The University of Michigan 51st Conference on Organ Music

James David Christie

James David Christie has performed around the world with symphony orchestras and period instrument ensembles as well as in solo recitals. The 1979 first prize winner of the Bruges (Belgium) International Organ Competition, he was the first American ever to win first prize in this competition, and also the first person in the competition’s eighteen-year history to win both the first prize and the prize of the audience. He has served as organist of the Boston Symphony Orchestra since 1978 and has performed and recorded with numerous major orchestras, including those of Vienna, London, Stuttgart, Paris, Philadelphia, San Francisco, San Diego, Seattle, New York, Boston, and others. He has made over fifty tours of Europe and performs regularly in Canada, Asia, Australia, and Iceland. James David Christie has served on many international organ competition juries, including those in Paris, Chartres, Biarritz, St. Albans, Amsterdam, Lübeck, Bordeaux, Dublin, Worcester, Calgary, Montreal, Dallas, Leipzig, Weimar-Merseburg, Tokyo, Moscow, Kaliningrad, Lausanne, Boston, Bruges, and others. Christie has recorded for Decca, Philips, Nonesuch, JAV, Northeastern, Arabesque, Denon, RCA, Dorian, Naxos, Bridge, and GM and has received several awards for his solo recordings, including the Preis der Deutschen Schallplatten Kritik and the Magazine d’Orgue: Coup de Coeur. James David Christie holds positions as the Distinguished Artist in Residence at the College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, Massachusetts, Chair and Professor of Organ at the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music, Oberlin, Ohio, and serves as College Organist at Wellesley College, Wellesley, Massachusetts. He has previously held positions at Boston Conservatory, Harvard University, M.I.T., and Boston University. In the fall of 2010, he was on sabbatical in Paris, France, where he served as visiting Professor of Organ at the Paris Conservatory.

 

A national French celebration took place March 24–27, 2011 in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, a Parisian suburb west of Paris and hometown of the composer Jehan Alain, to honor the centenary of his birth. The splendid event was organized by Dr. Aurélie Decourt, Jehan Alain’s niece and daughter of the celebrated French organist, Marie-Claire Alain, in conjunction with the city of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, the Chevalier family (for the performance of Maurice Duruflé’s music), the association Arts, cultures et foi, the General Council of the Department of the Yvelines, the National Museum of Archeology, SACEM—Société des auteurs, compositeurs et éditeurs de musique (the French association entrusted with the rights of composers, authors, and publishers), the Société Générale-Direction régionale de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, and Les Amis du Vieux Saint-Germain (an organization dedicated to preserving and celebrating the history and arts of Saint-Germain-en-Laye). The event was listed among the national 2011 celebrations of the French Ministry of Culture and was sponsored under the international patronage of Marie-Claire Alain, Gilles Cantagrel, James David Christie, John Grew, Georges Guillard, and Philippe Lefebvre.

 

Thursday, March 24

The event opened on Thursday evening, March 24, with a joyous ceremony: the placing of a plaque on the home of the Alain family at 46, rue du Pologne, by the mayor of Saint-Germain-en-Laye. Over one hundred people attended the event, including Jehan Alain’s three children, Denis, Agnès, and Lise, and his sister, Marie-Claire, the last living sibling of Jehan Alain. The new owner of the home invited those in attendance into her home to wander throughout the house; she generously provided and served champagne to everyone. It was the first time Marie-Claire Alain had been in the house since it was sold in the 1970s, and it was a very emotional experience for her to return to the home of her childhood.

Aurélie Decourt designed and personally arranged a marvelous exhibition at the Espace Véra, which included musical manuscripts, letters, and drawings by Alain; information about the Alain house organ and organs in general was provided by Guy Bovet and the Association Jehan Alain de Suisse. The exhibit was open from March 19 through April 8. On Saturday afternoon, participants were invited by Les Amis du Vieux Saint-Germain to attend a very moving ceremony at the grave of Jehan Alain, located in the military section of the cemetery in Le Pecq, a small town next to Saint-Germain where Jehan had lived with his wife Madeleine and his children. After the war, Jehan’s body was exhumed from his grave in Saumur and moved to Le Pecq.  Madeleine is buried near her husband in the plot of her parents. On their way to the cemetery, the participants passed the house where the young married couple had lived.

 

International Colloquium “Music and Arts in the 20s and 30s”

Two days were devoted to lectures as part of the international colloquium entitled “Music and Arts in the 20s and 30s.” Aurélie Decourt opened the event on Friday, March 25 at the Salle du Musée d’Archéologie Nationale in the Saint-Germain Chateau with a marvelous lecture on Jehan Alain’s sources of inspiration. Guy Bovet spoke about the harmonium of Albert Alain (which had been housed in the very room where the lecture was given) and the last modifications on the Alain house organ, now located at Romainmôitier, Switzerland. Ton van Eck spoke of the organ that
Jehan Alain knew during his lifetime. Fabienne Stahl, who is organizing the catalog of the complete works of Maurice Denis, spoke of Denis’s use of the organ in his painting and showed that Denis used Marie-Odile Alain, Jehan’s sister who was killed in a mountain accident at a very young age, as his model for an organist in one of his paintings. Christophe Corbier lectured on Alain and his teacher, Maurice Emmanuel, and the use of modes in some of Alain’s piano works; a round-table discussion, led by Gilles Cantagrel, followed, concerning organists during Alain’s lifetime. The panel included Marie-Claire Alain, Jacqueline Englert (daughter of André Marchal), Marie-Louise Langlais (widow of Jean Langlais), Eric Lebrun (student of Gaston Litaize), and Christian Lesur (son of the organist-composer Daniel-Lesur). One laments that the music of Daniel-Lesur is not better known today; he was an extraordinary composer and his music deserves to be played and heard. Jacqueline Englert prepared an excellent talk on the close relationship of her father and Jehan Alain that was concise and beautifully delivered. 

The afternoon session was devoted to Jehan Alain as composer. Vincent Warnier, the organiste-titulaire of Saint-Etienne-du-Mont, presided over this session. Roberto Antonello spoke of his thoughts on Alain’s music through Alain’s correspondence and Georges Guillard spoke of the “hidden” orchestra of Jehan Alain. Luc Antonini spoke on his new orchestration of Alain’s Trois Danses, which we were to hear later that evening. Vincent Warnier gave a very interesting talk on Maurice Duruflé’s large orchestral work, Trois Danses, which we were also to hear that same evening. Jean-Baptiste Robin’s talk, entitled “La griffe Jehan Alain,” was followed by another round-table discussion with Michel Bouvard (France), James David Christie (USA), Lynne Davis (USA), John Grew (Canada), James Higdon (USA), Jon Laukvik (Germany), and Wim Viljoen (Republic of South Africa)—all were students of Marie-Claire Alain, except for Mr. Bouvard. Each spoke about Alain’s music in their countries and its reception from the early 20th century through the present. 

 

Friday evening, March 25

Friday evening, March 25, was the long-awaited premiere of the new orchestration by organist Luc Antonini of Alain’s Trois Danses, performed by the Orchestre National d’Ile-de-France under the direction of the American conductor, Jonathan Schiffmann, at the Théâtre Alexandre Dumas in the heart of Saint-Germain-en-Laye. Jehan Alain’s own orchestration of Trois Danses was lost during the last year of his life, and Raymond Gallois-Montbrun orchestrated the work in 1945. Critics viewed this orchestration as too heavy and too academic for Alain’s music and there was always a desire that someone would undertake a new orchestration, more in the exotic spirit of the young Jehan Alain.  

Friday evening’s program included Debussy’s Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune, certainly to pay homage to the most famous composer to hail from Saint-Germain-en-Laye. Sadly, the famous opening flute solo was lackluster and performed without poetry and with a very dull, uninteresting tone. The Chevalier family made possible the performance of Maurice Duruflé’s stunning Trois Danses, which date from 1936 (the year before Alain began his Trois Danses, also for orchestra). Certainly the high point of the concert, Duruflé’s Trois Danses elicited the orchestra’s finest performance of the entire evening. This work is a masterpiece and shows Duruflé as an orchestrator on the level of Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel, and André Caplet.  

Unfortunately, Antonini’s orchestration of Alain’s Trois Danses did not fare as well. One was expecting extensive use of orchestral color and this did not happen. The audience was ready for an explosive, colorful, on-the-edge orchestration that would bring the work to life like a rock band. The percussion was under-used and the orchestration in general was “textbook” and dull. One had the feeling that Antonini did not even know the organ version. We were told that Antonini was not happy with the results, and that he planned to rework the orchestration for a performance at the festival Toulouse les Orgues this fall. Schiffmann’s heavy, shapeless conducting did much to harm the performance and showed that minimal study had been done on the work. The orchestra sounded very under-rehearsed as well. The program concluded with a more polished performance of Ravel’s Ma Mère l’Oye, which was obviously in the repertoire of the orchestra. The audience responded enthusiastically and a movement was repeated as an encore.

