The music I wish to talk about here is often
named «Trad» by the younger generation.
«Identitairs» is a pun; a mixture of «identity»
and «airs» (which means «tunes» in french). A
word to coin the fact that traditional music
often helps to define a people's identity.
The term «Québécois» is also relatively new —
late sixties, with the awakening of Quebec's
nationalism. Before this, the descendents of the
French settlers of the St Lawrence valley(1)
called themselves «French-canadians», and before
that, simply «Canadians». But, let us put these
semantics aside.
My intent is to explore the music that was
traditionally played during my forbearers
festivities. A music that is lately becoming
more and more popular thanks to groups like La
Bottine souriante, La volée d'castors, or
Belzébuth (one of my favorites). Before this
rebirth, french-canadian music was carried by a
series of masters such as Joseph Allard,
Alfred
Montmarquette, Isidore Soucy,
and, more recently, Louis
"Pitou" Boudreault, Jean Carignan
and Tommy
Duchesne.
Moreover, lets not forget contemporary
composers who continue to contribute to the
«traditional» repertoire ― although the term
loses a bit of its signification in such a case.
I'm thinking here of people like Jean
Duval, Pascal
Gemme and Michel
Faubert.
By clicking on the themes below, you'll enter
the heart of the matter. But before this, I
would humbly ask the readers to be lenient; the
author being an amateur (and, also, a novice
musician), and the present site being under
construction. You must also expect that the
information included herein will change from
time to time (improving and increasing, it is
hoped).
Where does it
come from ?
What is it ?
The repertoire
The musicians
For those who want to learn more on the
subject, you will find a page (here)
where interesting links are collected ― links to
pages from which I have blithely plundered
information.
Of course, comments and suggestions are
welcome. Just click on the envelope at the
bottom of each page.
Notes : (1) There are
also, in America, descendants from French
settlers in Acadia and New-Orleans, but that
is an other story.