We find, on different buildings in Quebec, 142 plaques Here lived. They remind us of people who left their mark on the city’s history. Joachim-Ulric Voyer (1892-1935) left his name in Canadian opera history.
Opera lovers will be delighted to reconnect with this musical genre very soon, as the Opéra de Québec launches its 2024-2025 season with The Comte Oryby Rossini, which will be presented at the Grand Théâtre de Québec on October 26.
Quebec City’s history with opera is closely linked to that of Joachim-Ulric Voyer, a rare opera composer in the history of music in Canada.
A musical and artistic youth
Joachim-Ulric Voyer was born on July 5, 1892, in the Saint-Roch district of Quebec. He was the son of Délina Dion and Napoléon Voyer. The latter had been a prison guard at Saint-Georges de Beauce in 1881 and 1882.
The young J. Ulric discovered his talent for music very early on. When he was only five years old, he sat alone at the piano and when his father arrived in the living room, he would have been very surprised to discover that it was his young son and not the one of his older daughters.
J. Ulric Voyer studies music at Collège Saint-Roch. Several teachers provided his training: Mr. Wallace taught him music, Mr. Lefrançois, organist of the parishes of Saint-Roch and Giffard, introduced him to the organ. Accompanied by Edmond Trudel, he learned piano with Professor Hudson.
Then, in Montreal, J. Ulric Voyer benefited from the teachings of Léon Dessane and Auguste Descarries on organ and harmony.
In order to discover the workings of orchestration, he brought books from Europe: Treatise on theoretical and practical harmonyde Nikolaï Rimsky-Korsakov, Modern orchestral techniqueby Charles-Marie Widor, and Practical treatise on instrumentation and symphonic orchestrationby Jean-Louis Ithier.
In addition to music, Voyer is also passionate about theater. In addition to attending several plays presented in Quebec, he himself began writing a first play in 1907-1908: The drink.
A play in three acts and twelve scenes, it will be presented on stage in Quebec, but also on CHRC radio after the death of its author. He wrote a second play in 1923, entitled Sad reality. This could be an adaptation of The drink.
First compositions and marriage
The 1910s marked the first musical compositions of Joachim-Ulric Voyer. Between the ages of 18 and 22, he notably composed Waltz suite (1911), the musical bluette Girlfriend (1912) et Beware of love – sung waltz (1913).
The year 1913 marked the marriage between J.-Ulric Voyer and Alice Bédard, which took place on September 22, at the Saint-Sauveur church. Both were then 21 years old. Voyer also dedicates two pieces to his sweetheart: If you wanted to love me a little (1913) et To Miss Alice Bédard: I would say “I love you” (1914). The latter, a sung waltz, was published in Montreal by Éditions Le Passe-temps, under the pseudonym Jean Canada.
In 1914, Voyer published in the United States, with John T. Hall Music, If you knew.
Entry into the opera
Opera really entered Joachim-Ulric Voyer’s practice in the 1920s.
In 1920, he presented his first one-act comic opera, The Duchess in clogs. 45 extras are on stage on November 8 and 9 and the show is for the benefit of the parish church of Saint-François d’Assise, in Limoilou. This would be an adaptation of Duchess Anne’s slippersan operetta by Charles Le Roy-Villars.
Little Sheepa comic opera in four acts, would have left few traces, other than a manuscript of an original work of 144 pages written between 1920 and 1923, as well as violin and vocal scores.
Then, in 1923, two performances of the opera in four acts Jean-Marie take place in Quebec on April 10 and 11. The libretto is the result of a collaboration with Alfred Rousseau and François-Xavier Mercier directed the show, which was well received by critics.
The flagship work: Intendant Bigot
In 1929, Joachim-Ulric Voyer’s most important creation was presented in Quebec and Montreal, during five performances: the opera in three acts Intendant Bigot. Alfred Rousseau collaborates again on the libretto.
The Dictionary of literary works of Quebec (Volume II, 1987) summarizes the plot of the opera.
“Old Quebec in 1757. The scene takes place on the heights of Beauport. To pay a gambling debt, Bigot, last governor of New France, promises the Marquis de Saint-Germain the hand of the beautiful Gemma Dumas, already engaged to the hunter Raymond. Bigot will pay with his life for the anger of Raymond, that of the marquis who was tricked and, finally, that of the people who, hungry and poor, can no longer bear the deceptions of the Black Bear.
