Willy Amtmann

Amtmann, Willy

William (Willy or Willi) Amtmann. Historian, violinist, b Vienna 10 Aug 1910, d Ottawa 22 Jul 1996; B MUS (Toronto) 1950, M MUS (ESM, Rochester) 1952, D LITT musicology (Strasbourg) 1956. He received a diploma after studying 1924-30 at the Vienna Academy of Music and arrived in Canada in 1940. While in charge of instrumental music 1947-68 for the Ottawa Board of Education he prepared his master's thesis on Bruckner's chamber music and in 1955 obtained a bursary from the Royal Society of Canada to complete his doctoral thesis, "La Vie musicale en Nouvelle-France." He also played in the Ottawa Philharmonic Orchestra and served 1957-9 as concertmaster. He received further grants from the Royal Society in 1965 and the Canada Council in 1966. He taught music history 1968-76 at Carleton University, specializing in Quebec studies, and also lectured at the University of Ottawa. Amtmann contributed to several publications, including The New Grove Dictionary, and was the author of Music in Canada 1600-1800 (Montreal 1975) and an amplified version in French, La Musique au Québec 1600-1875 (Montreal 1976). Amtmann was one of the pioneers of historical writing on the music of Canada under the French regime. He ceased scholarly activities after retirement. His brother, the bibliographer Bernard Amtmann, was the first president of the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of Canada.