My recent performance of the Final-Marche from Leon Boellmann’s Second Suite for organ generated considerable interest in Boellmann and French organ music of the mid-nineteenth century in general. Herewith is a bit more information compiled from various sources (with healthy dose from Wikipedia). I can’t claim to be any sort of authority on any of this material and heartily encourage anyone who wants more detail to investigate more in-depth presentations of the material that are abundant.
The dramatis personae for this article:
Cesar Franck (December 10, 1822- November 8, 1890)
Charles Marie Widor (February 21, 1844- March 12, 1937)
Eugène Gigout (March 23, 1844 – December 9, 1925)
Leon Boellmann (September 9, 1862 – October 11, 1897)
Louis Victor Jules Vierne (October 8, 1870-June 2, 1937)
The grand-pere of French Romantic organists and organ music is Cesar Franck (1822-1890). He was of Belgian and German origin, though he ultimately made his home in Paris. In 1858, he became organist at the newly-consecrated Saint Clotilde Basilica, where he remained until his death. Here he began to attract attention for his skill as an improviser. (The art of improvisation amongst French organists cannot be overstated; it was and is expected that an organist of any stature be able to improvise on any theme with great skill and artistry.) His first set of organ compositions, however, was not published until 1868, when he was 46 years old, although it contains one of his finest organ pieces, the Grande Pièce Symphonique. From 1872 to his death he was professor of organ at the Paris Conservatory. (The history of the Paris Conservatory is a rich and vibrant tale in and of itself, with considerable drama between the various departments at key points in French music history.) His pupils included Vincent d’Indy, Ernest Chausson, Louis Vierne and Henri Duparc. (It is through Vierne that we can make the jump to Notre Dame and its rich musical history.) As an organist he was particularly noted for his skill in improvisation, and on the basis of merely twelve major organ works, Franck is considered by many the greatest composer of organ music after J.S. Bach. His works were some of the finest organ pieces to come from France in over a century, and laid the groundwork for the French symphonic organ style. In particular, his Grande Pièce Symphonique, a work of 25 minutes' duration, paved the way for the organ symphonies of Charles-Marie Widor, Louis Vierne and Marcel Dupre. Other of his compositions are found in the collection, L’Organiste, which pieces can be performed on organ or harmonium; these do not have an independent pedal part notated (due to being written in part for the harmonium) which is why they are not counted among the organ works proper. Notice that Franck was never at Notre Dame nor Saint-Sulpice himself, but at the relatively obscure (only to non-organists) Saint-Clotilde. In 1890, Franck was involved in a serious traffic accident. It was after this accident that he wrote his Trois chorals for organ. Franck died as a result of complications from the accident very shortly after finishing the chorales.
Ste. Clotilde is known for its Aristide Cavaille-Coll organ (although it is no longer in original condition) and the succession of famous composers who have been Organiste Titulaire:
Cesar Franck 1859-1890
Gabriel Pierne 1890-1898
Charles Tournemire1898-1939
Jean Langlais 1945-1987 (went blind at the age of 2; see discussion of Vierne below)
Jacques Taddei 1987-
Here is a beginners’ guide to understanding musical life in large French churches and cathedrals. The organist titulaire had responsibility over all the cathedral organs and recitals while being able to devote more time to teaching, recording, writing and lecturing. The choir organist was a slight step downward in the hierarchy. This person had responsibility for accompanying the choirs and playing congregational song.
Somewhat contemporary to Franck, but truly a generation apart was Widor. Charles Marie Widor was born in Lyon, France to a family of organ builders, and initially studied music there with his father, who was an organist himself. The French organ builder Aristide Cavaille-Coll, reviver of the art of organ building, was a friend of the Widor family: he arranged for the talented young organist to study in Brussels, with Jacques-Nicolas Lemmens for organ technique and with Francois-Joseph Fetis, director of the Brussels Conservatory for composition. In 1870, with the combined lobbying of Cavaillé-Coll, Charles Gounod and Camille Saint-Saens the 26-year-old Widor was appointed as organist of Saint-Sulpice in Paris, the most prominent position for a French organist. The organ at St-Sulpice was Cavaillé-Coll's masterwork; the instrument's spectacular capabilities proved an inspiration to Widor. Widor remained as organist at St-Sulpice for 64 years until the end of 1933. He was succeeded in 1934 by his former student Marcel Dupre. Meanwhile, in 1890 he succeeded Cesar Franck as organ professor at the Paris Conservatory; he later gave up his post in organ to become composition professor in 1896. Coming later than Franck, Widor was part of a next generation in organ composition, and in the area of organ-building. His later works reflect this development in musical language. Where Franck was a true Romantic, in the seeming austerity of his organ works (compared to music of the Baroque era), Widor was a prime mover in the era of the symphonic organ music school.
Eugène Gigout was a French organist and a composer of European late-romantic music for organ. Gigout was born in Nancy, and died in Paris. A pupil of Camille Saint-Saëns, he served as the organist of Saint-Augustin Church in Paris for 62 years. He became widely known as a teacher and his output as a composer was considerable. Renowned as an expert improviser, he also founded his own music school. (His nephew-by-marriage, Leon Boellmann, was also a fine organist and composer for the organ, though he died very young at age 35.)
