Charles W. Ore commission

Christina Harmon is assistant organist at Christ Episcopal Church, Tyler, Texas, and instructor of organ at Stephen F. Austin State University. She is the founder of the French Organ Music Seminar and the producer of six DVDs that feature Parisian organs and organists (available through the Organ Historical Society). She is active in the organ world as a performer and composer.

The 20th French Organ Music Seminar (FOMS) took place in Switzerland, Italy, and Paris this past July. Tobias Willi (organist at the Johanneskirche in Zurich, professor of organ and improvisation at the Zurich University of the Arts, and co-director of the Romainmôtier Summer Organ Academy), Gabriel Marghieri (titular organist of Sacré Coeur Basilica in Paris and professor of organ improvisation and music analysis at the Conservatoire National Supérieur in Lyon), and Yannick Merlin (titular organist of Notre Dame des Champs and director of collections for Delatour Music Publishing) served as hosts.

Thirty organists began the seminar on July 9 at the Fraumünster Church in Zurich, where organist Jörg-Ulrich Busch played an inspiring service and afterwards stayed with us for a playing session. Built in 1953 by Orgelbau Genf, this organ was partially designed by Marcel Dupré, and he came here often to play the organ and give concerts. Later the same day, with Tobias Willi, we spent time at the Neumünster Church, which houses the organ formerly in the Zurich Tonhalle.

July 10 was spent in Zurich at the organs of St. Anton (Kuhn, 1914) and the Grossmünster Church (Metzler, 1960). On July 11 we drove into the Swiss countryside to visit the abbey organs at St. Urban and Bellelay. The organ in St. Urban was built by the Swiss organ builders Joseph and Viktor Ferdinand Bossard between 1716 and 1721. The Bellelay organ is a reconstruction of the organ that Joseph Bossard built for this church; the organ had disappeared by 1797. Both represent typical “Swiss styles,” with similarities to southern German Baroque organs. The keyboards of both organs have a short first octave with only C-D-E-F-G-A-A#-B (without C#, D#, F#, and G#). For the remaining octaves, the keyboards have two different keys for D# and E-flat. The music of Muffat and Kerll is particularly adapted to these organs.

On July 12 in Bern the group was fortunate to have a masterclass led by Tobias Willi at the organ (Goll, 1991) of the Eglise Française. We were also treated to many beautiful improvisations by Willi, whose teaching and playing was a true inspiration to all.

On Thursday, July 13, we traveled to the small village of Romainmôtier, home of the academy founded in the 1960s by Guy Bovet. Here we played the Alain residence organ. Built by Albert Alain, father of Jehan and Marie-Claire, the organ was brought several years ago to this place from France by Bovet, Marie-Claire Alain, and others. The academy still functions admirably today in the capable hands of Tobias Willi.

Further travel was to Bergamo, Italy, where we were joined by seven more organists and our hosts, Gabriel and Elisabeth Marghieri, for the next nine days. Marghieri is particularly noted for his research in early Italian music and as such is uniquely qualified as a teacher and performer. In Bergamo we visited two organs: the Bossi organ at San Leonardo and the Serassi organ of 1781 at the Basilica Alessandro, then travelled to Padua, where we toured the Ruffatti organ factory with our gracious hosts, Michela and Piero Ruffatti. Founded in 1940 by Antonio Ruffatti and his brothers, the firm of Famiglia Artigiana Fratelli Ruffatti (Ruffatti Brothers, Family of Artisans) has produced more than 500 organs of all sizes in Europe, America, Africa, Asia, and Australia. The second generation of Ruffatti brothers, Francesco and Piero, sons of Antonio, have continued their father’s tradition of excellence since his retirement in 1992.

Less well known in the United States is Ruffatti’s careful restoration of Italian organs. We were fortunate to visit two of these restorations: the Venetian-style Ruffatti mechanical-action organ at the Church of San Felice and Fortunato in Noale (demonstrated by the brilliant young Italian organist, Silvio Celeghin), and the restoration of one of the most important organs in Venice, the organ of Santa Maria della Salute. This organ was built by Dacci, a Venetian builder at the end of the 18th century, beautifully played for us by Paola Talamini. We were able to play both organs and were ably aided by both organists. 

On Sunday, July 16, we visited and played the Venetian organs of the churches of San Trovaso (Gaetano Callido 1775), San Nicolò dei Mendicoli (1743), and the Nacchini organ at San Cassiano (restored by Callido). The church has three beautiful paintings by Tintoretto, who was a former parishioner of the church. Traveling on to Bologna, Gabriel Marghieri arranged for us to see and hear the oldest Italian organ in operation, the Lorenzo da Prato organ, completed in 1471.

A welcome treat awaited us on our way to Florence at the Casa Sola Winery, where we wined and dined and were able to relax and wander around the winery during a beautiful, sunny afternoon, free from the rigors of travel. Afterwards, it was on to Florence for sightseeing, playing, and instruction on Italian music by Gabriel Marghieri at the 1864 Serassi organ of the Basilica di San Lorenzo.

Upon arriving in Rome, participants were especially fortunate to be able to spend a considerable amount of time studying both early Italian and French Romantic music because of Gabriel Marghieri’s arrangements at Rome’s most prominent organs. First was a lengthy playing session at the Mascioni organ of the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. The organ is a modern electro-pneumatic-action organ from 1955, featuring three manuals and two façades. 

The highlight of the Italy trip was the opportunity on July 20 for all the organists to play at St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican on the grand organ, built by Tamburini between 1954 and 1962. Juan Paradell-Solé, one of five Vatican organists, graciously assisted us as we performed for a large crowd of listeners. (See “The Liturgical Organist: A Conversation with Juan Paradell-Solé,” October 2015.) Charles Ore started the occasion by performing his piece, “Kyrie,” which was commissioned by the FOMS. (See “A Conversation with Charles Ore,” November 2016.) It expressed the prayerful thankfulness of the entire group for being able to perform in such a special place.

Our last day in Rome was a full playing day on two beautiful instruments, the Johannes Conradus Werle organ of 1736 (which took 50 years to complete) at Santa Maria Maddalena and the Joseph Merklin organ of 1881 at San Luigi dei Francesi (the national church in Rome of France). Instruction by organists Marghieri and the organist of the French Church, Daniel Matrone, enhanced by a stunning improvisation by Matrone, made the day an unforgettable experience. That night the group split, with some headed back to the United States, while others stayed on to board an evening flight for the rest of the FOMS experience in Paris.

From July 21 to 26 the FOMS took place in Paris where a group of 33 professional organists and students played, listened, and studied at the city’s many famous organs including those of Saint-Sulpice, Notre Dame Cathedral, Sacré-Coeur, La Trinité, Saint-Louis-en-l’Île, Saint-Gervais, La Madeleine, Saint-Eustache, Notre Dame des Champs, Saint-Etienne-du-Mont, Saint-Louis de Vincennes, and the Duruflé apartment. Excursions were made to Versailles, Royaumont, and Rouen. The group also presented a recital at Saint-Séverin. 

Highlights included classes and organ presentations by Daniel Roth, Vincent Dubois, Thierry Escaich, Louis Robilliard, Gabriel Marghieri, Thomas La Côte, Frédéric Blanc, Thomas Ospital, François Espinasse, Benjamin Alard, Elise Friot, and Béatrice Piertot. Directed by Yannick Merlin, musicologist and brilliant titular of Notre Dame des Champs, this portion of the FOMS offered many opportunities for masterclasses, private instruction, and playing time. 