 

Saturday, March 26

The colloquium continued on Saturday morning, March 26, under Georges Guillard’s leadership in the exquisite chapel of the Musée Maurice Denis, with topics concerning the works of Jehan Alain. Claire Denis, granddaughter of the famed artist Maurice Denis, gave a lovely introduction to his work and the efforts currently being undertaken to prepare a catalog of his works. Michel Fischer spoke on the great differences in the compositions of two close friends, Alain and Messiaen. Wilhelm Hafner lectured on the counterpoint in the instrumental work of Alain. This was followed by perhaps the most interesting of all the lectures: Jean-Marc Leblanc spoke on the influence of Charles Tournemire on Alain. 

Norma Stevlingson spoke about the critical notes on the organ works, which she assisted Marie-Claire Alain to prepare for publication by Alphonse Leduc. Klaus Rothaupt recalled the teaching of Alain’s organ works by his sister, Marie-Claire.  Yannick Merlin’s topic was Jehan Alain’s brother, Olivier Alain, and his compositions. Since Olivier’s death in 1994, Marie-Claire Alain has prepared editions of many of his works.  

The morning session concluded with a round-table discussion on the global scope of Alain’s work, with Marie-Claire Alain, James David Christie, Gilles Cantagrel, and John Grew. The participants were treated to a sumptuous lunch prepared and served by members of Les Amis du Vieux Saint-Germain in the Saint-Germain-en-Laye chateau.

 

Afternoon concert

In the afternoon, there was a concert given by professional musicians from Saint-Germain, which included a wonderful performance of Jehan Alain’s Andante con variazioni et Scherzo for string quintet (this is the same music as the first two movements of Alain’s Suite pour orgue), the Trois mouvements for flute and piano, and Olivier Alain’s Souvenances for flute and piano (with well-known veteran flutist Luc Urbain). A beautiful performance of Olivier Alain’s Suite for violin and piano followed.   

Perhaps one of the most touching moments of the entire festival was the singing of Jehan Alain’s beautiful song, Laisse les nuages blancs (poem of Francis Jammes) by Ariane Gommier, the great-niece of Jehan Alain, granddaughter of Marie-Claire Alain, and daughter of Anne Gommier and Marie-Claire Alain’s late son, Benoît. Members of the choir of the Claude Debussy Conservatory of Saint-Germain sang several secular and religious choral works of Jehan Alain to conclude the program.

 

Evening concert

The finest program of the festival took place at the Church of Saint-Germain-en-Laye on Saturday evening, March 26. Albert Alain held the position of organiste-titulaire at this church from 1924 until his death in 1971 and was succeeded by his daughter, Marie-Claire, who holds the position to this day. Jehan Alain often substituted for his father here as well. This program was unique and captivating. It featured the brilliant concert organist Michel Bouvard and the celebrated French actress Brigitte Fossey, reading excerpts from letters written by Jehan Alain from the front. The readings, carefully chosen by Aurélie Decourt, were interspersed among the organ works and were very moving. Brigitte Fossey is a marvelous actress and gave an outstanding presentation. Michel Bouvard was the perfect organist for this program; his playing was elegant, refined, colorful, full of spontaneity, poetic, and exciting—in short, he played just as one would have imagined Jehan Alain played his own works. He gave extraordinary performances of Alain’s two Fantasies and Trois Danses. This concert was a preview of the official performance scheduled for October 2011 at the international festival, Toulouse les Orgues.

 

Sunday morning

On Sunday morning, young students of the Conservatory Claude Debussy of Saint-Germain performed piano works of Jehan Alain. The second half of the program was devoted to Alain’s more mature works, such as Suite monodique and Tarass Boulba; Désiré N’Kaoua, a former student of Lazare Levy and Marguerite Long, performed this portion of the program. A specialist in the music of Ravel and French music in general, N’Kaoua recorded the complete piano works of Jehan Alain for the FY label in France.

 

Concluding concert

The Alain Centenary Celebration concluded with a concert in memory of Albert, Jehan, and Olivier Alain, with a large cast of performers: organists Eric Lebrun and Marie-Ange Leurent; the Camerata Saint-Louis, Georges Guillard, conductor; the Ensemble vocal de l’UFR de Musique et Musicologie en Sorbonne, Denis Rouger, director; soprano soloists Maud Gnidzaz, Lorraine Prigent, Clémence Olivier, and Ariane Gommier; mezzo-sopranos Anne-Marie Hellot, Violette Viannay, Camille Rondeau, and Mariette Desert; violinists Marie-Hélène Clausse and Stefano Catalano; violist Thierry Gileni; cellist Matthieu Fontana, and flutist Luc Urbain. 

The program opened with Duruflé’s memorial to Jehan Alain, his Prelude and Fugue on the name of ALAIN. The audience was treated to a rare performance of the Kyrie and Gloria from Albert Alain’s Messe Solennelle en l’honneur de Saint-Louis. Many of Jehan Alain’s smaller organ works and vocal motets were performed, including his beautiful Messe modale for soprano, alto, flute, and string quartet. The program concluded with Olivier Alain’s moving memorial to his sister Marie-Odile, Plange quasi virgo (from Trois déplorations) for soprano and organ, and Jehan Alain’s most famous work, Litanies. 

This concert was a wonderful way to conclude the festival and to celebrate the contributions of the entire Alain family to the city of Saint-Germain-en-Laye and the world. Marie-Claire Alain, who is now retired and who celebrated her 85th birthday on August 10, was in attendance for all the concerts. It was very moving to see the devotion and love of her many former students, colleagues, family, friends, and the public in general when she was welcomed at the concerts and receptions. The contributions of the Alain family from the early part of the 20th century through the present are amazing. Aurélie Decourt is a brilliant musicologist and works tirelessly for the Alain legacy. To mark the 100th birthday of Jehan Alain, she published an excellent book devoted to the history of the Alain family: “Une famille de musiciens au 20ème siècle, la famille Alain.” It is written in French and is published by Editions Hermann (http://www.editions-hermann.fr/).  

Our deepest thanks to Dr. Decourt for putting together this entire festival and to Les Amis de Vieux Saint-Germain for their warm welcome and their tireless work—it was a magnificent celebration and tribute to Jehan Alain and the entire Alain family! n

 

 

Stephanie Sloan and Rebecca Marie Yoder

Stephanie Sloan and Rebecca Marie Yoder are undergraduate students in the sacred music degree program at Duquesne University.

 

On October 8, 2011, the organ and sacred music performance students at Duquesne University, who study under the direction of Dr. Ann Labounsky, participated in a special masterclass given by Helga Elisabeth Schauerte-Maubouet on the organ works of Jehan Alain. A masterclass of this sort was the first in the United States that she conducted along with her newest publication, a three-volume Bärenreiter Urtext edition of Jehan Alain’s music. These volumes are the first German publication of Alain’s music and were studied extensively over the course of this 8-hour masterclass at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Pittsburgh. During the masterclass, the Duquesne University organ students gained much valuable insight into the works of Jehan Alain through the research of Schauerte, organist of the German Lutheran Church in Paris.

Schauerte’s interest in the art of organ playing began when she was young, for at 13 years of age she became the chief organist at a local church in Lennestadt, Germany. The story behind her inspiration to study Alain’s music began with Litanies. The first time she heard this piece was during a performance by her brother in Frankfurt, during which she assisted him with page turns and registration changes. She was struck by the expressive tonality of the piece and desired to know more about it and its composer. Consequently, she began studying at the Conservatory of Rueil-Malmaison with Marie-Claire Alain in 1983, after finishing her degree at the University of Cologne. As she advanced in her studies, Schauerte noticed technical and numerical discrepancies in the available editions of Alain’s compositions.

Thereafter, she decided to perform her own investigations in search of an authentic interpretation of Alain’s works. Her Bärenreiter edition is the result of over a decade of intensive research. It critically compares the earliest versions of Alain’s music preserved in his family archives and scores from the French National Library with all other known manuscripts. As recently as 1975, additional autographs were discovered in the Alain family archives and in 1987 in his friends’ collections.¹ Schauerte made a careful effort to ascertain not only an authentic interpretation of Alain’s pieces, but also the correct chronological order of his works. Within this chronology, Schauerte disregards transcriptions and unfinished works. The great significance of this new edition is that it, for the first time, merges Alain’s full organ works with details of the discrepancies between the different manuscripts. The performer can see the reasoning behind the changes made to Alain’s original documents, and also make his own judgments of what Alain originally intended. In addition, these volumes of the complete works of Alain publish the composer’s biography and his commentaries on many of the pieces. There are also thoughtful enhancements for each piece, with a catalogue of all sources consulted. The edition brings Alain’s total compositional effort to 120 titles.

