Canadian cellist Marcel Saint-Cyr has died at age 85. The prominent musician and educator, a founding member of the Orford String Quartet, passed away on December 30, 2023 in Montréal.
While he’s best known for his work as a cellist, Saint-Cyr also played the viola da gamba and the baryton, and used his influence to encourage the growth of chamber music as an educator.
Early Years
Saint-Cyr was born on May 20, 1938 in Québec City into a musical family. He began his studies at Le Conservatoire de musique de Québec, where he won the first prize for cello in 1961, the same year he earned a BA at l’Université Laval. He went on to study in Paris and Siena, settling at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik in Karlsruhe, Germany in 1962, and earned a concert diploma there in 1964.
Perhaps less known is Saint-Cyr’s connection to choral direction. He founded and directed the Jannequin Choir in 1960, and studied conducting in Europe. In 1964, he became the director of the choir at l’Université Laval.
The Orford Quartet
The Orford String Quartet, with Saint-Cyr as cellist, was founded in 1965. It’s hard to over-emphasize the ensemble’s role in opening up the world to Canadian chamber music, as well as in firmly establishing the string quartet as a major force in Canadian classical music.
Gilles Lefebvre founded what was then called the Orford Arts Centre in Québec in 1951. In 1965, violinists Andrew Dawes and Kenneth Perkins came there to study, and their instructor encouraged them to form a string quartet, adding Terence Helmer (viola) and Marcel Saint-Cyr.
The quartet later found a base in Toronto, where Saint-Cyr also began his teaching career at the University of Toronto Faculty of Music. He remained there from 1968 until 1980, when he retired from the Quartet and relocated to Montréal.
The Orford Quartet was among the first Canadian classical music ensembles to reach international acclaim, and put Canadian string quartets on the map. The Orford Quartet won first prize at a competition held by the European Broadcasting Union in 1974, which launched their international reputations.
In 1978, they received the Canadian Music Council Award for their recording of the Mendelssohn Quartets No. 1 and 2. The quartet performed across the globe, and left a sizable discography.
Andrew Dawes (Violin 1), Kenneth Perkins (Violin 2), Terrence Helmer (Viola) and Marcel St. Cyr (Cello) perform Beethoven: String Quartet in Bb+, op.18, no.6:
Educator & Baryton Enthusiast
Saint-Cyr left his mark on the next generation as an educator. After his time at the University of Toronto, he taught at the University of Montréal from 1981 to 1984. From 1984, he led the chamber music department at McGill University for more than two decades, and is credited with its tremendous growth, and raising the department’s profile during that period. He also taught at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal from from 1986 to 1988.
From 2002 until his passing, he was a member of the Franz Joseph String Quartet of Montréal. With the Franz Joseph Trio, Saint-Cyr performed the complete cycle of Haydn piano trios.
Along with the cello, Saint-Cyr studied and performed the baryton, a bowed string instrument that is characterized by a unique arrangement of plucked and sympathetic strings. It was in common use in Europe from the 17th until the end of the 18th century.
Haydn, in particular, wrote a sizable repertoire for the instrument, often in a trio with viola and cello. Saint-Cyr founded the Ensemble de baryton Eisenstadt in 1981 to showcase the instrument, and in 1986, the Ensemble recorded four of Haydn’s trios.
Outside his work with the Orford String Quartet, Saint-Cyr’s other recordings include Claude Champagne’s Suite miniature with flutist Robert Langevin and pianist Berta Rosenohl-Grinhauz in 1987, and Rodolphe Mathieu’s Sonata in 1988.
Marcel Saint-Cyr leaves behind two children.
R.I.P.
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