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Philippe Tatartcheff
Philippe Tatartcheff
Born	Geneva, Switzerland
Origin	Ontario, Canada
Occupation(s)	Poet, songwriter

Philippe Tatartcheff (born in Geneva, Switzerland) is a Canadian poet and songwriter. He is best known as the lyricist who wrote French language songs recorded by folk duo Kate & Anna McGarrigle.^[1]^{: 229–238}

Origins and early life

Tatartcheff's family was originally from the Swiss Cantons of Geneva, Vaud, Neuchatel and Fribourg.^{[citation needed]} After moving to Montreal in the early 1950s, they eventually settled in Timmins, Ontario, where his father, Dr. Michael Tatartcheff, was a physician and surgeon, and the town doctor.^[1]^: 229 His grandfather, Dr. Assen Tatartcheff, was a member of the Macedonian Liberation Front IMRE.^{[citation needed]}

Tatartcheff attended a French collège classique in Timmins, then McGill University before leaving for Paris in early 1969, to study for a master's in French literature^[1]^{: 229–230} at the Sorbonne, where he presented a thesis on the subject of Jules Vallès.^[2] While at McGill, he met Anna McGarrigle, who was studying at Beaux-Arts at the time (1964-1968).^[1]^{: 212, 229–230}

Career

In 1974, after Tatartcheff's return to Montreal, Anna McGarrigle asked him to help her write a song, which became "Complainte pour Ste. Catherine", featured on the sisters' debut album, Kate & Anna McGarrigle^[1]^{: 233–234} As McGarrigle recalled many years later:

In late spring of 1973, [...] I wrote a song in French on the accordion about Henri Richard, the Montreal Canadiens's beloved captain, with Richard Baker, a young musician from BC. [...] The idea was to release it in time for the 1974 hockey playoffs, but we needed another French song for the B-side and I asked Philippe, now back in Montreal, to help me write something. The song we banged out was "Complainte pour Ste. Catherine." It took us all of twenty minutes. [...] Most people who heard "Complainte pour Ste. Catherine" liked it, and when Kate and I were signed to Warner Brothers a while later, our producer, Joe Boyd, wanted us to re-record it.

—Anna McGarrigle, Mountain City Girls by Anna & Jane McGarrigle.^[1]^{: 233–234}

Tatartcheff would go on to contribute a total of twenty-four songs recorded by the McGarrigle sisters, most of them in French.

At some stage, he also became a farmer in Dunham, Quebec, according to the sleeve notes of the album The McGarrigle Hour.^[2]

List of songs

with Anna McGarrigle

"Complainte pour Ste. Catherine"^[3]^[4]
"Naufragée du Tendre"^[5]
"Mais quand tu danses"^[6]
"Excursion à Venise"^[6]
"Avant la guerre"^[6]
"À boire"^[6]
"Rainbow Ride"^[7]
"Arbre"^[8]
"Forever and the Same"^[9]

with Kate McGarrigle

"Side of Fries"^[10]
"Entre Lajeunesse et la sagesse"^[6]
"Cheminant à la ville"^[6]

with both Kate and Anna McGarrigle

"Prends ton manteau" (a.k.a. "Pronto Monto")^[10]
"La valse du maître draveur", performed by the Mountain City Four (Written by Wade Hemsworth & translated into French by Philippe Tatartcheff)^[11]
"Hang Out Your Heart"^[8]
"Petite annonce amoureuse"^[12]
"Ah tournesol"^[12]
"Hurle le vent"^[12]
"La Vache qui pleure"^[12]
"Rose blanche"^[12]
"Tant le monde"^[12]
"Ce matin"^[12]
"Dans le silence"^[12]

solo (recorded by Kate and Anna McGarrigle)

"DJ Serenade"^[7]

solo

"Country Bar, Northern Star"^[1]^: 229
"Sans coeur et sans béquille"^[1]^: 237

Videos

Tatartcheff has also uploaded some videos:^[13]

"Approaching Montreal" (2011)^[14]
"Cows in Snow" (2008)^[15]
"Dogs in Snow" (2008)^[16]
"Frelighsburg morning" (2008)^[17]

Bibliography

Lanken, Dane (2007). Kate and Anna McGarrigle Songs and Stories. Canada: Penumbra Press. ISBN 978-18-9732-304-5.

Lanken, Dane (2007). Thirty-three Kate and Anna McGarrigle Songs. Canada: Penumbra Press. ISBN 978-18-9732-305-2.

McGarrigle, Anna & Jane (2015). Mountain City Girls. Canada: Penguin Random House. ISBN 978-0-345-81402-9.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h McGarrigle, Anna & Jane (2015). Mountain City Girls. Canada: Penguin Random House. ISBN 978-0-345-81402-9.
^ ^a ^b "Forever And The Same". The McGarrigle Hour (at albumlinernotes.com). August 1998. Retrieved 4 February 2016. A longtime collaborator, Philippe contributed many lyrics in French and English to various Kate and Anna projects. Still, it's a long way from Jules Vallès, the subject of his U. of Paris Master's thesis, to keeping those cows milked in Dunham, Quebec.
^ (in French) Complainte pour Ste-Catherine, full text: (in French) Texte des paroles de la Complainte pour Ste-Catherine, de Philippe Tatartcheff — tel que paru sur l'album Entre Lajeunesse et la sagesse – The French Record (1981).
^ Sleeve notes from Kate & Anna McGarrigle, Warner Brothers K 56218, 1976.
^ Sleeve notes from Dancer with Bruised Knees, Warner Brothers K 56356, 1977.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Sleeve notes from french record, Hannibal Records HNBL 1302, 1980.
^ ^a ^b Sleeve notes from Heartbeats Accelerating, Private Music 261 142, 1990.
^ ^a ^b Sleeve notes from Matapedia, Hannibal Records HNCD 1394, 1996.
^ Sleeve notes from The McGarrigle Hour, Hannibal Records HNCD 1417, 1998.
^ ^a ^b Sleeve notes from Pronto Monto, Warner Brothers K 56561, 1978.
^ Canada vignettes (1978). "La valse du maître draveur". Channel ONF @ youtube.com. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 6 February 2016.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Sleeve notes from La vache qui pleure, Munich Records MRCD 260, 2003.
^ "Philippe Tatartcheff on Vimeo". vimeo.com. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
^ "Approaching Montreal". vimeo.com. 6 September 2011. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
^ "Cows in Snow". vimeo.com. 22 July 2008. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
^ "Dogs in Snow". vimeo.com. 29 November 2008. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
^ "Frelighsburg morning". vimeo.com. 26 August 2008. Retrieved 4 February 2016.