The music of Jehan Alain is important for an organist to study in such detail because of the unique modernist voice Alain brought to 20th-century French organ music. Jehan Alain—a musician, artist, and poet—was born on February 3, 1911, the eldest of four musical children. From his humble beginnings, taking lessons from his father on their homemade house organ, Alain went on to study at the National Conservatory in Paris under André Bloch, Georges Caussade, Paul Dukas, Jean Roger-Ducasse, and Marcel Dupré. When Alain was drafted for the Second World War in 1939, he was just blossoming into creative maturity. Even while performing his duties, he continued to write compositions for organ, piano, orchestra, and voice.² He drew inspiration from nature, imitating its purity and freshness, and was also influenced by Eastern music. Alain often composed polytonal music, seeking “new colorings created by unusual blends of registers. He experimented with soloistically employed mutation stops” and composed with unique timbres that require complicated registration changes.³ Seventy years after his tragic demise, Alain’s pieces are a staple in nearly every organist’s repertoire, including works such as Litanies, Le Jardin Suspendu, and Choral Dorien.

Litanies was written in August of 1937 under the initial title “Supplication.” On the original manuscript, Alain depicted a grotesque nightmare: a man pushing a three-wheeled cart, behind whom are twenty policemen pelting him with bricks. The students were fascinated by the fact that Alain, in the original manuscript, dictated that he wished the performer to double in octaves the pedal line in measures fifty-two to fifty-eight. This is so that the theme in the pedal will be more prominent than the accompaniment in the manuals. Litanies’ uneven theme, evocative of a tortured soul intoning a desperate prayer, is repeated unceasingly at a frantic pace while transitioning through several modifications that reach the point of breathlessness.⁴ Alain himself was enduring great hardships at this point in his life. While Alain was writing this piece, his wife and he suffered through a miscarriage. The piece’s creation may also have been preemptive: two weeks later, his sister Marie-Odile died in an Alpine climbing accident trying to protect their brother Olivier from a fatal fall. Both these events gave Alain and his wife personal cause to constantly lift their prayers to God.

Alain dedicated the exquisite Le Jardin Suspendu (1934) to his close friend Marguerite Evain. This was one of his favorite pieces, which describes a “land of cheerfulness and peace.”⁵ Schauerte told the students in the masterclass to observe that the piece has three distinct sections and to be aware of the variations of the theme throughout the piece. In regard to balancing the registration for the middle section of Le Jardin Suspendu, she mentioned that the triplets should not be so loud that the listener cannot easily discern the primary theme in the chords.

Alain generated the title of Choral Dorien (1938) from the Greek mode, “which refers to today’s Dorian as Phrygian and vice versa.”⁶ Performers of this piece and other Alain works often misinterpret his tempi indications. Alain did not like the constraints of bar lines and rarely denoted a particular, strict tempo. Instead, he was concerned primarily with the “living pulse of his musical thought” and wrote down the durations of his pieces to determine their relative tempi. Schauerte remarked that the tempo of Choral Dorien should not be too lethargic. She suggested that the performer sing the theme in order to correctly pace the tempo. These indications for Litanies, Le Jardin Suspendu, and Choral Dorien are critical to the correct interpretation of Alain’s pieces and, if applied, form important habits for the pupils of Jehan Alain’s works. 

The organ students at Duquesne University thoroughly enjoyed this intensive study of Jehan Alain’s music with Helga Schauerte as well as her recital the previous evening at St. Paul’s Cathedral. Many were impressed with the excellence of Schauerte’s research and were glad for her attention to detail and informed advice on each piece. Others were amused with Alain’s artwork and were interested to learn more about his life. The masterclass provided a fresh musicological insight into the works and life of an inspiring modern composer whose creative life was tragically cut short during his military service in World War II. 

The experience of a masterclass on the works of Jehan Alain with Helga Schauerte made a lasting impression upon those who participated. Alain’s life and music are inspirations that echo in the works of Jean Langlais and Maurice Duruflé, as well as in numerous organists’ repertoire. Whether through a masterclass, a celebratory dinner with friends of Jehan Alain meeting each other for the first time, or the National French Centenary Celebration of the Birth of Jehan Alain, musicians across the globe delight in studying and internalizing the musical expressions of this inspirational man and will do so for decades to come.⁷

 

Jay Zoller

Jay Zoller is organist at South Parish Congregational Church in Augusta, Maine, where he plays the church’s historic 1866 E. & G.G. Hook organ. He holds degrees from the University of New Hampshire and the School of Theology at Boston University. A retired designer for the Andover Organ Company, he currently designs for the Organ Clearing House and for David E. Wallace & Co. Pipe Organ Builders of Gorham, Maine. Zoller resides in Newcastle, Maine, with his wife Rachel. In addition to writing several articles about Heinz Wunderlich for The American Organist, Choir and Organ, and The Diapason, he has played in all-Wunderlich recitals in Hamburg, Germany in 1999, 2004, and 2009. His article, “Heinz Wunderlich at 90,” appeared in the April 2009 issue of The Diapason.

 

I  had never given much thought to organs or the organ culture in South Korea. My interests, along with, I suppose, those of many organists, lay in the direction of European composers. However, a recent trip to South Korea to visit family got me thinking about this subject, about which I knew nothing. The questions swirled around my head: What was the organ culture like in South Korea? Was it anything like our own? What kinds of organs were there in Korea? What did the organists play? Was there a South Korean style of organ composition? Do they play the same repertoire as we do? In this age of instant communication, I imagined that they must play Bach and Mendelssohn, just as we do, but how was I to know for sure?

Our visit was primarily centered in and around Daejeon, a city of about two million people. With my lack of knowledge of the Korean language, I would have gotten nowhere in my quest without the help of Rosalie Bowker, who is Board Chair at the Daejeon Christian International School, an organist herself, and a missionary to South Korea for over forty years. Her help in taking me to see organs, introducing me to Korean organists, and finding resources for me, was invaluable.

I make no claim that this report is complete, since my discoveries center around Daejeon. I hope that someone more knowledgeable will write about the nation as a whole.

 

A brief history of Korea

Korea is the only nation in the world where Christianity first took root without priests or missionaries, but solely as a result of the written word. Bibles, which had been translated into Chinese by Jesuits, were brought back by a Korean scholar on a diplomatic trip to Beijing in 1621. Korea has had a long friendship with China, which has lasted for centuries. As a big brother to Korea, China has had a profound influence on Koreans. However, Koreans transformed those influences into their own distinctive advances in fields such as literature, art, ceramics, printing, philosophy, astronomy, medicine, and astrology. As an example, Koreans invented metal moveable type in 1230, 200 years before Gutenberg. 

Geography has played an important role in Korean history. This small mountainous country sits in a strategic area surrounded by the larger and more powerful countries of China, Japan, and Russia. During its two thousand years of recorded history, Korea has suffered nine hundred invasions and five periods of foreign occupation. Its relationship with China has seen Korean kings embracing Chinese culture and receiving some protection in return for tribute to the Chinese Emperor.

When Japan was unified in the 16th century, its leader Hideyoshi Toyotomi attacked Korea as a first phase of an invasion of the Chinese mainland. This war, which left the country devastated, resulted in keeping relations acrimonious. Korea attempted to stay isolated until western influences in opening the country to trade during the 19th century left Korea vulnerable. In 1875 Japan forced exclusive trade with Korea and then flooded Japanese advisers and military personnel into the country. 

In 1905, America and Britain felt that Japanese control over Korea would prevent Russian expansion, and so Theodore Roosevelt traded Korea’s independence for U.S. control over the Philippines. The Treaty of Portsmouth, which ended the Russo-Japanese War, made Korea a Japanese protectorate. The Japanese then forced, despite protests and student uprisings, a Protectorate Treaty, which was followed in 1910 by a forced Treaty of Annexation, which made Korea a Japanese colony. The Koreans were treated brutally until the Japanese surrender after World War II.

The end of World War II brought about the arbitrary division of the country, by the West, at the 38th parallel. This unfortunate afterthought by the major powers in the post-war period has proven to be the one blunder that has caused inordinate trouble for the North and the South as they have grappled for advantage and supremacy over each other. 

A Korean guerrilla commander, Kim Il Sung, chosen by the Soviet Union to head its regime in the North, chose, with Soviet and Chinese backing, to invade the South and unite the country under communist rule. This conflict, in a fear of communist menace, drew in U.N. and U.S. troops and savage fighting. The Korean War claimed a huge number of casualties and devastated both halves of a country that had only just begun to recover from four decades of Japanese occupation. When the fighting finally stopped in July 1953, the front line was virtually at the 38th parallel, close to where it had all begun. A demilitarized zone was created, which has remained in place to this day. The North became a dictatorship under the thumb of Kim Il Sung and later his son, Kim Jong Il, and the country closed off from the rest of the world.

In the South, anti-communist dictatorships gradually gave way to democratic reform and growing trade with the world. Under President Park Chung Hee, conglomerates were formed, which made South Korea a major economic power. It is in this period of economic growth and democratic reform that our organ story begins.

