Louis Victor Jules Vierne, (October 8, 1870–June 2, 1937) was a French organist and composer. October 8 is the 281st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (282nd in leap years). ... 1870 (MDCCCLXX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... June 2 is the 153rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (154th in leap years), with 212 days remaining. ... Year 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... Organ in Katharinenkirche, Frankfurt am Main, Germany The organ is a keyboard instrument played using one or more manuals and a pedalboard. ... A composer is a person who writes music. ...

Life

Louis Vierne was born on 8 October 1870. He was born nearly blind and showed an early aptitude for music. October 8 is the 281st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (282nd in leap years). ... 1870 (MDCCCLXX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Blindness is the condition of lacking visual perception due to physiological or psychological factors. ... For other uses, see Music (disambiguation). ...

He, like Gabriel Fauré, was an assistant to the organist Charles-Marie Widor at Saint-Sulpice in Paris, and from 1900, principal organist at Notre-Dame de Paris. Vierne was considered one of the greatest musical improvisers of his generation, although most of his works were never written down. He had an elegant, clean writing style that respected form above all - even the few of his improvisations extant on early phonograph recordings sound as if he was playing finished compositions. His harmonic language was romantically rich, but not as sentimental or theatrical as his early mentor César Franck. Of all the great fin de siècle French organists, his music was perhaps the most idiomatic for his chosen instrument. Gabriel Urbain Fauré (May 12, 1845 – November 4, 1924) was a French composer, organist, pianist, and teacher. ... An organist is a musician who plays the organ, whether pipe or electronic. ... Charles-Marie Jean Albert Widor (February 21, 1844 – March 12, 1937) was a French organist, composer and teacher. ... The interior of the Church Saint-Sulpice () is a famous Parisian church on the east side of the Place Saint-Sulpice, in the Luxembourg Quarter of the VIe arrondissement. ... The Eiffel Tower has become the symbol of Paris throughout the world. ... This article is about the Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris. ... César-Auguste-Jean-Guillaume-Hubert Franck (December 10, 1822 – November 8, 1890), a composer, organist and music teacher of Belgian origin who lived in France, was one of the great figures in classical music in the second half of the 19th century. ...

His output for organ includes six symphonies, "24 Fantasy Pieces" (which includes his famous "Carillon of 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. This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Sonata (From Latin and Italian sonare, to sound), in music, literally means a piece played as opposed to cantata (Latin cantare, to sing), a piece sung. ... A piano quintet is a chamber musical ensemble made up of one piano and four other instruments, or the name of a piece written for such a group. ... The resident string quartet of the Library of Congress in 1963 A string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string instruments—usually two violins, a viola and cello—or a piece written to be performed by such a group. ... A minor (abbreviated Am) is a minor scale based on A, consisting of the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, G and A (natural minor scale - the harmonic minor scale contains a G♯ instead of a G natural). ...

Vierne had a rather difficult life. 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 sight diminished, he resorted to Braille to do most of his work. He was deeply affected by a separation from his wife, and he lost his son, whom he adored, 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 was very successful, though 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. Cataract is also used to mean a waterfall or where the flow of a river changes dramatically. ... Marcel Dupré Marcel Dupré (May 3, 1886–May 30, 1971), was a French organist, pianist, composer, and pedagogue. ... Braille code where the word (, French for first) can be read. ... Combatants Allied Powers: Russian Empire France British Empire Italy United States Central Powers: Austria-Hungary German Empire Ottoman Empire Bulgaria Commanders Nikolay II Aleksey Brusilov Georges Clemenceau Joseph Joffre Ferdinand Foch Robert Nivelle Herbert H. Asquith D. Lloyd George Sir Douglas Haig Sir John Jellicoe Victor Emmanuel III Luigi Cadorna...

Vierne suffered a stroke 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 fell forward, his left foot coming to rest on the low "E" pedal of the organ. He had thus fulfilled his oft-stated lifelong dream - to die at the console of the great organ of Notre-Dame. A stroke, also known as cerebrovascular accident (CVA),[1] is an acute neurological injury in which the blood supply to a part of the brain is interrupted. ...

