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Poirier, Lucien
Lucien Poirier. Organist, musicologist, teacher, (St-Alphonse-Rodriguez, near Joliette, Que, Nov 29, 1943, - Loretteville, Que, June 7, 1997); BA (Séminaire de Joliette) 1965, premier prix organ (CMM) 1969, L LITT (Strasbourg) 1971, M MUS (Strasbourg) 1972, D MUS (ibid) 1980. He began his music studies in 1958 at the Séminaire de Joliette (piano and organ) and continued at the CMM with Bernard Lagacé (organ) and Kenneth Gilbert (harpsichord). The recipient of a grant from the Quebec Ministry of Education, he continued his training in Europe (1969-72) with Eduard Müller at the Basel Schola Cantorum (harpsichord) and Gaston Litaize in Paris (organ). He was the regular organist at the cathedral in St-Jean, Que (1965-69). In 1966 he joined the staff at Laval University, where he began to teach musicology in 1972, and was appointed director of the School of Music in 1991. He also gave courses at other universities. He was an active recitalist and was heard in organ and chamber music broadcasts on CBC radio. As both a musicologist and a performer, Poirier was interested in medieval and renaissance music and in the works of J.S. Bach and his immediate predecessors. He also specialized in the work of the contemporary French composer Georges Migot and, under the aegis of the Association des amis de l'oeuvre et de la pensée de Georges Migot (founded 1976; Poirier was an active member), he made an LP of Migot's organ music (1978, GM 30002). He edited Migot's Second Livre d'orgue (1979) and the former's De christo. He accompanied De christo, a work for choir and organ, when it was broadcast by the CBC Radio Choir in 1981. In the collection Les Orgues anciens du Québec, he recorded (vol V) works by Dandrieu, Sachow (Zachau), Brahms, and Mendelssohn (1979 Alpec A-8103/7-RCI 538).
From 1981 on, his research and publications generally dealt with Canadian music and its history, and that of Quebec in particular. He became a member of the publishing and administrative committees of CMHS in 1982, and in this capacity he edited two anthologies: volume IV, devoted to the organ and volumes VII and XII devoted to songs on French texts. Moreover, the music collection for organ that he directed at Éditions Jacques Ostiguy, comprises 14 books. His greatest contribution, however, is most likely the inventory and study of musical sources in the Quebec press since its founding in 1764; this research was undertaken by a team of students at Laval University under his direction as well as that of Juliette Bourassa-Trépanier. The findings appear in the Répertoire des données musicales de la presse québécoise, the first volume of which was published in Quebec City in 1990. Poirier also contributed to EMC and DCB.
In 1997, the Société québécoise de recherché en musique made him an honorary member and dedicated several issues of its Bulletin to him the following year.
Poirier was the brother of Réjean Poirier. He married the daughter of Jacques LeComte, Louise, a flutist who won the Prix d'Europe in 1969.
Writings
"Georges Migot et la musique d'orgue," M MUS thesis, U of Strasbourg 1972.
"À propos des oeuvres pour flûte douce de Georges Migot, "Carnet Musical, vol 12, Jul 1975.
Poirier, L., and R. Poirier. "Musique pour orgue, "Dictionnaire de la musique : Science de la musique II, ed Marc Honegger (Paris 1976).
"Il Transilvano de Girolamo Diruta. Édition critique du texte original, traduction française, transcription musicale et commentaire de la première partie (1593)," D MUS thesis, U of Strasbourg 1980.
"La désignation sous le titre de Livres d'orgue de deux recueils de musique d'orgue de Georges Migot, "L'Orgue, 177, Jan-Mar 1981.
"L'art mélodique de Georges Migot et ses rapports avec l'art poétique du Moyen Âge, "Études littéraires, vol 15, Apr 1982.
- ed. Canadian Musical Works 1900-1980: A Bibliography of General and Analytical Sources. Publication no. 3 of CAML (1983).
"Style canadien de musique: mirage et réalité, "Cahiers de l'ARMuQ, 3, Jun 1984.
"Nationalisme et musique au Canada français (1860-1945), "Cahiers de l'ARMuQ, 4, Nov 1984.
"La presse québécoise comme source de documentation de la vie musicale au Québec dans le premier tiers du XVIIIe siècle, "Fontes artis musicae, vol 34, Oct-Dec 1987.
"La fortune de deux oeuvres de Jean-Jacques Rousseau au Canada français entre 1790 et 1850, "Musical Canada.
Georges Migot: Second livre d'orgue (Paris, 1979).
Le Patrimoine musical canadien, iv: Musique d'orgue I (Ottawa, 1985); Chansons II sur des textes français (Ottawa, 1987); xii: Chansons III sur les textes français (Ottawa, 1992).
Bibliography
Samson, Marc. "Le Canada se penche sur son passé musical," Quebec City Le Soleil, 3 Sep 1988.
In memoriam Lucien Poirier 1943 - 1997 / (Cahiers de la Société québécoise de recherche en musqiue; 1, no 1; Sep. 1997; 5).
Simon COUTURE, dir., Marc Honneger, Raymond Ringhuette, Juliette Bourassa, Helmut Kallmann, John Beckwith, Marie Thérèse Lefebvre, Antoine Bouchard, Vol. 2, no 2, November 1998: Meslanges á la mémoire de Lucien Poirier, numéro hommage.
