Louis Vierne

Louis Vierne (1870-1937).

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. From 1892, 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 from 1900 until 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 limited sight continued to diminish, 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 both his brother René and his son Jacques 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 either a stroke or a heart attack (eyewitness reports differ) 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 pitched forward, and fell off the bench as his foot 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

Symphonie No. 1: Finale

Vierne was considered one of the greatest musical improvisers of his generation. His few improvisations that were preserved on early phonograph recordings sound like finished, polished compositions.

He had an elegant, clean style of writing that respected form above all else. 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 inspired most of the great Parisian organist-composers who followed him.

Carillon de Westminster.

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 (composed 1894)
• Verset fugué sur 'In exitu Israel' (composed 1894)
• Prélude funèbre in C minor op. 4 (composed 1896)
• Communion op. 8 (composed 1900)
• First Symphony in D minor, op. 14 (composed 1898-1899)
• Second Symphony in E minor, op. 20 (composed 1902)
• Third Symphony in F sharp minor, op. 28 (composed 1911)
• Messe basse for organ or harmonium, op. 30 (composed 1912)
• 24 Pièces en style libre for organ or harmonium, op. 31 (composed 1913)
• Fourth Symphony in G minor, op. 32 (composed 1914)
• Prélude in F sharp minor, without opus number (composed 1914)
• Fifth Symphony in A minor, op.47 (composed 1923-1924)
• 24 Pièces de fantaisie:

First Suite, op. 51 (composed 1926)

Second Suite, op. 53 (composed 1926)

Third Suite, op. 54 (composed 1927)

Fourth Suite, op. 55 (composed 1927)

• Trois Improvisations (Notre-Dame-de-Paris, November 1928), transcribed by Maurice Duruflé (1954):

1. Marche épiscopale
2. Méditation
3. Cortège

• Triptyque op. 58 (composed 1929-1931):

1. Matines
2. Communion
3. Stèle pour un enfant défunt

• Sixth Symphony in B minor, op. 59 (composed 1930)
• Messe basse pour les défunts for organ or harmonium, op. 62 (composed 1934)

Piano solo

• Deux Pièces, op. 7 (composed 1895. In Complete Piano Works, Vol. I. Kassel: Bärenreiter, 2010. In preparation):

1. Impression d'automne
2. Intermezzo

• Feuillets d'album, op. 9 (manuscript lost):

1. Matin d'été
2. Contemplation
3. La Mer et la Nuit
4. Nuit étoilée
5. Coup de vent
6. Le vieux Berger
7. La Valse
8. Dans le Bois
9. Chanson des Faucheurs

• Suite bourguignonne, op. 17 (composed 1899. In Complete Piano Works, Vol. I. Kassel: Bärenreiter, 2010. In preparation):

1. Aubade
2. Idylle
3. Divertissement
4. Légende bourguignonne
5. À l'Angélus du soir
6. Danse rustique
7. Clair de lune

• Trois Nocturnes, op. 34 (composed 1916. In Complete Piano Works, Vol. II. Kassel: Bärenreiter, 2009. In preparation)
• Douze Préludes, op. 36 (composed 1914-15. In Complete Piano Works, Vol. II. Kassel: Bärenreiter, 2009. In preparation)
• Poème des cloches funèbres, op. 39 (composed 1916):

1. Cloches dans le cauchemar (manuscript lost)
2. Le Glas (In Complete Piano Works, Vol. III. Kassel: Bärenreiter, 2008)

• Silhouettes d'enfants, op. 43 (composed 1918. In Complete Piano Works, Vol. III. Kassel: Bärenreiter, 2008):

1. Valse
2. Chanson
3. Divertissement
4. Barcarolle
5. Gavotte dans le style ancien

• Solitude, op. 44 (composed 1918. In Complete Piano Works, Vol. III. Kassel: Bärenreiter, 2008):

1. Hantise
2. Nuit blanche
3. Vision hallucinante
4. Ronde des revenants

• Pièce pour piano, op. 49 (composed 1922. In Complete Piano Works, Vol. III. Kassel: Bärenreiter, 2008)

Chamber music

• Deux Pièces for viola or cello and piano, op. 5 (1894-1895)

1. Le Soir
2. Légende

• Largo et Canzonetta for oboe and piano, op. 6 (1896)
• String Quartet, op. 12 (c.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)

1. Grenade
2. Sur le Léman
3. Venise
4. Steppe canadien
5. Poisson chinois

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

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

Media

	Final Movement of Organ Symphony No. 1 in D minor, op. 14 Performed by Marc Giacone Carillon de Westminster, op. 54 Matthias Flierl plays the organ of St. Jakob, Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Germany ( Rieger/Austria, IV/69)
Problems listening to these files? See media help.

Bibliography

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

Discography

• Louis Vierne: Complete Organ Works: Pierre Cochereau & George C. Baker, organ. (Solstice). 7 CDs.
• Louis Vierne: Complete Organ Works: Christine Kamp, organ. (Festivo). 8 CDs completed of 10.
• Louis Vierne: Complete Organ Works: Ben van Oosten, organ. (MDG). 9 CDs.
• Louis Vierne: Complete Organ Works: Wolfgang Rübsam, organ. (IFO Records, 2008. In preparation). 8 CDs.
• Louis Vierne: Complete Choral Works: Truro Cathedral Choir; Robert Sharpe & Christopher Gray (Regent Records, 2008)
• Louis Vierne: Songs: 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)
• Organ Symphonies Nos. 1-6: Martin Jean, organ. (Loft Recordings)
• Organ Symphonies Nos. 1-6: David Sanger, organ. (Meridian Recordings)
• Organ Symphonies Nos. 1-6: Günther Kaunzinger, organ. (Koch-Schwann)
• 24 Pièces de Fantaisie: Günther Kaunzinger, organ. (Novalis) 2 CDs.
• 24 Pièces en style libre op. 31: Günther Kaunzinger, organ. (Koch-Schwann) 2 CDs.

External links

• Louis Vierne 1870-1937 French composer, organist, teacher
• Louis Vierne, the Man and his Music
• Performances of organ works by Louis Vierne in MP3 and MIDI formats at Logos Virtual Library
• Vierne organ music videos from Tihany
• Audio of "24 Pièces en style libre pour orgue ou harmonium", book 1 book 2, played on a virtual organ
• Free scores by Louis Vierne in the Werner Icking Music Archive (WIMA)
• Free scores by Louis Vierne in the International Music Score Library Project