 

Organ culture

As one might imagine after the widespread destruction during the Korean War, organs were not a priority and as a result were slow in coming. Gradually, however, South Koreans who had an interest in music began coming to the United States and to Europe for training. Those interested in studying the organ concentrated primarily on the United States and Germany, countries that offered organ curricula and good instruments to play. 

As time went on, students who returned to South Korea wanted similar instruments to play at home and often were able to have their church buy an organ from a builder that they had become acquainted with during their studies. Since there were no Korean organbuilders, they imported organs from the United States and Germany. Seoul, South Korea’s largest city, has the greatest number of pipe organs in the country. Wicks began the Seoul imports, followed by such builders as Brombaugh, Flentrop, Schuke, Rieger-Kloss, Ruffatti, Beckerath, Karl Wilhelm, Jäger & Brommer, Bosch, Pels & Van Leeuwen, Klais, and many others. The large six-manual Klais in the concert hall is a jewel in the collection, with its case designed after the traditional Korean plucked musical instrument, the “Komungo,” giving the effect of several instruments hanging from the wall. It boasts as well 40 French bells and 32 Korean bells in addition to 270 Spanish trumpets. The organ looks very impressive, although I have only seen it in pictures. We mustn’t forget the new Fisk organ installed in 2010 at Incheon, about twenty miles west of Seoul. 

There is an interesting story about the Klais in the concert hall. When it was new, apparently the organist at the time had the mistaken impression that it didn’t need regular attention for maintenance and tuning. The organ became almost unplayable before a new professor took over and had some much-needed maintenance done on it. There are a few German-trained organ technicians in the country who take care of the pipe organs, one of whom is the husband of an organist I will mention later.

 

Organs in Daejeon

Although churches seem to be located everywhere, Daejeon contains only five pipe organs. Many churches have electronic imitations and most have praise bands to accompany worship. Even churches with pipe organs often have a band as well. The organs include Rieger-Kloss, Oberlinger, Flentrop, Speith, and  Paul Fritts. 

We met Eunyoung Kim at the Baptist Church where she is organist. The church contains an organ built by Speith-Orgelbau of Reitberg, Germany. Although a fine tracker instrument, it is situated in an acoustically dry room. Dr. Kim played the last movement of the first Mendelssohn Sonata for me—it was exquisitely played, but the sound was almost sucked into the walls. This led us to a discussion of acoustics in South Korean churches. This is a subject too large to go into here, but suffice it to say that with carpeting all over and acoustical tile even in the rear of the organ there is no resonance at all. Her comment was that the Korean idea of acoustics is figuring out how many speakers a room needs. It is a situation that organists are trying to correct.

After a delicious lunch at a Korean restaurant recommended by Dr. Kim, she took us to see the organs at Southern Baptist University, where she is the organ professor. Unfortunately, a class was meeting in the auditorium, so we were unable to see that organ, but in a smaller, happily much more resonant room is an organ built by Paul Fritts. The lower manual contained a Hohlflöte 8′, Principal 4′, Quint/Cornet, and Octav 2′. The upper manual had Quintadena 8′, Spielflöte 4′, Gemshorn 2′, and Dulcian 8′. A Subbass 16′ and Gedackt 8′ rounded out the pedal division. Couplers were I/Pedal, II/Pedal, and II/I, and there was also a tremulant. I played the first movement of the Mendelssohn A-major Sonata and it had a nice effect. It is a delightful practice organ and often does double duty for concerts.

Eunyoung Kim’s husband is one of South Korea’s German-trained organ technicians, and I was sorry that I did not get to meet him as well. Surprisingly, Eunyoung Kim was working on a recital entitled “The Organ Music of America since 1950,” which she played after our trip was over. It consisted of music of David Arcus (b. 1958), Memorial Festival Overture and Ancient Wonders; John Behnke (b. 1953), Three Global Songs; Derek Bermel (b. 1967), Two Songs from Nandom; and David Conte (b. 1955), Pastorale and Toccata. 

On another day, Rosalie Bowker took my wife Rachel and me to Hyechon University to meet Mrs. Min Jin O, who is the university organist and who, when we met her, was preparing four students for a required recital. I asked if they would mind playing their prepared music for us and they gave us a remarkable program all played from memory. One girl played the Langlais Epilogue for Pedal Solo. A young man, who was autistic, had none of his usual symptoms when he was playing. We were impressed by every one of them. Their playing had confidence and vigor even without music in front of them.

The organ was built by Oberlinger and was located in a large room that looked as though it served for concerts as well as for worship. The acoustics here were much better than what we had heard previously. 

 

Organ miscellanies

Several universities in South Korea offer doctoral degrees in organ, so that an organ student need not travel to a different country to study. However, many do decide to work on degrees beyond their own borders. I got the impression that the two favorite places were Germany and the United States, although not limited to those. Dr. Kim remarked that you could often tell where they studied by the kind of repertoire they played. Of those students who choose to return to South Korea, there is a desire to have the kinds of organs they were exposed to where they studied and a desire for improved acoustics. As more organs are imported, it is a great opportunity to spread the gospel of better acoustics. The Koreans want the best of what the world has to offer and I don’t believe it will be long before churches begin to hear the difference that good acoustics can make.

There is a Korean Association of Organists that is active in South Korea. It sponsors seminars, festivals, and masterclasses as well as hosting visiting organists from other countries, much like the AGO does in the U.S. Their journal, which contains the usual news about organs and meetings, also publishes new music written by Korean composers. I was able to discover several new pieces, many centered around hymn tunes, but one composer in particular, Ju-Hwan Yu, had written a Prelude and Fugue on B-A-C-H in 2005, which I found fascinating and which I played in two recitals earlier this year. As in any other country these days, Korean organ recitalists play music of many countries and different time periods.

 

Postscript

I very much enjoyed my visit to South Korea and only wish that it could have been much longer. I am attempting this small article in hopes that someone with much more knowledge of Korea and its organ music might take up where I have left off and fill in many more details. It is an organ culture that is growing and trying hard to catch up with the West. 

I want to thank Dr. Rosalie Bowker, organist, musician, missionary, and Board Chair of the Daejeon Christian International School, without whose help none of this would have been possible. I also want to thank Dr. Eunyoung Kim and Mrs. Min Jin O, who provided information and visits to notable Daejeon organs. n

 

Bibliography

Breen, Michael. The Koreans—Who They Are, What They Want, Where Their Future Lies. Orion Business Books, 1998. 

Oberdorfer, Don. The Two Koreas, A Contemporary History. Basic Books, a member of the Perseus Books Group, 2001. 

Becker, Jasper. Rogue Regime—Kim Jong Il and the Looming Threat of North Korea. Oxford University Press, 2005. 

Halberstam, David. The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War. Hyperion Books, 2007.

 

 

Thomas F. Froehlich

Thomas F. Froehlich graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Music degree from Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin, where he was a student of Miriam Clapp Duncan. He earned a master’s degree from Northwestern University, studying with Wolfgang Rübsam. Other teachers have included Anton Heiller and Jean Langlais (improvisation). During his second tenure in Paris he served as organist/choirmaster at St. Michael’s Anglican Church, where he oversaw the installation of their Kern organ and subsequently administered a recital series. He has served as organist at the First Presbyterian Church of Dallas since 1977.

The Rie Bloomfield Organ Series 2011–2012 presented Jehan Alain, 1911–1940: The American Festival at Wichita State University, September 28–30, 2011. The following is a personal reflection.

In January 2009, the church where I have been the organist for 34 years had a 20th birthday party for the organ in our chapel. It was built by Dan Jaeckel and inspired by the choir organs of Cavaillé-Coll, and we discovered quite accidentally that the stoplist is nearly identical to that of the choir organ at the Alain family church in St. Germain-en-Laye. That being the case, we decided to make the 20th-anniversary concert an “Alain Family Evening,” with music composed by, and in honor of, the Alain family. Organists participating were Lynne Davis, George Baker, Jesse
Eschbach, and I, all former students of Marie-Claire Alain.

The next morning, basking in the afterglow of what had turned into a magical evening, Lynne Davis commented, “You know, 2011 is the centennial of Jehan Alain’s birth—somebody ought to do something.” I replied, “Why don’t you?” Instantly Jehan Alain—The American Festival was born. After an hour of brainstorming, the entire symposium was planned! 

Flash forward to 2011, and the festival took place nearly exactly as we had envisioned. Our host was the Rie Bloomfield Organ Series in its 2011–2012 season on the campus of Wichita State University, home to a magnificent four-manual Marcussen organ. The room, Wiedemann Hall, around which the organ was built, was an inspiring venue for the concerts and recitals. Both were built exactly 25 years ago in 1986—another anniversary to celebrate. Across the street, the lectures and dialogue among festival participants took place in the Grace Memorial Chapel. The small room provided an intimate setting for these events without the need for any amplification.  

