Élévation - Les anges dans nos campagnes

Pierre Gautier. Organist, teacher, composer, b Argenton-sur-Creuse, Berry, France, 29 Oct 1863, d Eastview (now Vanier), near Ottawa, Canada, 15 Dec 1940. He studied piano, organ, and harmony in his native city, then in Paris at the Institut national des jeunes aveugles. In 1883 he settled in Le Mans, then moved to Ottawa, succeeding Amédée Tremblay as the organist, 1920-2, at Notre-Dame Basilica. He later performed the same duties at St Charles' Church (1922-34).

Gautier harmonized and/or arranged (mostly for choir) more than 125 folksongs of French and Canadian origin, and, to mark Ottawa's centenary in 1927, songs from the repertoire of Charles Marchand for the Bytown Troubadours. The following year, in the E.W. Beatty Competition organized as part of the second CPR Festival in Quebec City, he was awarded a special prize of $100 for his arrangement of four songs. He wrote several masses, including a Christmas mass, and in 1930 set to music 'La Patrie,' a poem by Georges Boileau. He also contributed articles to several French journals of religious music.

This short work is based upon the famous and beloved French carol, "Les anges dans nos campagnes" (Angels, we have heard on high).

The setting is a quiet, as it is intended to be played during the Elevation of the Host at Mass.

The harmonies are effective, and the feeling of quiet joy is present.

I do not have any photos of Pierre Gautier, but I did attach two of Notre-Dame Basilica in Ottawa, as well as the score.