Oscar O'Brien

Oscar O'Brien (7 September 1892 – 20 September 1958) was a Canadian folklorist, composer, pianist, organist, music educator, and Roman Catholic priest. A large portion of his compositions were based in folklore and he also arranged and harmonized roughly 400 French and Canadian folksongs; many of which were written for his collaborations with Charles Marchand and the Alouette Vocal Quartet. He worked as an arranger or accompanist on numerous 78 rpm recordings for such labels as Bluebird, Brunswick, Columbia, Starr, and Victor. He contributed numerous articles on folklore to publications like Le Canada français and was a frequent lecturer on folklore subjects. In 1978 CBC Radio recognized O'Brien in a series of six broadcasts featuring his harmonizations.

Birth and Death Data: Born Ottawa, Died September 20, 1958 (Montreal)

Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1925 - 1941

Roles Represented in DAHR: arranger, director, songwriter, composer

= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.

Recordings (Results 1-25 of 34 records)

Company Matrix No. Size First Recording Date Title Primary Performer Description Role Audio
Victor BS-066767 10-in. 9/11/1941 A la claire fontaine Oscar O'Brien ; Le Quatuor Alouette Male vocal quartet, unaccompanied director  
Victor BS-066768 10-in. 9/11/1941 Le merle Oscar O'Brien ; Le Quatuor Alouette Male vocal quartet, unaccompanied director  
Victor BS-066769 10-in. 9/11/1941 Vivi la Canadienne Oscar O'Brien ; Le Quatuor Alouette Male vocal quartet, unaccompanied director  
Victor BS-066770 10-in. 9/11/1941 L'appetit vient en mangeant Oscar O'Brien ; Le Quatuor Alouette Male vocal quartet, unaccompanied director, arranger  
Victor BS-066771 10-in. 9/11/1941 C'est l'aviron Oscar O'Brien ; Le Quatuor Alouette Male vocal quartet, unaccompanied director, arranger  
Victor BS-066772 10-in. 9/11/1941 V'la l'bon vent Oscar O'Brien ; Le Quatuor Alouette Male vocal quartet, unaccompanied director  
Victor BS-066773 10-in. 9/11/1941 D'ou viens- tu bergere? Oscar O'Brien ; Le Quatuor Alouette Male vocal quartet, unaccompanied director  
Victor BS-066774 10-in. 9/11/1941 Le bal chez Boule Oscar O'Brien ; Le Quatuor Alouette Male vocal quartet, unaccompanied director, arranger  
Victor BS-066775 10-in. 9/11/1941 Les filles de St. Constant Oscar O'Brien ; Le Quatuor Alouette Male vocal quartet, unaccompanied director  
Columbia W106436 10-in. March 1926 Bing sur la rim : Folklore du Canada Charles Marchand Male vocal solo, with orchestra arranger  
Columbia W106437 10-in. March 1926 Visite du jour de l'an : Folklore du Canada Charles Marchand Male vocal solo, with orchestra arranger  
Columbia W106440 10-in. March 1926 La Marseillaise de l'habitant Charles Marchand Male vocal solo, with orchestra arranger  
Columbia W106449 10-in. March 1926 Dans les prisons de Nantes : Folklore du Canada Charles Marchand Male vocal solo, with orchestra arranger  
Columbia W106450 10-in. March 1926 Dans tous les cantons : Folklore du Canada Charles Marchand Male vocal solo, with orchestra arranger  
Columbia W106451 10-in. March 1926 Je n'ai pas de barbe au menton : Folklore du Canada Charles Marchand Male vocal solo, with orchestra arranger  
Columbia W106460 10-in. March 1926 La grand' demande : Folklore du Canada Charles Marchand Male vocal solo, with orchestra arranger  
Columbia W106463 10-in. March 1926 La rengaine du merle : Folklore du Canada Charles Marchand Male vocal solo, with orchestra arranger  
Columbia W106466 10-in. March 1926 On va-t-y n'avoir du plaisir : Folklore du Canada Charles Marchand Male vocal solo, with orchestra arranger  
Columbia W110610 10-in. April 1929 Le laboureur J. Oscar Paquet Male vocal solo, with piano arranger  
Columbia W110612 10-in. April 1929 Valse des belles mères J. Oscar Paquet Male vocal solo, with piano arranger  
Columbia W110614 10-in. April 1929 La course a la mort J. Oscar Paquet Male vocal solo, with piano arranger  
Brunswick E20534-E20535 10-in. 10/27/1926 La valse des belles mères Charles Marchand Male vocal solo, with piano songwriter  
Brunswick E20546-E20547 10-in. 10/27/1926 Le laboureur Charles Marchand Male vocal solo, with piano songwriter  
Brunswick E20548-E20549 10-in. 10/27/1926 Le pont d‘Longueuil Charles Marchand Male vocal solo, with piano songwriter  
Brunswick E20550-E20551 10-in. 10/27/1926 Dans un p’tit bois Charles Marchand Male vocal solo, with piano arranger  
(Results 1-25 of 34 records)

Citation

Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "O'Brien, Oscar," accessed December 11, 2025, http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/115193.

O'Brien, Oscar. (2025). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved December 11, 2025, from http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/115193.

"O'Brien, Oscar." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2025. Web. 11 December 2025.

DAHR Persistent Identifier

URI: http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/115193

External Sources

Wikipedia: Oscar O’Brien

Discogs: Oscar O'Brien

Grove: Oscar O'Brien

Linked Open Data Sources

LCNAR: O'Brien, Oscar, 1892-1958 - http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/no2010055653

Wikidata: Oscar O’Brien - http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q7106165

VIAF: http://viaf.org/viaf/25027609

MusicBrainz: Oscar O’Brien - https://musicbrainz.org/artist/34aef9c7-baf9-4a13-8593-4c1783ec6133

Wikipedia content provided under the terms of the Creative Commons BY-SA license

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