Tag Archives: Paris

Victimae paschali laudes

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VictimaePaschaliLaudesVictimae paschali laudes is the Sequence chant for Easter Day. Charles Tournemire recorded an improvisation on the chant which was later transcribed be Maurice Duruflé. This transcription has become a popular piece of organ literature.

See a list of other popular chant themes here.


Videos:
Charles Tournemire (Philippe Lefebvre plays) – Victimae paschali laudes – Chartres Cathedral, France
Lorenzo Bonoldi – Versetti on Victimae Paschali Laudes – Basilica di San Carlo, Milano
Sergio Militello – Victimae paschali laudes
Daniel Roth with Eric Lebrun – Victimae paschali laudes – St. Sulpice, Paris, France

Nigel Allcoat

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NigelAllcoatWebsite:
http://www.nigelallcoat.org/
He has been a Visiting Tutor at the Royal Northern College of Music and for over 24 years has been teaching organists at Oxford and Cambridge Universities. He also has been a Professor in Dresden, the St Petersburg Conservatory and the Royal Academy of Music in London. He also has founded the International Summer Organ Conservatoire in 1986 which is now held each year in France. Furthermore, he is the Organ Adviser to the Diocese of Coventry.


He has released several recordings of improvisations:

Allcoat Improvisations: Hommage à la France

Improvisations 2
Variations & Improvisations – CRCD 6091-92
Amazon.com lists a couple of improvisation masterclass CDs but they only seem to be available as used.

Organ Improvisation Masterclass 1

Organ Improvisation Masterclass 2

Audio:
He has a stream on SoundCloud here.

YouTube channels:
All the videos presently posted by Simon19DK are of Nigel Allcoat at the organ or piano.
He also has his own YouTube channel here.

Videos:
Organ Demonstration in Classical Style – Augustenborg Castle Chapel, Denmark
Symphonie Improvisée on ‘Salve Regina’ – St Nicolas du Chardonnet, Paris

Frédéric Blanc

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frederic_blanc_mediumFrédéric Blanc was assistant organist at Saint-Sernin de Toulouse (1987-1995). A finalist of the International Improvisation Competition of Strasbourg in 1989, he has also been a prize winner of several other International Improvisations competitions, including Nuremberg (1996) and 2nd Prize in the Grand Prize of Chartres. In 1997, he was awarded the Grand Prize of the city of Paris, an international competition. Frédéric Blanc maintains an active career as a concert artist throughout Europe, as well as making several concert tours in the USA. He has recorded several CD for EMI, Aeolus, Motette devoted to improvisation and organ literature. Since 1999, Frédéric Blanc has served as organist at Notre Dame d’Auteuil, Paris.

Recordings:

Blanc: Live Improvisations


Blanc: Live improvisations


Organ Improvisations on Bach Toccata & Fugue in D Minor
This recording features many performers, including Lionel Rogg, Barbara Dennetlein, Frederic Blanc, Holm Vogel, Johannes Mayr, Vincent Thevenaz, and David Franke.

The OHS Catalog lists a DVD of Frederic Blanc offering improvisation instruction here.

Videos:
Free improvisation – Notre Dame d’Auteuil, Paris
Frédéric Blanc, François-Henri Houbart and Olivier Latry improvise

Loïc Mallié

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mallieWinner of the Grand Prix d’Improvisation à Chartres in 1982, Loïc Mallié teaches musical writing and improvisation at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Lyon. In February 2011, he was appointed organist of the main organ of La Trinité in Paris.
You can hear him on Spotify.


Recordings:

Mallié: Retour de Bayreuth (11 improvisations sur des thèmes wagnériens)

Jeux: Improvisations by Mallié on Themes of Debussy


Mallié: Affettuoso


Mallié – Lefèbvre : Improvisations à l’ogue


Hommage à Pierre Cochereau
Improvisations by George Baker, David Briggs, Thierry Escaich and Loïc Mallié.

Videos:
Loïc Mallié Improvisation sur deux thèmes grégoriens

Loïc Mallié – Entrée improvisée – La Trinité, Paris

László Fassang

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Fassang_368x800Official website:
fassang.hu

YouTube Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEfvVAaafNKJGav583-Pxnw
You can hear him on Spotify.



A native of Budapest, László Fassang was born into a musical family and began to study the organ at age thirteen under the tutelage of István Baróti. He graduated from the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in 1998, having studied piano under Ilona Prunyi and organ with Ferenc Gergely and István Ruppert. Fassang then entered the Paris Conservatory, where he studied organ with Olivier Latry and Michel Bouvard, as well as improvisation under Loïc Mallié, Philippe Lefebvre, Thierry Escaich, and Jean-François Zygel. In 2002 he won the Improvisation Gold Medal at the Royal Bank Calgary International Organ Festival and Competition. He is represented in the US by Karen McFarlane.

Recordings:

László Fassang au grand orgue de la cathédrale Notre-Dame de Chartres
Includes repertoire by Alain, Bach, Liszt, Vierne and an improvisation.

The Art of Organ Improvisation – The Four Seasons (Vol. 5) was recorded at the Palace of Arts in 2008 and released by the German company Organ Promotion.


