Louis-Philippe Laurendeau

Laurendeau, Louis-Philippe

Laurendeau, Louis-Philippe. Composer, writer, b St-Hyacinthe, Que, 1861, d Montreal 13 Feb 1916. He was active for many years in Montreal and was bandmaster at the École militaire of Saint-Jean, but later he devoted himself entirely to composition and arranging. Though a resident of Longueuil (near Montreal), he occupied an editorial position with Carl Fischer, the New York publishers.

Some 200 of Laurendeau's compositions and arrangements, mostly for band and published by Fischer and Cundy-Bettoney, are listed in F. Pazdírek's Universal-Handbuch (Vienna 1904-10). His intermezzo Twilight Whispers, Opus 202, won first prize in the 1895 Metronome competition. Works of specific Canadian interest include Shores of the St Lawrence, a medley for band, and Land of the Maple, Opus 235, a march.

Laurendeau taught as well, and Fischer published several of his volumes of band instruction and repertoire, including The New Era Band Book (Grades 2, 3) and The Practical Band Arranger. He used the pseudonym Paul Laurent, but the National Library of Canada has record of only one publication on which it appears. A Montreal street was named after Laurendeau in 1931.