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Brian Swager

Brian Swager is carillon editor of THE DIAPASON.

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“Le Nadalet”

Le Nadelet is an old bell tradition that fills the air with sonorous ringing each December. The tradition is common in the south of France, the Langue d’Oc, and involves sounding bells during the days preceding Christmas. The term “Nadalet“ is the most common, but others such as “Gaudinas,” “Gaudetas,” and “Aubetas“ are used in some areas. In some communities, the Nadalet begins on December 13, but not until the 17th in others. In general it seems that the celebration begins on the later date in cities and on the earlier date in the country. Since the period of Nadalet corresponds exactly to the Grandes Antiennes, the great Advent antiphons which begin on December 17, it appears that the Nadalet is a sonorous reflection of this liturgical tradition. J.P. Carme suggests that the discrepancy between dates could be due to liturgical developments. The Roman liturgy that was introduced in the middle of the 19th century has only seven antiphons in the breviary whereas the old neo-Gallic liturgy of the 18th century has three more. The more traditional rural areas tend to preserve the ancient custom.

The clangor of bells is not totally haphazard but is presented in a particular manner. For example, in the city of Castres, the Nadalet sounds each evening from the 17th to the 23rd of December. At 7:00 pm all the bells in the city are tolled in a grandiose sonnerie. After a quarter of an hour the tolling slowly subsides and a single bell continues to swing for a few moments longer. After the carillonneur halts this final bell, he strikes it nine times to symbolize the three times three strokes of the Angelus. Then he begins to play old Christmas carols. The tolling on Christmas Eve takes on a different character and precedes the midnight mass. A final sonnerie is heard on Christmas day at noon.

The history of this and other bell traditions of Castres and the south of France is in Jean-Pierre Carme’s book Le livre des cloches de Castres, available for 50 FF plus postage from the author at “Le Moulin du ramier”-Route de Sémalens-F81710 SAIX-France. Phone 33-5-6374-8760.

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Carillon News

Brian Swager

Brian Swager is carillon editor of THE DIAPASON.

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The 1999 Congress of the Guild of Carillonneurs in North America was held at Iowa State University in Ames. University Carillonneur Tin-shi Tam hosted the congress. Ten candidates played successful examination recitals and were awarded “carillonneur” membership status: Elizabeth Berghout of Lawrence, Kansas; Jeremy Chesman; Michael Conrady; Ryan Hebert of Lawrence, Kansas; Julianne Vanden Wyngaard of Grandville, Michigan; Hisako Konno of Ashiya, Japan; Frecky Lewis of St. Louis, Missouri; David Maker of Storrs, Connecticut; Adrien Tien of Australia; and Rändel Wolfe. A special ceremony at the city hall of Douai, France, on 18 December 1998 honored retiring municipal carillonneur and director of the French Carillon School, Jacques Lannoy. Stéfano Colletti was appointed as Lannoy’s successor.

 

James R. Lawson, carillonneur of the Crystal Cathedral, in Garden Grove, California, was feted on the occasion of his 80th birthday, May 25, 1999. Senior Pastor Robert H. Schuller interviewed Lawson during a Sunday morning service. Lawson, seated at the console in the 236-foot Crean Tower, was surrounded by TV cameras and cables that were hoisted up for the event. This enabled taping for an Hour of Power telecast and alllowed the congregation to see via a giant JumboTron TV screen in the cathedral. Lawson has been the carillonneur at the Crystal Cathedral since its dedication in September, 1990. The Arvella Schuller Carillon is one of the few carillons in the world to have bells tuned with a major-third overtone rather than the typical minor third.

 

The organization Eurocarillon in conjunction with Dordrecht carillonneurs Henry Groen and Boudewijn Zwart organized a large festival of carillon activities in The Netherlands from May through September, 1999. The Eurocarillon “Survival Tour” was a bicycle tour of carillons in the Utrecht and South Holland provinces. A series of “Open Tower” concerts featured Eurocarillon performers from other countries in Europe. An exhibition “Dat klinkt als een klok” (That rings a bell) was presented in the Grote Kerk in Dordrecht with the help of Dr. André Lehr, curator of the National Carillon Museum in Asten. Several projects were organized around special themes such as the music of J.S. Bach, Dutch carillon music, carillon duets, CD recordings, and new music for carillon by Joep Straesser.

 

American organist and carillonneur Amy Johansen joined the Carillon Society of Australia and was named an honorary carillonneur at Sydney University. Her first exposure to the carillon came in 1981 when a new instrument was installed at the University of Florida in Gainesville where she was an undergraduate organ student. Amy was appointed official Sydney University organist in November 1998.

Profile: Oldenzaal, The Netherlands

A small industrial town in the eastern Netherlands, Oldenzaal lies just north of Enschede and near the German border. The streets in the town of Oldenzaal are laid out concentrically and lead to the St. Plechelmus Church. The building was begun in the first half of the 12th century as a Romanesque sandstone cross basilica. Through the centuries the church has undergone modifications, fires, restorations, and Gothic additions.

 

A 42-bell carillon was founded for the church in 1930 by the British firm Gillett & Johnston. Toon van Balkom, municipal carillonneur of ‘s-Hertogenbosch, played the dedicatory recital. Miraculously, the instrument escaped the German plunder of bells during the Second World War. Three bass bells (D, E, and F-sharp) were added by the Eijsbouts firm in 1949, and a tolling bell made for the tower in 1493 by Geert van Wou was tuned (to C, ca. 2400 kg.) and incorporated into the carillon as the bourdon. With the addition of two more treble bells (B and C) in 1965, the instrument reached a four-octave range. Five of the bass bells (C, D, E, G, and A) serve double duty as tolling bells. Hylke Banning has been carillonneur of the St. Plechelmus Church since 1992. He plays market recitals, April through September, on Friday evenings at 7:30. A special summer series features guest recitalists during July and August. Other carillons in this area of Holland known as Twente can be found in nearby Hengelo (city hall), Enschede (Grote Kerk), Alemlo (St. Georgiuskerk), and on the campus of the University of Twente.

“Le Nadalet”

Le Nadelet is an old bell tradition that fills the air with sonorous ringing each December. The tradition is common in the south of France, the Langue d’Oc, and involves sounding bells during the days preceding Christmas. The term “Nadalet” is the most common, but others such as “Gaudinas,” “Gaudetas,” and “Aubetas” are used in some areas. In some communities, the Nadalet begins on December 13, but not until the 17th in others. In general it seems that the celebration begins on the later date in cities and on the earlier date in the country. Since the period of Nadalet corresponds exactly to the Grandes Antiennes, the great Advent antiphons which begin on December 17, it appears that the Nadalet is a sonorous reflection of this liturgial tradition. J.P. Carme suggests that the discrepancy between dates could be due to liturgical developments. The Roman liturgy that was introduced in the middle of the 19th century has only seven antiphons in the breviary whereas the old neo-Gallic liturgy of the 18th century has three more. The more traditional rural areas tend to preserve the ancient custom. The clangor of bells is not totally haphazard but is presented in a particular manner. For example, in the city of Castres, the Nadalet sounds each evening from the 17th to the 23rd of December. At 7:00 pm all the bells in the city are tolled in a gradiose sonnerie. After a quarter of an hour the tolling slowly subsides and a single bell continues to swing for a few moments longer. After the carillonneur halts this final bell, he strikes it nine times to symbolize the three times three strokes of the Angelus. Then he begins to play old Christmas carols. The tolling on Christmas Eve takes on a different character and precedes the midnight mass. A final sonnerie is heard on Christmas day at noon. The history of this and other bell traditions of Castres and the south of France is in Jean-Pierre Carme’s book Le livre des cloches de Castres, available for 50 FF plus postage from the author at “Le Moulin du ramier”-Route de Sémalens-F81710 SAIX-France. Phone 33-5-6374-8760.

Carillon News

by Brian Swager
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Bok Tower Festival

 

The 16th International Carillon Festival, February 3–11, 2001, will feature guest carillonneurs Stéfano Colletti (France), Liesbeth Janssens (Belgium), John Courter (Berea College, Kentucky), George Matthew Jr. (Middlebury College & Norwich University, Vermont), and Bok Tower Gardens' Milford Myhre and William De Turk. Events will include daily recitals at 3 pm, a moonlight recital at 8 pm on Tuesday, February 6, carillon exhibits, and non-carillon concerts. For further information, contact Bill De Turk, 1151 Tower Blvd., Lake Wales, FL 33853-3412; ph 863/676-1154; fax 863/676-6770; e-mail: <[email protected]>;

web page: <boktowergardens.org>.