The FOMS looks forward to more collaborations with the organists who were so generous with instruments and instruction time. Since 1986 these seminars have enabled organists to study with famous organists at equally well-known organs. Attendees at the 2017 FOMS were professional organists and organ students from four countries: the United States, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Germany. Directors of FOMS are Christina Harmon, Masako Gaskin, and Cliff Varnon. Special recognition is due to group leaders Doug Fossek and Jill Hunt, who worked to help ensure that everyone had playing time. Many attendees deserve further recognition, but we are grateful especially for Don Auberger and Camilla Pugh who assisted with translations as needed. More information is available at www.bfoms.com.

Joyce Johnson Robinson is editorial director of The Diapason.

While the Sistine Chapel—la Cappella Sistina (which takes its name from Pope Sixtus IV, who reorganized it in 1471)—is a must-see for many who travel to Rome, it is unlikely they will hear music performed there, as any services and concerts in the chapel are usually not open to the public. The Sistine Chapel Choir is the pope’s personal choir, singing at all the liturgical celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff—in the Sistine Chapel itself, at St. Peter’s Basilica, and at outdoor services. 

During a 2014 visit to Rome, I was able to meet with the titular organist of the Sistine Chapel, Juan Paradell-Solé. A native of Spain, he received his early training in Igualada, near Barcelona, with Father Albert Foix, and studied organ with Montserrat Torrent at the conservatory of music in Barcelona.

In 1973 Paradell-Solé moved to Rome for study in organ and composition with Monsignor Valentí Miserachs. He subsequently studied in Germany for three years with Günther Kaunzinger. He served as organist at Rome’s Basilica of St. Mary Major (Santa Maria Maggiore)for 30 years, and assumed the position as organist of the Sistine Chapel in 2011. 

Joyce Johnson Robinson: At what age did you begin studying music?

Juan Paradell-Solé: I was eight years old.

Do you come from a musical family?

Yes. My maternal grandfather was a musician—including in church, because at that time one did a bit of everything. He had a band, played piano, and they made appearances in nearby towns, but he also always played in church.

What about your parents?

My parents, no. I attended a school run by the Scolopi Fathers and one of the priests there, Father Albert Foix, was a musician, and had formed a Pueri Cantores choir. He visited classes and looked for children who wanted to sing . . . And this priest was very good with Gregorian chant. He was quite serious and even though he was dealing with children, he taught music using solfège. I had learned piano and around the age of nine or so I began to accompany the Pueri Cantores on the harmonium, during sung Masses, getting accustomed to sacred music. Thus thanks to my first maestro I was already, as a child, learning Gregorian chant and sacred polyphony.

How is that you came to be in Rome?

After some study with Father Albert Foix, I enrolled at the conservatory in my city, Igualada, which is near Barcelona, for study of solfège and piano. In the late 1960s, a priest musician from a nearby city, who had studied in Rome, started coming during the summer. This was Maestro Monsignor Valentì Miserachs; he played organ in the basilica and gave concerts. So I met him, and he prepared me for the entrance exam for the Barcelona Conservatory, and to study with Montserrat Torrent. In the early 1970s Miserachs became maestro di cappella at the papal basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome. Thus I asked him if I could come to Rome to study with him, and there I was on my way to the Eternal City.

What are some of your early memories of learning the organ?

Lessons with Montserrat Torrent took place in the Palau Nacional, in which there was a large Walcker organ, enormous, five manuals, and I began to take lessons on that organ. It had over 100 registers—mamma mia! (laughs) It seemed to me as though I were in the cockpit of an airplane—it almost scared me! This huge machine, these keyboards—it was a very beautiful instrument, mechanical action; its original keyboard was from the 18th century.

At that time, the organ world in Spain almost didn’t exist. There was only Montserrat Torrent, who held courses and gave concerts . . . while here in Rome at that time there were these big names, such as Fernando Germani and Ferruccio Vignanelli.

What music did you study with Montserrat Torrent?

Always music of every period—certainly not only Spanish music. She began with easy Bach pieces, Baroque works, pre-Bach composers such as Böhm, then little by little moved on to French Classic works, and gradually later French works. Montserrat is an organist who plays everything—much early Spanish music, but also Bach, Duruflé, Reubke, Reger. She is “360 degrees,” playing all the repertoire. Today there are organists who play only early music. Montserrat is still active, even in her eighties. In 2013 she played a challenging program in Rome, including even Alain and Duruflé.

You also studied in Germany.

I spent three years in Germany, studying with Günther Kaunzinger.

Can you describe the organ world in Spain after the civil war?

In Spain, gradually things changed after Franco—new organs began to be built. In Spain, during the civil war, many historic organs were destroyed. But some organs were saved—all the organs in the south of Spain, and in the Basque regions, in special cases, some were saved. For example, let me tell you about an eighteenth-century organ in Igualada, my native city.

Someone saw children in the town square who were playing with very small pipes from an organ that was being taken apart. So he called the city’s music teacher: “Maestro, someone wants to destroy the organ—come right away.” And the maestro asked what the person was doing, and was told, “This organ is of no use anymore.” The maestro answered, “What are you doing? This is a musical instrument. It’s not just used in the church; it can also be used for dancing, for tangos . . . ” And he succeeded in convincing him. So they dismantled the organ and stored it in a convent school during the civil war; thanks to this it was saved.

But many others were in ruins, included a beautiful, large Cavaillé-Coll in a cathedral in Catalonia. Starting in the 1980s many organs began to be rebuilt, concert halls constructed, and many organ students, like me, went abroad to study. So now in Spain there are many fine organists, new instruments, and the organ world in Spain has changed a great deal.

You have concertized throughout Europe, South and North America, and even in Syria!

Yes, Syria—in Damascus. There was an organ in the Franciscan church there; I think it was the only organ in Damascus. The concert had been organized through the Cervantes Institute—the institute for Spanish culture. It was very interesting: a concert of Spanish music and poetry, with a Spanish actress. Last year we recorded a CD on that organ, also Spanish poetry and music. This CD, Aquesta divina unión, will be released in late September 2015.

What sort of concert repertoire do you favor?

I perform much Spanish music, to help make it known—although not too much early music, because early Spanish music is familiar. There is a large repertoire from the late nineteenth–early twentieth century up to now, written by composers from the Basque countries.

Do you mean the Euskarien region?

Exactly. The Euskarien region is not very big but has a large collection of Romantic-Symphonic organs that’s unique in the world—many by Cavaillé-Coll, Merklin, Mutin, Stoltz Frères, Puget, and Walcker. And these instruments haven’t been touched—they have not been changed, they are as they were.They’ve been maintained but nothing has been changed. So musicians from the late nineteenth century onwards grew up with these instruments, and many wrote for the organ. It’s a large body of Spanish symphonic literature that is very little known.

You’ve recorded some of this repertoire.

I enjoyed making this CD (Orgues en Duos, by Daniel Pandolfo et Juan Paradell-Solé on the Merklin and Koenig organs, Pamina SPM 1520 393 CD) because some of these pieces are very interesting—for example, Usandizaga, and Jesus Guridi, for instance. It was recorded in Alsace on a Merklin organ. And Daniel Pandolfo (who’s French, though of Italian ancestry) and I recorded some duets, utilizing a second, choir organ.

You’ve also done a lot of concertizing.

