Ernest Gagnon

Ernest Gagnon (French pronunciation: [ɛʁnɛst ɡaɲɔ̃]; 7 November 1834 – 15 September 1915) was a Canadian folklorist, composer, and organist.

He is best known for compiling a large amount of French Canadian folk music which he published as Chansons populaires du Canada in 1865–1867.

In 1857 he travelled to Paris after obtaining a study leave and became a pupil of Henri Herz and Alexandre Goria.

[2] Many of his arts songs, choral pieces, and works for solo piano have been published by the Canadian Musical Heritage Society and by Adélard Joseph Boucher.

His piano work Stadaconé (1858) was notably the first notated composition to be based on the music of the aboriginal peoples in Canada.