Category Archives: Organist

Aaron David Miller

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AaronDavidMillerWebsite:
http://www.aarondavidmiller.com/

Aaron David Miller is Music Director at Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd in Minneapolis, MN. He earned degrees from the Eastman School of Music and the Manhattan School of Music. His organ teachers include David Craighead, Russell Saunders, David Higgs, Michael Farris, and McNeil Robinson. He also studied composition with Samuel Adler and Joseph Schwantner.

In 1996, he won the American Guild of Organists National Competition in Organ Improvisation, and in 1998, he won the Bach and Improvisation Prizes at the Calgary International Organ Festival and Competition. His compositions have been performed by the Zurich Symphony, Seattle Symphony, and Toledo Symphony, and are are published through Augsburg Fortress, Paraclete Publishing, and Kjos Publishing House.

He is represented by Penny Lorenz Artist Management at www.organists.net.


Recordings:

Aaron David Miller plays and improvises on The Pasi Organ

Videos:
Aaron David Miller – “Joy to the World” – House of Hope Presbyterian, Saint Paul, MN

Gaston Litaize

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gaston-litaize-aux-claviers-de-l-orgue-de-saint-françois-xavier-à-parisAssociation Gaston Litaize:
http://www.gastonlitaize.com/

Gaston Litaize (1909 – 1991) was a French organist and composer. An illness caused him to lose his sight just after birth. He entered the Institute for the Blind in Nancy, studying with Charles Magin. Magin encouraged him to continue studies in Paris at the Institut National des Jeunes Aveugles. Litaize enrolled concurrently there and at the Paris Conservatory. His teachers in Paris included Adolphe Marty, Marcel Dupré, Henri Büsser, and Louis Vierne.

In 1939, Litaize became organist at Saint-Cloud, and in 1944 he became director of religious radio programs, overseeing five weekly broadcasts. In 1946, Litaize became organist titulaire at Saint‑François‑Xavier, a post he held until his death. When he retired from the radio in 1975, he became the organ teacher at the Conservatoire in St Maur-des-Fossés. His students there included Denis Comtet, Olivier Latry, Eric Lebrun, and Christophe Mantoux.

Litaize made numerous recordings, some of which have been reissued. He also was very active as a composer. A complete list of his compositions is available here. Olivier Latry has even transcribed and published one of Litaize’s improvisations.

Biography:

Gaston Litaize by Sébastien Durand
This book is in French.


Fantaisie et Fugue sur le nom de Gaston Litaize
Alain Litaize
This book is in French and includes an audio CD with unpublished works and improvisations of Gaston Litaize.

Recordings:

Gaston Litaize: Organ
Includes an improvisation on Victinmae paschali laudes.


Gaston Litaize: Récital de Son 80 Anniversaire
Includes Litaize playing some of his own compositions and an improvisation.


Gaston Litaize e Guy Bovet: All’organo di Carasso (Ticino)
Includes repertoire played by Gaston Litaize and Guy Bovet as well as an improvisation by each of the organists.

ohscatalog_2270_113982655
Litaize plays Litaize
Gaston Litaize plays his own works on the 1979 Winfried Albiez (Lindau / Lake Constance) organ located in the gallery of the Church of St. Mary in Kempen, Germany as well as three improvisations. Available through OHS.

Jürgen Essl

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essl_juergenWebsite:
http://www.juergen-essl.de/
You can hear him on Spotify.

Jürgen Essl studied organ in Germany and France with Ludger Lohmann and Francis Chapelet, later completing his studies in Vienna with Michael Radulescu. A Professor at The Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Stuttgart since 2003, Jürgen Essl has also served as Professor for Organ at the Musikhochschule Lübeck and an organist at the Castle Church of Sigmaringen. He has released several recordings of improvisations available through www.ORGANpromotion.org. He is a co-founder of the International Summer Academy of Music – ISAM in Ochsenhausen, Germany.

Videos:
Jürgen Essl – ESPACIOS – Mallorca

Karl Richter

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Karl RichterKarl Richter (1926 – 1981) was a German conductor, choirmaster, organist, and harpsichordist. He studied with Günther Ramin, Carl Straube and Rudolf Mauersberger. In 1949 he became organist at St. Thomas Church, Leipzig, where Johann Sebastian Bach was once Musical Director. In 1951 he moved to Munich, where he taught at the conservatory and was cantor and organist at St. Mark’s Church.


Videos:
Karl Richter – Improvisation – Bavokerk, Haarlem

Johannes Mayr

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MayrJohannes Mayr studied Church Music at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Stuttgart. Since 2009 he has taught organ improvisation at the Stuttgarter Musikhochschule. In 2011 he became organist at the Co-Cathedral of St. Eberhard in Stuttgart. He has won several improvisation competitions including first prize in the 1991 Montbrison Improvisation competition. He has also published a book on the organbuilder Joseph Gabler.


Recordings:

Organ Improvisations on Bach Toccata & Fugue in D Minor
Johannes Mayr is one of the organists included on the recording above along with Lionel Rogg, Barbara Dennetlein, Frederic Blanc, David Franke and others.