Paris carillon project

A new carillon for the city of Paris, France, is in the planning stages. The site is the Parc de La Villette. An architectural study has confirmed the possibility of installing a carillon in a contemporary structure that already exists in the park: la Folie Belvédère. The proposal is for a carillon of 51/2 octaves, 66 bells, from G2 to C8, with a total of 35 tons of bronze. The bells would hang on five levels in a conical cage of open construction without a roof. The performer in the playing cabin will be visible to the public.

Situated in the center of the park, the Folie Belvédère seems an ideal place for the resounding of bells, amidst the Cité des Sciences and the Cité de la Musique. There is ample green space for listening at an appropriate distance.  In contrast to the mystery plays that were enacted on church squares in front of cathedrals and churches in the Middle Ages, the Folie and its carillon envision popular theatrical productions such as circus, street theater, and all sorts of musical and artistic expression.

Major Dutch treat

The National Carillon Museum in Asten, The Netherlands, is expanding its facilities. The tower will be an attractive feature. It goes without saying that a carillon will be hung in the tower. Furthermore, this special tower deserves a special carillon. The choice was made for a carillon with bells that have a major-third overtone instead of the traditional minor third. These sound significantly different than classic bells and carillons. This modern type of carillon seemed to be a logical choice for the hpyermodern tower. Hence, with bells from ca. 1500 B.C. to the most contemporary specimens, the museum's collection will span 3500 years of bell history. The design for these major-third bells was developed a few years ago by Drs. André Lehr and Bert Schoofs (Technical University Eindhoven). This design was used for a carillon made by Eijsbouts for the Academy Tower of the University of Groningen. The Asten carillon will be relatively small, with 25 bells covering two octaves. The largest bell will weigh 236 kg., the smallest 10 kg., total weight 468 kg.

The museum is seeking sponsors to cover the cost of the bells which will be purchased at a significant discount from the Royal Eijsbouts Bellfoundry in Asten. Contact Dr. André Lehr at [email protected] or Ostaderstraat 23, 5721 WC Asten, The Netherlands.

An American in Peer

When a carillon committee was formed in 1989 in the city of Peer, Belgium, there were three tolling bells in the tower of the St. Trudo Church. At that time there were no carillons in the whole province of North Limburg that were playable manually. The 14th-century brick tower of Peer had a huge bellchamber capable of accommodating a heavy carillon. Financial resources were limited such that a choice was made for a medium weight carillon of 51 bells with a bourdon sounding D.

In 1992 the new Petit & Fritsen instrument was dedicated. After the festivities the carillon committee began its quest to expand the instrument as soon as possible to a heavy carillon. The project was completed in 1999 exceeding all expectations. The 17th-century bell frame was restored, the bell chamber got a new oak floor, and the electrical components were updated.

The carillon was completely dismantled and reinstalled, and a deluxe new playing cabin was built. Thirteen new bells were cast. Most significantly, an American standard playing console was chosen over the current European standard. The instrument now boasts 64 bells covering five octaves with a bourdon sounding B-flat. The keyboard compass is B-flat, C, then chromatic through D. Erik Vandevoort is the carillonneur of Peer.

Miscellanea from abroad

 

The Olsen Nauen Bellfoundry in Tønsberg, Norway, made a new four-octave carillon for the Oslo Town Hall in December 1999. The 49 bells replace a 38-bell carillon of inferior quality which dated from 1952. The new instrument can be played manually from a traditional baton-type console, electrically by means of an electric keyboard, and automatically by a computer. It is the largest carillon in all of the Nordic countries.

                  There are 80 carillons in Denmark, the Faroe Islands, and Greenland. Of these, 21 are concert carillons operated manually from a baton-type playing console. The remaining 59 are automatic carillons, and 29 of them can be operated from an electric piano-style keyboard. Most of the carillons were fabricated in The Netherlands (27% Petit & Fritsen, 45% Eijsbouts) with a few from France (7% Paccard) and England (4% Taylor).

Sculptor Eric Andersen created the Campana degli Umori for the Fairy Tale Gardens in Odense, Denmark. A ten-ton bell is suspended on a steel frame at street level. Also hanging on this frame are nine clubs or hammers for striking the bell in nine different areas. Campana degli Umori means "the bell of humors"—humors in the sense of moods. The nine striking areas on the bell are color coded and symbolize different moods such as black for pain and sorrow, red for love, etc. Consequently the bell can be used as a means of expression communicating to others the mood of the person who strikes the bell. Eric Andersen, who is both a visual artist and a composer, is fascinated with the bell as the carrier of a new language, and as a musical and poetical instrument the bell can be the tongue of the soul.

The 25th anniversary of the City Hall carillon in Magdeburg, Germany, was celebrated in 1999. In contrast with other concert performances, the carillon usually has the disadvantage that its players have no immediate contact with their listeners. The carillonneur sits in a  tower cabin, high above the ground, often remaining anonymous. Recognizing this situation, the city of Magdeburg rented a four-octave mobile carillon from the Royal Eijsbouts Bellfoundry in The Netherlands. Several concerts at various locations in the city were presented. Plentiful audiences comprising both locals and tourists witnessed the carillonneur hard at work (at play).

Zvonar ("The Bell Player") is a new periodical published by the Moscow Bell Center. The Center was established about four years ago primarily to train qualified bell players. Russian church bells are typically played by hand. The art of Russian bell ringing lost popularity because of  church reform measures in the Soviet Union. Bell players who were dying out in the 70s had few new recruits. Since it began, the Moscow Bell Center has educated over 150 bell players between the ages of 11 and 64. Most were from Moscow and its environs. The Zvonar newsletter will help spread information about liturgical tolling, bell repairs, and other technical questions while the Center will serve in consultation to church congregations and monasteries.

A new 45-bell carillon was built for the monastery tower in Kiel, Germany. The bells were cast by the Karlsruhe Bellfoundry, and the playing console, the mechanical action, and the electronic automatic player mechanism were fabricated by Otto Buer Bells & Clocks of Neustadt/Holstein. The carillon was inaugurated in September 1999. It incorporates a 1367-pound tolling bell (pitch "G") that dates from 1928 as the bourdon.

Carillon News

by Brian Swager
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News from abroad

* The future of Ghent's historic bell Klokke Roeland, which was cast in 1660 and cracked in 1914, is uncertain. Roeland is not included in the initial sketches by Spanish architect Jordi Farrando who was commissioned by the city to redesign the area between the belfry and the St. Niklaaskerk where the legendary bell now rests. Under consideration is the possibility of repairing the crack and hanging the bell in a free-standing frame fitted with a manual tolling mechanism.

* A forgotten carillon is situated on the roof of the main entrance to the House of Parliament in Brussels. It was inaugurated in the summer of 1993 with Sonneries voor Albert when Albert II was crowned King. The carillon was immediately put out of commission because it was regarded as an annoyance.

* On the Saturday before Pentecost, the 1.8-ton "Christus" bell in Frankfurt's St. Paul's Church fell five meters and was smashed by the "Citizens" bell which was swinging. Cast in 1848 by Mappers and Barthels, Christus had been designated a registered national monument.

* The new 58-bell Eijsbouts carillon in Amersfoort, The Netherlands, was inaugurated on 18 June 1997. Wim Franken wrote the fifth in his series of Torenmuziek. Entitled Echo, it is scored for two carillonneurs (quatre mains) and 16 trumpets and trombones divided between two galleries.

* In celebration of the 350-year anniversary of the Peace of Munster (1648), Dutch carillonneurs are playing music from the period of the Eighty Years War throughout 1998.

* Klokkenvordering 1942-1943, an 800-page book in two volumes published by the Dutch Rijksdienst voor de Monumentenzorg, documents the plunder of bells by the German Occupation. It is available for f195 plus shipping from RDMZ; Postbus 1001; 3700 BA Zeist; The Netherlands.

* The Royal Eijsbouts Bellfoundry celebrated its 125th anniversary on 30 August 1997.

* The editor of the Dutch carillon guild publication Klok en Klepel (September, 1997) presents several clippings of interest that were originally published during the 17th and 18th centuries in the Amsterdamse Courant and the Haerlemse Courant. While many of the clippings refer to klokkenist (bell player) vacancies, one tells about the earthquake of 1692 in Amsterdam when "the Old Church and South Church towers shook so forcefully that the bells tolled."

