Louis Vierne

Louis Victor Jules Vierne was a renowned French organist and composer. He was born October 8, 1870 in Poitiers and died June 2, 1937 in Paris.

Life

Louis Vierne was born nearly blind due to congenital cataracts but at an early age was discovered to have an unusual gift for music. (At age 2 he heard a piano for the first time. The pianist played him a Schubert lullaby and he promptly began to pick out the notes of the lullaby on the piano.)

After completing school in the provinces, Louis Vierne entered the Paris Conservatory. Like Gabriel Fauré, Vierne served as an assistant to the organist Charles-Marie Widor at the church of Saint-Sulpice in Paris. Vierne subsequently became principal organist at the cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris, a post he held for many years from 1900 to his death in 1937.

Vierne had a life that was physically and emotionally very difficult, with severe spiritual trials that are occasionally reflected in his music. His congenital cataracts did not make him completely blind, but he was what would be called today "legally blind." Early in his career, he composed on outsized manuscript paper, using "a large pencil" as his friend Marcel Dupré described. Later in life, as his sight diminished, he resorted to Braille to do most of his work.

He was deeply affected by a separation and subsequent divorce from his wife, and he lost his son, whom he adored, to the battlefields of World War I. Though he held one of the most prestigious organ posts in France, the Notre-Dame organ was in a state of disrepair throughout much of his tenure at the instrument. He eventually undertook a concert tour of North America to raise money for its restoration. The tour, which included major recitals on the famous Wanamaker organs in New York and Philadelphia, was very successful, although it physically drained him.

A street accident in Paris caused him to badly fracture his leg, and it was briefly thought his leg would need to be amputated. The leg was saved, but his recovery, and the task of completely re-learning his pedal technique, took a full year during one of the busiest times of his life. Despite his difficulties, however, his students uniformly described him as a kind, patient and encouraging teacher.

Vierne suffered a heart attack while giving his 1750th organ recital at Notre-Dame de Paris on the evening of June 2, 1937. He had completed the main concert, which members of the audience said showed him at his full powers - "as well as he has ever played." After the main concert, the closing section was to be two improvisations on submitted themes. He read the first theme in Braille, then selected the stops he would use for the improvisation. He suddenly leaned forward, clutching his chest, and fell off the bench as he hit the low "E" pedal of the organ. He lost consciousness as the single note echoed throughout the church. He had thus fulfilled his oft-stated lifelong dream - to die at the console of the great organ of Notre-Dame.

Music

Vierne was considered one of the greatest musical improvisers of his generation. Most of his works were never written down. His few improvisations that were preserved on early phonograph recordings sound like finished compositions.

He had an elegant, clean style of writing that respected form above all. His harmonic language was romantically rich, but not as sentimental or theatrical as that of his early mentor César Franck. Of all the great fin de siècle French organists, Vierne's music was perhaps the most idiomatic for his chosen instrument and has been a great inspiration for all the great Parisian organist-composers who followed him.

His output for organ includes six symphonies, "24 Fantasy Pieces" (which includes his famous "Carillon de Westminster"), and "24 Pieces In Free Style," among other works. There are also several chamber works (sonatas for violin and cello, a piano quintet and a string quartet for example), vocal and choral music, and a symphony in A minor for orchestra.

Works

Organ solo

• Allegretto op. 1 (1894)
• Verset fugué sur 'In exitu Israel' (1894)
• Prélude funèbre op. 4 (1896)
• Communion op. 8 (1900)
• First Symphony in D minor, op. 14 (1898-1899)
• Second Symphony in E minor, op. 20 (1902)
• Third Symphony in F sharp minor, op. 28 (1911)
• Messe basse, op. 30 (1912)
• 24 Pièces en style libre for organ or harmonium, op. 31 (1913)
• Fourth Symphony in G minor, op. 32 (1914)
• Prélude in F sharp minor, without opus number (1914)
• Fifth Symphony in A minor, op.47 (1923-1924)
• 24 Pièces de fantaisie:
  • First Suite op. 51 (1926)
  • Second Suite op. 53(1926)
  • Third Suite op. 54 (1927)
  • Fourth Suite op. 55 (1927)
• Trois Improvisations (Notre-Dame-de-Paris, November 1928), transcribed by Maurice Duruflé (1954):
  • Marche épiscopale
  • Méditation
  • Cortège
• Triptyque op. 58 (1929-1931):
  • Matines
  • Communion
  • Stèle pour un enfant défunt
• Sixth Symphony in B minor, op. 59 (1930)
• Messe basse pour les défunts, op. 62 (1934)