 

Wednesday, 28 September 2011

The first event of the celebration was the brilliant opening recital—and a festival highlight—on the 1986 Marcussen by Lynne Davis, Associate Professor of Organ at WSU, who holds the Ann & Dennis Ross Endowed Faculty of Distinction in Organ Chair. The substantial program, entitled “Jehan Alain and the Evolution of the French Tradition,” was physically and musically demanding, but one that Ms. Davis handled with great ease. It opened with the Vierne Toccata, followed by Franck’s Pastorale. The first half ended with Jehan Alain’s Trois Danses. After intermission was the Alain Suite pour Orgue and, in closing, the Dupré Variations on a Noël.

 

Thursday, 29 September 2011

Keynote speaker for the conference was Aurélie Decourt, niece of Jehan Alain and daughter of Marie-Claire Alain, and a noted musicologist in her own right. Her opening presentation, “Jehan Alain: Musician and Poet,” part 1, dealt with biographical details as well as personal reflections on the Alain family and of their home life in St. Germain-en-Laye. After a break, part two of her talk centered on Jehan Alain’s multi-faceted personality and how this influenced his creative output in music, drawings, and writings.  

After lunch, Lynne Davis gave a presentation on the Alain family’s organ, now housed in Romainmôtier, Switzerland. She started by showing the DVD on the organ produced by Guy Bovet and the Alain Association, and then opened the floor to a general discussion, questions and answers, and general comments. 

The next event was a musical one, the first of two recitals featuring the complete works of Jehan Alain, played by former students of Marie-Claire Alain on the Marcussen organ. Organists participating were James Frazier, Jesse Eschbach, Ronald Wyatt, and Thomas Froehlich. Following the recital was a gala cocktail reception at the WSU “Ulrich Museum,” which houses the famous mural by Joan Miró. The campus of WSU is home to one of the most important outdoor sculpture collections in the world.  

The gala recital that evening, “Autour de Jehan Alain,” featured students and faculty from the WSU School of Music, and included vocal, choral, and instrumental music of Jehan Alain. Of greatest interest to the organists were the original version of the Intermezzo for two pianos and bassoon (followed by Jehan Alain’s own arrangement for organ) and an arrangement of Litanies by Olivier Alain for two pianos (followed by a performance of the original organ version). Organists for the concert were Lynne Davis, James David Christie, Jesse Eschbach, and Thomas Froehlich.

 

Friday, 30 September 2011 

The morning began with another lecture by Aurélie Decourt, “Jehan Alain: His Creative Musical Inspiration,” which expanded on the two presentations made the previous day. Time was spent discussing sources, looking at manuscripts, etc. This led beautifully into a spirited dialogue between Norma Stevlingson and Jesse Eschbach entitled “New Editions, Critical Notes, and Anecdotes,” and also opened up the floor to seminar participants.  

After lunch was another former-student recital, this time featuring James Higdon, Robert Bates, Wim Viljoen, and Charles Sundquist. The afternoon ended with a panel discussion centered on understanding Jehan Alain through the teaching of Marie-Claire Alain. Panel members were several of her close friends and former students. Lynne Davis was the moderator for the panel, which included Thomas Froehlich, James Higdon, Norma Stevlingson, John Grew, and James David Christie. Aurélie Decourt also participated. 

The evening concert took place at Century II, the Wichita convention center, which houses the famous Wurlitzer organ built for the Paramount Theatre in New York. Resident organist James Riggs presented a program of music celebrating the 100th anniversary of the birth of Tin Pan Alley and the Big Band Era.  

Sincere thanks go to James David Christie for his invaluable help and insight in organizing the Thursday night concert as well as to Rodney Miller, Dean of the College of Fine Arts at WSU, for his invaluable support. Hearty congratulations and thanks are due to Lynne Davis, who had both the vision and stamina to organize a symposium that was incredible in every detail. The lectures were both fascinating and informative, and the music was memorable, inspirational, and at times even spiritual. Not only were we nourished musically, but there was also plenty of good food and time for socializing! Certainly all who were present left having had an intimate encounter with Jehan Alain, with his music, and with the legacy of the entire Alain family.

 

 

On February 3, 2011, Jehan Alain would have been 100 years old

Aurélie Decourt

Aurélie Decourt, Jehan Alain’s niece and biographer, studied history and art history and holds a Ph.D. in musicology at the University of Paris-Sorbonne. She has published articles in journals such as L’Orgue, La Tribune de l’Orgue, Diapason, and in the New Grove Dictionary, a book on Albert Alain in 2001, and in 2005, Jehan Alain, Biographie, Correspondance, Dessins. In March 2011, she organized the French centennial of Jehan Alain’s birthday in Saint-Germain-en-Laye and published a book on the Alain family (Une famille de musiciens au XXe siècle, Paris, Hermann, 2011), including a new chapter on Marie-Claire Alain’s life. First translation of this article by Carolyn Shuster-Fournnier; new English translation by Laetitia Decourt.

Saint-Germain-en-Laye, 3 février 1911—Saumur, 20 juin 1940

On February 3, 2011, Jehan would have been 100 years old. But he met his death at the beginning of the Second World War, leaving a wife, three little children, and a great musical heritage. Last year, in many places in France, but also in Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, and of course in the U.S.A., his memory was celebrated and numerous commemorations took place, one of the most important in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, his birthplace, with great musicians coming from all over the world, among them such famous Americans as Lynne Davis, James David Christie, and Norma Stevlingson, among others. The Alain centennial in Wichita last September was a very important opportunity because it took place in the U.S.A., where there are many fans of Jehan Alain’s music. I also gave two lectures at Oberlin College in October. The man, himself, gathers ever more fans.

I will try to present Jehan Alain’s rich personality and his original works in two articles: the present one will deal with his biography and personality; the second will describe the sources of his musical inspiration, focusing on orientalism, and will analyze his creative process.

In fact, Jehan Alain’s personality is extremely rich. In addition to his musical gifts, he also knew how to draw, and he wrote letters full of poetry, tenderness, and humor. These qualities make him an attractive man. Thanks to accounts of his family, his friends, and various musicians, but also through his own reflections on religion, love, and life in general, we can better understand his human and exceptional artistic qualities.

 

A prolific and original 

musician: 

Albert Alain, organist, composer, and organbuilder (1880—1971)

Albert Alain’s influence on his son Jehan was essential. He gave him an appreciation and love of music, that is to say serious music, well constructed and well performed. Albert was a prolific composer, with 469 opus numbers, primarily short religious vocal works. Thus, church music held a fundamental place in Jehan’s training; he retained an appreciation of Gregorian chant and its modes. Ever since he was old enough to turn the pages of a score, his father brought him along to church services; little Jehan thus learned at a young age the order of the liturgy. 

His father acquainted Jehan with well-written music. Albert Alain excelled in harmony (obtaining the First Prize in harmony at the Paris Conservatory in 1904). He also gave Jehan the opportunity to discover sixteenth- and seventeenth-century music. Finally, he directly conveyed to him his personal passion for music. In one of his letters, Jehan wrote, “Half of my head always thinks about music.”

Albert Alain was a remarkable teacher. He gave lessons to his four children—Jehan, Marie-Odile, Olivier, and Marie-Claire—who all became professional musicians; two of them were exceptional artists. His children are extremely indebted to him for his strong impact on their musical education.

 

The organ 

Albert Alain was a very original man. He developed such a passion for the organ that he undertook what seemed to be a crazy project: to build a home organ by himself. This home organ would keep him busy for his entire lifetime (1880–1971). Planned initially in 1910 for 19 stops, the organ amounted, in 1950, to 42 stops. 

One could say that this organ was Albert Alain’s fifth child. It influenced the musical life of the 20th century. As a matter of fact, Albert Alain was connected with all the famous organists of the 1920s and 1930s, from Marcel Dupré to André Marchal, and also Joseph Bonnet and Alexandre Cellier. 

This organ is very interesting for several reasons. It shows the technical prowess of a single man, who built everything in it (except metal pipes). The aesthetics of the specification show great originality, especially in the beginning, 1910—Albert Alain conceived a neo-classic organ, revealing himself as a precursor. What is more, the organ inspired many registrations in Jehan Alain’s works; it fostered Marie-Claire Alain’s vocation. It gave a testimony, at a time when electric action came into fashion, to mechanical action. 

Albert Alain carefully studied many instruments in the Parisian area, as well as an organbuilding method, entitled Roret et Guédon, a sort of abstract of Dom Bedos’ work, L’art du facteur d’orgues. Finally, he talked with his teacher at the Paris Conservatory, Alexandre Guilmant, who knew much about organbuilding and advised him to return to the typical stops of the 17th and 18th centuries. 

Here is the specification of the first organ in 1914, with the Cornet décomposé on the Positif. Later, in the 1920s, the organ would have three manuals, with a Récit (Solo).