However, I am at heart a liturgical organist—I have been a liturgical organist for all my life. For me the church is important. The liturgical organist can seem to some people perhaps of less value, but that’s not true. The liturgical organist must have many more competencies, really a 360-degree skill set: know how to immediately accompany Gregorian chant, accompany a choir, transpose, must know how to improvise. A concert organist studies pieces; if he learns them well, he moves on to the next ones. Of course, a liturgical organist also plays the great literature, but must have an even broader skill set. I remember when I was twenty, I went to St. Peter’s to hear Vespers, and sometimes also the morning Mass, sung by the Cappella Giulia choir. The director, Maestro Armando Renzi, who was very famous in Italy, said to me, “If you don’t know how to do these things you’ll never be a good organist, because beyond playing concerts, an organist must be able to do these things.” And it’s true.

What is a typical week like for you? 

Most of my weeks are quite similar. Fortunately, my schedule allows for at least a half day of practice at the organ. I begin in the morning as soon as possible, with a bit of piano technique and then I continue on organ. The afternoon is normally dedicated to study and private lessons. Tuesdays and Wednesdays are my days at the conservatory [Conservatorio Licinio Refice, Frosinone], where I teach organ, Gregorian chant, modes, and basso continuo.

Normally during the week I don’t have rehearsals with the Sistine Chapel choir. The choir rehearses every day, but reheases with the organ only for something particular, such as a piece in a concertato style with the organ. Otherwise we rehearse together a day or two before an important celebration.

During the weekend there are often celebratory liturgies in the Vatican. Then I am involved both for the Mass that the Pope says on some Sundays, as well as for important feastdays that can occur during the week.

How is your position at the Sistine Chapel different from that at St, Mary Major?

My work as an organist for the choir of the Sistine Chapel—the pope’s choir—is not much different from that at St. Mary Major: namely, that of a liturgical organist. At St. Mary Major, there was a short rehearsal before every Mass. After an improvisation on the Introit, I accompanied the various types of song and also played during and after the motet. I also played the offertory and a final piece from the literature at the end of Mass. And the papal celebration is not very different. Whether a Mass or a Vespers, it is similar, only in St. Peter’s there is much more time for playing the organ, above all before and at the end of the Mass or Vespers—since the basilica is so large, one needs to play until almost all of the assembly has exited the basilica. But it’s essentially the same.

How much of your work is accompanying the Sistine Chapel Choir, versus playing repertoire (for example, during postludes)?

Papal celebrations, with the Sistine Chapel Choir, certainly involve much accompanying of the choir, especially during Mass, meaning all the parts of the Ordinary or the Propers of the Mass, or the various parts of Vespers. But there is also much opportunity for being able to play organ literature, repertoire­­—above all before Mass. Often I must play even for 30 to 45 minutes before the Mass, or the arrival of the Holy Father, or at the end of a Mass or Vespers, accompanying the papal procession and while the entire assembly leaves. So there is a lot of time in which to play plenty of literature. 

During the Mass, often the Offertory is sung first, before the choir sings a motet. But often the organ must continue improvising, in the same style of the motet that was sung. There are other moments when there is a lot of time for the organ—for example, in the baptismal liturgy, during the ordination of a priest, in a penitential service—where the organ must play quietly. And those are times when the organist must play for 45 minutes, or even an hour.

In accompanying chant and Psalms, do you use written-out accompaniments, or do you always improvise?

For Gregorian chant, normally I improvise the accompaniments. I’ve spent many years studying the accompaniment of Gregorian chant, and I also teach this in the conservatory. I like to improvise chant accompaniment, so that it is not always the same. Sometimes I use accompaniments that I wrote, which were published in various musical journals. For psalmody, normally the psalm is composed by the Sistine Chapel choirmaster—at present, Maestro Palombella—and he also writes the accompaniment. But this doesn’t mean that I cannot change accompaniments during the verses and create my own on occasion.

What is involved when you must play for a Mass outdoors in Piazza San Pietro (St. Peter’s Square?)

During Masses that are said outdoors in St. Peter’s Square—from Palm Sunday through the summer—the situation varies greatly, and for the choir there is the difficulty of singing outdoors. Another difficulty is the loudspeakers that transmit sound through the piazza, and that transmit for radio and television. 

Regarding the organ, a movable radio-controlled console is used, which controls the organ in the basilica. I must say that the sound of the organ is very good; even though the organ is inside the basilica, the organist can hear it immediately. Logically this requires speakers; this system, however, has had some problems lately. Until a better solution is found—and this is just a temporary solution—when we are in St. Peter’s Square, I play an electronic organ. Another problem, when we are all outside in the piazza, is that of weather. Sometimes we are out in the rain, other times with strong sun in our eyes; there is wind (many times the wind has blown my score away!). I have had to take shelter and improvise. So to work around these problems—weather as well as the difficulty for the choir of singing outdoors—in the last couple years the choir has been standing in the atrium of the basilica, covered, so this is much more comfortable. The choir and organ can mutually be heard well, and we can coordinate everything much better, almost as if we were within St. Peter’s Basilica. 

Who plans the music for Masses?

The music for papal celebrations is chosen by the office of papal celebrations, headed by Monsignor Guido Marini, together with the director of the Cappella Musicale Ponteficio Sistina, Maestro Don Massimo Palombella, of course under the guidance and approval of the Holy Father. It’s not unusual on occasion for the pope himself to choose particular music that he would like to have performed. For example, for Mass last Christmas, Pope Francis himself personally asked that the “Et incarnatus est “ from Mozart’s Mass in C Minor, be sung during the Credo—and certainly it was. Thus, the staff together with others decide on the music for each occasion.

As for the music that the organist must perform, I must say that no one forced me to play anything—they allow the organist to choose, based on his good sense and liturgical understanding. Of course, the organist must always know how to choose, from the liturgical point of view, which works from the literature are most suitable; certainly the Christmas season is not the same as Lent, or Easter, or a penance service. So the organist chooses from the repertoire.

You have played for historic events, such as the ceremony starting the conclave that elected the new Pope, and for Pope Francis’s first Mass.

[When the conclave began] I went to the gathering of the cardinals in the Sala Nervi . . . The Office of Terce was sung at the beginning. I went every morning to play; each day cardinals from all over the world were arriving. Then there was the ceremony to open the conclave. Before the conclave began, there were other people inside the Sistine Chapel, and all the cardinals must swear an oath. I had to play during the swearing-in, and then once the master of ceremonies declared “Extra Omnes” (“everybody out”), I had to quickly grab my scores and run out. I was the last to exit the Sistine Chapel.

After the election of the new pope, the next day there was his first Mass in the Sistine Chapel, for the cardinals only, and then there was the first Mass, in St. Peter’s Square, for the whole world. 

Deutsche Gramophon has recorded some of this (Habemus Papam, includes the Mass for the election of the Roman Pontiff, Entrance into the Conclave, Mass with the Cardinal electors, and Mass for the beginning of the Petrine Ministry; DG B0022404-02).

Yes. It was recorded live and includes music from the conclave, the Mass in the Sistine Chapel with the cardinals, the Mass in St. Peter’s, and the Mass for all the world. I presented a copy to the pope.

What are your future plans and goals?

Goals: I hope to continue to play for papal celebrations for many years!

As for projects, in summer 2015 I have many concerts throughout Europe (Spain, France, Austria, Germany, Denmark, Italy), and on August 28, I play in St. James Catholic Cathedral in Orlando, Florida. In 2016 there will be much to do at the Vatican, marking the Holy Year, the Jubilee of Mercy, with celebrations, concerts, and other events. Then in summer 2016 there will be many concerts—in Japan and South America—and recording a new CD.

Thank you very much, Maestro Paradell-Solé—grazie mille! ν

British Organ Music Seminar

July 25–29, 2013

The ninth British Organ Music Seminar was held for four days in London, beginning on July 25. The seminar began with a train ride to Cambridge to visit the chapel of Emmanuel College, with its three-manual 1988 Kenneth Jones tracker instrument, which used the case and some of the pipework of the original Father Smith instrument of 1688. Colin Walsh, organist laureate of Lincoln Cathedral and a visiting organ teacher at the University of Cambridge, was our host. He conducted a workshop on liturgical improvisation with several reluctant volunteers followed by a session of various British organ works, performed by members of the group.

