Frédéric Pelletier Frédéric Pelletier ( 1 May 1870 – 30 May 1944 ) was a Canadian choir conductor , music educator , composer , music critic , journalist , civil servant , military officer , and physician . He was one of the principal music critics in Montreal during the first half of the 20th century , having worked in that capacity for every major publication in Montreal at one time or another . He was also a professor of music history at several institutions and worked as a choirmaster in several Montreal churches . His compositional output was mainly dedicated to sacred choral works , including several motet s and carols , 2 oratorio s , a " Requiem Mass " , and a " Stabat Mater " . He also wrote some works for solo organ , some songs , and a number of harmonizations of Canadian folk tunes . Life and career . Born in Montreal , Pelletier was part of a prominent musical family in Quebec . He was the son of musician Romain - Octave Pelletier I , the brother of organist , composer and conductor Romain Pelletier , and the father of violinist Romain - Octave Pelletier II . His other brother Victor was a cellist in J . - J . Goulet ' s Montreal Symphony Orchestra of which he also served as music librarian . He began his musical education as a boy studying the piano under his father . He later was a pupil of Guillaume Couture ( singing ) and Achille Fortier ( harmony and counterpoint ) . In c . 1887 Pelletier entered the Royal Military College Saint - Jean and after graduating served as a captain in the Les Fusiliers Mont - Royal . He then entered the medical school at the Université de Montréal where he earned his MD in 1895 . He operated a medical practice in Montreal for a little while , but abandoned it in favour of a career as a journalist and musician . He worked as a reporter and editor for various daily newspapers in Montreal up until 1914 . He also was a music columnist for various periodicals from 1900 up until the end of his life ; including " La Patrie " ( 1904 – 1910 ) , " La Presse " ( 1904 – 1910 ) , " La Musique " ( 1919 – 1921 ) , " Musical America " ( 1923 – 1925 ) , " Association française d ' action artistique " ( 1920 – 1944 ) , " L ' Art musical " , " La Lyre " , " Musical Canada " , and the " Quinzaine musicale et artistique " among others . For " Le Devoir " he authored a dozen reviews between 1911 and 1913 before being appointed its long - time music editor and critic ( 1916 – 1944 ) . As a musician , Pelletier was primarily active as a choir conductor . He held the post of choirmaster at several churches in Montreal , including Saint - Léon de Westmount Church ( 1909 ) , St James - the - Less ( 1910 – 1936 ) , and Sainte - Brigide de Kildare Church ( 1923 – 1924 ) . In 1922 he founded the Saint - Saëns Choral Society , notably conducting performance that year of " Samson et Dalila " with Cédia Brault and Émile Gour . In 1931 he coordinated the first Canadian tour of the Paris children ' s choir Petits Chanteurs à la croix de bois , who included within their repertoire his Canadian folksong harmonizations . From 1932 - 1935 he served as the president of the Académie de musique du Québec and in 1933 - 1934 he taught music history at the École de musique Vincent - d ' Indy . He also taught that subject at the Conservatoire national de musique for a number of years . In addition to his work as a writer and musician , Pelletier served the city of Montreal as the secretary of the department of health from 1914 - 21 . He then took the post of librarian and publicist for Quebec province ' s department of health in 1922 , a position he held until his death in Montreal in 1944 . His book " Initiation à l ' orchestre in Montreal " was published posthumously in 1948 , but his memoirs , " Montréal , fin de siècle " , which were intended for publication upon his death , have never been printed . References . music