Johannes Mayr an der Jann-Orgel, St. Andreas Endersbach.
Bauer-Studios, Ludwigsburg 2012.
According to the entry at the Deutsche National Bibliothek, this includes an improvisation on ‘Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme’

Videos:
Johannes Mayr – Happy Birthday – St.Eberhard, Stuttgart
Johannes Mayr – Improvisation on ‘Was Gott tut, das ist wohl getan’ – Schweiklberg

André Fleury

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fleury_andre_mediumAndré Fleury (1903-1995) was born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France. He received his musical training as a private student of Henri Letocart (a former student of César Franck), and later, of André Marchal and Louis Vierne. At the Paris Conservatory, he studied organ with Eugène Gigout and received a first prize in organ performance and improvisation under Gigout’s successor, Marcel Dupré, in 1926. Fleury also studied composition with Paul Vidal.

In 1920, Fleury became Gigout’s assistant at St. Augustin in Paris, and, later, also assistant of Charles Tournemire at Ste. Clotilde. He became titular organist at St. Augustin in 1930. In 1941, he was appointed professor of organ at the École Normale de Musique in Paris.

After World War II, Fleury relocated to Dijon. In 1949, he succeeded Émile Poillot as titular organist at Dijon Cathedral and as professor of piano (a year later also of organ) at the Dijon Conservatory. In 1971, he accepted Jean Guillou’s invitation to become co-titular organist at St. Eustache in Paris. He also was appointed as professor of organ at the Schola Cantorum and as titular organist at Versailles Cathedral.

As a composer, Fleury wrote numerous works for organ, many of which have not been published yet. He premiered several important organ compositions, such as the organ sonata of Darius Milhaud, Maurice Duruflé’s Scherzo op. 2, as well as La Nativité du Seigneur by Olivier Messiaen (the first integral performance of this organ cycle, after the premiere by Jean Langlais, Jean-Yves Daniel-Lesur, and Jean-Jacques Grunenwald).

Among his students were Bernard Gavoty, Pierre Cochereau, and Jean-Yves Daniel-Lesur.

Videos:
André Fleury – Improvisation-Demonstration of Dijon Cathedral – France

Duncan Middleton

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DuncanMiddletonDuncan Middleton studied improvisation in Bordeaux and Lourdes with particular emphasis on liturgical and concert improvisation. Since 1989, he has been Organiste Titulaire at the French church of Notre Dame de France, Leicester Place, London. He will teach at the London Organ Improvisation Course in 2014.


DVD & Blu-ray:

The Grand Organ of Notre Dame de France
Includes improvisations of a 4-movement Mass, and a theme and six variations on a traditional French hymn, as well as a narrated demonstration of rare stops, the pedal divide facility, and the organ in general.
More information about the film can be found at: www.organ-films-for-aficionados.com

Videos:
Duncan Middleton – Improvisation on ‘Jubilate Deo’ – Notre Dame de France, London

André Marchal

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MarchalAndré Marchal (1894-1980) was born blind. He studied organ under Eugène Gigout at the Paris Conservatoire. In 1913, he won the First Prize in organ-playing and four years later he also won the prix d’excellence for fugue and counterpoint. Marchal taught organ at the Institut National des Jeunes Aveugles in Paris, in addition to serving as titular organist of the Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés (1915–1945) and Saint-Eustache (1945–1963). He was an unparalleled improviser and was recognized as such by Fauré. Among his students are many brilliant musicians such as Peter Hurford, Louis Thiry and Jean-Pierre Leguay.

There is now a Concours André Marchal held every other year in Biarritz, France offering prizes for interpretation and improvisation. Previous winners of the improvisation prizes include: David Cassan, David Maw, Noël Hazbroucq, Martin Bacot, Olivier Perin, Alexandre Mason, Torsten Laux, and Frederik Malmberg.

Videos:
André Marchal – Improvisation on theme of George Dyson – Royal Festival Hall, London

Anton Heiller

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Heiler-1Anton Heiller (1923 – 1979) was an Austrian organist, harpsichordist, composer, and conductor. Born in Vienna, he was first trained in church music by Wilhelm Mück, organist of Vienna’s Stephansdom with further study at the Vienna Academy of Music under Bruno Seidlhofer and Friedrich Reidinger. In 1945, he both graduated from the Academy and was appointed organ teacher there. He was promoted to professor in 1957. In 1952 he won the International Organ Competition in Haarlem, The Netherlands. His students include Yuko Hayashi, Bernard Lagacé, Peter Planyavsky, Michael Radulescu, Christa Rakich, Christa Rumsey, David Sanger, and Jean-Claude Zehnder.


Biography:

Anton Heiller: Organist, Composer, Conductor
by Peter Planyavsky and Christa Rumsey
Eastman Studies in Music, University of Rochester Press (November 1, 2014)

Audio:
Heiller’s performances as a competitor in the 1953 Haarlem Improvisation Competition can be heard at the NCRV archive here.

Xaver Varnus

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varnus-xXaver Varnus is a Hungarian-born Canadian organist, improvisor, writer, and television personality. His first piano teacher was Emma Németh, one of the last pupils of Claude Debussy. At sixteen, he undertook his first concert tour of Europe. In 1981 Varnus left Hungary to study with Pierre Cochereau in France. Over the course of his short career, Xaver Varnus has played to more than six million people worldwide, recorded 51 albums, made sixty concert films, and written five books.


YouTube Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/user/xavervarnus

Videos:
Improvisation on three given themes – Walcker Organ
Xaver Varnus – Improvisation on a theme by Jean Guillou – St. Eustache, Paris
Xaver Varnus – Improvisation on a theme of Stokowski – Wanamaker Grand Court Organ, Philadelphia
Xaver Varnus – Variations on Frère Jacques – Dominican Church, Budapest