Quebec's Gaspe landscape inspired Canadian composer Claude Champagne to write his Symphonie gaspesienne, a rare Canadian work now available with the Orchestre symphonique de Laval, conducted by Alain Trudel. This recording also includes pieces by Bela Bartok (Dance Suite, Sz. 77), Zoltan Kodaly (Dances of Galanta), and Andre Prevost (Celebration).
Following a trip to Gaspe in 1944, Champagne composed Gaspesia, a "symphonic portrait" of the region. Revised the following year, the work was retitled as Symphonie gaspesienne. This work occupies an important place in the history of Canadian music as one of the first pieces of its kind.
The Suite of Dances, Sz. 77 (Tancszvit) was composed and premiered by Bartok in 1923 to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of Budapest, the result of the union of the two cities of Buda and Pest and the district of Obuda.
In 1933, to mark the 80th anniversary of the Budapest Philharmonic Society, Kodaly composed the Galanta Dances (Galantai tancok). These dances are linked to the composer's childhood memories of the gypsy music ensembles he had heard in Galanta.
Composed in 1966 for the Charlottetown Festival (Prince Edward Island), Celebration by Andre Prevost was premiered there the same year by the Halifax Symphony Orchestra. The work was part of the many festivities surrounding the centenary of Canadian Confederation, celebrated in 1967.
Eight-time Juno nominated and Emmy nominated, Music Director of the Toledo Symphony (USA) and of the Orchestre symphonique de Trois-Rivieres (Quebec) Alain Trudel was knighted by the government of Quebec in 2020. From 2006 to 2022 Trudel was music director of the Orchestre symphonique de Laval, taking the organization to new artistic heights and financial stability.
The Orchestre symphonique de Laval is one of the most important artistic organizations in the Laval region (Quebec). Founded in 1984, it consists of fifty-three professional musicians who have graduated from conservatories and universities in Quebec. For 40 years, the Orchestra's mission has been to make symphonic music heard and shared in a spirit of conviviality and proximity.
