Orgue

It is in his organ music that Olivier Messiaen most perfectly expresses the originality and power of his temperament. The instrument was for a long time the privileged vehicle of spiritual meditation for Messiaen, who used it to explore all the possibilities of his instrumental language and succeeded in renewing his musical aesthetic without ever renouncing tradition.

Marie-Claire Alain - L'Orgue Francais (2014) {22CDs Boxset - Warner Classics / Erato}
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© 2014 Warner Classics / Erato | 0825646310647
Classical / Baroque / Organ Music / Choral

Known as the ‘First Lady of the organ’, Marie-Claire Alain was a strikingly mature, creative and intuitive artist. Spanning four centuries of music, from Baroque masterpieces by the likes of Couperin and Grigny, through cornerstones of the French organ repertoire by Widor, Vierne and Messiaen, to two discs of works by her brother Jehan, this collection is testament to her vast and impressively wide-ranging recording legacy.

Ten years after writing Les Corps Glorieux (8.573682), Olivier Messiaen developed a plan to compose a Book of Rhythmic Studies for the organ. This resulted in two distinct works of which Livre d'orgue proved to be an anthology representative of his compositional thinking at the time. It runs the gamut of rhythms, tone colours and sonorities, ranging from extreme delicacy to the most powerful vehemence, and includes new modes, complex Hindu rhythms, and an aviary of birdsong. The test piece Verset pour la Fete de la Dedicace offers a more serene vision in its own essay in birdsong.

Still in his twenties, Pétur Sakari studied in his native Finland and in Paris and made his recording début at the age of 18. On his previous disc for BIS, he performed works by five French composers, receiving international acclaim with top marks in Diapason as well as on the Klassik-Heute website.

On a toujours tendance à sous-estimer l'importance de Nicolas Lebègue dans la formation du style de la musique francaise pour clavier. Cet homme qui venant de Laon débarqua à Paris à l'âge de 25 ans a non seulement standardisé la suite pour clavecin à la francaise, mais il a aussi codifié le style d'orgue francais classique par ce premier livre d'orgue publié 10 ans après son arrivée à Paris.

César Franck’s studies in Liège concentrated mostly on musical training (musical theory, harmony and counterpoint), restricting his instrumental study to the piano alone. However, when he entered the Paris Conservatoire he broadened his horizons to study the organ. While studying in François Benoist’s class, he did not develop a very self-confident technique (furthermore, the organ pedalboard was limited to twenty pedals and did not allow for the performance of the classic repertoire). However, to his great benefit, he forged a complete career as an improviser; a field in which he excelled until his final years. This course began in 1819 and was intended to train liturgical organists. Above all, it focused on the treatment of plainsong, fugue and freeform themes, and it was not before 1852 that performance of a written piece was required. Against this background, the young musician only learned about performance in a very self-taught way. So, in 1872, when he himself was teaching at the Conservatoire, his approach to Bach did not concern itself with style or technique, reducing his aspirations to a performance which Vierne himself called rather rudimentary, being, “in time and without mistakes.”