On July 26, we visited the French Church of Notre Dame de France, where we attended classes all day. The church, which serves a large French population in London, is located near Leicester Square and dates back to 1861. The organ was originally built by August Gern, who had worked with Cavaillé-Coll. It has undergone several rebuilds, most recently by B. C. Shepherd & Son in 1986. Duncan Middleton, the organiste titulaire at the church since 1989, had studied liturgical and concert improvisation in Bordeaux and Lourdes; he led us in the opening session on improvisation. In the next masterclass, participants played British organ works with John Hosking, assistant organist of St. Asaph Cathedral in Wales. In the afternoon session, Dame Gillian Weir conducted an exciting masterclass on French and German works, played by members of our group. Later in the day we attended Evensong at Westminster Abbey, which was sung by a visiting choir from Breda Cathedral in the Netherlands. Following the service, Peter Holder, organ scholar of the Abbey, talked to the group about the history of the organ and gave a demonstration of the stops. The organ was originally built in 1727 by Schrider & Jordan, with several rebuilds by William Hill in the 19th century and most recently by Harrison & Harrison. Afterwards, participants were given the chance to play the instrument. 

We then went across the street to Central Methodist Hall. The organ, with its imposing 32-foot façade, was built by Hill & Son in 1912 and was later rebuilt by Rushworth & Dreaper in 1970. A major rebuild by Harrison & Harrison in 2011 was based on the original Hill scheme. Gerard Brooks, the director of music, is associated with French repertoire and has recorded the complete works of Gigout. His class for the evening was on the organ works of Gigout (other than the well-known Dix Pièces), along with works of Saint-Saëns.

On July 27, we traveled to Peterborough Cathedral to play one of the finest William Hill organs in the country. Built in 1894, Hill, one of the two most celebrated organ builders of the nineteenth century, incorporated the existing pipework in his four-manual organ masterpiece of 86 stops. Its last restoration took place after a fire in 2001. Like other Hill instruments of this period, the organ is set considerably sharper than modern concert pitch. David Humphreys, assistant director of music of the cathedral, gave a brilliant demonstration, after which participants had ample playing time on the instrument. In the afternoon, we traveled to Cambridge for some free time, shopping in the local music store, and having afternoon tea. In the evening we attended Evensong at Ely Cathedral, followed by a demonstration of the organ by assistant organist Jonathan Lilley. The organ was first built in 1685 by Renatus Harris. Elliot and Hill installed a new organ with existing pipework in 1831, with William Hill doing restoration work in 1850. In 1908, Harrison & Harrison built a mostly new organ, using pipework from the previous instruments, with a restoration in 1974–1975 supervised by Arthur Wills, who was then the cathedral organist.

The final day of the seminar was Sunday, so participants attended services at various churches, including St. Paul’s Cathedral. In the afternoon we visited All Soul’s Langham Place, which is a familiar landmark at the end of Regent Street. In 1913, Alfred Hunter installed a new instrument in this church, replacing the original organ built by Bishop in 1824. This Hunter instrument was rebuilt and enlarged by Henry Willis III in 1951, with the most recent restoration by Harrison & Harrison in 1976. Gerard Brooks conducted a masterclass, played by the members of our group. Later in the afternoon, participants could attend recitals at St. Paul’s Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, or Westminster Cathedral. The seminar ended with a visit to Westminster Cathedral, just down the street from the abbey. It contains the Apse Organ built by T. C. Lewis prior to World War I and the Grand Organ, which is one of the two heroic instruments built by Henry Willis III, the other being the Liverpool Anglican Cathedral. Peter Stevens, the assistant master of music, talked about the history of the instrument, gave a fine demonstration of the organ, and assisted participants as they played this magnificent instrument, which made a spectacular end to an eventful seminar.

—Cliff Varnon

French Organ Music Seminar

July 29–August 7, 2013

“If you listen, you will learn.” 

—Thomas LaCôte, La Trinité, Paris

Organ builder Aristide Cavaillé-Coll listened to the sounds in his head before he started building the romantic organ. Louis Robilliard of Lyon told us that if there had been no Cavaillé-Coll, there would be no romantic organ music.

When Widor sat at the Cavaillé-Coll, he listened, and came up with ideas for his symphonies. Vierne and Guilmant listened and did the same. A stunning reminder to the organist: the dream organ came before the compositions. Here’s a dream: to travel back in time, attend a concert at the Palais du Trocadéro, and listen to the now-extinct Cavaillé-Coll as Widor conducts his Third Symphony with Vierne at the organ!

Thanks and appreciation are due to Christina Harmon, Dallas organist, teacher, and composer who led this group of American organists. Through her well-established FOMS program, we are privileged to experience the French tradition. Additional indispensable co-directors this year were Cliff Varnon and Masako Gaskin. All three worked hard to keep this group of organists, organ students, and organ lovers happy and informed. For more information and notice of future events, see www.bfoms.com. 

Participants varied from virtuosos with ever-expanding organ repertoire to lifelong students who treasure their favorite pieces and still look for interpretation ideas from close connections to the source. In addition to masterclasses, there were classes in improvisation and ample opportunities for private lessons. Our youngest organist was 15 and the oldest 83!

How fortunate for this group that there are still essentially unaltered romantic organs in existence that we are able to touch and play. The first on this trip was the Cavaillé-Coll in Lyon at St. Francois de Sales, the Widor family parish, where Charles-Marie was baptized and later first performed Symphony V.

July 29–30: Lyon and Chambéry

The perfect warm-up act to the frenzied pace of Paris was the time spent in Lyon and the Alps, organized by the organist of Chambéry Cathedral, Thibaut Duret, with the help of François Espinasse, professor of organ at the National Conservatory of Lyon. Françoise Webb, the charming French native who spent her youth in Reims, assisted with the preparations and organization. Our first day was spent with Louis Robilliard at the great Cavaillé-Coll organ of Saint-François-de-Sales. Built in 1880, it was restored in 1964 and is still in its original and unaltered state.

Time spent with François Espinasse and Thibaut Duret and two concerts on the marvelous 1847 Augustin Zeiger organ at Chambéry Cathedral allowed each of us a performance turn, followed by a third inspiring performance by our regional host Thibaut Duret. Duret is a brilliant young organist and improviser who studied with François Henry Houbart at Rueil Malmaison and with François Espinasse and Loïc Mallié at the Lyon Conservatoire, where he received a master’s degree in organ. With the Alps as backdrop, we spent Wednesday and Thursday playing the organs in St. Pierre d’Albigny, Manigod, Thônes, Grand Bornand, and Annecy. Each organ had a particular charm, and more information is available about each of them on the FOMS website (www.bfoms.com).

August 2: Dole and Dijon

On Thursday, after a 2½-hour bus ride, we arrived in Dijon. While there we played the much-restored Daublaine-Callinet organ at the Cathèdrale St. Bénigne in Dole and the particular highlight: the untouched, undusted, very much in tune 1754 Karl Riepp organ at the Collégiale Notre Dame de Dole. With a Louis XV oak case, this was the largest organ in provincial France, with 45 stops over four manuals and pedal and a 32′ Montre in the Grand-Orgue. In 1860 the 32′ Montre was moved to the pedal and in a 20th-century renovation it made its way back to the Grand-Orgue, the organ now being five manuals with 73 stops. One room on the way to the organ gallery housed a museum that traced its fascinating history.

