André Mathieu

Biography

André Mathieu (18 February 1929 – 2 June 1968) was a Canadian pianist and composer.

Life

Mathieu was born René André Rodolphe Mathieu on 18 February 1929 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in the parish of Saint-Jacques-le-Majeur to father Rodolphe Mathieu and mother Wilhemine Gagnon-Mathieu. His father was a music teacher and composer, and his mother a cellist and teacher. Mathieu was fascinated by the world of music from an early age, and received his first music lessons from his father. Mathieu as a child was unusually precocious. He spoke his first words at the age of 4 months and took his first steps before seven months.
Rodolphe Mathieu was at first reluctant to teach his son music, and forbade him to touch the piano. This is because the senior Mathieu regarded music as a pauper's profession. Even so, Rodolphe Mathieu resigned himself to teaching his son music, because he recognized the exceptional talent in Mathieu. A child prodigy with abilities in composition, Mathieu began composing at the age of 4. At age 6 Mathieu gave his first recital of his own composition at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Montreal, Quebec, on 25 February 1935. In 1936 Mathieu performed his Concertino No.1 for Piano and Orchestra as a soloist on the CBC network. He was later given a grant by the Quebec government that enabled him to go to Paris and study piano with Yves Nat and Mme. Giraud-Latarse. Mathieu also studied harmony and composition with Jacques de la Presle. In December 1936 Mathieu gave a recital of his works at Salle Chopin-Pleyel, and again at Salle Gaveau on 26 March 1939. His recitals as a soloist were received very enthusiastically by the Parisian critics. They unanimously agreed that André Mathieu was a "Canadian Mozart".
Mathieu returned to Montreal for the holidays, but due to the outbreak of war he could not return to Europe. Instead, Mathieu performed in a series of recitals in Canada and the United States of America, and gave a performance at the New York City Town Hall on 3 February 1940. He remained in New York with his family until 1943, studying composition with Harold Morris and fulfilling concert and radio engagements. In 1941 when he was not yet 12 years old, Mathieu won the first prize at the composition competition to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. He also played his Concertino No. 2 for piano and orchestra at Carnegie Hall. Mathieu also played his compositions at a concert of the League of Composers.
In 1943 he returned to Montreal and gave numerous concerts performing Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt, Debussy and Ravel, as well as his own works.
In 1946 he left Montreal for Paris to study composition with Arthur Honegger and piano with Jules Gentil. Unfortunately the trip did not go as planned. Mathieu was disappointed by his teachers, bored and short of money. He felt lonely, homesick and vulnerable. In 1947 he returned to Montreal a changed man, tired and exhausted. He took part in Pianothons to break records at events. He also began teaching and continued to compose. During the following years he succumbed to alcoholism. He married Marie-Ange Massicotte in 1960, but their marriage was short-lived due to André's alcoholism and emotional problems. André died suddenly at the age of 39 on 2 June 1968 and was entombed at the Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery in Montreal. He was a prolific composer and left behind a wide range of music.
The welcoming song and the official theme-music of the 1976 Montreal Olympics was arranged by Vic Vogel from Mathieu's works. The André-Mathieu Club was founded in 1942 at Trois-Rivières by Mme Anaïs Allard-Rousseau to promote an interest in music among youth in the community. The club eventually became part of the Youth and Music Canada (YMC) or Jeunesses musicales du Canada (JMC). In October 1979 the Salle André-Mathieu opened as part of Montmorency College in Laval, Quebec, in honour of Mathieu's talent and contribution to music. In 1987 a street was named after Mathieu in the Pointe-aux-Trembles district in Montreal. Another street was also named in memory of his great work, in Mirabel, Quebec, in 2006. The renowned pianist and classical music activist Alain Lefèvre has popularized several of André Mathieu's works.

Legacy

He is the subject of Jean-Claude Labrecque's 1993 documentary film André Mathieu, musicien, and his childhood was dramatized by Luc Dionne in the 2010 biographical drama film The Child Prodigy (L'enfant prodige).