Claude Léveillée

Claude Léveillée. Singer-songwriter, actor, b Montreal 16 Oct 1932, d there 9 Jun 2011; BA (Montreal) 1954. He made his debut in 1955 in the revue Bleu et Or at the University of Montreal, where he was studying social sciences. In 1956 he was seen in 'Le Secret de la Rivière perdue' on CBC TV; he also created a character, Clo-Clo, as well as the decor, scenarios, scripts, and music for the children's TV program 'Domino' 1957-9 and 1961-2. With other Quebec chansonniers he founded Les Bozos in 1959. Among his first songs were 'Frédéric,' 'L'Hiver,' 'Les Vieux Pianos,' and 'Rendez-vous'. He worked in Paris 1959-60 with Édith Piaf, who in 1963 recorded songs he had written for her: 'Boulevard du crime,' 'Ouragan,' 'La Voix' (ballet), and 'Le Vieux Piano' (a new version of 'Les Vieux Pianos'). In 1964 he became the first Quebec artist to give a solo performance at the PDA. He collaborated with the pianist and arranger André Gagnon 1962-9; subsequently his accompanists have been Pierre Leduc, Cyrille Beaulieu, Michel Lefrançois, and Réjean Émond.

Léveillée made many tours in Canada, France (appearing in particular in Paris at the Théâtre de Bobino and the Olympia), the USSR (1968, 1972), and Japan (1970), as well as in Belgium, in Switzerland, and in central Asian countries. In 1972 he represented the Quebec chanson at the International Song Festival, Sopot, Poland. He has written the music for several CBC TV plays, including a French version of 'Of Mice and Men,' 'L'Échéance du vendredi,' 'Le Pélican,' and 'Millionnaire à froid,' and has collaborated with the author Marcel Dubé and the producer and director Louis-Georges Carrier in the production of such dramas as Zone, Au retour des oies blanches, and Un Simple Soldat. He also composed the music for the film Les Beaux Dimanches (1973) and wrote seven musical comedies: Doux Temps des amours (1964), Il est une saison (1965), Ne ratez pas l'espion (1966), Elle tournera la terre (1967), On n'aime qu'une fois (1967), L'Arche de Noé (1968), and Posters (1968). He composed the sung concerto Contact (1972) and also set to music a tale by Gilles Vigneault, Le Dict de l'aigle et du castor (1972); some traditional stories Salut l'Indien and Requiem 1837 (1977); and a tale by Félix Leclerc, Le Petit Ours gris de la Mauricie (1977). A book of Leveillée's poems, L'Étoile d'Amérique, was published in Montreal in 1971. Early in 1976 on tour in Quebec he presented an autobiographical stage show entitled 'Ce matin un homme' and wrote the ballet Fleur de lit, danced by Les Ballets-Jazz du Québec during the Montreal Olympics. He participated in 1976 and 1977 in the St-Jean-Baptiste celebrations in Montreal and appeared in 1977 in several TV specials in Paris, Montreal, and Toronto. He composed the musical drama Concerto pour Hélène in honour of Hélène Boulé, the wife of Samuel de Champlain, the founder of Quebec City. The Quebec Symphony Orchestra, Danielle Licari, and the choir of St-Dominique Church premiered the work, 3 Jul 1978, as part of the city's 370th anniversary celebrations. Lévesque gave up his stage career at the end of the 1970s. He returned in 1985, at the PDA with André Gagnon, in a revival of a 1964 show. After the release of his record Enfin revivre in 1989, he gave a few performances in Quebec, in France and in Switzerland. In 1991, he appeared in the TV series 'Scoop'.

Julie Arel, Isabelle Aubret, Neil Chotem, Renée Claude, André Gagnon, Daniel Guichard, Pauline Julien, Georgette Lemaire, Monique Leyrac, and Roger Williams are among the artists who have sung or played Léveillée's songs. A number of his songs and piano pieces have been published by Publications Chant de mon pays. He has won several awards, including the Grand Prix du disque canadien of Montreal radio station CKAC (1962), the Grand Prix of the 1966 Montreal Festival du disque in the singer-songwriter category (Prix La Bolduc), and a prize in 1977 from the Académie Charles-Cros in Paris for the LP 1 fois 5 (see Discography for Chansonniers).