August 3: Reims

By Saturday, August 3, we were in Reims, where we played the Cathédral Notre-Dame de Reims organ. Unfortunately, on our way that morning we received a call from Benjamin Steens, our excellent host in Reims, who told us a fire had broken out in the organ of St-Remi (Cattiaux, 2000), where we were to spend the afternoon. A visit to the famous champagne caves helped us to cope with our disappointment at not being able to play at the basilica.

August 4–7: Paris

In Paris we visited the always-amazing organ at St. Sulpice (suffering from the unusual heat of Paris in August), as well as the Cavaillé-Coll of Notre-Dame des Champs, Aristide Cavaillé-Coll’s own parish, built in 1877. This organ was extensively altered by Schwenkedel, although, fortunately, the Barker action was retained. Thanks to Cavaillé-Coll, who was on the building committee for the church, also built in 1877, the acoustics for the organ are some of the best in Paris. 

At Notre-Dame des Champs, we had stimulating masterclasses with Sophie-Véronique Cauchefer-Choplin, Beatrice Piertot, and Yannick Merlin. In the masterclass with Dupré expert Cauchefer-Choplin, three participants enabled us to delve into segments of the Symphonie-Passion, the composer’s Wanamaker improvisation that he later wrote down after returning to France. Cauchefer-Choplin said Dupré loved the sound of the gambe alone because it was mysterious.

Stimulating duo-organ performances and masterclasses by upcoming organists Beatrice Piertot and Yannick Merlin also took place at this church during the week in Paris. These two brilliant young organists also helped in this year’s planning and gave classes at the beautiful, unaltered Merklin organ at the church of St. Laurent.

Daniel Roth entertained and enlightened us at St-Sulpice with historical anecdotes about the organ and stories of Franck, Widor, and Dupré that organists never tire of hearing. Cavaillé-Coll kept more than 40% of the 1781 Clicquot organ pipework, never intending to make an exclusive change to a romantic organ. In fact, Widor’s colleague Albert Schweitzer said the organ was great for baroque music. Roth clarified that the transition from Baroque to Romantic was abrupt in Germany, whereas in France, it was gradual. To see more of Roth’s mesmerizing history of French organ music and organs, you can find numerous DVDs of Roth’s St-Sulpice lectures and performances on YouTube, all produced by Christina Harmon. Better still, break down and buy the DVDs from the Organ Historical Society! 

It still takes my breath away to sit in the loft with Olivier Latry at Notre Dame during Mass. His playing for four Sunday services allowed all 29 organists and students a chance to be at the organ, complete with a console containing the latest organ technology and design.

Classes and playing time were offered by Thomas LaCôte at La Trinité (the organ of Messiaen), at Sainte-Clotilde with Nicolas Pichon, La Madeleine, with Andy Dewar at the American Cathedral, and at Notre Dame d’Auteil with Frédéric Blanc (living conduit to the music of Duruflé). LaCôte told us Messiaen liked the sound of ice and crystal, 16′ & 2′ (Messe de la Pentecôte). 

Blanc told us that Duruflé was not a man for big chords, but rather the musical line. He favored flutes and celestes. He also told us that the famous story of Duruflé not liking his Toccata was not necessarily true, but that at the time he was very tired and had composed this piece during a very stressful period in his life.

Our last day was spent with Jean-Baptiste Robin in Versailles and included a concert by him on the Clicquot organ (modified by Cavaillé-Coll) at the Versailles Cathedral, a masterclass at the church of Notre Dame des Armées of Versailles, and playing at the Royal Chapel organ of Versailles Palace. The palace organ was originally built by Robert Clicquot in 1710. After severe damage during the French Revolution it was rebuilt as a two-manual organ by Cavaillé-Coll in 1873. In 1936 it was sold to the seminary in Châteaugiron and later to St. Martin Church in Rennes, where a reconstruction was attempted by Victor Gonzalez. In 1995 a completely new instrument was made by the firms of Boisseau and Cattiaux, which not only reconstructed Robert Clicquot’s creation but also reconstructed the additions of Louis-Alexander and Francois-Henry Clicquot as well. This result was amazingly successful and stands today in the Royal Versailles Chapel as a proud tribute to Clicquot’s genius. 

As a protégé of Marie-Claire Alain, Jean-Baptiste Robin gave an intense class on Jehan Alain. Robin told us that after the trauma of World War I, artists turned to the past, and Alain was the first to go to early music, layering it with orientalism and with jazz that had been brought by Americans during the war. Alain was fascinated by the cornet, a sonority he explored extensively. Tutti, or massive sound, is seldom found in Alain’s music. Our day ended with palace organist Robin demonstrating French Classical music on the beautiful chapel organ of the palace. Participants were actually able to play the chapel organ! Robin is one of four titular organists. The others are Michel Bouvard, François Espinasse, and Frédéric Desenclos, with Michel Chapuis serving as honorary titulaire.

To be in France and therefore in the center of the vital and enduring influence of the world’s greatest organ tradition is as fascinating and transforming as ever. The spirits of Widor, Vierne, Messiaen, et al. continue to permeate the sensibilities and ethos of this beautiful part of the world through the brilliant French artists of the present. There is no more amazing experience, or better pilgrimage, for an organist. Teach us to listen, and learn…

—Helen VanAbbema Rodgers

The seventh French Organ Music Seminar took place in Paris and Marseilles with daily lectures, master classes, coaching sessions and private lessons. Side trips to Meudon, Rueil-Malmaison, Aix-en-Provence, Aubagne, Saint-Maximin, Roquevaire, and Cotignac, with opportunities to play the historic instruments of those cities, were also included for the sixty-five participants. The seminar had three principal leaders: Christina Harmon of Dallas, Texas, the organizer of the seminar;  Marie-Louise Langlais, noted teacher at the National Regional Conservatory of Paris and the Schola Cantorum, and widow of the composer-organist Jean Langlais; and Robert Martin, organist at the Basilica of Notre-Dame de la Garde in Marseilles. Assisting Harmon as seminar secretary was Cliff Varnon of Dallas.

The seminar began in Paris with an introductory meeting held in the Hotel Lorette, not far from the church of Notre-Dame-de-Lorette where César Franck had served as organist before going to Sainte-Clotilde. Madame Langlais guided the group to the church of Notre-Dame-des-Champs, the parish church of organ builder Aristide Cavaillé-Coll, where we were greeted by its titulaire Marie-Bernadette Dufourcet.  Dufourcet, wife of Naji Hakim, organist at  La Trinité, introduced the group to the two-manual Cavaillé-Coll from 1877 in a recital of her own compositions and works by Olivier Messiaen, Naji Hakim, Jean Langlais, Augustin Barié, Vincent d'Indy, and René Vierne, a former titulaire and brother of Louis Vierne. FOMS participants were invited to try the instrument themselves; many took advantage of their first of many opportunities to play a Cavaillé-Coll organ. Madame Langlais invited the group to join her at the church of Saint-Gervais in evaluating the organ built in the 17th century and played by members of the Couperin family from 1653-1826.  Many listeners heard--for the first time--the sounds of a real French Classic instrument in music by François Couperin and Nicolas de Grigny.    Even though the organ was in  a state of disrepair, the opportunity to hear the historic reeds, cornets, and plein jeu was unforgettable. The group spent the evening with Naji Hakim at the church of La Trinité. Hakim's demonstration of the organ, once presided over by such luminaries as Alexandre Guilmant and Olivier Messiaen, followed by an exciting symphonic improvisation, brought the first day to an end.

