University of Montreal | A virtual showcase for the Claude Gingras collection

Disappeared at the age of 87 on December 30, 2018, Claude Gingras, classical music critic of The Press for decades, bequeathed his record collection and archives to the University of Montreal. A behind-the-scenes tour of this exceptional donation.

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.

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. »

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.

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 M^me 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 M^me 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 M^me 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.

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.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

1/6

« 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.

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.

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

• 89

  The Claude Gingras collection includes 55 CDs, 33 vinyl records and a DVD, or 89 recordings, where we hear the piano sonata n^o 29, opus 106, called Hammerklavierby Beethoven.

  Source: Lina Picard, librarian at the library management of the University of Montreal

  23

  There are 23 books dedicated to Maria Callas in the Claude Gingras collection. Others may be in treatment.