence movement. Many artists openly endorsed it, notably Raymond Lévesque,Pauline Julien andPaul Piché.
In the 1960s, the French Canadians of Quebec were beginning to self-identify asQuébécois (Quebecers). See theQuiet Revolution. Another important nationalist performer during this period wasGeorges Dor, who enjoyed international success with the recording of his own composition, "La complainte de la Manic" ("The Ballad of Manicouagan"); other popular singers of the time includeClaude Gauthier and Clemence Desrochers. Popular artists of the 70s includedHarmonium,Offenbach,Plume Latraverse,Garolou andBeau Dommage, as well asMichel Rivard.
Country music, in both French and English (primarily the former), is prevalent in Quebec. An aspect of the overall Canadian country scene, it is the chief source of francophone country, inclusive of artists such asRenée Martel,Gildor Roy,Patrick Norman,Willie Lamothe, andGeorges Hamel.
Progressive rock andfusion jazz bandManeige was founded in Quebec in 1972 by Alain Bergeron and Jérôme Langlois. The band was one of the Quebec progressive rock scene's longest running and consistent bands.[14] In 1974, Vigneault and Leclerc played on thePlains of Abraham withRobert Charlebois, who made heavy use ofQuebec French in hisrock and roll fusions. In 1976, multi-instrumentalist sistersKate & Anna McGarrigle emerged on the international music scene with their blend of folk-rock and vocal harmonies added to self-penned songs in English and French, many of the latter co-written with Swiss-born poetPhilippe Tatartcheff. The 1970s also saw roots performers likeLa Bottine Souriante gain critical and commercial acclaim within Quebec.Jim Corcoran and Bertrand Gosselin releasedLa tête en gigue, an influential album that helped bring Quebec roots to crossover audiences across Canada, the United States and Europe.In addition to his musical career, Corcoran currently hosts a weekly show onCBC Radio One, which airs Francophone music from Quebec for English audiences across Canada.The early 1980s saw the formation of francophonesynthpop/new wave groups such asNudimension that became involved in the genesis of music video andMTV culture.[15]
More recent Quebec performers includeRichard Desjardins,Daniel Boucher,Marie-Chantal Toupin,Éric Lapointe,Vilain Pingouin,Mes Aïeux,Les Trois Accords,Kaïn,Dumas,La Chicane,Les Colocs,Mélanie Renaud,Cindy Daniel,Daniel Bélanger,Paul Cargnello,Laurence Jalbert,Rudy Caya,Jean Leloup,Celine Dion (who had 4 No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 hits like "My Heart Will Go On" in 1998),Les Stups,La Chicane,Dan Bigras,Isabelle Boulay and more recentlyCœur de pirate. Some bands, such asLes Cowboys Fringants have known success in Europe (primarily in France) whileKarkwa,Vulgaires Machins,Les Batinses andMalajube are also recognized elsewhere in Canada and internationally.
Hip-hop has been widely active in the Montreal area with groups likeLoco Locass,Sans Pression,Dionysos,Criollo,Atach Tatuq,Manu Militari,KCLMNOP,Imposs,Muzion andDubmatique.
Heavy metal, and other adjacent metal genres, have as well played a significant role in Quebec's musical repertoire, represented notably bySword,Voivod anddeath metal bandsCryptopsy,Kataklysm,Martyr,Neuraxis,Gorguts,Quo Vadis,Despised Icon,Ex Deo,Blackguard,Beneath the Massacre,Augury and many others. The Quebec black metal scene has also gotten some attention in recent years, including bands like Akitsa, Spirit of the Forest, Forteresse, Chasse-Galerie, Monarque andNefastus Dies.
In 2003,TVA began to broadcastStar Académie, a Québécois version of aFrench reality music competition, several new artists includingMarie-Élaine Thibert,Marie-Mai,Émily Bégin andStéphanie Lapointe became well-known music artists after their passage in the reality show.
The tensions between Quebec and English Canada have, at times, played out on Quebec's music scene as well. In 1991,Céline Dion won theFélix award for Best Anglophone Artist for her English-language debut,Unison, but refused it as she did not view herself as an Anglophone artist.
Quebec has also produced a number of significant Anglophone artists, includingArcade Fire (who had 3 No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 likeThe Suburbs in 2010.)Win Butler graduated fromMcGill University in Montreal in 2004.Régine Chassagne also went there. Other Anglophone artists from Quebec includePatrick Watson,The Dears,Godspeed You! Black Emperor,Riverbeds,Stars,The Stills,The Unicorns,Wolf Parade,Rufus Wainwright,Sam Roberts,Paul Cargnello,We Are Wolves,The New Cities,Chromeo,Simple Plan andWilliam Shatner. In addition, some Quebec artists from the 1960s to the 1980sLewis Furey,Men Without Hats,Norman Iceberg,Rational Youth,Corey Hart,Julie Masse,Martine St. Clair,Marjo,Offenbach,The Box,Gino Vannelli,Luba,Jacynthe,France Joli,Sass Jordan, andGrimskunk have frequently recorded both English and French material.
Quebec artists have dominated the long and short lists of thePolaris Music Prize. Among them,Arcade Fire,Patrick Watson,Godspeed You Black Emperor,Karkwa andBackxwash have all won the coveted award.
Some famous jazz musicians from Quebec areOscar Peterson,Paul Bley,Oliver Jones,Charles Biddle,Ranee Lee,Karen Young, andAlain Caron.
TheMontreal International Jazz Festival is a globally renowned jazz festival,having been hosted by the city since 1980 it's attracting thousands of visitors annually. For the rest of the year, theL'OFF Festival de Jazz de Montreal organizes jazz shows in bars across Montreal.
The early part of the 20th century saw growth in opera, and the foundation of theMontreal Opera Company in 1910, and opera singers became popular.
André Gagnon,Angèle Dubeau,Michael Laucke,Louis Lortie,Alain Lefèvre,Alain Trudel,Alexandre Da Costa,Marc-André Hamelin,Nathalie Choquette andRichard Verreau are established classical musicians from Québec at the present.[citation needed]
André Mathieu is among the renowned composers from the province.[citation needed] He has been compared to a 'little Canadian Mozart', andRachmaninov pronounced him, "a genius, more so than I am". His works became the official music of the Summer Olympics of 1976. Other famous composers areClaude Champagne,Calixa Lavallée,Pierre Mercure,Jacques Hétu,André Gagnon,Airat Ichmouratov,Denis Gougeon,José Evangelista and composer-criticAlfred La Liberté, among others.
Both nations have influenced each other in terms of music styles.[16] In recent years, Quebec singers have gained notable recognition on the French stage. Quebec singers that have performed in France included:Céline Dion,Garou,Anthony Kavanagh (a stand-up comedian),Isabelle Boulay,Bruno Pelletier,Lynda Lemay,Cœur de pirate and many others.
Roch Voisine andNatasha St-Pier are two artists who also perform in France and are often mistaken for Quebecers. They are actually from New Brunswick and are of Acadian heritage, likeDaniel Lavoie who is fromManitoba.
Few musicals were made or adapted by Quebec artists. Among them,Luc Plamondon has had the brightest career as a songwriter, writing for the big ones (Céline Dion, Garou). The main musicals 'made in Quebec' :Starmania,La Légende de Jimmy,Notre-Dame-de-Paris,Chicago (adapted into French), "Demain matin, Montréal m'attend",Dracula.
Cirque du Soleil develops its own musical pieces to go along with various acrobatic tricks. The music aspect of the show is essential as it sets a mood for performances and links one number to another.
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