Jean Vallerand

Jean Vallerand studied violin and composition as well as journalism in Montréal. In 1941 he began a career as a critic and journalist for a number of important French-Canadian newspapers. As a composer, he was awarded the Schumann Prize at the Québec Music Festival in 1940. He composed the incidental music for more than 50 plays, as well as orchestral works, chamber music and songs. Vallerand was best known for his virtuoso use of the orchestra’s timbres. He also experimented with serial music and wrote an opera, Le Magicien, including the libretto. However, he did not publish any new works after 1969.

Vallerand also worked as a conductor and hosted a cultural series on the radio. He was one of the founders of the Montréal Conservatory and its Secretary General from 1942 to 1963. He then took over the management of the music department at the French-speaking radio station and then went to Paris as cultural attaché for the province of Québec. In 1971, Vallerand was appointed director of the Conservatoire de musique et d’art dramatique du Québec. He retired in 1980 and was made a Knight of the Ordre national du Québec in 1991.

One of his best-known works is the Sonata pour violon et piano. Written in 1950 and later arranged for orchestra, it was first performed in 1951 at the Ladies’ Morning Club in Montreal lasting 16 minutes. According to the official report, the movements are called Allegro assai ma non troppo, Adagio cantabile and Allegro con spirito, while the Canadian Music Centre gives them slightly different as Vivace, Hommage à Fauré: adagio cantabile and Allegro con spirito. Vallerand himself wrote of his work: “In this work, all my efforts are aimed at identifying form and expression. This is the common denominator of everything I knew about music at the time I wrote it.”