Day two began at the church of Saint-Augustin with a recital by its titulaire of over fifty years Suzanne Chaisemartin, a former student of Marcel Dupré and an instructor at Paris's École Normale de Musique. Since the grand Barker/Cavaillé-Coll organ, once presided over by Eugène Gigout and his assistant Léon Boëllmann, was being repaired, Madame Chaisemartin and FOMS participants played the choir organ. Built by Mutin/Cavaillé-Coll in 1899 with additions by Gonzalez in 1973, many consider it to be the most brilliant choir organ in Paris. Never far from the console, Chaisemartin offered helpful comments to players about interpretation and registration. The next stop was the National Regional Conservatory of Paris and an opportunity to hear and play the new Grenzig organ in the recently-completed organ recital hall. Madame Langlais and several of her students demonstrated the organ, teaching the group about the proper interpretation, registration,  and performance style  of French Baroque music.  FOMS participants then made their way to the Basilica of Sainte-Clotilde for an introduction to the organ of César Franck, Gabriel Pierné, Charles Tournemire, Joseph Ermend-Bonnal, and Jean Langlais. Madame Langlais and her students demonstrated the famous Cavaillé-Coll instrument of 1859, and playing time was available to those who wished to climb the outside stairs to the organ gallery.  The experience of playing music composed by Franck and Langlais for this particular organ was unforgettable and revealing, as no recording does justice to the sound of this majestic instrument. The evening was spent with Olivier Latry at Notre-Dame Cathedral. Latry, one of the three titulaires, was joined in the gallery by choir organist Yves Castagnet for a demonstration of the vast instrument.  Group members were invited to play this instrument made famous by such musicians as Louis Vierne, Marcel Dupré, and Pierre Cochereau.  Some FOMS group members played works by those composers on this instrument, even though many tonal and mechanical changes have been made to it in the past few decades, changing significantly the tonal palette known by Vierne and Dupré. Olivier Latry closed the evening with an improvisation and a thrilling performance of Vierne's "Carillon de Westminster."

The schedule for the third day included visits to three different locations, each with its own distinctive organ. Beginning at the fashionable church of La Madeleine, FOMS participants were introduced to François-Henri Houbart and the elegant four-manual Cavaillé-Coll organ from 1846. Titulaire since 1979, Houbart follows in a line of noted organists such as Camille Saint-Saëns, Gabriel Fauré, Théodore Dubois, and Jeanne Demessieux. Those who wished to play the organ climbed the stairs to what was at one time known as the  most famous organ-loft in the world. Stories of Saint-Saëns and celebrated musicians, artists, and literary figures who visited his tribune on Sundays were endless. From La Madeleine, the group traveled to the church of Saint-Roch and heard its three organs: the one-manual instrument built in 1830 by the Abbey firm; the choir organ built in 1865 by Cavaillé-Coll; and the tribune organ, which evolved  from its original installation in 1751 by the Lesclop firm, through  rebuilds by Clicquot in 1770 and by Cavaillé-Coll from 1840-1862,  to its most recent restoration in 1992 by Renaud. Masterful demonstrations by the present titulaire Françoise Levinchin introduced the group to the organs played by her predecessors Claude Balbastre, Louis-James-Alfred Lefébure-Wély, and Pierre Cochereau.   Madame Levinchin graciously assisted and coached members who wished to play the tribune organ. The group traveled by train to Meudon for an introduction to the organ in the former home of Marcel Dupré. The four-manual instrument, once owned by Alexandre Guilmant, was expertly demonstrated by the charming Pascale Mélis, a former student of Marie-Louise and Jean Langlais and Rolande Falcinelli, and the titular organist at the church of Saint-Cloud in Paris where she has served for fifteen years.  As some group members played the Cavaillé-Coll organ, others investigated the many treasures in the  salon d'orgue decorated with historic woodwork given to the Duprés in 1926 by their friend Claude Johnson, then President of Rolls-Royce. That evening, many in the group took advantage of an improvisation class taught by Naji Hakim at La Trinité.

FOMS participants began the next morning with a visit to the Schola Cantorum, the institution founded by Alexandre Guilmant and Vincent d'Indy. The Schola's list of organ professors through the years includes Guilmant, Louis Vierne, Abel Decaux, Olivier Messiaen, Maurice Duruflé, Jean-Jacques Grunenwald, Jean Langlais, Gaston Litaize, Michel Chapuis, André Fleury, Naji Hakim, André Isoir, and Marie-Louise Langlais.  The group was treated to a demonstration/recital in the concert hall by two students of Madame Langlais, one a seventeen-year-old wonder who played the "Allegro vivace" from the Fifth Symphony of Widor, the Dupré Prelude and Fugue in g minor and the Duruflé Toccata. Members of the group also had the opportunity to perform on the 1902 Cavaillé-Coll.   The next musical encounter was at Saint-Sulpice, the church of such former titulaires as Louis-James-Alfred Lefébure-Wély, Charles-Marie Widor, and Marcel Dupré. Present organist Daniel Roth lectured about the history of the parish, the church, the organ, and his musical predecessors. An added treat was the opportunity to visit the crypt to view the final resting place of  Widor. The group returned to Sainte-Clotilde for a lecture by Madame Langlais on the music of César Franck, with a master class specifically concerning his Chorale in b minor. That evening, the group returned to Saint-Sulpice, this time treated to a grand improvisation by Daniel Roth, followed by playing time for group members on the well-preserved five-manual instrument. Playing music of Widor and Dupré on this organ provided exciting experiences for the group, as the instrument has changed little since the masters' tenures.

The seminar continued the following day with a trip to the Basilica of Sacré-Coeur in the Montmartre district. As the basilica is a site of perpetual prayer and adoration of the sacrament, group playing time was not possible. The titulaire, Philippe Brandeis, demonstrated the 1898 Cavaillé-Coll with an extended prelude to the Friday noon mass by playing Franck's Grande Pièce Symphonique and the "Andante sostenuto" from Widor's Symphonie Gothique. The group returned once again to Sainte-Clotilde for playing time assisted by Madame Langlais, who actually coached each player with a mini-lesson on each individual's chosen piece. Throughout the week, Madame Langlais and several of the other master teachers offered private lessons to individuals who desired a deeper understanding of the French organ and its literature. Their insightful comments and affirming compliments were greatly appreciated by those who chose to spend extra time learning.

Saturday began with a trip to the Conservatory at Rueil-Malmaison and lectures by the eminent teacher Susan Landale. Her lectures on Louis Vierne and Charles Tournemire were full of thought-provoking insights into the lives, careers, and influences upon the two composers. The evening was spent at the Parisian church of Saint-Etienne-du-Mont as guests of Thierry Escaich, the present titulaire and successor of Maurice and Marie-Madeleine Duruflé. A master improviser, Escaich demonstrated the organ containing pipes made as early as 1633, and which has been altered through the centuries by such builders as Clicquot, Cavaillé-Coll, and Gonzalez.

On Sunday morning, FOMS participants were welcomed to the tribunes of Notre-Dame, Saint-Sulpice, La Trinité, and Saint-Eustache to observe the Parisian organists at work making music to enhance the celebration of the Mass. These experiences were not only educational, but were personally inspiring to the Americans who eagerly  watched and listened intently.

Following the morning of hearing thrilling improvisations and the playing of standard literature, FOMS participants departed Paris--some by plane, others by train--for the south of France and their destination of the Mediterranean seaport of Marseilles.