* A jury recently selected the winners of the Belgian carillon school's International Composition Competition. In the category of original works for carillon, the third prize was awarded to Geert D'hollander for his Movimenti. First and second prizes were not awarded. In the "arrangements" category, Marina Nevskaya of Moscow took the first prize for her Bells Were Ringing.

Send items for "Carillon News" to Dr. Brian Swager, c/o The Diapason, 380 E. Northwest Hwy., Suite 200, Des Plaines, IL 60016-2282. For information on the Guild of Carillonneurs in North America, write to: GCNA, 37 Noel Dr., Williamsville, NY 14221.

Carillon News

by Brian Swager
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Book Review

Ensembles campanaires en Rhône-Alpes, Pierre Marie Guéritey. Seyssel: Editions Comp'Act, 1994. 229 pp., photos, paperbound, 180 FF (available from Editions Comp'Act, 9 & 11, Place dela République, 01420 Seyssel, France.) ISBN 2-87661-104-X.

Published with the support of the Ministry of Culture and the regional government, Ensembles campanaires en Rhône-Alpes is a survey of tower bells in the Rhône-Alpes region of France. There, bells traditionally have been swung--alone or in combination--or tolled, often in conjunction with religious activities. The installation of keyboards in order to control the bells for musical purposes, in the Flemish tradition, came as a secondary usage. Municipal rivalry for the largest bell and the preference for fewer large bells that are audible for longer distances rather than numerous small bells kept the Flemish tradition at bay for some time. But regardless of their function, bells have a pronounced significance in this region. As the commissioner of the Rhône-Alpes region, Paul Bernard, remarks in a preface to the book: "Whatever its nature, the sound of bells never makes an indifferent impression." Furthermore, the author underscores the pervasive nature of bells in the region's culture. For example, of one village he notes that: "Not one resident of Valsonne cannot remember having heard these bells . . . "

It is from the old French word quadrillon--for a set of four bells--that the name of the musical instrument carillon comes. Nowadays, a carillon normally has four octaves of bells, although more or fewer are possible. In fact, the Dutch require an instrument to have 11/2 octaves of bells to qualify as a carillon, and Americans insist on two chromatic octaves. The French regard this issue with more nonchalance, and this publication simply discusses "bell ensembles." Its glossary suggests that in addition to an officially accepted grand carillon de concert, there can be a petit carillon with from four to fourteen bells. This survey includes ensembles with as few as seven bells. The second criterion for inclusion in the book is that the ensemble be equipped with a keyboard and a transmission system--mechanical or electrical--for playing the bells en carillon.

While not attempting to make a thorough inventory of all the bell ensembles in the region, the book provides detailed information on a representative sampling of installations. Entries for each featured tower are very thorough, listing date, founder, and pitch of each bell; type of transmission system; name of city, tower, current and former carillonneurs, and the person or firm responsible for maintenance; dates of construction, inauguration, and modification; address and phone number of contact people; historical notes; technical descriptions of the bells, mechanics, and tower; current use and condition of the instrument; and bibliographic references and discography. The numerous photographs show bell, clappers, keyboards, clockworks, towers, frames and mountings, jacquemarts, ornamentation, inscriptions, and a founding in process. The provinces represented are the Ain, the Ardèche, the Drôme, the Isère, the Loire, the Rhône, the Savoie, and the Haute-Savoie. A map of the region would have been helpful.

The author gives a historical introduction. A history of the region's own  celebrated bell foundry is furnished by its current director, Pierre Paccard. The Paccard foundry has its roots in the end of the 18th century, a point when the era of itinerant bellfounders was coming to a close. The book largely represents the work of 19th-century founders who flourished in the wake of the Revolution. Newspaper clippings, archival documents, and historical notes make for interesting reading and give insights into a slightly distant era and a very distinctive bell culture.

Incidentally, Guéritey and Editions Comp'Act have published two inventories of organs in the Rhône-Alpes region, one for Lyon and one for the rest of the Rhône province; a third--for the Isère--is in preparation. One can only hope that similarly splendid campanological publications documenting other regions of France will be forthcoming. Carpe Librum!

Arthur C. Becker: <i>Sonus Epulantis

by Enrique Alberto
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The name Arthur C. Becker was familiar to the readers of THE DIAPASON in the period of the 1930s to the 60s because of his many articles and frequent notices of his activities. In addition to his accomplishments as an organist and college administrator, Dr. Becker was an able composer who composed much organ and liturgical music for St. Vincent de Paul Church in Chicago, where he was organist and music director from 1918 to 1973. That he was so long associated with this church gave him ample opportunity to create music not only to demonstrate his own virtuosity as an organist but also to support the services of the church.

Background

Arthur C. Becker (1895-1976) was the founding dean of DePaul University's School of Music and served as organist and choirmaster at St. Vincent de Paul Church from 1918 to 1973. Born in Louisville, Kentucky on September 20, 1895, Becker soon evidenced talent for playing the organ. After holding a number of positions in the Louisville area, Becker moved to Chicago in 1918, where he received a Bachelor of Music and later a Master of Music degree from the Sherwood Conservatory. Among his teachers were Wilhelm Middleschulte and Gaston Dethier in organ and Josef Lhevinne in piano. In 1918 Becker organized DePaul University's School of Music and began his position at St. Vincent de Paul Church. In 1922 Becker went to Paris to study organ with Charles-Marie Widor and Marcel Dupré, and composition with Albert Roussel. In 1942 he received an honorary Doctor of Music degree from The Chicago Musical College. Because of his distinguished service, Becker became an affiliate of the Vincentian order in 1964 and was awarded the Via Sapientiae, DePaul University's highest honor, in 1966. He died in 1976, one of the most respected members of the Chicago musical community and the leading Catholic church musician of the city.

In general, Becker's music is conservative, with the strong influence of the French school of the late Romantic period much in evidence. His organ study in France and his composition studies with Albert Roussel fostered a love for the French repertory. In addition, Becker's own manner of organ performance was decidedly in the French tradition.

Sonus Epulantis

The purpose of the present article is to consider the Sonus Epulantis for organ, one of his finest compositions. What I assume to be an earlier work, Prelude to a Sacred Drama (no date), is the basis for Sonus Epulantis. The differences between the two are few: Prelude to a Sacred Drama begins with slightly fuller harmonies, and there are some differences in dynamic indications. Other than these slight details, the two compositions are the same, though the manuscript style for Sonus Epulantis is smaller and neater.

At this time little is known about the date and the reason for composing this work. My impression, as we shall see, is that it is a late work. The title is both curious and enigmatic. The literal translation is "the sounds of one rejoicing." The key to the title's meaning is found within the work itself. There is a musical quotation from the opening of the Gregorian sequence for Easter, Victimae Paschali. The opening lines of the sequence read:

Victimae paschali laudes immolent Christiani. Agnus redemit oves: Christus innocens Patri reconciliavit peccatores.

May Christians bring praise as the sacrificial offering to the Paschal Victim. The Lamb redeems the sheep. Innocent Christ reconciles sinners to the Father.

I interpret the title to relate to this sequence, for the "sounds of one rejoicing" are in truth the sounds of rejoicing at the Paschal feast. Easter, after all, celebrates the resurrection of Christ and the birth of spring. This is, therefore, the most joyful season of the liturgical year; thus Becker's Sonus is actually an Easter work, one that relates the Latin text of the sequence to the title. As far as I know, the title is Becker's own--it neither seems to be quotation or the title of some hymn.

There are two melodic ideas that dominate Sonus: the Gregorian quotation (Example 1), and another short melody that likewise seems to be derived from the Gregorian repertory (Example 2). Thus far I have not been able to identify the Gregorian chant, but I suspect this haunting melody is Becker's own. Does not this melody relate to the work's title? But for a composition that is supposed to be joyful, Sonus is strangely subdued. Again I interpret, but my impression is that Sonus reflects a deeply felt joy, one that is suffused with tranquility and introspection.

Structural features

Let us turn to the work itself. In general, Sonus is marked by linear counterpoint that creates friction between the lines and quartal harmonies. (Example 3)  Peculiar harmonic inflections are also common. (Example 4) The general structure results from the cantus firmus treatment of the two melodic ideas mentioned above. Becker's own melodic idea is presented as an ostinato and becomes the most striking feature of the work. (Example 2)

The work opens with a sustained D in the bass. Quartal harmonies with dissonance are here featured, creating a prelude from mm. 1 to 30. An Allegro maestoso begins at m. 31. Here the ostinato is introduced, with fragmentation and variation. Increasingly chromatic harmonies and active rhythms provide intensity. The texture clears and there is a return to D as the tonal center. At m. 76 the opening of the Victimae paschali is quoted and then treated as a cantus firmus against active figuration. At m. 93 the ostinato is presented against the opening of the Victimae Paschali. A change to 6/4 meter and D major appears at m. 108, introducing a free variant of the sequence and veiled references to the ostinato. At m. 121, D minor returns with active rhythm and a combination of the two melodic fragments. At m. 139, the Adagio tempo returns with the final appearance of the ostinato pattern used as the cadence.

