Louis Vierne

Louis Victor Jules Vierne, (October 8, 1870–June 2, 1937) was a French organist and composer.

Life
Louis Vierne was born on 8 October 1870. He was born nearly blind and showed an early aptitude for music.

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.

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.

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.

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.


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