Search - Claude Gauthier :: Quebec Love

Francophone et Universel

Jorge Reyes | Quebec, QC | 08/22/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I believe that language shouldn't be the only parameter to enjoy music. Why choose only music with English lyrics? Or from anglophone composers only?
Gauthier remains highly popular in Québec. His "Le plus beau voyage", despite its thirty years of age -being composed in 1972- it's a true hymn and a fine piece of nationalism. The lyrics here reveal a nation, and a soul. In one passage of the song, Gauthier writes: "Je suis de Janvier sous zéro", which attests to the harsh winter of Québec; yet he is more obvious, like when he says: "Je suis d'Amérique et de France".
As I said before, Gauthier remains highly popular in his nation, but I think an artist of his quality has not gotten the attention it deserves abroad (and by that I mean the non-francophone world). In Gauthier's case, the language is of little importance. He has produced the kind of music with an universal branding: moving, inspiring, soulful and exquisite."