Stylistic features

There are a number of features of Sonus Epulantis that imply it is a later work of Becker's. The harmonies are frequently dissonant. The enigmatic title and the haunting melody used as the ostinato are also unusual. Was this work composed for some special Easter occasion? I rather suspect that it was, for it could well have been featured as an interlude during one of those grand Easter services that Becker was so famous for. Although Sonus Epulantis is carefully composed, it reflects Becker's mastery as an improviser. Each section leads into the next, creating contrast and climaxes but always referring to the two thematic ideas.

The score includes registration suggestions and manual designations and is intended for a large romantic organ of three manuals and pedal. The registrations include both general and specific instructions. For example, the work opens with the registration: Sw: Soft Strings, Gt: Foundations, Ch: Dulciana, Ped: 16¢ and 8¢, and the dynamic is piano. Within the first 15 measures the music crescendos to fortissimo, presuming the use of the crescendo pedal or carefully worked out general and divisional piston changes. Five measures later, the score indicates piano. Later instructions include such indications as "Gt and Sw Full" and "Gt Diapasons to Full Sw," along with crescendo to full organ. The middle section indicates Sw: Diapason and Ch: Clarinet; and later Sw: Solo Stop (Trompette) and Ch: Soft Flutes; later still Sw: Flutes and Strings 8¢, 4¢. Another crescendo in measures 117 to 128 builds to full organ, achieved with the crescendo pedal or numerous piston changes. After a climax on V2 of iv, the piece ends quietly on the Swell Voix Celeste and the Great soft Flute. Performance requirements include a thorough control of legato touch, octaves in the manuals and pedal, brilliant 16-note figuration, and numerous manual and registration changes. Two enclosed divisions are intended.

 

Summary

 

Unfortunately, Becker's music has fallen into oblivion. A concert of his music on the 125th anniversary of St. Vincent de Paul church on November 5, 2000 revealed a composer with a solid technique and profound commitment to religious expression. Of all the compositions on this program, Sonus Epulantis was the most expressive and most beautiful. It reflects the emotions of a man who had lived a long life in church music and wished to express the spiritual satisfaction that life had given him. Its transcendence suggests it was one of the last compositions Becker wrote and that it was a kind of opus ultimum--a final statement of his life and purpose.

Becker bibliography

"Who's Who Among American Organists," The Diapason, October, 1925, p. 10.

"Arthur Becker appointed director of the chorus of the Illinois Club for Catholic Women," The Diapason, July, 1930, p. 46.

"Catholic Church Music: Three New Masses of Interest," The Diapason, August, 1932, p. 23.

Arthur C. Becker, 1/4 page display ad, Concert Management McNab & Gressing, The Diapason, September, 1933, p. 7.

"Arthur C. Becker broadcasts recitals in university course," The Diapason, April, 1936, p. 20.

"Arthur C. Becker, A.A.G.O., dean of the school of music of DePaul University, Chicago, and organist and choirmaster of St. Vincent's Church, completed his thirty-third broadcast of organ music from station WGN . . .," The Diapason, July, 1938, p. 17.

"Becker and School to Mark Anniversary: serves a quarter century," The Diapason, April, 1943, p. 7.

"Dr. Arthur C. Becker on April 5 observed his 36th anniversary as organist and choirmaster of the Catholic Church of St. Vincent de Paul," The Diapason, May, 1954, p. 6.

"Dr. Arthur C. Becker, dean of DePaul University's school of music, is shown at the console of the three-manual Moller organ donated anonymously to the school," The Diapason, April, 1957, p. 1.

"Arthur C. Becker celebrates 40th anniversary," The Diapason, April, 1958, p. 6.

"Dr. Arthur C. Becker will retire as dean of the school of music at DePaul University, Chicago, after 48 years as its head," The Diapason, March, 1966, p. 26.

"Arthur C. Becker celebrates 50 years at St. Vincent de Paul Church," The Diapason, May, 1968, p. 2.

"Arthur C. Becker will observe his 52nd anniversary as organist and choirmaster of St. Vincent de Paul Church," The Diapason, April, 1970, p. 8.

"Nunc Dimittis," The Diapason, April, 1976, p. 11.

Arthur C. Becker Work List

Organ

Brünnhilde's Awakening and Finale from Siegfried-Richard Wagner, arranged for organ by Arthur C. Becker, February 12, 1933.

Four Antiphons of the Blessed Virgin Mary Choral-Paraphrased for Organ (1948?).  Alma Redemptoris Mater, Ave Regina Caelorum, Regina Coeli, Salve Regina. Published by McLaughlin & Reilly Co., Boston, M&R Co. #1590-20, copyright MCMXLVIII.

Miniature Suite for Organ (August 4, 1962), dedication:  "To René Dosogne." I Con Moto, II Moderato, III Moderato, IV Con Moto. Unpublished manuscript.

Music for Low Mass (no date), Suite for Organ. Introit-Effusum est, Offertory-In virtute tua, Elevation-Benedictus-Mass XI, Communion-Religio munda, Post-lude-Alleluia. Unpublished manuscript.

Prelude to a Sacred Drama (no date). Unpublished manuscript. Note: This piece reworked into "Sonus Epulantis" listed below.

Retrospection (February 11, 1969). Unpublished manuscript.

Scherzando (August 22, 1966). Unpublished manuscript.

Second Sonata for Organ (no date), dedication:  "To my friend and colleague Herman Pedtke." I Larghetto, II Lively, III Andante, IV Moderato. Unpublished manuscript.

Sonus Epulantis for Organ (no date). Unpublished manuscript.

Three Sketches for Organ (June 25, 1969). I Andante, II Andante, III Allegro  Maestoso. Unpublished manuscript.

There was also a First Sonata for Organ written in the 1920s. The manuscript for this has been lost. Two of the movements had been arranged for brass sextet. Paean for brass sextet [New York] Remick Music Corp., ©1938. Library of Congress Call # M657.B4 P3. Romance for brass sextet [New York] Remick Music Corp., ©1938. Library of Congress Call # M657.B4 R6.

Organ and Piano

Concert Overture (April 16, 1941). Unpublished manuscript. Probably written for performance with his wife Barbara S. Becker.

Choral

Published Works

Alleluia-Choral Part for the Toccata from Organ Symphony No. 5 by C.M. Widor.  Published by McLaughlin & Reilly Co., Boston, copyright MCMLV.

Ave Maria (early 1930s?), a cappella, Latin. Published by McLaughlin & Reilly Co., Boston, copyright MCMXXXV, "In the Caecilia (June, 1935)."

Creator of the Stars of Night, Sacred Chorus for Mixed Voices, S.S.A.A.T.T.B.B. a cappella, Published by Hall & McCreary Co., Chicago, copyright 1940.

Mass in Honor of St. Vincent de Paul, "Dedicated to my sister Lucile," SSAATTBB and organ, Latin, Boston, McLaughlin & Reilly Co., ©1937. There are also string parts (in manuscript) for this Mass-V1, V2, Vla, VC, DB.

Mass in Honor of the Holy Name, SATB Voices and Organ, Latin, dedication:  "To Msgr. Charles N. Meter, S.T.D., Mus.D., and the Cardinal's Cathedral Choisters, Chicago, Ill." Published by McLaughlin & Reilly Co., Boston, copyright MCMLIX.

Mass "Lord God, Heavenly King," English Mass for Congregation and Choir of Four Mixed Voices with Organ. Published by Gregorian Institute of America, Toledo, Ohio, copyright 1966.

Mass of the Sacred Heart, SATB Voices and Organ with Congregation ad lib. Published by Gregorian Institute of America, Toledo, Ohio, copyright 1966.

One Is Holy, SATB a cappella. Published by McLaughlin & Reilly Co., Boston, copyright MCMLXIX.

Arrangements

Bless the Lord, O My Soul, Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov (1859-1935), arranged for S.A.T.B. by Arthur C. Becker. A cappella. Published by GIA Publications, Chicago, copyright 1970.

