Article

Antoine Dessane

Published Online June 11, 2008

Last Edited July 17, 2015

Antoine Dessane, organist, pianist, cellist, teacher, composer (b at Forcalquier, near Aix-en-Provence, France 10 Dec 1826; d at Québec City 8 June 1873). Founder of the choral Société musicale.
Dessane, Antoine
Antoine Dessane (portrait by Théophile Hamel courtesy Musée du Québec). The music is an excerpt from his Ouverture of 1863 with the Orchestre Métropolitain, Gilles Auger conducting (courtesy CBC).

Antoine Dessane

Antoine Dessane, organist, pianist, cellist, teacher, composer (b at Forcalquier, near Aix-en-Provence, France 10 Dec 1826; d at Québec City 8 June 1873). Founder of the choral Société musicale Ste-Cécile (1869), Antoine Dessane was an active member of several Québec music clubs. He received his musical education from his older brother and his father until he enrolled in the Paris Conservatory at age 10. Life was difficult for artists after the 1848 Revolution, and Dessane accepted a position as organist at Notre-Dame Basilica in Québec City (1849-60). He was subsequently an organist in New York, but returned to Québec City in 1869, this time to a position at St-Roch Church. Many of his works - over 50 sacred and secular pieces - reflect his adopted country; they include La Québécoise and Souvenir de Kamouraska.