Piano solo

• Deux Pièces, op. 7:
  • Impression d'automne
  • Intermezzo
• Feuillets d'album, op. 9
• Suite bourguignonne, op. 17 (1899)
• Trois Nocturnes, op. 34 (1916)
• Douze Préludes, op. 36
• Poème des cloches funèbres, op. 39 (1916)
• Silhouettes d'enfants, op. 43 (1918)
• Solitude, op. 44 (1918)
• Ainsi parlait Zarathoustra, op. 49 (1922)

Chamber music

• Deux Pièces for cello, op. 5
• Largo et Canzonetta for oboe and piano, op. 6 (1896)
• String Quartet, op. 12 (1894)
• Sonate for violin and piano, op. 23 (1905-1906)
• Rhapsodie for harp, op. 25 (1909)
• Sonate for cello and piano, op. 27 (1910)
• Piano Quintet, op. 42 (1917)
• Soirs étrangers for cello and piano, op. 56 (1928)
• Quatre poèmes grecs for soprano and harp or piano, op. 60 (1930)

Other works

• Messe solennelle in C-sharp minor for choir and two organs, op. 16 (1899)
• Praxinoé for soloists, choir and orchestra, op. 22 (1903-1905)
• Sinfonie in A minor for orchestra, op. 24 (1907-1908)
• Psyché for soprano and orchestra, op. 33 (1914)
• Les Djinns for soprano and orchestra, op. 35 (1912)
• Éros for soprano and orchestra, op. 37 (1916)
• Spleens et Détresses for soprano and piano or orchestra, op. 38 (1916)
• Dal Vertice for tenor and orchestra, op. 41 (1917)
• Poème for piano and orchestra, op. 50 (1925)
• La Ballade du désespéré for tenor and orchestra or piano, op. 61 (1931)

• Songs after poems by Paul Verlaine, Charles Baudelaire and others

Media

= Bibliography

• Louis Vierne: Organist of Notre Dame Cathedral, by Rollin Smith, Pendragon Press, 1999. ISBN 1-57647-004-0.

Discography

• 4 Organ Symphonies : Marie-Claire Alain organ Aristide Cavaillé-Coll, Abbaye aux Hommes of Caen (Erato 2292-45485-2)
• Louis Vierne: Complete Organ Symphonies : Ben van Oosten (MD&G Records)
• Louis Vierne: 24 Pieces de Fantasie : Ben van Oosten (MD&G Records )
• Louis Vierne: 24 Pieces en style libre and other works : Ben van Oosten (MD&G Records)
• Louis Vierne: Messe Solennelle : Westminster Cathedral Choir, Andrew Reid, organ. (Hyperion)
• Louis Vierne: Songs of Louis Vierne : Rachel Santesso, soprano; Roger Vignoles, piano; Andrew Reid, organ; Hugh Webb, harp. (Deux-Elles)
• Louis Vierne: Piano Quintet op. 42 : Stephen Coombs, piano; Chilingirian Quartet. (Hyperion)
• Louis Vierne: Organ Symphonies nos. 3 and 6: Bruno Mathieu, organ. (Hyperion)
• The Complete Organ Symphonies of Louis Vierne: Martin, Jean, organ. (Loft)

External links

• Louis Vierne 1870-1937 French composer, organist, teacher
• Louis Vierne
• Performances of organ works by Louis Vierne in MP3 and MIDI formats at Logos Virtual Library
• Performance of complete Vierne Symphony No.1 free MP3 music download at Hammerwood Park, Sussex by Hugh Potton
• Audio of "24 Pièces en style libre pour orgue ou harmonium", book 1 and book 2, played on a virtual organ
• Free scores by Louis Vierne in the Werner Icking Music Archive
• Louis Vierne was listed in the International Music Score Library Project