Quick Facts
Biography
Otto Joachim, CQ (October 13, 1910 – July 30, 2010) was a German-born Canadian violist and composer of electronic music.
Born in Düsseldorf, he trained as a violinist at Düsseldorf and Cologne. In 1934 he left Nazi Germany (like many Jewish composers of his time) and played in Singapore and Shanghai during the war years. He settled permanently in Montreal in 1949. For the next 15 years Joachim worked as a player, teacher, instrument builder and composer. Since the 1960s he has concentrated on his compositions which are a mix of aleatoric and electroacoustic works. In 1994, he received and honorary doctorate from Concordia University, Montreal. The multi-channel electroacoustic studio in the Department of Music at Concordia University is named "The Otto Joachim Project Studio".
In 1986 he was named an Honorary Member of the Canadian Electroacoustic Community, and in 1993, he was made a Knight of the National Order of Quebec.
He died on July 30, 2010 in Montreal.
Selected works
- Concertante for violin, string orchestra and percussion (1960)
- Contrastes for orchestra (1968)
- Dialogue for viola and piano (1964)
- Expansion for flute and piano (1967)
- Music for Violin and Viola (1953)
- Nonet (1960)
- Paean for cello (1985)
- Petite œuvre for flute, viola and cello (2000)
- Quatro intermezzi for flute and guitar (1981)
- Requiem for violin, or viola, or cello solo (1976)
- Requiem in Memoriam Serge Garant for guitar solo (1976, 1986)
- String Quartet (1960)
- Twelve 12-Tone Pieces for Children for piano solo (1961)
Awards
- 1969 - Grand Prix Paul-Gilson
- 1990 - Prix Calixa-Lavallée of the Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste
- 1993 - Chevalier of the Ordre national du Québec
- 2008 - Tribute Prize of the Conseil québécois de la musique