Course Of The Moon: Live Improvisations
László Fassang, piano, and Lé Quang, saxophone

Video:
László Fassang – Improvisation on ‘Dies Irae’ – Biserica Reformată de pe Ulița Lupilor
Olivier Latry, László Fassang and János Pálúr – Sortie Improvisation – Notre Dame de Paris

Paolo Oreni

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paolo_oreniOfficial website:
http://www.oreni.org/
YouTube Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/user/organinternational

Born in Treviglio in 1979, Paolo Oreni started his Musical studies with Organ when he was just 11, with Walter Zaramella at Gaetano Donizetti Musical Institute. An important and really crucial step for his Musical Background was his Musical Encounter and Musical Connection with Jean Guillou, during several Masterclasses followed at St. Eustache Church in Paris and Tonhalle in Zurich (Stiftung für Internationale Meisterkurse für Musik). Since 2006 he’s regularly invited, by the Diocese of Munich, Duomo di Modena, the Basilica in Ottobeuren and at Altemberg Cathedral, to hold Masterclasses focused on Improvisation and Organ Repertory raising from Bach to contemporary Music.

Videos:
Concert Improvisation – Bochum, Germany
Olivier Latry with Vincent Dubois, Paolo Oreni and Michael Bottenhorn – Happy Birthday – St. Joseph, Bonn Beuel
Olivier Latry, Philippe Lefèbvre, Vincent Dubois, Paolo Oreni and Kalevi Kiviniemi – Improvisation-à-cinque – St. Joseph, Bonn Beuel

Marcel Dupré

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Marcel_DupréIn 1926, Marcel Dupré was appointed professor of organ performance and improvisation at the Paris Conservatoire, a position he held until 1954. In 1934, he succeeded Charles-Marie Widor as titular organist at St. Sulpice in Paris, a post he held until his death in 1971. He taught two generations of well-known organists such as Jehan Alain and Marie-Claire Alain, Jean-Marie Beaudet, Pierre Cochereau, Jeanne Demessieux, Rolande Falcinelli, Jean-Jacques Grunenwald, Jean Guillou, Jean Langlais, Carl Weinrich and Olivier Messiaen.

Full bio. You can hear him on Spotify.



Books:

Cours Complet D’improvisation a L’orgue/vol 1: French and English
Cours Complet D’improvisation a L’orgue/vol 2 English
Manuel d’Accompagnement du Plain-chant Grégorien

Recordings:

Organ Masterpieces: Marcel Dupré Recital (Live, 1953)
Includes and improvised symphony and other written compositions performed by Dupré.


Norbert Moret – Marcel Dupré – Guy Bovet: Les orgues de la collégiale de Neuchâtel
GALLO CD 943 1996
Includes: Norbert Moret- Premier concerto pour orgue et orchestre
Marcel Dupré- Improvisation sur des thèmes de Samuel Ducommun
Guy Bovet– Improvisation sur un thème de S. Ducommun à l’orgue de 1952 & Improvisation sur un thème de S. Ducommun à l’orgue de 1996

Audio:
Marcel Dupré – Improvisation on ‘Veni Creator Spiritus’ – St. Sulpice

Videos:
I have yet to see a video of Dupré improvising, but there are several audio recordings that have made their way on to YouTube here.
Marcel Dupré – Improvised Double Fugue on Kyrie XI ‘Orbis Factor – Recorded 1957
Marcel Dupré – Veni Creator – St. Sulpice, Paris

French Classical Style

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The French classical style runs parallel with the German baroque. The organ had a highly standardized stoplist, in line with its (almost exclusively) liturgical use. The compositions were highly standardized too, generally named by the stops that were to be used (e.g Plein jeu, Basse de Trompette, Tierce en Taille) and the function within mass or the chant theme (e.g Kyrie, Gloria, Ave Maria Stella).

A series in the newsletter covered the style and the different movements and registrations often used during the period:

Videos:

Michel Chapuis – Grand Jeu Classique – St. Ouen
Michel Chapuis – Improvisations in French classical style – Chapelle Royale, Paris
Otto Maria Krämer – Suite Francaise – Plein jeu
Otto Maria Krämer – Suite Francaise – Fugue
Otto Maria Krämer – Suite Francaise – Récit
Otto Maria Krämer – Suite Francaise – Basse de trompette
Otto Maria Krämer – Suite Francaise – Quatuor
Otto Maria Krämer – Suite Francaise – Duo
Otto Maria Krämer – Suite Francaise – Tierce en taille
Otto Maria Krämer – Suite Francaise – Dialogue sur les grands jeux
Wolfgang Seifen – Suite in French Style – Marienbasilika – Kevelaer

Prelude

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Preludes usually serve as introductory movements in multi-movement works, though they also may stand alone. The formal structure varies widely. The title may also refer simply to the piece of music played at the beginning of a worship service.

Example videos:
Philippe Lefebvre – Prélude – 01.05.2011 – Notre Dame
Loïc Mallié – Entrée improvisée – La Trinité, Paris
Olivier Penin – Prelude – St. Clotilde
Pierre Pincemaille – Prélude – St. Denis
William Porter – O dass ich tausend Zunge hätte – Prelude
Johann Vexo – Messe du dimanche soir 07.04.2013 – Prélude
Johann Vexo – Vêpres 07.04.2013 – Prélude