Grand orgue

16′ Bourdon 

8′ Montre

8′ Flûte harm. 

4′ Prestant

Positif

8′ Cor de nuit

4′ Flûte douce

22⁄3′ Nazard

2′ Doublette

13⁄5′ Tierce

8′ Basson-hautbois

PЋdale

16′ Soubasse 

8′ Basse

4′ Flûte 

 

Albert and Jehan Alain were most influenced by the organ of the abbey of Valloires, built in 1845, but with several ancient stops. The sonorities of this instrument, very original for the time, enchanted Jehan and Albert. Here is an extract of a letter Jehan wrote to his friend Denise Billard in 1930:

 

There is a three-manual organ here which is splendid, and (which is) located in the most “acoustigenic” place I have ever met. It contains some old pipes two or three hundred years old that are “fully-flavored”. Unfortunately, it has a huge defect: it is not tuned according to our pitch. In order to play from memory, you have to think one measure ahead of time to transpose by ear. Finger memory is the only true memory. . . . But this instrument is marvelous to play around eleven at night, when silence is perfect in the countryside and you play pianissimo the low notes of the pedal which make the atmosphere quiver. It’s really moving.

Albert Alain wanted for his organ new sonorities and new registrations in order to play Couperin, Daquin, Clérambault, and above all J. S. Bach, Buxtehude, and Pachelbel. So the specification of his organ mixed together the post-romantic influence with a return to the 17th- and 18th-century French tradition. 

In the 1930s, Albert Alain planned a fourth manual, Récit-Bombarde, including a Plein-jeu and the typical batterie d’anches: Bombarde 16′, Trompette 8′, Clairon 4′. But Jehan Alain never saw this fourth manual completed. On the contrary, the organ was in perpetual transformation in the 1930s, with certain stops remaining mute. This is the reason for several registrations on Jehan Alain’s works. Albert Alain completed the fourth manual and the organ in 1950. 

Grand orgue

16′ Bourdon 

8′ Montre

8′ Flûte harm.

8′ Bourdon*

4′ Prestant

Plein-jeu III*

Positif

8′ Salicional

8′ Cor de nuit

51⁄3′ Gros nazard

4′ Flûte

22⁄3′ Nasard

2′ Doublette

13⁄5′ Tierce

11⁄3′ Larigot

Récit-Bombarde

8′ Principal (diapason)

8′ Flûte trav.

4′ Prestant

22⁄3′ Quinte

2′ Doublette

Plein-jeu III

16′ Bombarde

8′ Trompette

4′ Clairon

Récit-Solo

16′ Quintaton (sans 1^e octave)

8′ Gambe

8′ Voix cél.

8′ Flûte conique

4′ Flûte octav.

4′ Salicet

22⁄3′ Quinte 

Cymbale II 

8′ Cromorne

8′ Hautbois

Pédale

16′ Soubasse

8′ Basse 

4′ Flûte

4′ Bourdon

Mixture II

4⁄5′ Tierce

 * stops not yet connected

 

The four children—Jehan, Marie-Odile, Olivier, and Marie-Claire—were deeply affected by their father’s organ. How could they be offered a more beautiful toy? Since their early childhood, they had been nursed by the sounds of the instrument and their little fingers discovered the sense of touch, thanks to its accurate mechanical action. 

 

A precocious musician

Jehan put his hands on a keyboard as soon as he was able to stand up; his musical talents were evident at a very early age. He worked with his father, then with other professors. Finally, at the age of eighteen, in 1929, he entered the Paris Conservatory of Music, where he remained for ten years.

He studied harmony with André Bloch, fugue with Georges Caussade (who had taught his father), and composition with Paul Dukas. Jehan really appreciated Dukas but only studied with him for one year because Dukas died in 1935. Roger-Ducasse succeeded Dukas.

In 1936, Jehan entered the organ class of Marcel Dupré, one of his father’s old friends. In memory of their friendship, Dupré was very affectionate to Jehan. He appreciated Jehan’s gift for improvisation. According to a fellow student, one day Jehan was improvising during the class. He had not concluded according to the strict established rules. When he realized it, he cried out, “Ah! I am mistaken!” and Marcel Dupré responded with a smile: “Don’t hesitate to make such mistakes often!”

Jehan amused himself by decorating his harmonic exercises with hearts pierced by an arrow. During the 1933 exam, this resulted in his receiving a simple promotion instead of a first prize!

His humor, his pleasure at telling jokes and making people laugh, led him to write letters to several young women who became his favorite correspondents: Denise Billard, a pianist, with whom he discussed his pianistic technique, Aline Pelliot, and Lola Bluhm. He described his impressions, his feelings, his dreams, and all of a sudden, in the middle of a letter, he began to draw. You can see the first illustrated example in this letter addressed to his friend Denise Billard with a drawing, dated August 26, 1931 (see illustration above).

Jehan immensely benefited from his ten years of study at the conservatory. While still retaining his originality, he started writing in a more sophisticated and rigorous way and further developed his musical ideas. Far from being held back in his inspiration by the rules, he was, from then on, able to transcend them in composing a new and very personal music.

 

Various influences

Early music was an important source of inspiration; in his father’s vast library, Jehan discovered works by early French, Italian, and German masters. This inspired him to compose his Variations on a Theme by Clement Jannequin. He dedicated this piece to his friend Pierre Segond, saying: 

 

It ought to be possible for a musician of the twentieth century to retain the soul of this early music. The language does not matter, only the spirit speaks.

Jehan discovered François Campion’s lute tablatures, which he transcribed into modern keyboard notation. He said that he preferred the simplicity of this music to the complexity of works from the end of the nineteenth century, such as those by Vincent d’Indy, for example. Jehan said in a letter to Denise Billard, at the end of 1934: “Pure and simple music is often more beautiful than delirious richly dense music.”

Another source of inspiration, Gregorian chant, was of paramount importance. From his earliest childhood on, he was used to accompanying and paraphrasing it. He incorporated it into certain works such as the Postlude for the Office of Compline. It was composed in Valloires, inspired by the mystical atmosphere of the chapel at nightfall.

In the same spirit, monody was very precious to him and he composed several monodic pieces such as his Suite for piano, 1935.

The musicians he most frequently mentioned were J. S. Bach, César Franck, and Frédéric Chopin. Concerning Franck, he said that he was “extra terrestrial,” but for him Bach was the “greatest of all.”

Chopin was his favorite as a pianist. Jehan very often played his music. One anecdote: oftentimes his friend Aline Pelliot knew that Jehan had arrived at the conservatory because she heard somebody playing Chopin’s First Ballade—Jehan Alain, of course! 

Exotic music was in fashion at the time, but it was hybrid, a very confusing type of exoticism: Asian or Arabian, with combined sources. Jehan visited the 1931 Colonial Exhibition in Paris and the music that he heard there inspired him, but he transformed it, retaining only its spirit.

Oriental influence is very important, especially in the two fantasies for organ. I will write about the Second Fantasy at length in my next article; it is essential in Jehan Alain’s creation paths. (See illustration above: the manuscript of the First Fantasy.)

Jehan was not a theorist, contrary to Olivier Messiaen. He was interested in the impact of these sonorities upon his own sensitivity. In any case, he wrote several works under this rather oriental influence: Togo and Tarass Boulba, both for piano.

 

A committed man and a poet:

His friendships and 

his correspondence

Friendship was of utmost importance to him. His letters and his writings prove that he was faithful to his friends: “Affection is a totally inexhaustible rich type of poverty. I do give to you and, above all, I do not want any gratification.”

His friends’ opinions were very significant to him, as is shown by this anecdote he shared with Aline Pelliot concerning his piece Le Jardin suspendu, which he also called a chaconne: 

 

The chaconne which I played for you yesterday, do you really like it? Are you sure? Would you prefer a G-sharp? If it pleases you, I will use a G-natural.

In the same way, he wrote in the Preface of his piano works:

 

Here is a series of impressions. Don’t try to find there a lesson or an argument; just consider them as a passing vision . . . My goal would be achieved and I would experience great joy if each reader would suddenly find himself within one of these lines. Deeply moved, he might stop momentarily before continuing, touched by a bit of the pleasure one feels upon receiving a friendly glance.

 

The correspondence is essential in order to understand his development, his artistic state of mind and his sensitivity. In a letter to Denise Billard, dated August 15–20, 1933, Jehan wrote:

 

Downstairs, in the living room, an excellent violoncellist is playing with Papa. But his playing makes me nervous. Oh, it’s frightening what a string can render. This man expresses that which one should never express . . . this type of latent pain which each person carries deeply inside himself, which moans even in the midst of the greatest joys. . . . Now I would like to hear a diabolic music; something like jazz which contains only trumpets . . . something which flaps like a strong wind. I cannot stand music which sounds like drizzling rain that drizzles on for entire days, without respite. . . . 

