In 1988, Canada enshrined multiculturalism into law, a democratizing manoeuver that allowed practitioners of non-Western and non-classical forms of music to agitate for equitable access to public arts funding. This agitation ultimately forced government-funded Canadian arts councils to re-examine their Eurocentric granting programs and to expand the parameters by which they fund music. Today’s arts council peer assessors must now assess applications covering a broad range of musical genres and differing aesthetic values, and must incorporate into their evaluations the councils' sociopolitical priorities emphasizing diversity and inclusivity. Yet, few assessors understand why and how identity politics informs the contemporary music-making of ethnocultural minorities and how collectively held stereotypes influence Canadians’ expectation for ethnocultural representation. In this thesis, I endeavour to separate the historical, sociopolitical and philosophical threads that have contributed to the current musical environment in Canada. I begin by examining the parallel histories of funding for high culture—which led to public arts funding—and early celebrations of multiculturalism. I then examine liberal democratic philosophy and how it fostered the “politics of difference” that characterizes Canadian multiculturalism. Although liberal democracy holds that each citizen be recognized as equal and have equality of opportunity to nurture his or her individual, authentic self, Canadians have historically treated ethnocultural minorities unequally, resulting in the latter pursuing politics of difference based upon collective characteristics. Collective difference politics, though, are prone to stereotype. In the Canadian music world these stereotypes are manifest in external desires for authentic ethnocultural representation, which can overshadow a minority musician’s ability to cultivate a unique musical voice. I devote the second part of my thesis to examining the effects of equity initiatives on Canadian arts councils. Based upon interviews with music and equity officers from the Canada Council, the Ontario Arts Council and the Toronto Arts Council, I show how the dichotomy between collective and individual authenticities results in unequal modes of assessment that perpetuate both ethnocultural stereotypes and Western classical music’s monopoly over funding, limiting our definitions of Canadian music.

In 1988, Canada enshrined multiculturalism into law, a democratizing manoeuver that allowed practitioners of non-Western and non-classical forms of music to agitate for equitable access to public arts funding. This agitation ultimately forced government-funded Canadian arts councils to re-examine their Eurocentric granting programs and to expand the parameters by which they fund music. Today’s arts council peer assessors must now assess applications covering a broad range of musical genres and differing aesthetic values, and must incorporate into their evaluations the councils' sociopolitical priorities emphasizing diversity and inclusivity. Yet, few assessors understand why and how identity politics informs the contemporary music-making of ethnocultural minorities and how collectively held stereotypes influence Canadians’ expectation for ethnocultural representation. In this thesis, I endeavour to separate the historical, sociopolitical and philosophical threads that have contributed to the current musical environment in Canada. I begin by examining the parallel histories of funding for high culture—which led to public arts funding—and early celebrations of multiculturalism. I then examine liberal democratic philosophy and how it fostered the “politics of difference” that characterizes Canadian multiculturalism. Although liberal democracy holds that each citizen be recognized as equal and have equality of opportunity to nurture his or her individual, authentic self, Canadians have historically treated ethnocultural minorities unequally, resulting in the latter pursuing politics of difference based upon collective characteristics. Collective difference politics, though, are prone to stereotype. In the Canadian music world these stereotypes are manifest in external desires for authentic ethnocultural representation, which can overshadow a minority musician’s ability to cultivate a unique musical voice. I devote the second part of my thesis to examining the effects of equity initiatives on Canadian arts councils. Based upon interviews with music and equity officers from the Canada Council, the Ontario Arts Council and the Toronto Arts Council, I show how the dichotomy between collective and individual authenticities results in unequal modes of assessment that perpetuate both ethnocultural stereotypes and Western classical music’s monopoly over funding, limiting our definitions of Canadian music.

This study explores text and music relations in Canadian composer Violet Archer’s “The Twenty-Third Psalm” by analysing the text of Psalm 23, Fibonacci numbers, melodic contours, motives, and the role of the accompaniment. The text focuses on David’s faith in God and his acceptance of God as his shepherd on earth. The four other approaches allow us to examine the work on three different structural levels: background through Fibonacci numbers, middleground through melodic contour analysis, and foreground through motivic analysis and the role of the accompaniment. The measure numbers that align with Fibonacci numbers overlap with some of the melodic contour phrases, which are demarcated by rests, as well as with the most important moments at the surface level, such as the emphasis on the word “death” through recurring and symbolic motives. The piano accompaniment further supports these moments in the text.