The group was greeted in Marseilles by Madame Langlais, several of her students from Paris, and Robert Martin, organist of the Basilica of Notre-Dame de la Garde. FOMS participants were shuttled through Marseilles to Notre-Dame de la Garde located at the top of a mountain overlooking the Mediterranean, where the nuns had prepared a hearty welcome meal for their guests; the view from the church was magnificent. After a long day, the Americans were glad to see the Hotel Tonic, headquarters for the next few days. 

On Monday morning, the group drove to the ancient city of Aix-en-Provence for a tour of its historic organs. Led down cobble-stone streets, past sprinkling fountains, the old clock tower, open-air markets, and beautiful gardens, the first stop was in the Cathedral of Saint-Sauveur, whose carved doors date from the 16th century. The cathedral organ of three manuals, originally built by Isnard in 1743, has undergone rebuilds by such firms as Cavaillé-Coll and Merklin. Group members played the historic instrument before moving on to the Reformed Temple to see the one-manual organ dating from the time of Louis XVI. At noon, a delightful reception in honor of FOMS participants was given by the Archbishop of Aix-en-Provence. The next stops were the churches of Saint-Esprit and La Madeleine, whose organs provided the group with opportunities to play three-manual instruments from the 17th and 18th centuries. In the early evening, a public recital was held at the Cathedral featuring music of Nicolas de Grigny, Jean-Adam Guilain, Jean-Jacques Grunenwald, Théodore Dubois, Maurice Duruflé, Louis Vierne, and Jean Langlais performed by FOMS participants Polly Brecht, Matthew Samelak, Anita Werling, David Erwin, Peter DuBois, Yun Kim, and Jeff Binford. Following the recital, the group dined in one of the many intimate restaurants in the old city.

Tuesday was spent in Marseilles, hearing and playing a wide range of historic and modern instruments. The first order of the day was a visit to the abbey church of Saint-Victor, whose four-manual organ blends stops from the 17th and 18th centuries with those of the 20th century. Next, the group was introduced to the Grignan Temple, a Reformed Church in which Madame Langlais had served as organist. The two-manual Kern organ of 1982 was designed by Madame Langlais. At noon, the group went to the city hall to be welcomed by the mayor of Marseilles at a lavish reception. The three-manual instrument at the church of Saint-Joseph was heard next; the organ and its impressive case, built in the 19th century, had its most recent restoration in 1988. The afternoon was spent at  the Basilica of Notre-Dame de la Garde. The Romanesque and Byzantine church crowns a 162-meter rocky mountain that dominates the city of Marseilles. Topped by a huge gilt statue of the Madonna and Child, and covered with mosaics, the basilica has become a symbol  of the Good Mother to the people of the city. The basilica contains a one-manual choir organ built by Merklin in 1925, a transept organ of two manuals built by Grenzig in 1978, and the tribune organ which was originally built by Merklin in 1926 and revised in 1981.  All of these instruments were masterfully demonstrated by the basilica's titulaire, Robert Martin. Martin is a noted authority on Cavaillé-Coll and the author of a definitive tome on the historic instruments built by Isnard. After a ride along the Mediterranean coast, the group returned to the basilica for dinner and many opportunities to take photographs of the city and the sea from high atop the mountain.

The last day of the seminar began with a trip to the town of Aubagne to play the 1784  instrument of three manuals in the church of Saint-Sauveur. After driving to the small town of Roquevaire, the group visited the church of Saint-Vincent in which an imposing instrument was in the process of being built. With pipes taken from the old church organ and using the studio organ of Pierre Cochereau as a base, this new five-manual instrument will be one of the largest and most important in France. A unique situation exists here, in that the people of this peaceful town have made numerous sacrificial gifts to pay for this particular organ; plans are already underway for an extensive concert series which will bring the world's greatest organists not to Paris, but to a small town in the heart of Provence. The group was welcomed to Roquevaire by the town's mayor with an elaborate reception at which  FOMS participants took up a collection to purchase a pipe to be inscribed and used in the new organ. The seminar continued in the town of Saint-Maximin and a visit to the Basilica of Sainte-Marie-Madeleine to hear and play the Isnard organ built in 1772.  Pierre Bardon, the titulaire, demonstrated the marvelous instrument and graciously invited FOMS participants to play. Madame Langlais and Bardon assisted players in the proper selection of stops for the French Baroque literature they played, and offered additional registration possibilities. The four-manual instrument of forty-three stops provided the organists with a step back in time to hear the actual sounds of a true French Classic instrument. As a festive end to the 1997 FOMS, the group was invited to an elegant evening of dinner and relaxation deep in the heart of Provence, near the town of Cotignac. The journey into the quaint French countryside brought the group to the beautiful home of our host and hostess, Gonzague and Christiane de Bayser. Great supporters of the arts in southern France, the couple planned an unforgettable evening that included a typical Provencale wedding feast served in their perfectly landscaped back yard. The meal consisted of broiled fish and squid with aioli sauce from the region, boiled potatoes, steamed carrots and cauliflower, boiled eggs, and cheese. When the dinner dishes were cleared, Madame de Bayser surprised the group with a huge chocolate cake decorated to look like an American flag with the words "Welcome to Cotignac" piped on top. Musical entertainment followed dessert in the music room, provided by group members. All in all, this was the perfect way to end what had been an unforgettable seminar for all the participants.

The group departed Marseilles early the next morning; many returned to the United States, while others journeyed by train to London for a brief seminar on British organ music.

While in London, the group heard and played the organs in several historic churches. James O'Donnell demonstrated the organ of Westminster Cathedral and assisted seminar participants who wished to play; he also lectured the group about the Westminster Cathedral choral tradition. At Westminster Abbey, Martin Neary talked about the Abbey musical tradition, and allowed for playing time by the group. Paul Stubbings demonstrated the organ at St. Martin-in-the-Fields, assisted those who wished to play, and gave a lecture on the music of Sir Edward Bairstow. John Scott invited the group to Choral Evensong at St. Paul's Cathedral and demonstrated the organ, as the group walked through the vast space. Richard Townend played a recital at St. Stephen, Walbrook, delivered a lecture on 18th-century English voluntaries, and demonstrated the organ at St. Margaret, Lothbury. The group was treated to a special evening in the home of London Times music critic Felix Aprahamian; dinner was served  followed by a recital played on Aprahamian's house organ by the young blind organist David Liddle. Other lectures by Nicholas Plumley and John Norman, with recitals by Malcolm Rudland and Martin Neary, rounded out the rest of the brief seminar in London. After many group members departed for the United States, several participants journeyed to York for a visit with Dr. Francis Jackson at York Minster. For the participants in the French Organ Music Seminar and the British Organ Music Seminar, opportunities for musical growth, performance, and inspiration were too numerous to count.    Those attending would agree that these types of hands-on seminars are of untold value in their development as musicians. Many thanks must be extended to Marie-Louise Langlais, Robert Martin, and Christina Harmon for their tireless efforts in making the seminars totally successful.

Anton Warde (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) is an emeritus professor of German (Union College, Schenectady, New York) and a past associate of David E. Wallace Pipe Builders, Gotham, Maine. Since contributing his four-part series, “E. Power Biggs in Mozart Country” (June–September 2006), he has served The Diapason as an occasional reviewer of books in the German language.

Licht im Dunkel—Lumière dans les ténèbres [Light in darkness]: Festschrift Daniel Roth zum 75. Geburtstag, Birger Petersen, editor. Bonn: Dr. J. Butz Musikverlag, 2017, 432 pages, hardbound, in German with abstracts in English and French, numerous musical examples, stop lists, and a bonus CD. ISBN 978-3-928412-23-0. €34, available from http://butz-verlag.de.   