Compositions

Organ solo

• Allegretto op. 1 (1894)
• Verset fugué sur 'In exitu Israel' (1894)
• Prélude funèbre op. 4 (1896)
• Communion op. 8 (1900)
• First Symphony d minor, op. 14 (1898-1899)
• Second Symphony e minor, op. 20 (1902)
• Third Symphony f♯ minor, op. 28 (1911)
• Messe basse, op. 30 (1912)
• 24 pièces en style libre pour orgue ou harmonium, op. 31 (1913)
• Fourth Symphony g minor, op. 32 (1914)
• Prélude f♯ minor, without opus (1914)
• Fifth Symphony a minor, op.47 (1923-1924)
• 24 Pièces de fantaisie:
  • First Suite op. 51 (1926)
  • Second Suite op. 53(1926)
  • Third Suite op. 54 (1927)
  • Fourth Suite op. 55 (1927)
• Trois Improvisations (Notre-Dame-de-Paris, November 1928), transcribed by Maurice Duruflé (1954):
  • Marche épiscopale
  • Méditation
  • Cortège
• Triptyque op. 58 (1929-1931):
  • Matines
  • Communion
  • Stèle pour un enfant défunt'
• Sixth Symphony b minor, op. 59 (1930)
• Messe basse pour les défunts, op. 62 (1934)

Piano solo

• Deux Pièces, op. 7:
  • Impression d'automne
  • Intermezzo
• Feuillets d'album, op. 9
• Suite bourguignonne, op. 17 (1899)
• Trois Nocturnes, op. 34 (1916)
• Douze Préludes, op. 36
• Poème des cloches funèbres, op. 39 (1916)
• Silhouettes d'enfants, op. 43 (1918)
• Solitude, op. 44 (1918)
• Ainsi parlait Zarathoustra, op. 49 (1922)

Chamber music

• Deux Pièces for Violoncello, op. 5
• Largo et Canzonetta for Oboe and Piano, op. 6 (1896)
• String Quartet, op. 12 (1894)
• Sonate for Violin and Piano, op. 23 (1905-1906)
• Rhapsodie for Harp, op. 25 (1909)
• Sonate for Violoncello and Piano, op. 27 (1910)
• Piano Quintet, op. 42 (1917)
• Soirs étrangers for Violoncello and Piano, op. 56 (1928)
• Quatre poèmes grecs for Soprano and Harp or Piano, op. 60 (1930)

Miscellaneous works

• Messe solennelle c# minor for choir and two organs, op. 16 (1900)
• Praxinoé for soloists, choir and orchestra, op. 22 (1903-1905)
• Sinfonie a minor for orchestra, op. 24 (1907-1908)
• Psyché for soprano and orchestra, op. 33 (1914)
• Les Djinns for soprano and orchestra, op. 35 (1912)
• Éros for soprano and orchestra, op. 37 (1916)
• Spleens et Détresses for soprano and piano or orchestra, op. 38 (1916)
• Dal Vertice for tenor and orchestra, op. 41 (1917)
• Poème for piano and orchestra, op. 50 (1925)
• La Ballade du désespéré for tenor and orchestra or piano, op. 61 (1931)

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

Paul Verlaine illustrated in the frontispiece of , 1902 Paul Marie Verlaine (March 30, 1844 – January 8, 1896) is considered one of the greatest and most popular of French poets. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Bibliography

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

Discography

• 4 Organ Symphonies : Marie-Claire Alain organ Aristide Cavaillé-Coll, Abbaye aux Hommes of Caen (Erato 2292-45485-2)
• Louis Vierne: Messe Solennelle: Westminster Cathedral Choir, Andrew Reid, organ. Hyperion
• Louis Vierne: Songs of Louis Vierne: 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
• Louis Vierne: Organ Symphonies nos. 3 and 6: Bruno Mathieu, organ. Hyperion

Marie-Claire Alain is an organist best known for her prolific recording career. ... Aristide Cavaillé-Coll His grave in Montparnasse Cemetery, Paris Aristide Cavaillé-Coll (February 4, 1811–October 13, 1899) was a French organ builder. ... The Abbaye-aux-Hommes ( man monastery Saint Étienne) is considered together with the neighbouring woman Mrs. ... Caen (pronounced /kɑ̃/) is a commune of northwestern France. ...

External links

• Louis Vierne 1870-1937 French composer, organist, teacher

• Louis Vierne