Come Holy Spirit, Orlando Gibbons, arranged for SATB Voices with Organ. Published by GIA Publications, Chicago, copyright 1970.

The Lord Bless You, J.S. Bach, arranged by Arthur C. Becker. Text: "From the concluding prayer of a Commissioning Service. Freely Translated by A.C.B."  S.A.T.B. a cappella. Published by GIA Publications, Chicago, copyright 1970.

Unpublished Works

Adore Te Devote (no date), for soprano, alto, tenor, bass and organ, Latin.

Ave Maria (no date), SATB a cappella, Latin. (This is different from the published Ave Maria listed above.)

Blessed Be God The Father (October 11, 1969), for mixed voices, 2 trumpets, 2 trombones and organ, English.

Cantate Domino-Come, let us sing to the Lord (no date), SATB and organ, English.

Domine Deus (April, 1958), "To St. Vincent Choir," SATB with organ, Latin.

Have Mercy On Me (May 2, 1967), SATB with organ, English.

I Will Delight in Your Commands (February 4, 1970), SATB and organ, English.

Mass in Honor of St. Barbara (no date), for mixed choir, congregation and organ, "In Memory of my Beloved Wife, Barbara."

Mass (Untitled) (May 20, 1970), "To St. Vincent de Paul Church Choir," SATB with organ, English.

Missa Brevis (no date), SATB, organ (ad libitum), Latin.

O Lord, I Am Not Worthy (May 8, 1966), SATB a cappella, English.

Our Father (December 28, 1965), SATB a cappella, English.

Panis Angelicus (no date), SATB, organ, Latin.

Rejoice unto the Lord (July 17, 1966),  "Respectfully Dedicated to Rev. Charles E. Cannon, C.M., Pastor of St. Vincent de Paul Church, Chicago Illinois," SATB with organ, English.

Yours Is Princely Power (January 4, 1969), Scriptural Response Christmas Midnight Mass, SATB with organ, English.

Arrangements

Agnus Dei, Kalinnikoff, arranged with Latin words by Arthur C. Becker, soprano solo, alto solo, S.S.A.A.

Hymn-Accept Almighty Father, four part chorus of mixed voices.

Hymn-At That First Eucharist, arranged for solo, mixed choir and congregation.

Hymn-Crown Him with Many Crowns.

Hymn-For All The Saints, R. Vaughan Williams.

Hymn-Forty Days and Forty Nights, arranged for 4 voices and organ.

Missa Plebs Dei, David Kraehenbuehl, arranged for 4 voices.

Missa Regina Pacis, Albert J. Dooner, English arrangement of  Latin mass.

Send Forth Thy Light, Balakirev (?), alto solo, SATB solos and mixed choir with organ.

Miscellaneous

DePaul University "Fight Song," Published by DePaul University Press, 64 East Lake Street, circa early 1930s.

Pierre Cogen, a French Organist-Composer in the Sainte-Clotilde Tradition (part one)

Carolyn Shuster Fournier

Carolyn Shuster Fournier expresses her gratitude to Pierre Cogen and to Ann Labounsky for providing material and advice for this article, to Marie-Christine Ugo-Lhôte for the loan of her father’s collection of the review L’Orgue, to Mifa Martin for having read through the text, and to the Ruth and Clarence Mader Memorial Scholarship Fund for its grant in 2006.
An international concert artist, Dr. Carolyn Shuster Fournier is titular of the Aristide Cavaillé-Coll choir organ at La Trinité Church in Paris, France. She has written several articles for The Diapason. In October 1983, she was privileged to perform Jean Langlais’ Double Fantasy for Two Organists with the composer, in his concerts during his last tour to England: at the Royal Festival Hall in London (on October 26), at the Salisbury Cathedral, and at the Christ Church Chapel in Oxford.

Default

The Sainte-Clotilde Tradition1 is based on the lineage transmitted in a teacher/student relationship from Franck to Tournemire to Langlais.2 Especially beginning with Charles Tournemire, these organist/composers, as well as many of their substitutes (among others, Maurice Duruflé, André Fleury, and Daniel-Lesur), the choirmaster Maurice Emmanuel,3 and other titular organists at Sainte-Clotilde—notably Joseph Ermend Bonnal, Jean Langlais, and Pierre Cogen—had an intimate, spiritual understanding of the Gregorian chants used in the traditional Catholic liturgy. This was manifest in their deeply poetic and colorful interpretations, and in their use of Gregorian chants in their improvisations and compositions. They all served their art with humility. This article is dedicated to Pierre Cogen, a French organist-composer in the Sainte-Clotilde Tradition.

Pierre Cogen’s musical formation under Jean Langlais’ guidance

Pierre Cogen (see illustration 1) was born in Paris on October 2, 1931. From 1944 to 1951, he studied at the Petit Séminaire de Paris in Conflans.4 He sang in the Schola choir, directed by the Abbot Jean Revert.5 Such a framework provided Cogen with a musical training in the ancient, pure classical tradition—in a church choir school that sang Gregorian chants as well as the classical polyphonic choral repertory. At the age of 14, Cogen began to accompany this choir on the 12-stop Cavaillé-Coll organ6 in the school chapel. Each year, Jean Langlais was invited to give a concert on this instrument. When Cogen heard him improvise brilliantly on the Gregorian Sunday mid-Lent Introit, Laetare Jerusalem, he was moved so deeply that he immediately requested to become his student. At the age of 19, Cogen studied privately with him, taking lessons either on the two-manual harmonium with a pedalboard in Langlais’ home, on the Cavaillé-Coll organ in his class at the Paris Institute for the Blind, or on the chapel organ at Cogen’s school.
After graduating from this school in 1951, at the age of 20, Pierre Cogen studied for one year with Edouard Souberbielle at the César Franck School in Paris, during Langlais’ first tour to the United States. This distinguished and cultivated professor helped Cogen to solidify his technique. Cogen then continued to take private lessons with Langlais, studying organ interpretation (especially of the works associated with the Sainte-Clotilde Tradition), and also harmony, counterpoint, fugue, and improvisation (notably of the fugue). Cogen also studied harmony with Jean Lemaire and took preparatory courses for the exam that would qualify him to become a music professor with Eliane Chevalier (Marie-Madeleine Duruflé-Chevalier’s sister) and Raymond Weber. After obtaining his Certificat d’Aptitude as a music education professor, he taught in Paris, in public schools and at the private Alsatian School from 1961 to 1993. In the meantime, from 1952 to 1966, he directed a children’s choir, Les Petits Chanteurs de Championnet, which sang four-voice a cappella music from Palestrina to Langlais. It toured, notably to Germany in 1964 and 1965.
From 1952 to 1979, in exchange for numerous lessons, Cogen assisted Langlais’ wife Jeanne7 as a musical secretary, notating Langlais’ compositions onto paper and proofreading them for publication. In 1954, he helped Langlais prepare his edition of C. P. E. Bach’s Six Sonatas.8 When Langlais urgently composed his Salve Regina Mass for the Christmas Eve midnight mass at the Notre-Dame Cathedral in 1954, his wife notated the text during the day; each night, Cogen prepared the separate vocal scores. Among other compositions, he notated Langlais’ In Paradisum (Triptyque grégorien) in a hotel in Haarlem, during the International Improvisation Competition in 1978. In 1971, Pierre Cogen decided to complete his musical training, in both organ and improvisation, as well as in counterpoint and fugue. He therefore enrolled at the Schola Cantorum—in Langlais’ organ class from 1971 to 1973, then in Yvonne Desportes’ fugue class from 1974 to 1976—obtaining the Prix de Virtuosité in organ and improvisation in 1973, and Superior Diplomas in harmony, counterpoint and fugue in 1975–76. During the first term of 1973, when Langlais took a leave of absence for illness, Cogen took lessons with his substitute, André Fleury, studying his Prélude, Andante and Toccata, acquiring a more dreamlike interpretation of the Prélude and a more flamboyant spirit in the Toccata. Fleury insisted upon absolute precision and rigor in carrying out registration changes. Cogen greatly appreciated his honesty, his rectitude of character, and his constant friendship.9
In July 1975, Pierre Cogen participated in an improvisation academy in Nice with Pierre Cochereau, driving from Paris to Nice with the American organist George Baker. When Cogen improvised an “Elevation,” Cochereau immediately put him at ease, with his customary simplicity and warmth. Cogen recalls that they began with modulation exercises, all types of canons and toccata formulas, developing numerous forms: the sicilienne, various suite movements, and, of course, the fugue. Among the advice that Cogen retained:

Carry out your effects tactfully. Don’t say everything initially!
Interweave all of the elements, one upon another.
Don’t abuse the use of major and minor scales.
Establish the tonalities of your development.
Beware of your repeated chords, too many arpeggiated formulas.
How can you return to the principal tonality? And the 6/4 chord!10

In 1979, Pierre Cogen obtained, by competition, the Aptitude Certificate for Teaching Organ and Improvisation (C.A.) in the national French conservatories. In 1984, he created the organ class at the Maurice Ravel Conservatory in Levallois, near Paris, remaining there until his retirement in 1993.

