What
Franz Liszt was to the piano, Marcel Dupré was to the French Romantic organ. Admittedly, sometimes virtuoso organ music is just trapeze work. Dupré's virtuosity sometimes suffers too. Among his best music are in any case the Versets op.18. They are a masterly sample of what you can do with a cathedral organ, worthy of a pupil of Widor. And to think that these gems originated as improvisations.
It is thanks to organ enthusiast Claude Johnson, director of Rolls-Royce, that Dupré later worked out the pieces on paper. Of this extensive cycle, only the variations on the hymn Ave Maris Stella are heard here. Carillon from the Seven Pieces op.27 was inspired by the carillon of the church in Rouen where Durpé's father Albert was an organist. Albert Dupré unfortunately died during the restoration of this organ. When it was reopened in 1941, the son honoured his parents with the partly nostalgic Evocation op.37. The Variations Sur Vieux Noël op.20 are among Dupré's better known works. The variations are very virtuoso. And yet the beautiful Christmas song is the epitome of simplicity. (HJ)more