Leon Boellmann was an early musical talent and was accepted in 1871—9 years old—at the Ecole Niedermeyer in Paris. His teachers included Eugene Gigout and Gustave Lefevre. After his graduation as organist and cantor, he was employed as organist of the choir organ in the St Vincent de Paul church in Paris in 1881. Six years later he became cantor and "organiste titulaire" of the main organ in the same church. He would work at the church until his untimely death, probably from tuberculosis.
The name Saint-Sulpice is to organists a sacred name with tremendous import and a rich history. The church contains one of the finest pipe organs in the world, constructed by Aristide Cavaillé-Coll in 1862, using many materials from the church's earlier French Classical organ built by Clicquot in 1781. The Grand-Orgue of Saint-Sulpice was at the time of its building one of only three "100 stop" organs in all of Europe. Its organists have also been renowned, starting with Nicolas Séjan in the 18th century, and continuing with Charles-Marie Widor (organist 1870-1933) and Marcel Dupré (organist 1934-1971), both great organists and composers of organ music. Thus for over a century (1870-1971), Saint-Sulpice employed only two organists, and much credit is due to these two individuals for preserving the instrument and protecting it from the ravages of changes in taste and fashion which resulted in the destruction of many of Cavaillé-Coll's other masterpieces. The current organists are titulaire Daniel Roth (since 1985) and Sophie-Véronique Cauchefer-Choplin. This impressive instrument is perhaps the summit of Cavaillé-Coll's craftmanship and genius. The sound and musical effects achieved in this instrument are almost unparalleled. Widor's compositional efforts for the organ were intended to produce orchestral and symphonic timbres, reaching the limits of the instrument's range. With five manuals— keyboards— and boasting two 32-foot stops, organists at St. Sulpice have an incredibly rich palette of sounds at their disposal.
Aside from a re-arrangement of the manual keyboards c. 1900, the installation of an electric blower and the addition of two Pedal stops upon Widor's retirement in 1934, the organ is maintained today almost exactly as Cavaillé-Coll left it.
Louis Vierne was born nearly blind due to congenital cataracts but at an early age was discovered to have an unusual gift for music. (At age 2 he heard a piano for the first time. The pianist played him a Schubert lullaby and he promptly began to pick out the notes of the lullaby on the piano.) This fact is part of what would ultimately become a very dramatic and moving life story.
After completing school in the provinces, Louis Vierne entered the Paris Conservatory. From 1892, Vierne served as an assistant to the organist Charles-Marie Widor at the church of Saint-Sulpice in Paris. Vierne subsequently became principal organist at the cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris, a post he held from 1900 until his death in 1937.
Vierne had a life that was physically and emotionally very difficult, with severe spiritual trials that are occasionally reflected in his music. His congenital cataracts did not make him completely blind, but he was what would be called today "legally blind." Early in his career, he composed on outsized manuscript paper, using "a large pencil" as his friend Marcel Dupré described. Later in life, as his limited sight continued to diminish, he resorted to Braille to do most of his work.
Vierne was deeply affected by a separation and subsequent divorce from his wife, and he lost his younger brother René, as well as his son Jacques, whom he adored, to the battlefields of World War I. Though he held one of the most prestigious organ posts in France, the Notre-Dame organ was in a state of disrepair throughout much of his tenure at the instrument. He eventually undertook a concert tour of North America to raise money for its restoration. The tour, which included major recitals on the famous Wanamaker organs in New York and Philadelphia, was very successful, although it physically drained him.
A street accident in Paris caused him to badly fracture his leg, and it was briefly thought his leg would need to be amputated. The leg was saved, but his recovery, and the task of completely re-learning his pedal technique, took a full year during one of the busiest times of his life. Despite his difficulties, however, his students uniformly described him as a kind, patient and encouraging teacher.
Vierne suffered either a stroke or a heart attack (eyewitness reports differ) while giving his 1750th organ recital at Notre-Dame de Paris on the evening of June 2, 1937. He had completed the main concert, which members of the audience said showed him at his full powers - "as well as he has ever played." After the main concert, the closing section was to be two improvisations on submitted themes. He read the first theme in Braille, then selected the stops he would use for the improvisation. He suddenly pitched forward, and fell off the bench as his foot hit the low "E" pedal of the organ. He lost consciousness as the single note echoed throughout the church. He had thus fulfilled his oft-stated lifelong dream - to die at the console of the great organ of Notre-Dame.
That in a very concise nutshell is some history of French organ music and personalities in its development. The people involved all had “big” personalities and had profound influence on the development of organ music and performance in the last part of the 19th and early 20th centuries.
I heard Daniel Roth perform in concert in the 1980’s in Bethesda, MD. His closing work was an improvisation (very common practice among French concert organists). I was so struck by the musicianship, the musicality and the drama and flair of the improvisation that I then and there devoted myself to learning more about the art and skill involved in improvisation.