On February 5 and 7, 1929, two shows were first held at the Monument-National, in Montreal, under the direction of Albert Roberval. Due to the success in Montreal, three performances were added in Quebec, in the Auditorium de Québec (today the Capitole). Edmond Trudel is in charge of its management. In addition, the secretary of the province of Quebec, Athanase David, serves as honorary president. All shows are presented to full houses.
Arnold Becker plays the role of Intendant Bigot. He is accompanied on stage by Paul Trottier, Marie-Rose Descarries and Caro Lamoureux.
Honoré Vaillancourt, who staged the opera, considered Intendant Bigot as the first French-Canadian opera.
Two 78 rpm sound recordings of Voyer’s opera were also produced.
Last opera and multiple jobs
A final opera, composed in the 1930s, has remained unpublished. Mademoiselle de Lanaudière is a comic opera in three acts and four scenes. The orchestration of the opera was done in collaboration with GE Lefebvre and Henri Deyglun contributed to the composition of the libretto. Jean Riddez was to be the artistic director of a show led by Mercier-Gingras. The main roles were intended for Marthe Lapointe and Antonio Lamontagne.
But the premature death of Joachim-Ulric Voyer put an end to the project.
In parallel with his career as a composer, he held a multitude of jobs, while he had to ensure the material security of his 18 children. Several of them also had musical flair.
Voyer was therefore a piano teacher, clerk at the Municipal Court of Quebec, first organist at the Saint-François d’Assise church, shorthand teacher, playwright and advertising manager for the JB Renaud company.
Joachim-Ulric Voyer also left a legacy in the radio field, when he co-founded, with Narcisse Thivierge, the station CHRC. Voyer was also the station’s musical director from 1931.
Moreover, every month, he put on an operetta or a classical work lasting one hour live.
Untimely death and legacy to discover
On January 8, 1935, when he was only 42 years old, Joachim-Ulric Voyer died of pulmonary congestion. He leaves behind his wife Alice and 15 children (three died at a young age).
“A model citizen and esteemed by all those who knew him, he leaves the memory of a charitable and sociable man, involved in the activities of his parish and deeply devoted to the people with whom he came into contact,” we can read in the edition of Soleil published on the day of his death.
The funeral took place at St. Francis of Assisi Church. Joachim-Ulric Voyer was then buried in the Saint-Charles cemetery.
His music then fell somewhat into oblivion and several archives disappeared. But on December 14, 1996, 75 people, descendants of the composer or friends, gathered at the Canadian Institute of Quebec to hear excerpts from Intendant Bigot.
The following year, the lyrical duo Laplante-Duval recorded an excerpt from the opera (“O, my friend, please say it again”) on the album The French operetta. The duo then performed this piece on a world tour.
Then, in August 1998, during the Fêtes de la Nouvelle-France, we presented extracts from Intendant Bigot in the Jardin des Gouverneurs, under the direction of conductor Gilles Auger. The lyrical artists are accompanied by musicians from the Quebec Symphony Orchestra. Jacques Boulanger took care of the narration and presentation of the tunes.
In 2000, the Nouveau Théâtre Musical published the score for voice and piano of Voyer’s best-known operas. Seven years later, he published various extracts: “Ronde de l’Ours-Noir”, “Quel sublime decor”, “In a small village” and “In the abandonment, the black regrets”.
The City of Quebec also paid tribute to Joachim-Ulric Voyer in September 2006, by placing a commemorative plaque on the facade of a house he lived in on 13th Street.
A section of the City of Quebec website brings together the list of plates Here lived.
Sources
Library and National Archives of Quebec, Joachim Ulric Voyer Fund.
BIZIER, Gilles, “J.-Ulric Voyer”, The Canadian EncyclopediaMay 12, 2016.
Genealogy of Quebec and French America, Genealogy Napoleon Voyer.
Genealogy of Quebec and French America, Genealogy Ulric Voyer.
Le Soleil, “Sudden death of Mr Ulric Voyer”, January 8, 1935, p. 1.
Le Soleil, “Funeral of Mr. Ulric Voyer”, January 14, 1935, p. 5.
Society of Friends and Descendants of Ulric Voyer, “Voyer Ulric [1892-1935]composer”, ResMusicaAugust 10, 1999.
City of Quebec, “Sheet of a heritage building – 168 to 170, 13e Rue”, Directory of built heritage.
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