Titular at the Sainte-Clotilde Basilica in Paris

Beginning in 1955, Cogen began to substitute for Langlais at the Sainte-Clotilde Basilica when his official assistant, Pierre Denis,11 was not available. The Grand Orgue gave solemnity to the church services, and prepared and prolonged the atmosphere of the liturgical chants during the masses, vespers, weddings and funerals. When Langlais asked him to substitute for him, Cogen played for three Sunday morning masses: the 9:30 a.m. high mass was in Latin and Gregorian chant; the two others, at 11 a.m. and noon, were low masses. At the high mass, Cogen played the Prelude, the Offertory, the Elevation, the Communion, and the Postlude. During the low masses, he played continuously while the celebrant recited his prayers in a “low” voice. During the church services, Cogen based his improvisations and his choice of repertory on the appropriate chants of the liturgical year. For the vesper services, after playing a processional entrance, he improvised fifteen verses, first for the repeated antiphons that follow each of the five psalms, then, in alternation with the choir, for the verses of the hymn and the Magnificat, and then again for the antiphon.
In 1972, Pierre Cogen played the organ regularly, becoming Langlais’ official assistant. During this period, he only played two Sunday morning masses, at 11 a.m. (preceded by a long prelude) and at noon. Although the vespers were no longer held, he still played for weddings and funerals. At the beginning of 1973, when Langlais fell ill, Cogen played for all of the services. When Langlais resumed his activities, he dedicated to Cogen the fourth of his Cinq Méditations sur l’Apocalypse: “Oh oui, viens, Seigneur viens, Seigneur Jésus.”12
On January 31, 1976, at Langlais’ request, Pierre Cogen was named as a co-titular organist at Saint-Clotilde. He still played for the same number of masses. Even more important, since he had unlimited access to the organ, he became well integrated into the Sainte-Clotilde Tradition, playing much of its related repertory. On the occasion of his nomination as co-titular organist, Langlais presented him with Léon Vallas’s biography of César Franck13 with the following inscription (see illustration 2).
From 1978 to 1985, in addition to the two morning masses, Cogen played for a traditional low mass in Latin every Sunday at 6:30 p.m. (except in the summer). On May 17, 1987, Cogen accompanied Langlais’ Messe Solennelle for four-part choir and two organs15 while Langlais played solo pieces during a televised Sunday morning mass that celebrated Langlais’ 80th birthday. In April 1988, when Langlais resigned at the age of 80 due to a bad heart condition, he was named “Honorary Organist at Sainte-Clotilde.”16 Cogen succeeded him as titular, and Jacques Taddei was also named as titular, joining the list of their illustrious predecessors:

1863–1890 César Franck17
1890–1898 Gabriel Pierné
1898–1939 Charles Tournemire
1942–1944 Joseph Ermend Bonnal
1945–1988 Jean Langlais
1976–1994 Pierre Cogen
1988–present Jacques Taddei

After his nomination, Cogen dedicated his Offrande to Langlais and premiered this work during the 11 a.m. Easter Mass at Sainte-Clotilde on April 3, 1988, the day he succeeded Langlais as titular. At the beginning of this piece, a beautiful pentatonic melody is harmonized with refined simplicity (see illustration 3). After Langlais’ death on May 8, 1991, Cogen and Taddei, with other instrumentalists and choirs, played for his funeral on May 30.
From 1988 to 1991, in addition to his service playing, Cogen organized organ concerts at Sainte-Clotilde every Friday after the noon mass. These concerts continued until the church was closed in 1992 for restoration work. When it reopened in 1993, Cogen and Taddei only played for the 11 a.m. mass, but a song rehearsal that immediately preceded the mass prevented them from playing a prelude. On June 21, 1994, Cogen retired at the age of 62, after 39 years of service to this parish (21 years as a substitute organist and 18 years as a titular). On April 2, he played there for the last time—for the Easter Vigil and the midnight Easter mass, ending it with the following postlude: Langlais’ Incantation pour un jour saint, which combines the Lumen Christi chant from the Easter Vigil and the Litanies, which had been sung by the congregation during the vigil to implore heavenly aid.

International concert organist and recording artist

As a concert organist, Cogen had the privilege of premiering several of Langlais’ pieces. On December 30, 1979, he inaugurated his Noëls avec Variations, Op. 204, at the Saint-Louis des Invalides Church in Paris. On November 18, 1985, he premiered Langlais’ Talitha Koum, Op. 225, at a second concert that celebrated Langlais’ 40 years of service as an organist at Sainte-Clotilde. On Sunday, December 13, 1987, at Sainte-Clotilde, Cogen premiered, with Claire Louchet, soprano, Langlais’ Antiennes à la Sainte Vierge, Op. 242, for one voice and organ.
On February 1, 1987, Pierre Cogen performed at the Madeleine Church in Paris, along with François-Henri Houbart and Georges Bessonnet, in a concert that celebrated Jean Langlais’ 80th birthday. On February 15, 1987, Langlais’ 80th birthday, he attended Cogen’s recital at the Notre-Dame Cathedral. Cogen performed Langlais’ Chant de joie, Rosa mystica, Triptyque, and Dans la lumière, an extract from L’Offrande à une âme. At Sainte-Clotilde, Cogen also performed in several memorable organ concerts: one was held in Tournemire’s honor on November 16, 1989. It is particularly moving to note that Cogen heard Langlais play for the last time during this concert—a moving rendition of the second of Tournemire’s Sei Fioretti, which had been dedicated to him 57 years earlier, in 1932!18
Also at Sainte-Clotilde, Cogen played in two concerts that celebrated the centenary of Cesar Franck’s death in 1990 and in several recitals that were held in Langlais’ memory in 1991. On Good Friday in 1989, 1990 and 1991, Cogen was privileged to perform at Sainte-Clotilde Tournemire’s Sept Chorals-Poèmes pour les Sept Paroles du Christ, Op. 67. Father Choné, the church priest, introduced each piece with a commentary of the Gospel.
Cogen also rendered homage to his two predecessors by recording their works on the Sainte-Clotilde Grand Orgue:
1. Langlais’ works (carried out in the composer’s presence): Incantation pour un jour saint, Ave Maria, Ave Maris Stella, Offrande à Marie, Suite medievale (a 33 rpm record published by Tempo FR 760310), 1976;
2. Langlais’ Première Symphonie, Suite folklorique, Triptyque by Cybélia (CY-867), 1986; 3. Tournemire’s Sept Chorals-Poèmes pour les Sept Paroles du Xrist en Croix, L’Orgue Mystique (the Assumption and the Epiphany Offices) (CD, Cybélia, CY-883), 1990. In 1997, he also recorded Langlais’ Suite médiévale, Suite brève, and Suite française on the organ at the Church of the Holy Spirit in Mannheim (CD, Aeolus, AE-10081).

Pierre Cogen’s organ works

After retiring from his post at Sainte-Clotilde in 1994, Pierre Cogen was able to devote more time to performing and to composing. His compositions were inspired by Tournemire’s poetic language and by Langlais’ colorful harmonies. The influence of the Sainte-Clotilde Tradition is also manifest in Cogen’s use of modal tonalities, Gregorian chants, and the imitation of bells. Several of Cogen’s organ works were commissioned, notably by the Austrian organist and composer Thomas Daniel Schlee, by two organists in Switzerland, Eva and Marco Brandazza, and by the Austrian organist Herbert Bolterauer. In the following list of Cogen’s works, the titles are given in French, along with information concerning their dedications, their premieres and their publication. A brief description of each piece provides the composer’s remarks concerning his works.

