Category Archives: Organist

Piet van Egmond

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Egmond

Website:
http://www.pietvanegmond.nl/
Website of the Piet van Egmond Foundation. It includes biographical information as well as some mp3 files and information on other recordings that Piet van Egmond made.

Piet van Egmond (1912 – 1982) was a Dutch organist and conductor. According to tradition, Van Egmond gave his first organ recital in 1927 at the Oude Kerk in Amsterdam with a program of works by Bach. In the same year he was admitted to the Amsterdam Conservatory, where he organ studied with Cornelis de Wolf. In 1933 Van Egmond was appointed organist at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw. After World War II, he was organist successively at the Jeruzalemkerk (1952-1956), the Bachzaal Church and then the Thomaskerk in Amsterdam (1956-1967), the Gereformeerde Wilhelminakerk in Haarlem, and finally the Grote Kerk in Apeldoorn (1971-1977). He became well known for his organ improvisations on hymns and spiritual songs at the end of his organ concerts and during services.


Recordings at NCRV:

Videos:
Piet van Egmond – Improvisation of a “Rough Storm” – Wilhelminakerk, Haarlem
Piet van Egmond – Improvisation on Ps 138 – Grote kerk, Dordrecht

Noël Hazebroucq

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Hazebroucq

Noël Hazebroucq was born in Paris in 1979. After completing musical studies at the Conservatoire Supérieur de Paris-CNR, the CNR in Saint-Maur-des-Fossés he obtained diplomas from the École Nationale de Musique in Orléans and the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Lyon. In 2004, he won the “Grand Prix d’improvisation” of the City of Paris and the second prize ex-aequo and the Public Prize at the international organ competition “Grand Prix de Chartres”. He teaches at the Conservatoire international de musique de Paris (8ème), and is organiste titulaire at the Temple des Batignolles in Paris.


Recordings:

impro-cd-cover-art
Hazebroucq: Impro


YouTube Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMrEVuKiWCkeqVhD1D3fxfw

Videos:
Noël Hazebroucq – Improvisation Masterclass – La Madeleine, Paris in French with English subtitles
Noël Hazebroucq – Improvisation Masterclass Part 1- Eglise Saint-Thibault du Pecq in French
Noël Hazebroucq – Improvisation Masterclass Part 2- Eglise Saint-Thibault du Pecq in French

Noël Hazebroucq – Free Improvisation on the text “Une vie de Saint Martin” – Eglise Saint Martin, Biarritz

An improvised symphony on themes from Maurice Duruflé and Veni Creator.
Noël Hazebroucq – Symphonie Improvisée 1: Allegro Sonate – La Madeleine, Paris
Noël Hazebroucq – Symphonie Improvisée 2: Scherzo – La Madeleine, Paris
Noël Hazebroucq – Symphonie Improvisée 3: Cantilène et toccata – La Madeleine, Paris

Louis Vierne

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vierne[1]

Louis Vierne (1870 – 1937) is best known as a composer and organist at Notre Dame in Paris, France. He was born in Poitiers, nearly blind due to congenital cataracts, but was discoverd at an early age to have a gift for music: at age two, a 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 (while performing a concert) in 1937. 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. To raise money for its restoration, he undertook a concert tour of North America including a performance on the famous Wanamaker Organ in Philadelphia. Some of his students include Augustin Barié, Edward Shippen Barnes, Lili Boulanger, Nadia Boulanger, Marcel Dupré, André Fleury, Gaston Litaize, Édouard Mignan, Alexander Schreiner, and Georges-Émile Tanguay.
Vierne made phonograph recordings of six works of Bach, three of his own compositions and three improvisations. Originally recorded by Odéon, they were reissued most recently by EMI in 1981 with two of the improvisations appearing again in 1994. Maurice Duruflé transcribed the improvisations as he had done with the recordings of Charles Tournemire.

Biography:

Louis Vierne: Organist of Notre Dame Cathedral
by Rollin Smith, Pendragon Press, 2009.

Vidoes:
Recorded in 1929, there is some noise in the audio on these video, but I believe they are worth sharing because it is Vierne himself improvising.

Louis Vierne – Marche Episcopale – Notre Dame, Paris
Louis Vierne – Meditation – Notre Dame, Paris
Louis Vierne – Cortege – Notre Dame, Paris

and while it isn’t an improvisation, there is a short video of Louis Vierne playing at Notre Dame here.

Firmin Decerf

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firmindecerf1Firmin Decerf is a laureate of the Lemmens Institute (Malines-Louvain) where he studied organ and educational theory of music. He also studied improvisation for two year in Paris and Nice with Pierre Cochereau. Professor emeritus of organ and improvisation at the IMEP (Institut Supérieur de Musique et de pédagogie Musicale) at Namur, he also is permanently titular of the Schumacher organ of the Saint-Pierre church in Bastogne. He has made several recordings dedicated to improvisations. You can hear him on Spotify.


Recordings:

Le chant de l’Abbaye de la Pierre-qui-Vire, Aurore de la Joie
Includes five organ improvisations

Videos:
Firmin Decerf – Esquisse Symphonique on the names LISZT and BACH – Baelen

Maurice Duruflé

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Durufle

Maurice Duruflé (1902-1986) was a French composer, organist, and teacher. At age 17, upon moving to Paris, he took private organ lessons with Charles Tournemire, whom he assisted at Basilique Ste-Clotilde, Paris until 1927. In 1920 Duruflé entered the Conservatoire de Paris, eventually graduating with first prizes in organ, harmony, piano accompaniment, and composition. His harmony professor was Jean Gallon.