We may first think of Daniel Roth as one of today’s elite French organists. And that he most certainly is. But given his bi-cultural heritage as a son of Alsace, as well as his numerous professional links to German institutions, we should not be surprised that the festschrift published to honor him on the occasion of his seventy-fifth birthday comes from Germany.

For most of his adult life, Roth’s activity has been centered in Paris. After completing formal studies at the Paris Conservatory in the early 1960s, principally under Maurice Duruflé and Rolande Falcinelli, he served as Falcinelli’s substitute at the Basilica of Sacré-Cœur for ten years before succeeding her as titular organist in 1973. From 1974 to 1976, Roth took a hiatus from his duties there in order to assume the post of artist-in-residence at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception and professor for organ at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. Upon his return to France, he remained at Sacré-Cœur until his appointment as organiste titulaire at Saint-Sulpice in 1985. He has now presided over the grand Cavaillé-Coll organ at Saint-Sulpice for more than three decades, burnishing its fame as one of the great “destination instruments” of the world.  

Along the way, Roth commuted to extended teaching positions in the French cities of Marseille and Strasbourg, as well as at conservatories in Saar-brücken (1988–1995) and Frankfurt am Main (1995–2007). Other German cities have provided the venue for the debut of each section of Roth’s triptych for large orchestra, Licht im Dunkel (2005–2009), the first of which was performed in Ludwigshafen by the Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfaltz under the baton of his elder son, François-Xavier Roth, an accomplished conductor based in Germany. More recently, Daniel Roth composed his Missa Beuronensis to serve as the centerpiece for a multi-day master course sponsored by ORGANpromotion at the Benedictine Abbey of Beuron on the Danube in September 2016. (A fine recording of this performance, with Roth at the organ, accompanies the book.) The indefatigable Michael Grüber of ORGANpromotion, located in Horb am Neckar, provided the impulse for composition of the Beuron Mass, as well as for the Roth festschrift itself.

In his foreword, editor Birger Petersen (professor of musical theory at the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz) notes that “it became clear early on that the book would end up forming concentric circles around the themes of St. Sulpice, Aristide Cavaillé-Coll, Albert Schweitzer, and the French organ tradition.” Within those fertile spheres we find not only ample attention to Daniel Roth, of course (in brief hommages written by George Baker, Daniel Maurer, Pascal Reber, Gregor Simon, and Jean-Paul Sorg, as well as Michael Grüber), but informative articles on the organ landscape of Alsace (Pierre Chevreau’s “Mulhouse, Albert Schweitzer und die elsässische Orgel von 1803 bis 1981”); on the two Cavaillé-Coll instruments of which Roth became the guardian and master (Yannick Merlin’s “Daniel Roth und die Orgeln von Sacré-Cœur und Saint-Sulpice” along with a short essay by Kurt Lueders on the problematic nature of the term flûte harmonique); on the composers César Frank (Christiane Strucken-Paland’s analysis and contextualization of Frank’s neglected early works for organ), Charles-Marie Widor (Fabian Kolb’s scholarly article on Widor’s push for the organ’s greater role in compositions for large orchestra), and Maurice Duruflé (Jörg Abbing on the influence of Vierne and Touremire on their student Duruflé, followed by Birger Petersen’s analysis of Duruflé’s influence, in turn, on polymodality in the compositions of his student Daniel Roth); and on the organist Marie Claire Alain, in Vincent Warnier’s study of the long friendship between Roth and Alain, his most influential post-conservatory mentor.

Albert Schweitzer, Roth’s revered Alsatian compatriot, six decades his senior, makes an appearance in nearly every essay, most notably in Gilles Cantagrel’s “In Saint-Sulpice mit Widor und Schweitzer,” concerning the unlikely teacher-student friendship between the two and in particular their reciprocal influence in appreciating the music of Bach; and in Wolfram Adolph’s thoughtful essay on Schweitzer’s concept of channeling spiritual unity with the cosmos in the meditative style of his Bach playing.

Like Schweitzer before him, Daniel Roth found his ears beguiled at an early age by the sonorities of the 1732 Andreas Silbermann organ at bucolic Ebersmünster in Alsace. In the words of Schweitzer: “I carry [the Silbermann sound] in my ear always; it leads me.” In the volume’s opening essay entitled “In the Style of a Panégyrique,” Peter Reifenberg cites Roth’s visit to Ebersmünster with his father at the age of twenty as decisive in motivating him—already a prize-winning Paris Conservatory student—to commit fully to the career of a professional organist. And Vincent Warnier suggests that it was at a joint appearance in Ebersmünster that Roth’s and Alain’s paths first crossed in the early 1960s. The young Roth, previously steeped in the music of Franck and other composers of his era, credits Alain, half a generation older than he, with introducing him properly to early music, teaching him the value of composers’ original scores, and equipping him with his fundamental approach to any piece of music: namely to analyze it closely from every angle in order to understand best what the composer would have wanted to hear in its performance.

Regardless of the organ he may be playing, Roth aims to deliver an interpretation that comes as close as possible to honoring its composer’s intent. In his own words as cited by Peter Reifenberg (in my translation), “[I want to place myself] completely in the service of the composer, constantly searching the composer’s universe to determine what . . . will sound correct and authentic [on the instrument at hand]” (p. 220).  

Indeed, it may be Roth’s wide-ranging insights on musical performance that many readers will find most fascinating. Examples appear throughout the volume, but chiefly in the three conversational sections that compose more than one third of the book: a 2017 interview conducted by Professor Jörg Abbing (pp. 213–225), Roth’s own lively 140-page discourse on agogic, rubato, accent, attack, registration, and much more, illustrated with many musical examples and references to specific organs (pp. 265–409), and finally in an engaging conversation with Pierre-François Dub-Attenti, one of Roth’s assistants at Saint-Sulpice (pp. 409–419). He is the young registrant we see seated at Roth’s left in most of the Saint Sulpice performances that are searchable on YouTube and viewable, as well, at http://www.stsulpice.com/. (It is Dub-Attenti we must thank for producing and posting those remarkable videos.)

In his own very readable German, Roth succinctly analyzes, for example, the differing routes of development taken by French organs and German organs, both classical and romantic; and he argues persuasively that the Cavaillé-Coll organ at Saint-Sulpice is not only the perfect organ for the music of Franck but also—as Schweitzer had maintained—for performance of Bach. The key for Bach, Roth explains, is to register a Plein Jeu and add a few discrete reed voices such as Basson or the small, bright Trompette from the Positif. As heard in Roth’s 2012 recording of Bach, re-released in 2017 and available for purchase at Amazon (or to stream in high quality as a complete album by searching within YouTube for “Daniel Roth Plays Bach”), the result is remarkably successful: we get the characteristic Cavaillé-Coll carpet of sound, rich in fundamentals, yet one that seems to match in voice-clarifying overtones the thrilling plenum of the large Gottfried Silbermann organ at Freiberg in Saxony. It helps, of course, that Cavaillé-Coll incorporated many classically French solo stops from the preceding 1780 Clicquot organ in his otherwise symphonic instrument for Saint Sulpice.

Too often, festschriften collect essays that barely relate to the accomplishments of the luminary being honored, or pieces that vary so widely in their focus that there would otherwise be little rationale for publishing (or re-publishing) them in the same volume. But this Festschrift comes as a most welcome treasury of interlocking themes. It will be of interest not only to students of the organ at any level of proficiency but to organ builders and enthusiasts who, incidentally, need not be advanced readers of German. Most of the language is straightforward and clear. The book should reasonably find a home in any library that serves an organ program, as it surely will in the personal libraries of many of the countless friends and admirers of Daniel Roth, who deserves to enjoy many more years of superb music making.