Émile Benoît (1913 to 1992) fished the waters off Newfoundland’s Port au Port Peninsula for almost 60 years and played fiddle for weddings and dances on the side. A second-place finish at a Stephenville fiddle contest in 1973, when he was 60, turned him into a touring musician. Over the next two decades he recorded three albums, wrote about 200 tunes, played France, England, Norway, and New Orleans, and became the voice of French Newfoundland fiddling.
Why Benoît matters
Newfoundland’s French-speaking west coast had a fiddle tradition that few outsiders had heard. Benoît carried it onto festival stages and television, and he did it with his own tunes as much as old ones. Emile’s Dream and Flying Reel are now standard repertoire for Newfoundland players and for the folk-rock band Figgy Duff, who recorded with him. He proved that a source fiddler could also be a composer, and that a career could start at 60.
Life and career
Benoît was born on March 24, 1913, at Black Duck Brook on the Port au Port Peninsula, in what was then the Dominion of Newfoundland. He finished three grades of school and began fishing at nine. His father and uncle built him homemade fiddles before he got a real violin at twelve. He played his first public dances and weddings as a teenager. For decades he fished, logged, and worked as a carpenter and blacksmith, and he played fiddle at community events.
In 1973 he placed second at a fiddle contest in Stephenville. That result opened doors, and he began to travel. After he retired from fishing in 1980 music became his full-time work. He played the Mariposa festival, Toronto’s Harbourfront, the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in 1988, and stages in France, England, and Norway. He appeared on CBC’s 90 Minutes Live and in several films, including the BBC’s The Magic Fiddle and CBC’s From the Heart.
He released Emile’s Dream in 1979, It Comes from the Heart in 1982, and Vive la Rose in 1992. The last album was recorded with members of Figgy Duff in July 1992. In 1988 Memorial University of Newfoundland gave him an honorary doctorate. He gave his final performance in July 1992 and died in Stephenville on September 2, 1992, at 79.
Playing style
Benoît described his own music as “a little bit of Scots, a little bit of Irish, a little bit of Québécois, a little bit of French, all mixed together.” That mix is the sound of the Port au Port Peninsula. His reels drive hard with a strong foot beat, and his tunes take odd turns, with phrases that run longer or shorter than a standard eight bars.
He was self-taught and did not read music, and his tunes came from his own head. He said Emile’s Dream arrived in a dream. Other reels, such as Joe Smallwood, Washroom, and Flying Reel, carry the same crooked charm. He was a storyteller in two languages, and on stage he wrapped his tunes in tales.
Influences and legacy
Benoît learned in the French-speaking communities of the Port au Port Peninsula, from the dance music around him and from the fiddles his father and uncle built. He recorded with Figgy Duff, and Newfoundland musicians including Kelly Russell, Noel Dinn, Pamela Morgan, and Jim Payne have named him as an influence. Bands including Figgy Duff, Touchstone, and the Wonderful Grand Band recorded his tunes.
His life was the subject of a doctoral thesis on his composing process. In 2009 the National Film Board of Canada released an animated short, Vive la rose, built on his recording of the song. He stands with Rufus Guinchard as one of the two great source fiddlers of Newfoundland.
Signature tunes and songs
Emile’s Dream Flying Reel Joe Smallwood Washroom Vive la Rose.
Essential recordings
Emile’s Dream (1979) It Comes from the Heart (1982) Vive la Rose (1992)
Awards and honors
Honorary Doctor of Laws, Memorial University of Newfoundland (1988) Prix Roger Champagne, Fédération des Francophones de Terre-Neuve et du Labrador (1988) Médaille Léger-Comeau, Société Nationale de l’Acadie (1988) Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council Lifetime Achievement Award (1992) East Coast Music Awards posthumous honor (1993)
Watch and listen
Benoît plays Flying Reel. Listen for the foot beat and the way the phrases bend away from a square count.
What to learn from Benoît
Learn Emile’s Dream. It is his best-known tune and a good first taste of Newfoundland fiddling, with a melody that sticks after one hearing. The technique to steal is his foot. Benoît kept time with his feet as much as his bow, and that beat is what makes the tunes dance. Play his reels with a steady stomp and let the bow follow it. If a phrase feels a bar too long or too short, do not fix it. That crookedness is the tune.
Sources
Émile Benoît, Newfoundland and Labrador Heritage Émile Benoit, The Canadian Encyclopedia Émile Benoît, Wikipedia
Related players
See the fiddle players hub and the fiddle guide for more Canadian players. Rufus Guinchard is the other source fiddler of Newfoundland. Jean Carignan carried the Québec tradition that fed into Benoît’s mix. Buddy MacMaster played the Cape Breton style across the water.