1. Deux Chorals, dedicated to his dear master Jean Langlais, composed as birthday presents for him; they were premiered privately, on Langlais’ house organ, on February 15, 1974 (the second choral) and in 1977 (the first choral): “Es ist ein Ros’ entsprungen,” 1977; “Herzlich tut mich verlangen,” 1974.
Published in Paris: Combre (C 5464), 1993 (6'30").
The association of these two chorals recalls two vital extremities, one’s birth and death, as Cogen explains.
The first choral, with its inherently intimate character, uses the famous Praetorius Christmas carol in a clear, contrapuntal style, with particularly soft registrations (Gambe and Voix Celeste, Bourdon 8', with a soft Pedal Flute). The melody, in long note values in the soprano, is accompanied by a discreet movement of eighth-notes in the inner voices, while syncopated rhythms in the bass line (played on the pedal) lull the upper voices.
Cogen was studying improvisation with Langlais when he composed the second choral. Langlais had insisted that the pedal part should not stagnate in the lower notes. His student followed his advice far beyond his master’s wishes, since the pedal sings entirely in the upper range on the following stops: Flute 4', Nasard 22⁄3', Larigot 11⁄3' and Piccolo 1' (registration that was dear to Messiaen in his Banquet céleste). The choral melody, resolutely sustained with homophonic writing, is confined to the manuals (Bourdon 8', Voix Humaine and tremolo on the Swell or, if this is not available, on 8' foundation stops that can sufficiently balance the opposing chant in the pedal). If the pedalboard does not contain a G3, it is possible to play the entire pedal part an octave lower on a registration based on 2' stops.

2. Nocturne sur un thème populaire Breton, 1976, dedicated to Michèle Vermesse, his future wife; premiered by Ann Labounsky in a concert at Sainte-Clotilde in Paris on May 21, 1979.
Published in Paris: Combre (C 5396), 1992 (7'30").
Recorded by Hans Leitner at the Passau Cathedral in 1995, in Klangfarben der grössten Kirchenorgel der Welt, CD 118, Symicon, Passau, and by Ulrich Karg at the Saint-Vith Church in Belgium, 1999, in Organs in Wallonie, a province of Liège, Blawète Records, Liège.
The theme of this nocturne is a Breton hymn proposed to Pierre Cogen as an improvisation theme to conclude a concert given at Douarnenez (in the southern Finistère) on August 17, 1975. This evening hymn affirms a faith as solid as the granite that is exposed to harsh atmospheric conditions; it is presented as such in the old Breton night legends (ankou, korrigans, etc.). Cogen tried to bring this atmosphere to life in this symphonic, three-part Andante: following the triple exposition of the theme, interspersed with mysterious bell tolls, a sombre and anguished central section develops certain fragments of the theme; then a re-exposition is calmer and more lyrical. This piece finishes with a reminder of the bell tolling: at the beginning and the end of this work, two chords are superposed in the lower keyboard range, solely on the Nasard 22⁄3' and the Tierce 13⁄5' stops.

3. Chorale “Erbarm dich mein, ô Herre Gott,” 1978, unpublished (5').
In an ecumenical approach, Pierre Cogen had planned on writing several suites that would combine Lutheran chorales with Gregorian themes. This is the only work that was completed. In a particularly slow tempo, the chorale theme passes successively from the lower to the upper ranges, from pianissimo to triple forte with dense polyphonic writing, whereas the Gregorian theme, Miserere mei, Deus, serves as a countrapuntal element.

4. Deux Hosannas sur des textes grégoriens: I. Hosanna in exsilio, 1980, to François Tricot; II. Hosanna Escalquensis, 1982, to Jeanne Langlais, in memoriam.
Published in Das neue Orgelalbum II, Vienna: Universal Edition (UE 17480), 1985 (7'30").
The first piece begins with an excerpt of the Sanctus from the Missa Orbis Factor. Then, a two-part development built around a group of four descending notes is followed by a recapitulation with a canon at the seventh and a brief coda. The fear-stricken character of the music alludes to the title of the piece: we are not in heaven (in excelsis), but in this world of banishment (in exsilio), to which the Salve Regina alludes.
In the second movement, the theme, a fragment of the Missa Cunctipotens Genitor Deus in the second mode, appears three times. A fugato, based on a fragment of the theme, introduces the development section. A large-scale rallentando leads to a mysterious carillon: that of the Escalquens Church (near Toulouse), where Jean and Jeanne Langlais are buried. This carillon is played very slowly (see illustration 4, page 28). The bell tolling and the thematic fragments are developed with a crescendo, leading to a brilliant, luminous presentation of the theme in a canon at the interval of a fifth.
5. Psalmodie, composed at Cernay la Ville on December 31, 1985, dedicated to his mother.
Published in Pedals Only, Vienna: Universal Edition (UE 18601), 1988 (5').
The author could have inscribed an epigraph under the title of the piece, citing the passage in the Gospel of St. Luke (chapter I, verse 39), following the text concerning the Annunciation: “Mary left hastily to visit her cousin Elizabeth in the mountains.” At the beginning of Psalmodie, a series of three groups of three quiet F-sharps on the Flute 4' stop recall the Sainte-Clotilde church bells when they toll for the Angelus.19 As Cogen explains, after this introduction comes a three-voice fugue, whose joyful subject is none other than that of the psalmody in the eighth mode, sometimes used to sing the Magnificat. After several expositions and divertimenti, the movement is accelerated while the subject is compressed through several canons (strettos), leading to the tutti, a radiant B-major chord. Two codas are proposed, with solo pedal or with the addition of the manuals.

6. Offrande, 1988 (initially composed in 1963 for an a cappella four-voice choir with the title Le Lotus d’Or), dedicated to his dear master Jean Langlais; premiered by Cogen during the 11 a.m. Easter Mass at Sainte-Clotilde on April 3, 1988, the day he succeeded Langlais as titular.
Published in Paris: Combre (Collection Horizon), 1990 (3').
Recorded by Andrew Cantrill, at St. Paul’s Cathedral in Wellington, New Zealand.
This is a unique piece: Cogen’s only work from the 1960s, when he was strongly influenced by early twentieth-century composers such as Debussy, Ravel, Stravinsky, Bartók, and Milhaud. It is based on a Birman folklore melody in the pentatonic mode and is structured according to its four original strophes. The melody initially appears in the soprano on the Swell Oboe 8', accompanied by the left hand on the Positive Salicional 8' and a soft 16' and 8' in the Pedal. In the second strophe, a trio, the melody appears in the left hand on the Positive Cromorne, while the alto is played by the right hand on the Swell Cornet, with a Grand Jeu de Tierce in the Pedal. In the slightly agitated third strophe, the melody in the soprano is sustained by the two voices in the alto, which develop in imitation before sounding together in parallel thirds. The work finishes peacefully on the Swell Gambe and Voix Celeste stops that accompany the melody on the Great Bourdon 8'. As Cogen indicates, the absence of the B and E notes in the pentatonic melody allowed him to truly modulate: while the first and the last strophes maintained their “white” key signature, the B-flat intervenes in the second strophe and joins the E-flat in the third one.

7. Fantaisie sur une Antienne for organ with four hands and pedal, 1988, finished at Cernay-la-Ville, near Paris, on November 4, 1989, dedicated to Claire and Thomas Daniel Schlee; premiered by Cogen and Schlee in a concert that celebrated 50th anniversary of Tournemire’s death, at Sainte-Clotilde on November 23, 1989, along with T. D. Schlee’s Prisme, also a work for four hands and pedal.
Published in Vienna: Universal Edition (UE 19550), 1988 (7').
Recorded by Eva and Marco Brandazza at the Schloss Church in Bad Mergentheim (Germany), in Ite, missa est, Organum Musikproduktion, Öhringen, 1996; and by Sylvie Poirier and Philip Crozier on the Casavant organ at the Très Saint Sacrement de Jésus Church in Montréal, Canada, in Historic Organs of Montreal, CD 1.
Pierre Cogen’s fantasy contains three main sections of polyphonic writing—Lento, Andante and Allegro—that alternate with freely expressive recitatives. The Lento section sounds like a funeral march on the soft 8' foundation stops, After progressing from the lower to the upper registers, a heavy pedal note imitates a bell-like toll on low C. The Andante presents a fugue whose vigorous rhythmical theme appears in the alto, then in the tenor and in the bass. In the final Allegro, a litany-like dialogue on the foundation stops with the mixtures, the composer presents the Gregorian antiphon on which this piece is based: the “Ego dormivi” from the Easter matins, which Tournemire used several times in his L’Orgue mystique, notably in his Paraphrase Carillon. Cogen’s work ends majestically on the full organ.

