Heir to the immense collection of 33 rpm records, CDs and documents of Claude Gingras, journalist at The Press from 1953 until the end of 2015 and specialist in classical music, the University of Montreal (UdeM) intends to create a virtual showcase in order to highlight it for the benefit of the general public.
This is what the custodians of the collection explained to The Press while the processing and cataloging of the collection are still under construction, more than five years after the death of our colleague, on December 30, 2018. Because the task of going through more than 40,000 documents is immense and complex.
“In terms of research, we had to ensure that each object in the collection was duly documented to create a specialized database. It is the researchers who will use it more,” indicates Stéphanie Gagnon, general director of the UdeM Libraries Department.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS
Stéphanie Gagnon, general director of the UdeM Libraries Department
For the general public, we will create a virtual showcase which will be at the heart of our activities to make Mr. Gingras’ collection accessible to the whole world.
Stéphanie Gagnon, general director of the UdeM Libraries Department
PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, THE PRESS
The conservation center of the University of Montreal, where all the musical artifacts bequeathed by Claude Gingras are stored
This showcase, the design of which was entrusted to the Montreal creative agency Kffein, will introduce the public to a small part of the critic’s collection. We won’t be able to digitize everything. However, UdeM wants to ensure that this tool will encourage the curious to go further in their knowledge of this exceptional gift.
What will this showcase be? “A discovery of the character Claude Gingras,” replies Morgane De Bellefeuille, deputy director of the Libraries Department. We will discover his profession as a critic as much as his method of collecting and the major subjects he covered. The showcase will provide an overview of his work through small extracts and notable moments from his career. But also significant moments in the history of Quebec music. »
PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, THE PRESS
Claude Gingras’ collection included some 20,000 vinyl records and 11,686 compact discs arranged in the shelves seen in the foreground of this photo. Part of the first two shelves visible in the background houses other items from his collection.
Beyond the thousands of records, CDs and books in the collection, Claude Gingras had created and constantly updated abundant documentation associated with his work. This aspect of the collection is the most unique and is of great interest to depositaries. Mr. Gingras, for example, had compiled files on the OSM, the Orchester Métropolitain, Yanick Nézet-Séguin, Kent Nagano, the Lanaudière Festival, etc.
Il associait un chef d’orchestre avec certaines critiques, certains ouvrages documentés ou certains CD. En ouvrant un de ses CD, on retrouvait la critique papier de celui-ci, pliée méticuleusement avec des éléments soulignés et des annotations référant à d’autres enregistrements, à des partitions, etc.
Morgane De Bellefeuille, directrice adjointe de la Direction des bibliothèques de l’UdeM
Une des pièces de l’appartement qu’habitait notre collègue au square Saint-Louis était remplie de tels dossiers thématiques.
PHOTO OLIVIER JEAN, ARCHIVES LA PRESSE
Jacqueline Desmarais et Claude Gingras en février 2016 à la remise des prix OPUS
Jacqueline Desmarais
Selon Stéphanie Gagnon, il est très rare qu’une bibliothèque accueille une si grosse collection que celle léguée par Claude Gingras. Son traitement bénéficie de l’aide philanthropique de Mme Jacqueline Desmarais (1928-2018) et de sa succession. La femme de Paul Desmarais (1927-2013), ancien président de Power Corporation, était une grande passionnée de musique classique et une mécène. Elle était aussi une amie de Claude Gingras et tous deux échangeaient régulièrement sur leur passion commune.
Au total, le don est de 3 millions de dollars.
C’est Mme Desmarais qui a eu la vision et qui a mis le projet de valorisation de la collection sur pied. À la suite de son décès, ses fils Paul Jr et André ont voulu poursuivre l’engagement et la vision de leur mère.
Geneviève O’Meara, porte-parole de l’UdeM
Le don de Mme Desmarais permet aussi de verser des bourses à des chercheurs dont le travail nécessitera une exploration plus approfondie de la collection. « Ici, la Faculté de musique de l’UdeM est notre partenaire numéro un », indique Stéphanie Gagnon.
Les chercheurs ont accès aux artefacts depuis septembre 2022. Pour les consulter, ils doivent se rendre à l’entrepôt de l’université où la collection est toujours en traitement et en catalogage. Ils peuvent aussi emprunter certains documents.
PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, LA PRESSE
Claude Gingras assistait aux concerts avec des partitions annotées, ce qui lui permettait de faire des comparaisons, pas toujours flatteuses, entre ce qu’il entendait et des versions antérieures.
Grand public
De son vivant, Claude Gingras avait demandé que son don soit accessible au grand public. Il le sera notamment grâce à la vitrine virtuelle, comme nous l’avons écrit plus haut. Mais il reste encore des éléments à définir.
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PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, LA PRESSE
La sonate pour piano no 29, opus 106, dite Hammerklavier, de Beethoven était une des œuvres préférées de Claude Gingras, indique la bibliothécaire Lina Picard, une des personnes affectées au traitement du don. Or, cette pièce de Beethoven se trouve sur le disque Florilège du piano, de Mozart à Messiaen de l’interprète française Yvonne Loriod. Selon une recherche de Mme Picard, on trouve seulement cinq exemplaires de ce disque dans le catalogue collectif WorldCat auquel contribuent notamment des bibliothèques nord-américaines et européennes.
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PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, LA PRESSE
Reportage au centre de conservation de l’Université de Montréal, où sont stockés tout les artefacts musicaux légué par Claude Gingras suite à son décès.
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PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, LA PRESSE
Une carte de presse de Claude Gingras
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PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, LA PRESSE
Un calendrier annoté de Claude Gingras
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PHOTO EDOUARD PLANTE-FRÉCHETTE, ARCHIVES LA PRESSE
Claude Gingras assis à son bureau, chez lui
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PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, LA PRESSE
La collection Claude Gingras compte plus de 40 000 documents, dont 20 000 vinyles et 11 686 disques compacts (CD).
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« Pour faire rayonner le don et créer un sens à travers l’immense collection, nous avions besoin d’une agence [Kffein] to support us in the scriptwriting, says Morgane De Bellefeuille. You have to find extracts, strong moments to highlight them and create a story that will arouse people’s interest. »
For an example of a virtual showcase, we will visit McGill University’s Reading with Austen website, through which visitors can explore the works of British author Jane Austen, famous for her novel Pride and Prejudiceconsulted in the library of his brother Edward.
Visit Reading with Austen
In the case of Claude Gingras, the virtual showcase could take the form of a reconstruction of his apartment to show how his possessions were classified. But many things remain to be defined and it is still too early to say whether the content of this showcase will be renewed over the years.
PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, THE PRESS
Claude Gingras was so orderly in the classification of his collection that the depositaries created a codification directly inspired by it. The works are thus classified into chamber music (CHA), piano (PIA), operas (OPE), with subcategories such as “i” for performer and c for “composer”.
Finally, a gateway to the collection will also be created at the Faculty of Music library, because its students form one of the target audiences to whom it is aimed.
PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, THE PRESS
One of some 20,000 Claude Gingras vinyls in the hands of librarian Lina Picard
More than 40,000 documents, including 20,000 vinyls
Claude Gingras has more than once claimed that his collection numbered some 150,000 vinyls, which was reported The Press and other media over the years. Now, what was our surprise to learn that he had much less. ” You are sure ? », We asked Stéphanie Gagnon, general director of the Libraries Department of the University of Montreal, when she put forward the figure of 20,000 33 rpm records. “We took everything! Everything, everything, everything! she answers with conviction. We took the entire collection. » After Mr. Gingras’ death, library staff only had a few weeks to empty the apartment. “There were discs from the floor to the ceiling, in all the cabinets and on top of the refrigerator,” she says. The Libraries Directorate has listed:
- around 20,000 vinyls
- 11,686 compact discs (CDs)
- 2800 musical scores, some of which are annotated
- 1500 pounds
- 4593 reviews
- around a hundred videos on DVD and VHS
- several boxes of personal archives consisting essentially of correspondence, access to which by the general public must respect the Personal Information Protection Act
Learn more
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- The Claude Gingras collection includes 55 CDs, 33 vinyl records and a DVD, or 89 recordings, where we hear the piano sonata no 29, opus 106, called Hammerklavierby Beethoven.
Source: Lina Picard, librarian at the library management of the University of Montreal
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- There are 23 books dedicated to Maria Callas in the Claude Gingras collection. Others may be in treatment.