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Calixa Lavallée, (December 28, 1842 – January 21, 1891), born Calixte Paquet dit Lavallée, was a French-Canadian-American musician and Union Army band musician during the American Civil War who composed the music for ''O Canada'', which officially became the national anthem of Canada in 1980.〔 == Biography == Calixa Lavallée was born near Verchères, a suburb of Montreal, Quebec. His father, Augustin Lavallée, was accomplished in many trades, including those of blacksmith, logger, bandmaster, and self-taught luthier. Calixa began his musical education with his father and studied in Montréal with Paul Letondal and Charles Wugk Sabatier. In 1857, he moved to the U.S. and lived in Rhode Island where he enlisted in the 4th Rhode Island Volunteers of the Union army during the American Civil War, attaining the rank of Lieutenant.〔 〕 During and after the war, he traveled between Canada and the United States building his career in music. In the 1860s, Lavallée resided briefly in Montreal, Chicago, Philadelphia, and New York, but spent most of his time travelling with minstrel show companies. In 1867, he married an American woman, Josephine Gentilly (or "Gently"). He conducted major orchestral and operatic productions in important concert halls such as the Montréal Academy of Music in Montréal, Quebec City and in many US cities. Among his notable pupils was composer Alexis Contant.〔(The Canadian Encyclopedia, ''Alexis Contant'' )〕 To celebrate St. Jean-Baptiste Day in 1880, the Lieutenant Governor of Québec, Théodore Robitaille, commissioned Lavallée to compose ''O Canada'' to a patriotic poem by Adolphe-Basile Routhier.〔 While in Canada he felt that he wasn't able to financially support his family and so moved to the United States. In his later life he promoted the idea of union between Canada and the U.S.A.〔 During the later years of his life, Lavallée was the choirmaster at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston and he died in that city in 1891. As the result of the campaign by the Montréal based music director of the Victoria's Rifles, Joseph-Laurent Gariépy, his remains were returned to Montréal and reinterred at Côte-des-Neiges Cemetery in 1933.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Calixa Lavallée」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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