In 1927, Louis Vierne nominated him as his assistant at Notre Dame. Duruflé and Vierne remained lifelong friends, and Duruflé was at Vierne’s side acting as assistant when Vierne died at the console of the Notre-Dame organ on June 2, 1937. Duruflé became titular organist of St-Étienne-du-Mont in Paris in 1929, a position he held for the rest of his life. In 1943 he became Professor of Harmony at the Conservatoire de Paris, where he worked until 1970.

in 1947, Marie-Madeleine Chevalier became his assistant at St-Étienne-du-Mont. They married on 15 September 1953. The couple became a famous and popular organ duo, going on tour together several times throughout the sixties and early seventies.

His transcriptions of the recorded improvisations of Charles Tournemire have become some of the most widely performed and well known of Tournemire’s “compositions.”

Recordings:

Duruflé: En Concert
Appears to include an improvised rhapsody as part of the program of repertoire.


Duruflé: Works for Organ & Choir
This recording contains choral works of Maurice Duruflé, along with the Suite, op 5, and improvisations by Thierry Escaich.

Charles Tournemire

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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

McNeil Robinson

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robinson

Concert organist McNeil Robinson has been praised by the international press as one of America’s leading virtuosos especially as an improviser. One of the most prominent musicians in New York City, McNeil Robinson has been organist and choirmaster at Park Avenue Synagogue since 1966 and served as music director and organist for Park Avenue Christian Church (1984–2007). Prior to his appointment at Park Avenue Christian, Robinson led a legendary music program for the Church of St. Mary the Virgin for two decades. Concurrently, he was director of music for the Church of the Holy Family, the parish church of the United Nations (1967–1978), and as director of music at the Trinity Institute, Trinity Church Wall Street (1970–1976). He served as Director of Music and Organist at Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Church until his deteriorating health forced him to retire. He passed away on May 9, 2015.

A graduate of the Juilliard School, Robinson is now chairman of the organ department of the Manhattan School of Music. His students (such as Justin Bischof and Jason Roberts) have won top awards in national and international organ competitions. He is also active as a conductor and has recorded for a number of commercial record labels including Decca and Musical Heritage Society.

Videos:
McNeil Robinson – Concert improvisation (Part 1) – Chester Cathedral
McNeil Robinson – Concert improvisation (Part 2) – Chester Cathedral
McNeil Robinson – Improvisation – Grace Church, New York City

Eric Dalest

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EricDalestSm

Website:
http://www.dalest.org/

YouTube Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/user/dalestorgue You can also hear him on Spotify.

Born in 1974 in Marseilles, Eric Dalest studied at the Conservatories of Marseille and Aix-en-Provence. He obtained his Médaille d’Or with unanimity of the jury presided by Jean Guillou. He subsequently studied improvisation with Jean Guillou and received the Diplôme Supérieur from the Schola Cantorum in Paris where he studied with Paul Imbert. Since 1996, he has been the organist at St. Sauveur in Aubagne. He has concertized widely across Europe.


Recordings:

Eric Dalest: Improvisations


Eric Dalest: Organ of Telfs in Tirol Improvisations


Christmas Organ Improvisations at Tezze Sul Brenta


Christmas Improvisations (Live)


Eric Dalest: Improvisations Symphoniques Organ

Videos:
Eric Dalest – Improvised Waltz
Eric Dalest – Improvised Berceuse

Peter Ewers

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Website:
www.vpe-web.de
You can hear him on Spotify.

Peter Ewers is a German organist, musicologist and psychotherapist. He served as assistant organist at the Paderborn Cathedral from 1991 to 1996.

Book:

Just play! An invitation to improvisation

Recordings:

Peter Ewers: Les Planètes, Improvisations

He has four albums available at:
www.peterewers.bandcamp.com

Videos:
Peter Ewers – Organ improvisation – La Madeleine, Paris
Peter Ewers – Méditation on “Dich liebt, oh Gott, mein ganzes Herz” – St-Aposteln, Cologne

Jos van der Kooy

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JosVanderKooyWebsite:
http://www.josvanderkooy.com

Jos van der Kooy is organist in residence at St Bavo’s Church in Haarlem (Müller organ), the Haarlem Philharmonie (Cavaillé-Coll organ), Westerkerk in Amsterdam (two organs), and the Gothic Hall at the Netherlands Council of State in The Hague. He studied organ and improvisation with Piet Kee at the Conservatory of Amsterdam where he was awarded the Prix d’Excellence in 1981. He was awarded first prize of the Haarlem International Improvisation Competition in 1980 and 1981 and the first prize of the National Improvisation Competition in Bolsward in 1978. He now teaches organ, improvisation and church music at the Academy of Arts of the University of Leiden, the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, and the International Summer Academy for organists in Haarlem.

He has performances that are included in the NCRV archive here, including an improvisation on Gezang 21. You can her him on Spotify.

Videos:
Jos van der Kooy – Improvisation on ‘Komt vrienden in den ronde’ – Joriskerk
Jos van der Kooy – Improvisation – St Maartenskerk