Music and the Fight against Confederation in 1860s Montréal

Abstract

In this article, I examine how music was used as an expression of French-Canadian identity in nineteenth-century Montréal. Focusing on the 1860s and a group of musicians and intellectuals opposed to Confederation, I explore their efforts to use performance, criticism, and composition in the (re)construction of French-Canadian identity. My main sources of information are la Presse and l'Union nationale, two newspapers of the time that were strongly opposed to Confederation and which were vigorous in the promotion of musical events. Through an examination of the musical and political activities advertised and reviewed in the pages of these and other newspapers, we shall see how culture was used as a means to strengthen French-Canadian nationalism. At the same time, while the musicians themselves may have sought an independent Québec, they remained open to other cultures and through their collaboration with non-francophones articulated a form of civic nationalism.