Why is music important to Canada?

Question

why is music important to Canada especially during the time around the depression and can anyone tell me about Canadian Chautauqua? thanks

Answer 1

dunno

Answer 2

I don't know if I can say much about Depression Era music beyond the fact that in the first half of the twentieth century the Canadian economic and cultural scene was a lot different than what we know today. Today we have a culture that is really the worldwide exported American culture with our own bent on it (which one must admit is a pretty strong one considering our relative size). This was most definitely not the case in the Depression. Canada had it's own record companies, it's own composers etc and still generally looked to Britain for our main source of culture from outside the country. It was a lot more independant and distinct culture.

That said however, the word that I think I would use to describe the Canadian music scene is interdependant. We still have a strong impact on who and what we hear but now that is not because we have an isolated market like they did in the depression. Instead that comes from the fact that we are able to produce artists etc that can compete on the world market while they enjoy a competative advantage on our broadcast media.

Hopefully that's somewhat towards the answer you were looking for.

Answer 3

Music, both recorded, live and over the radio, was a relatively cheap form of entertainment for milliions of Canadians during the Great Depression. Band leader Guy Lombardo was one of the best known Canadians of the day (and for a long time afterward) and ranks up there with the top band of the Big Band era. Marie Travers ("La Bolduc") was an important French Canadian singer.

Basically the Canadian Chautaqua was an offshoot of the American one and was especially strong in the Niagara area. In fact the Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake has a district called Chautaqua.