No news from my friends . . . what have they been up to? Is it my fault? It’s true that people who pretend to know how to live are strong. I believe I will never know that. I feel like writing a letter to Destiny in order to receive some information. . . . Should we take our suitcases for the long trip? When I die, will someone remember me? Will I have known how to do some good around me? . . . It is beneficial to imagine eternal mercy!

 

His family and his Christian faith

In 1935, at the age of 24, Jehan decided to marry a childhood friend named Madeleine. Their marriage was very happy and very shortly afterwards they had three children: first Lise, followed by Agnès and Denis. (See illustration: Jehan and his daughter Lise.) 

Jehan adored little children. He was very sensitive to the childhood world. He drew many designs for them, of fairy tales and animals. He said: “Musician’s ears which have not heard the laughter of a child have only heard the sound of scrap iron.”

Jehan had a very solid Christian faith. During his service in the army, he tried to convert his fellow soldiers; otherwise, he spoke to them about Christian morals. In 1938, he wrote in his diary: “There are only two possible ways to live: either as a priest or an apostle, or, on the other hand, to have small children, to live as an artist and to have a firm religious faith.”

On the level of personal commitment, his Christian faith partially explains his ultimate gesture of sacrifice: he gave his life for his family, for his country. This can only be understood in the context of the Catholic faith in the 1930s. This was the way that he was brought up. These were his family values. His last words were: “May Providence especially protect small children in France!”

 

A poet: his passion, his humor and his dreams

Jehan had a wide-range personality, which varied from the deepest melancholy to a bursting joyfulness. His music expresses his inner anguish.

Jehan was an eminently changeable person, capable of being deliriously happy one minute and equally sad the following minute. Completely free from convention, he mocked routines, made fun of the “bourgeois,” being at the same time a good father to his family and a conscientious church organist. All who knew him remember the incomparable humor of his jokes, bordering on the ridiculous, whereas the dominant thought coming from his music is that of a profound sadness.

 He wrote: “The world creaks painfully like a giant windmill which indifferently crushes all good and bad acts, all the desires, all the passions, all the faults . . . ”

But he soon corrected: “And yet what a fire, what a thirst for living eats me up! I long to live an ardent life with all its suffering and irrepressible joy.”

Jehan never surrendered to melancholy. He wrote: “Everywhere the comic is mixed with drama. When we have suffered a great deal, we need to laugh a great deal.”

Physically very agile, he loved working with engines and acquired a motorcycle in 1932. (See illustration with motorcycle, above.)

He played saxophone when he was a soldier in 1933–34 (obligatory military service). At that time, on March 2, 1934, he confessed to his mother: “I am neither a pianist nor an organist, but a semi-acrobat, a sort of sincere charlatan.” 

He had a highly developed sense of humor, sometimes a bit too easy-going. He loved associating words with strange or harmonious sonorities:

A cataract-like cascade: une cascade cataractique

Flowing funny trickling water: l’eau dégouline rigoline dégoulinde

Jehan has drawn lots of fantastic cows. He saw these cows when he was in the family house in the Alps, near Chamonix. Every summer, the entire Alain family spent their holidays there. They were hiking in the mountains and, one day, they had to take refuge in a hut because of a violent storm. They sang by memory lots of things, and then Jehan wrote on a wrapping paper a short song, amidst thunder and lightning. He wrote letters to his little sister that were bristling with designs and humor, for example this one (see illustration above: a design of the console pedalboard):

 

I was mistaken, I put the console in place of the pedalboard and the pedalboard in place of the keyboard. You can see on the drawing how I manage to play now. In the end, it’s only a matter of habit: all I have to do is to play with my heels a little more, and there you go. The only disadvantage is that I’m always pulling Pedal couplers instead of manual couplers, but within a fortnight, everything will be all right.

 

Of course, little Marie-Claire was able to understand this. She already knew everything about the organ. 

 

Dreams and poetry

Many a dream can be found in his writings, tales, stories and imagination (see illustration: the Dwarf).

 

The later works: griefs 

and struggles

The masterpieces

The Suite for Organ, composed as early as 1934–35, was awarded a prize in 1936 by Les Amis de l’Orgue. This was a satisfaction for Jehan, who had not obtained a prize in composition at the Paris Conservatory. His Second Fantasy for organ also dates back to 1936. In August 1937, Jehan simultaneously finished Litanies and the second of his Three Dances.

There is a lot to say about Litanies, his most well-known piece. Litanies is a cry of anguish and distress. After the ethereal dream of Le Jardin suspendu and the classicism developed in the Variations, Jehan Alain confides in us his tortured soul, without mask and reserve. Doubtless, it is this absolute sincerity, this direct character that makes the work a success for all audiences, even on the first hearing. As Gavoty reports, Jehan added, 

 

This prayer is not a lament, but an irresistible storm which overthrows everything in its way. It is also an obsession: it must fill the ears of men and of the good Lord! If, in the end, you do not feel exhausted, it’s because you will neither have understood nor played as I wish.

 

Three weeks after the completion of Litanies, Jehan and Marie-Claire Alain’s sister, Marie-Odile, died in an accident in the mountains. Jehan wrote the dedication that appears in the 1939 edition: 

 

When the Christian soul no longer finds new words in its distress to implore God’s mercy, it ceaselessly repeats the same invocation with a vehement faith. Reason has reached its limit. Faith alone pursues its ascension.

In the same way, he added the subtitle to his Second Dance: “Funeral Dance to Honor a Heroic Memory.” And he wrote about this piece: “There is no contradiction between dance and distress. Dance, like music, expresses itself without a concept and it can translate in such a sublime manner that which words cannot say without brutality.”

This period of mourning made Jehan gloomier. His music also conveyed the tense pessimistic atmosphere in Europe at the end of the 1930s, as threats of war became ever clearer. He then wrote these premonitory words: “Always kiss your wife and your little daughter, as if it were the last time you would see them.”

In 1938, Jehan composed in just a few days the Modal Mass, then the Aria for organ. He completed the Three Dances, but the score for orchestra was lost with him in 1940, when he was in the process of completing it. Fortunately for us, not having had the time to copy it all, he decided to make a transcription for the concert organ and sent it by mail to Noëlie Pierront, only nine days before the German attack. And the mail miraculously arrived: this is the only remaining autograph version of this masterpiece.

The War

September 1, 1939—June 22, 1940

On the first of September, the German army invaded Poland; France and Great Britain, according to their commitments, declared war on Germany. But it was called “the phony war” because during nine months, there was no attack from neither French nor British armies against Germany. (See illustration: design of the 8th armored cavalry.)

One of the first to be mobilized, Jehan left as early as the first of September 1939 for northern France. A simple soldier, Jehan found himself in the middle of the men of his troop. Their equipment was very poor: the men slept on straw until December and did not have enough covers. The hygiene was deplorable and Jehan suffered from remaining wet for endless hours, with the cold weather that numbed his hands, and filth everywhere.

The “phony war” lasted for ages: France, although officially at war with Germany since September 3, 1939, did not launch any attack. On the contrary, the French troops stationed behind the Maginot line adopted a defensive strategy.

In these conditions, Jehan’s superiors appreciated his talents: in fact, he immediately proposed to animate recreation periods, religious services, and evening activities. He even founded a choir known as the “Small Singers with Loud Voices,” teaching them how to sing, making arrangements for them, and copying scores. He held several rehearsals and the Christmas Mass was a huge success. Meanwhile, he played the piano in the evenings for the officers.

He wrote to his wife every other day. He assured her of his love, spoke about his suffering from their separation, and made drawings for the children. His third child, Denis, was born on November 3, 1939; Jehan obtained three days of leave to come and see him. 

The German troops began their offensive on the Western front on May 10, 1940, by invading Holland, Belgium, and Luxembourg. The Blitzkrieg strategy was successful: in the north, the French and the English were trapped, surrounded by the German army. Under dreadful bombing, 350,000 French and English soldiers were evacuated through Dunkirk (from May 29 to June 4).

It was under these conditions that Jehan won his military medal: in May 1940, during the Dunkirk battle, he carried out (this is the text of the quotation) “a very perilous contact mission, completely defying the danger involved” and collapsed asleep upon returning. We have a photograph of this (see illustrations: a photo of the dunes, and a citation).

Defy all danger: this was the predominant driving force that fully appealed to Jehan Alain in the spring of 1940, following months of boredom. His physical agility, his skillful driving of the motorcycle, and his absolute courage compelled him to attempt anything. This context is essential to understand his final gesture: upon returning from England, he voluntarily enrolled in an irregular force, to continue fighting. The group advanced towards the Loire River, a major obstacle in the German progression towards the south. Jehan Alain, who had left on a reconnaissance mission, was confronted by an enemy troop. Trapped in a garden, alone, he made his decision: instead of fleeing, an unthinkable choice, or surrendering, Jehan emptied all of his cartridges, jammed his gun and encountered the Germans who shot him down. The German officer rendered him homage for his bravery. According to the inhabitants, for several days, sheets of music scores, which had slipped out of his sidecar, were carried away by the wind and found in the countryside.