From 'Frédéric' to 'L'Étoile d'Amérique' Léveillée has contributed outstanding works to Quebec music; through their intensity of expression and sincerity, his compositions have reached a very high level of attainment. Always deeply felt and often steeped in nostalgia, Léveillée's works appeal to widely diverse social groups. In La Chanson québécoise Benoît L'Herbier described him as a 'creator of immediate and moving melodies of indefinable beauty' (Montreal 1974). His lyrics reflect the universal themes of love, solitude, and sometimes even despair.

Discography
Claude Léveillée. 1961. Col FS-535

Claude Léveillée. 1963. Col FS-603/(retitled Frédéric) Harmony HFS-9084

Clo-Clo à la ferme. 1963. Col HFL-8001

Noël avec Clo-Clo. 1963. Col HFL-8003

Claude Léveillée à la Place des Arts. 1964. Col FS-611/Harmonie KHF-90209

Léveillée à Paris. 1964. Col FS-618

Léveillée-Gagnon. Léveillée piano, Gagnon piano. 1965. Col FS-631/2-Col GFS-90128

Léveillée à Paris. 1966. Col FS-639

Léveillée + 10. 1966. Col FS-646

Une voix, deux pianos. Léveillée piano, Gagnon piano. 1966. Col FS-662/2-Col GFS-90128

Claude Léveillée chante Un simple soldat. 1967. Col FS-651

Elle tournera la terre. 1967. Col FS-677

10 ans de chansons. (1968). 3-Col F3S-300

Le Cérémonial de l'amour. 1969. Col FS-726

Claude Léveillée. 1969. Leko KS 101

Clo-Clo et Bibi en vacances. 1969. Barclay 10021

L'Étoile d'Amérique. 1969. Leko KS-100

Si jamais/If ever. 1969. Leko KS-102/Leko KS-103

Cheval de bois. 1971. Barclay 80125

Les Grands Succès de Claude Léveillée. (1971). 2-Col GFS-90012/(selections) CBS Select BUT-50217 (cass)

Claude Léveillée. (1972). Harmonie KHF-90086

Contact. 1972. Barclay 80147

Pour les amants. (1972). 2-Col GFS-90122

La Vie en elle. G. Godin narrator. 1972. Barclay 80140.

Les Amoureux de l'an 2000. 1973. Barclay 80174

Les Beaux Dimanches. 1974. Barclay 80202

Dix Succès pour toi de Claude Léveillée. 1975. Barclay 80206

On remonte en amour. 1975. Barclay 80216

Place des Arts 1976. 1976. 2-Manoir M-911-912

Le Temps d'une saison. With Félix Leclerc. 1976. 2-Poly 2675-144

Black Sun. 1978. Poly 2424-171

Claude Léveillée se raconte Le Long voyage. 1978. Poly 2457-104

Escale 80. 1979. Cam CML-2006

La Légende du petit ours gris/Le Journal d'un chien (extracts). With Félix Leclerc. 1979. PolyGram 2424-195

Claude Léveillée. 1981. Pro-Culture PPC-6019

Escale 84. 1984. Amplitude PS-2504

Enfin revivre. 1989. GMD 1303-27

See also Discography for Chansonniers; G. Vigneault.

Author Benoît L'Herbier, Denise Ménard, Suzanne Thomas

Bibliography

Bisbrouck, Noel. 'Claude Léveillée: from song to musical comedy,' CanComp, 25, Jan 1968

Gingras, Claude. 'Claude Léveillée back from USSR tour,' CanComp, 34, Nov 1968

Genest, Jean et al. 'Léveillée,' Musique: orchestres et analyses d'oeuvres (Montreal 1972)

Champagne, Jane. 'A Quebec composer on the move again,' CanComp, 77, Feb 1973

Guérard, Daniel. Claude Léveillée aux trapèzes des étoiles (Montreal 1990)

Chansonniers du Québec

Links to Other Sites
Quebec mourns singer-songwriter Claude Léveillée
A CBC News obituary for popular Québec singer-songwriter Claude Léveillée.