8. L’Epiphanie du Seigneur, 1991, in homage to the painter, Werner Hartmann, dedicated to Geneviève and Daniel Hartmann; premiered by Pierre Cogen on November 10, 1991, for the tenth anniversary of the death of this painter, at the Parish Catholic Church in Gerliswill-Emmenbrücke, near Lu-cerne, Switzerland. Unpublished (14')
Werner Hartmann’s series of large paintings (5.60m x 1.90m) of the Epiphany of the Savior, which inspired this piece, are located in the choir of the Catholic church, Pfarrkirche Gerliswill, in the Gerliswill-Emmenbrücke district of Lucerne. They depict the three miracles related in the Epiphany Gospel: the star followed by the Wise Men (who ride on horses instead of camels), the water changed into wine, and the descent of the Holy Spirit during Christ’s Baptism. While looking at these paintings, Cogen was struck by their link with the Gregorian antiphon in the first mode, the “Tribus miraculis” from the Magnificat of the Second Vespers of Epiphany. Since this work is based on this theme, it may be sung as an introduction.
According to Cogen, in the first movement, “The Star, the Three Wise Men and the Manger Scene,” mysterious and stark sonorities (due to the light discord on the Nazard stop) recall the night and the starlit sky. The central part of this movement recalls the Wise Men (who travel on horseback to follow the star that led them to the cradle). At the end, a slow descent leads to a lulling movement, a sweet evocation of the manger scene.
In the second movement, “The Wedding at Cana and the Baptism of Jesus,” light flutes sound a discreet carillon, while the rustic reed stops introduce a folk melody full of Mediterranean light. The development, initially calm, becomes more intense, leading up to a brief and turbulent agitato that represents the servants’ astonishment when the miracle takes place. Then, the melody is transformed into a Grand Plein Jeu—solemn and hieratic—the manifestation of the Divine Presence. This fragment finishes with the first notes of Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est.
The Baptism of Jesus by John, a penance baptism, begins with low notes and rustic sonorities that depict the universe filled with minerals and the dry desert where John the Baptist carried out his mission. This long tension is resolved in less dissonant harmonies, the first fruits of the salvation announced by John the Baptist. The quotation of the Veni Creator recalls the descent of the Holy Spirit onto Jesus. The work concludes in a luminous atmosphere with the initial Gregorian theme—that of the antiphon Tribus miraculis.

9. L’Exaltation de la Sainte Croix, Diptyque for Organ, 1994, dedicated to Monseigneur Jean Revert, Honorary Choirmaster at the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, for the 50th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood; premiered by Pierre Cogen at the Notre-Dame Cathedral on Palm Sunday, on March 27, 1994. Unpublished (11')
According to Cogen, this work is a grand Gregorian paraphrase in the spirit of similar pieces by Tournemire and Langlais. The title refers to the Feast of the Holy Cross. The melodic material is taken from several liturgical antiphons and hymns from the Holy Week, in particular, the antiphons Ecce lignum Crucis, Crucem tuam adoramus, and the hymn Vexilla Regis. A Meditation on the Mystery of the Cross, an instrument of Christ’s torture but also a symbol of the Redemption, this work is in the form of a diptyque in two connecting parts:
I. After an introduction inviting one to the Adoration of the Cross, a somber procession intones the hymn Vexilla Regis in the lower ranges of the organ. This first part ends peacefully, in expectation of the Resurrection.
II. At the very beginning of the second part, the atmosphere changes. A theme of exaltation, Exaltavit illum, first in the upper range of the organ, gives birth to a fugato. Profiting from secondary episodes, the theme of the hymn Vexilla Regis winds its way into the low ranges before powerfully bursting forth. The work concludes with a fanfare, recalling its various themes.

10. Lucernaire for two organs, “Paravi lucernam Christo meo” (Ps. 131/132, v. 17), for the Christmas season or for a celebration of the Light, 1994, commissioned by Eva and Marco Brandazza and premiered by them on January 10, 1995, at the Jesuit Church in Lucerne, Switzerland (with Eva on the choir organ and Marco on the tribune organ). Unpublished (17')
Recorded by Eva and Marco Brandazza (see item 7 above).
Underneath the title, the composer placed a verse of the Psalm 131 (132): “I have prepared a lamp for my Christ.” According to Cogen, this expectation and coming of the Light, an idea that repeatedly occurs in the Christmas season liturgical texts, guided him during his preparations, from the antiphon O Oriens (for the winter solstice) and the Lumen ad revelationem gentium of the Feast of the Purification, until the hymn Jesu, Redemptor omnium and its verse. By referring to these texts that were sung during the vespers of the Christmas season, the composer thought of structuring his work in the manner of an evening service, notably the one that was formerly referred to as Lucernaire, because one lit lamps during this service. In addition, the composer did not neglect to bring out the similarity between the Latin word lucerna, the lamp, and the name of the city of Lucerne.

11. Cortège, 1996, in memory of Adrien Maciet, the organ builder; Herbert Bolterauer premiered it on November 8, 1996, at the Mariahilf in Graz, Austria.
Published in Paris: Combre (C 05909), in Enluminures. Dix Pièces pour orgue sur un thème donné, 1999 (5').
Herbert Bolterauer, the organist at the Mariahilf Church in Graz, Austria, had requested nine different composers to write a short piece on a theme by Alexandre Schrei. The title of this collection, Enluminures [Illuminations], refers to the way the composers, through the variety of their styles, were able to “illuminate” the various aspects of the thematic material. Since Cogen’s piece is a memorial one, he chose a writing style that is essentially contrapuntal, quasi-vocal. He begins his piece in a slow and grave tempo: Schrei’s theme initially appears when the pedal enters. The piece intensifies until its conclusion. According to the composer, each interpreter can choose either to maintain its restrained character throughout the work, or to increase the sonorities, leading to a maximum of sound at the end of the piece.

12. Psalm “De Profundis” for organ and brass, 1998, in memory of his father-in-law, Edouard Vermesse; Pierre Cogen premiered it on July 17, 1998, with the brass ensemble Hexagone and the solo trumpeter Pierre Dutot, at the Abbatial Church in Guîtres, France (in Gironde, near Bordeaux). Unpublished (8')
This piece develops the various aspects of Psalm 129 (130), from its initial distressful plea to its message of the Lord’s kindness and redemption expressed in verse seven. It uses various Gregorian melodies: the antiphons from the Requiem and the Christmas Vespers, the Offertory from the twenty-third Sunday after Whitsun, and the chorale Aus tiefer Not schrei’ ich zu dir (the Lutheran equivalent of the De profundis).

13. Introduction, Thème et Variations sur “Innsbrück, Ich muss dich lassen” (Variations on a song by Heinrich Isaac), 1999–2002, dedicated to Thomas Daniel Schlee; on July 8, 1999, Cogen premiered an excerpt of this work at the parish church in Igls-Innsbruck; he then premiered it in its entirety on June 18, 2002, at Saint-Sulpice in Paris, France.
Published in Paris: Combre (C 06460), 2006 (13').
In 1996, when Cogen gave a concert in Igls, in the immediate vicinity of Innsbruck, he was inspired to compose a work on Isaac’s tune known as Innsbrück. The association between its name and that of the river Inn inspired him to write an introduction followed by five variations on this theme. As in most variations, this work enables the performer to present the various tonal colors of the organ. An initial Andante introduction develops several motives of the theme, on the foundation stops and the Swell Trumpet 8¢; the theme is then presented un poco più vivo, on the 16', 8', and 4' foundation stops. After the addition of the manual mixtures and the Pedal Basson 16', Isaac’s theme is entirely presented on the full organ, with harmonies reminiscent of those of the fifteenth century, when the melody was originally composed. The following five variations present the various colors of the organ:
Variation 1: an Adagio presents the theme in the lowest part of the pedalboard, using the Swell Bourdon 8', Voix Humaine 8' and tremulant, with the Pedal Flutes 8' and 4' and, if possible, the mutation stops forming the Grand Jeu de Tierce;
Variation 2: an Andante, with the theme played by the left hand, in a light character, on the Gambe stops;
Variation 3: a lyrical movement that dislocates the theme, using dissonances and “harsh” sounding reed stops, such as the Great horizontal Trumpet 8' with the mixtures;
Variation 4: a Moderato movement on the Swell Gambe 8' and Voix Celeste, with a canon between the alto (played by the right hand) and the soprano (played on the Pedal Flute 4');
Variation 5: a vigorous Fugue, Allegro ma non troppo, that begins on the Swell 8', 4', and 2' foundation stops with the mixtures; a progressive crescendo leads to the triumphal return of Isaac’s song, in a “resolutely modern harmonization” (P. Cogen).
A coda concludes this work on the full organ, resounding an open fifth: D–A.

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