Charles Tournemire

Tournemire2Charles Arnould Tournemire (1870 – 1939) was a French composer, organist, and accomplished improviser. His compositions include eight symphonies (one of them choral), four operas, twelve chamber works and eighteen piano solos. Today he is almost exclusively remembered for his organ music, especially L’Orgue Mystique, a set of 51 suites of pieces for the liturgical year based upon the chants of the day.

He studied organ with César Franck. From 1898 to 1939, Tournemire served as the organiste titulaire at Franck’s old church, the Basilique Ste-Clotilde in Paris. He was also professor of Chamber Music at the Paris Conservatoire. In 1931 he published a biography of Franck. A year before the biography appeared, Tournemire recorded five organ improvisations, which were later transcribed by Maurice Duruflé from the phonograph recordings. These recordings and most all of his improvisations were often rooted in the music of Gregorian chant.

Book:
TournemirePrecis

In 1936, Éditions Max Eschig published Précis d’éxecution de registration et d’improvisation à l’orgue by Charles Tournemire. Of the 117 pages, only the last 16 are devoted explicitly to the art of improvisation. Much of the text is devoted to philosophy, references to examples in repertoire, with some explanation of forms. Tournemire writes that the most profitable study that one could do is to read each day a sonata of Haydn, Mozart or Beethoven, and then to take the same elements and try to develop them oneself.

Recording:

Charles Tournemire: Complete Recordings

Videos:
*original audio recorded by Tournemire with slide show of pictures for videos

Charles Tournemire – Te Deum – Ste. Clotilde, Paris, France
Charles Tournemire – Fantasie on ‘Ave Maris Stella’ – Ste. Clotilde, Paris, France

I couldn’t find a video or audio online of Tournemire himself playing the other improvisations, but am including performances by other organists below because these have been such influential and well-known improvisations:
Charles Tournemire (Philippe Lefebvre plays) – Victimae paschali laudes – Chartres Cathedral, France

2014 Summer Courses

In addition to the offerings at the AGO National Convention in Boston, there are several other courses around the world offering improvisation instruction during the summer of 2014. Please feel free to share information about other courses in the comments. I will try to add to the list as I find out about other offerings.

London Organ Improvisation Course
http://www.loic.org.uk
15-18 July 2014
The London Organ Improvisation Course is intended to help organists of all standards to improve their improvising skills for personal musical development, service-playing, concerts and for the examinations of the Royal College of Organists. One day of the course will take place in St. Albans and will include a concert by the guest teacher, Franz Josef Stoiber, Organist of Regensberg Cathedral, Germany. Other teachers for the course include: Ronny Krippner, Duncan Middleton, and Gerard Brooks, Course Director.

Masterclass: Masters Of Ste Clotilde
http://steclotilde-organ.tk/
Monday June 30 to Wednesday July 2 2014
Monday to Wednesday, morning: (9h-12h):
Franck, Tournemire, Pierne, Duruflé, Bonnal, Langlais, Cogen,…
Monday and Tuesday Afternoon (14h-17h): Improvisation
with Olivier Penin and Nicolas Pichon

Classical Music On The Spot:
Eighteenth-Century Keyboard Improvisation

Eastman School of Music • 26 Gibbs St. • Rochester, NY 14604
Workshop I: June 30-July 4 / Monday-Friday, 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
Workshop II: July 7-11 / Monday-Friday, 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
Gilad Rabinovitch & Johnandrew Slominski, directors
Two weeklong 18th-century keyboard improvisation workshops in which students will hone their improvisation skills and deepen their understanding of the galant and high classical styles. There will be a special emphasis on the Italian tradition of partimenti and on Robert Gjerdingen’s galant schemata as a basis for keyboard improvisation. Analysis and listening will complement practical improvisation activities. The first workshop will be an introduction to style improvisation; the second workshop will examine advanced topics (including ornamentation and performance practice) and treatises (Quantz, C.P.E. Bach, Niedt, and the Langloz Manuscript).

Haarlem International Summer Academy for Organists
http://www.organfestival.nl
12 – 26 July 2014
Improvisation for advanced students: an extended, 11-day course for advanced improvisers directed by Jürgen Essl (Stuttgart) and Peter Planyavsky (Vienna).
Improvisation for beginners: A 5-day course with the Haarlem Stadsorganist Jos van der Kooy, well-known for his sympathetic and encouraging approach to professional organists lacking improvisation skills.

International Summer Organ Conservatoire
http://organconservatoire.org/
July 12th – 28th 2014
Directed by Nigel Allcoat with guests, Prof. Erwin Wiersinga (Berlin University of Arts and the Martinikerk, Groningen), and Prof. William Whitehead (London). The first week is in Saint-Antoine l’Abbaye (12-19 July) and the second week is in Poligny (20-28 July).

The Saessolsheim Organ Academy 2014
http://www.asamos.org/
23-30 July 2014
Saessolsheim, Alsace, France
Improvisation instruction will be offered during this course by Francis Jacob.

Smarano Organ and Clavichord Academy
The 18th Century Fantasia and C.P.E. Bach
29 Jul – 8 Aug, Venice-Smarano, Italy
Will include sessions on improvisation: “Free Fantasia” and “Stylus Fantasticus” at the keyboards by William Porter and Edoardo Bellotti.

South German Organ Academy OAO 2014
31 July – 3 August 2014
Organ class on the 1784 Holzhey Organ in Obermarchtal Monastery with a visit to the ISAM (International Summer Academy of Music) Organ Class in Ochsenhausen with Jürgen Essl.
Johannes Mayr will teach a participant’s free choice of repertoire from early Baroque to early Romantic and/or improvisation.

Organ course with Ansgar Wallenhorst
Glenstal Abbey
County Limerick, Ireland
August 11th-13th 2014
Taught by Ansgar Wallenhorst, this workshop is open to organists at every level of ability who wish to develop their own creativity in improvisation either in the context of liturgical services or in concert performance. With a combination of group work in the mornings (9.00-12.00) and individual lessons in the afternoon (15.00-17.45), the workshop will be adapted to the abilities, tastes and preferences of the individual participants. Participants are invited to bring music which they already play or are learning as an indication and basis for developing according to their own level and stylistic preferences. Evening sessions will include, on Monday, an exploration of improvisational style in Irish traditional music Cas Amhrán Cráifeach – a poetics of religious and secular song from the Irish sean-nós tradition with Nóirín Ní Riain PhD, and a short recital on Tuesday.

International Organ Academy Improvisation Course
1-5 September 2014
Improvisation course by Thierry Escaich on the Schwenkedel organ of the St Donat Church (France)

Faszination Orgelimprovisation
3–6 September 2014, Waldsassen, Germany
Course for Organists by Franz Josef Stoiber

Ave Maris Stella

AveMarisStellaThis is the chant hymn for vespers for the feasts of the Immaculate Conception and Assumption.
The name Mary is said to mean “Star of the Sea” = stella maris.


See a list of other popular chant themes here.

Videos:
Charles Tournemire – Ave Maris Stella – Ste. Clotilde, Paris, France *original audio recorded by Tournemire with slide show of pictures for video

Lorenzo Bonoldi – 5 Versetti on Ave Maris Stella – Basilica di San Carlo, Milano

Victimae paschali laudes

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