La version intégrale de ce mémoire est disponible uniquement pour consultation individuelle à la Bibliothèque de musique de l'Université de Montréal (http://www.bib.umontreal.ca/MU). / La carrière du pianiste-compositeur Émiliano Renaud (1875-1932) est peu connue. Surnommé le «Paderewski canadien», il est le premier virtuose québécois à avoir établi, à l’instar du maître polonais, de nouveaux standards dans la présentation des récitals, à une époque où ces concerts affichaient surtout des programmes constitués d’extraits de pièces rarement exécutés par un seul interprète et proposés la plupart du temps, sous forme de pot-pourri. Il est également le premier musicien à avoir utilisé la nouvelle technologie de la radio à des fins pédagogiques et l’un des rares compositeurs de l’époque à avoir été édité aux États-Unis. Formé à Vienne et à Berlin auprès de virtuoses renommés, il poursuit d’abord une carrière d’enseignant au Conservatoire d’Indianapolis avant de s’installer à New York du-rant quelques années où il élabore une méthode d’apprentissage du piano. Il revient défini-tivement à Montréal en 1921 et s’implique dans de nombreuses activités musicales : récitals, composition, enseignement et édition. Notre recherche, la première sur le sujet, retrace les principaux jalons de la carrière de ce virtuose du piano au début du vingtième siècle, tout en la situant dans le contexte cul-turel et musical de l’époque. Nous souhaitons ainsi réhabiliter un musicien relégué injuste-ment dans l’oubli après son décès et qui a contribué, à sa manière, au développement de la vie musicale du Québec; tout en nous interrogeant sur la perception de la virtuosité dans la presse musicale de cette époque. Les annexes offrent quelques points de repère dont une chronologie, une liste de son répertoire ainsi qu’un inventaire de ses œuvres. / Little is known of the career of composer and pianist Émiliano Renaud (1875-1932). Called the “Canadian Paderewski”, Renaud is the first Quebec virtuoso to have set up, as his Polish master, new standards in recitals, at a time when concerts mainly offered programs made of a mixture of excerpts rarely played by a single interpreter. Émiliano Renaud is also the first musician to have used the new technology of the radio for pedagogical purposes, as well as one of the few composers of the time to have had his works edited in the United States. Trained in Vienna and Berlin by renowned masters, he first pursued a teaching career at Indianapolis Music School before moving to New York for a few years, where he created a piano learning method. He moved permanently to Montreal in 1921 and was involved in numerous musical activities: giving recitals, composing, teaching and editing. This study, the first on the subject, traces the landmarks of Renaud’s career as a virtuoso at the beginning of the twentieth century. It offers a broad cultural and musical frame through which to assess the artist’s achievements. One of the main aims of this research is to rehabilitate Émiliano Renaud, undeservedly cast into oblivion after his death. This rehabilitation is all the more necessary as Renaud contributed, in his own way, to developing Quebec’s musical life. In a related way, this study also tackles the issue of the reception of the phenomenon of virtuosity by the critics at that period. Annexes provide benchmarks, including a chronology, a list of the musician’s repertoire, and an inventory of his works.

This study explores text and music relations in Canadian composer Violet Archer’s “The Twenty-Third Psalm” by analysing the text of Psalm 23, Fibonacci numbers, melodic contours, motives, and the role of the accompaniment. The text focuses on David’s faith in God and his acceptance of God as his shepherd on earth. The four other approaches allow us to examine the work on three different structural levels: background through Fibonacci numbers, middleground through melodic contour analysis, and foreground through motivic analysis and the role of the accompaniment. The measure numbers that align with Fibonacci numbers overlap with some of the melodic contour phrases, which are demarcated by rests, as well as with the most important moments at the surface level, such as the emphasis on the word “death” through recurring and symbolic motives. The piano accompaniment further supports these moments in the text.

This study explores text and music relations in Canadian composer Violet Archer’s “The Twenty-Third Psalm” by analysing the text of Psalm 23, Fibonacci numbers, melodic contours, motives, and the role of the accompaniment. The text focuses on David’s faith in God and his acceptance of God as his shepherd on earth. The four other approaches allow us to examine the work on three different structural levels: background through Fibonacci numbers, middleground through melodic contour analysis, and foreground through motivic analysis and the role of the accompaniment. The measure numbers that align with Fibonacci numbers overlap with some of the melodic contour phrases, which are demarcated by rests, as well as with the most important moments at the surface level, such as the emphasis on the word “death” through recurring and symbolic motives. The piano accompaniment further supports these moments in the text.