Jehan’s gesture was a part of his entire life and can be better understood if one knows his personality and his social background. Today, mentalities have changed and the idea of sacrificing one’s own life for the sake of honor might seem unrealistic and unreasonable. But, beyond these opinion differences, Jehan’s death unquestionably remains a symbol of courage and total commitment.

 

Conclusion

A short yet full life: Jehan Alain died at the age of 29, but he has left us with an immense legacy. In my book, I have tried to give a faithful account, essentially including Jehan’s own works: his selected letters, his drawings, adding a biography and some critical notes. I hope that this book expresses Jehan Alain’s following sentiment: “If you love my music, if it speaks to you, that you think likewise, then my dream is fulfilled.” In the same way, I would like to say: “If you love Jehan Alain, if he speaks to you, that you think likewise, then my dream is fulfilled.”

 

 

David Enlow

David Enlow is organist and choirmaster of the Church of the Resurrection in New York, where he directs a professional choir. He is a member of the organ faculty of the Juilliard School in New York and sub-dean of the New York City AGO chapter. Enlow holds both an undergraduate and a master’s degree from the Juilliard School, where he studied with John Weaver and Paul Jacobs. He also studied at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia and with John Tuttle in Toronto. He performs under the management of Phillip Truckenbrod Concert Artists. Enlow is a Fellow of the American Guild of Organists, where he won the S. Lewis Elmer Prize, and an Associate of the Royal Canadian College of Organists, where he won the Barker Prize. He has won several national performance competition first prizes, including those of the Arthur Poister Competition and the Albert Schweitzer Organ Festival USA. His choir at the Church of the Resurrection performs over fifty Mass settings each season, often with orchestra. While in Philadelphia he was sub-organist of St. Clement’s Church, and an assistant at the Wanamaker Grand Court Organ. Visit www.davidenlow.com for a concert calendar, sound files, and more.

 

César Franck’s organ works are part of many American organists’ repertoire, on many college or conservatory repertory lists, and on many recital programs (though some pieces are neglected without any good reason). With all that familiarity comes a sense that we all ‘know’ Franck, that we have, as American organists, developed a school of playing his music that is sensible and ‘authentic’—specifically, that we reproduce the sound and substance of the original expression as nearly through the original medium as possible. The trouble with this assertion is manifold: many organists do not know the totality of Franck’s music, for to understand him as a composer requires an approach from outside the organ literature; also, no American organ will ever be a Cavaillé-Coll; and most American churches do not appear or sound Parisian in any sense. Authenticity of expression cannot be found naturally in the instruments or settings we have here; to have a truly authentic Franck performance means that more thought and sensitivity are required, and that our criteria for authenticity must be shaken, and revised.

 

Franck as early music?

It almost seems that we treat Franck as ‘early music’; it is true that in the vanguard of early music performances the nineteenth century has been claimed as fertile ground for rediscovery (witness the period-instrument performances of works of Berlioz, Mendelssohn, et al.) but we largely think of nineteenth century (Romantic and post-Romantic) music as ‘our own’, a period of music that we understand readily and without being taught. There is no recording of the Franck Symphony on period instruments, no Violin Sonata, no A-Major Mass, and so on. Why then does Franck’s distinctive Cavaillé-Coll Récit division at Ste. Clotilde receive the dubious courtship of labored imitation and inspire the wagging finger of organ teachers? “No 16-foot reed tone!” they thunder, sometimes even in Franck pieces written for the Palais du Trocadéro organ, which had a massive, complete, and more useful Récit.  

 

The Franckian Récit

This case of the Récit particularly is one in which the approximation of the effect of Franck’s home organ can be troublesome. The Ste. Clotilde Récit was not only interesting in its specification, but in its position, distant in the rear of the case. So when the doctrinaire approach insists on registering the cantilena passages in the A-Minor and E-Major Chorals with a solo comprising the foundations and both Swell reeds, one of which is perhaps a large English-style chorus trumpet in a Swell division much more prominently placed, with the accompaniment on dull Choir stops with the box closed, the effect of such strong reedy presence and ineffectual accompaniment is not the authentic expression of the original distant, harmonically rich voice accompanied by the flutes of a Positif only half-way as far up, and therefore very present to the listener in the nave (in how many performances is the very fine and elaborate counterpoint Franck wrote in the accompanying voices of the first and third Chorals never heard! [Example 1]). In cases when the Swell trumpet and oboe drawn together are both too colorless and too loud, there is nothing authentic about it (unless of course they are out of tune!).

One solution, for example, at the American Symphonic organ of reasonable size is the Solo Corno di Bassetto 8′, or Swell Oboe 8′ if it is large enough, accompanied by the Choir Flûte Harmonique with or without the Bourdon 8′, or perhaps (if the solo is on the Swell) by an expressive Solo flute. This registration stays true to the proportion, character, and nature of the piece.

In passages when the full Récit is indicated, must we use no 16-foot stops? It is not as simple as ‘Ste. Clotilde had no 16-foot stops, so we may not use them.’ Is the effect brought across in all cases by the Swell without its Double Trumpet or Bassoon? Would Franck truly have left off the 16′ registers in all ‘full Récit’ registrations when performing his music at churches in which the Récit was large and complete? The answer cannot be categorical, at least not in the positive. To say that Franck would have emulated the Ste. Clotilde organ wherever he went is to belittle his intelligence. The parallel assertion is to say that Chopin’s piano music must always be delicate because he was slight and frail, ignoring his famous remark to an apologizing student who broke a string during the Polonaise Militaire: “Young man, if I had your strength and could play that polonaise as it should be played, there would be no strings on the instrument when I finished!” Composers’ original performances are not always the ones they hoped for, nor are they always to be emulated.

It is unique to Franck’s organ works that one original instrument is taken into such intense consideration, which is partly legitimate, given how widely organs vary from place to place, even in the work of the same builder in the same period. However, the educated pianist knows that elements of piano construction were different in the 1860s than today, and yet this is not one of the first elements he or she considers when developing an interpretation. The pianist who sits down to learn the accompaniment to the Franck Violin Sonata thinks not on refinements to double-escapement, but rather on supporting the solo line, on finding the best tempo, on form, on Franck’s intensely chromatic, constantly transforming harmony—on all the real musical material and not on the instrument the première was played upon, or the tempi of particular isolated performances.

This is not to say organists should not know everything there is to know about the Ste. Clotilde organ and French organs of Franck’s day generally, rather that the application of that knowledge must be a thoughtful, dynamic one and that the consideration of the musical material must come before all complications of the instrument. Where the form, balance, harmony, or tempo is injured by imitating the restrictions or peculiarities of the original instrument, those injuries must be overcome. Our situation nowadays is that they are not overcome, but almost reveled in.

 

Appropriate venues—and phrasing

There is another context in which many performers seem not to consider the circumstances of the origin of the Franck works at all: in the choice of when and where they should be performed, and which pieces. There is an air of unfortunate spectacle when the A-Minor Choral is played in a church or hall with no acoustical ambiance, on an organ of around twenty ranks. It would challenge the greatest interpreter to bring the drama and fire of the piece across in those circumstances. Plaintively, the question from the resident musician comes, “Am I never to play the A-Minor Choral on my church organ?” And the gentle but firm answer is that the instrument is not suited to it, and the wise, judicious musician will play instead the Prelude, Fugue et Variation, the Fantaisie in C, or perhaps the Prière on such an organ, and save the Chorals for instruments and settings which are equal to their demands.  

More importantly still, consideration of phrases based on their melodic and harmonic content, and their position in the larger form, is often lacking in performances of the Franck works. It is not enough to follow the dynamic indications in the Chorals, for example; they are very late works, and had not the same opportunity for revision and consideration before being published that others had. (The very odd swell action called for in the chorale statements of the A-Minor Choral can be overridden and replaced, with good justification [Example 2].) It is not thoughtful enough to play the repeated chords in the Pièce Héroïque half-value as Marcel Dupré might have indicated for a gallery organ in a church with eight seconds’ reverberation time, but their effect in the given room at the given tempo must be considered when determining how long they should be. Another common transgression of the nature of the music is in the cantilena sections of the first and third Chorals, and the C-Major Fantasy. In these, the problem is that they are played without any consideration of range. They are such vocal lines that a thorough examination of the natural high and low points of each phrase (and high and low points of whole sections) is vital (Example 3).

As it is with any revival of a work which belongs to an age now past, the truly authentic performance of Franck is the one which brings the essential substance of his expression to life. The rote learning and mimicry of stop combinations is no better in Franck than it is in the music of other great composers, and it may be worse. Rather, the ability to combine under the hands of one performer the intimate lyricism of the Violin Sonata with the overwhelming dramatic arc of the Symphony is one the organist is fortunate to possess. The organist must take up that mantle; the music demands no less.