A Death at the Organ: The Life and Works of Louis Vierne
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 30 พ.ค. 2019
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📚 Sources/further reading:
“Louis Vierne: Organist of Notre Dame Cathedral” by Rollin Smith
curate.nd.edu/downloads/pk02c...
digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/...
scholarworks.iu.edu/dspace/bi...
scholarship.rice.edu/bitstrea...
digital.lib.washington.edu/re...
philosopherswheel.com/vierne.htm
www.huffpost.com/entry/louis-...
Special thanks to Raymond (www.raymondhawkinsmusic.com/) for starring as his favorite composer for this video!
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Classical Nerd is a video series covering music history, theoretical concepts, and techniques, hosted by composer, pianist, and music history aficionado Thomas Little.
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Music:
- Louis Vierne: Symphony No. 6, Mvt. 5, performed by Raymond Hawkins
- Thomas Little: Dance! #2 in E minor, arranged à la Louis Vierne and performed by Raymond Hawkins
- Louis Vierne: Nocturne, Op. 34 No. 3, performed by Jean Dubé and available on IMSLP: tinyurl.com/y2ctujrz
- Louis Vierne: Piano Quintet, Op. 42, performed by Anne Robert, Marcelle Mallette, Neal Gripp, Elizabeth Dolin, and Jamie Parker [original upload: T9rCTrkIKnM]
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Questions and comments can be directed to:
nerdofclassical [at] gmail.com
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Instagram:
/ the_classical_nerd
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All images and audio in this video are for educational purposes only and are not intended as copyright infringement. If you have a copyright concern, please contact me using the above information.
I was originally going to post this on Vierne's death anniversary of June 2nd ... but I just couldn't wait. In any event, the BLOOPER REEL (featuring more footage of Raymond [ www.raymondhawkinsmusic.com/ ] as Louis Vierne) is up at www.patreon.com/classicalnerd.
Leo Sowerby wrote a monumental organ symphony in G major, which several recordings are made of. And in case you're interested; th-cam.com/video/rMdOG9SKPvk/w-d-xo.html His symphony in a minor, for orchestra.
I waited so long for anyone to talk about Vierne's insane life story, such an underrated composer
RRKdudas this whole video I was thinking “omg another emotionally traumatized organist I can laugh with in heaven!” 😂
He died as he lived, at the organ
You could say that about any composer.
What a great presentation this is!!! Poor Vierne had such a tough life, but he produced some of the most sublime music ever written. Your discussion was tremendous. I am an organist and a huge fan of Vierne. It is rare to see anything like this on TH-cam. Thank you so much.
You might be interested to know that I come from Rochester, NY, home of the Eastman School of Music. Over the last decade, or so, organ music has become a huge deal in this city by way of the Eastman/Rochester Organ initiative which has played a huge part in assisting churches whether with new instruments or restoration of neglected organs. The young, distinguished organist, Nathan Laube, also hangs his hat at the organ dept. at Eastman and is an Associate Professor of organ studies there. I was never a student at Eastman but at 63 years I remember walking through Kilbourn Hall and bumping into folks like Pierre Boulez, Howard Hanson and, at an Eastman School Symphony concert, I was fortunate enough to meet Penderecki, himself. I would have been around 10, at the time. I met and got to know many of the Eastman professors and their extremely gifted students and I took every opportunity I could find to learn from them. I taught myself, with much mentoring, to compose, and I still do to this day. Vierne's music has always inspired me, as I'm sure he has many others. Howard Hanson might be a good subject for one of your videos. His 7 symphonies occupy a very special place in the history of American music. His choral work Lament for Beowulf, some consider to be his finest work along with the opera, Merry Mount. Anyway, you seem like a really cool guy as well as an excellent teacher.
Your presentations are so very well done and I look forward to each new one.
Thomas, your videos are absolutely wonderful. I hope you are a professor because you are a teacher who can convey "lessons" with conviction, interest and passion, retaining the attention of your viewers. Great work 👍 👍
I am an organist, but retired. Vierne is one of my favorite composers. HIs music is so energized and brilliant, yet it can be very soft and expressive. It grabs you and won't let you go. It's hard to beat Vierne.
Thanks for good story L.Vierne. I am organist from Zagreb, Croatia. I like music L. Vierne special organ music and Messe Solennelle. Greetings from Croatia Zagreb.
Nice! I'm so glad I subbed to this channel. Vierne is one of my idols as a creator, and not just for music
This is a superb review of Louis Vierne’s life.
It brought back memories of my organ professor’s accounts of Vierne’s life from the mid-1960’s, when I was studying Vierne’s SYMPHONIE I POUR GRAND ORGUE. In the 1960’s era, such biographical information was non-existant in the library of a small university, even on record jackets! A BRAVO to the producers, and to TH-cam!
Fred M. Ussery, III, M.D., FACS
Excellent presentation and info as usual
Thank you so much for this priceless video with all the information. Greatly appreciated.
Thank you so much for this!
This is SOOO great!!
Many thanks for that. You prompted me to go back to a recording I bought some years ago of his symphony and his Poème for piano and orchestra. They're both really good works, but it's clear from the French Wikipedia page on Vierne that there's still a great deal of interesting stuff beyond the organ repertoire waiting to be recorded.
Fantastic and informative!
A very good episode. Thank you very much for your work. I learnt much that was interesting and useful.
Very good video, now I know Vierne better than before!! (I'm currently starting to play movements of his first symphony).
Now we need such a video on Max Reger and Franz Schmidt too.. ;) ^^
Duly noted: lentovivace.com/classicalnerd.html
I love how increasingly cinematic your openings have gotten!
I love this videos so much, this is all your fault for doing a wonderful work for them. Another Great organist, but from the german school, is Max Reger. I hope that sometime soon you'll speak about him.
Duly noted.
Excellent job.
Coincidentally, I just watched this on Vierne's birthday - October 8.
Nicely done!
Some additional illustrations during the verbal presentation is a big plus.
very nice, thank you
I learned a great deal!
Would you please make a video on Max Reger?
Duly noted: lentovivace.com/classicalnerd.html
I got that sand reference ;-) Well done.
Greatly enjoyed this show, too.
Vierne's life really was tragic in many ways. Unfaithful wife, loosing both a brother and son to WWI, being taken advantage of by many perceived 'allies'. Recent revelations about Dupre's treatment of LV were a bit shocking to learn.
The amount of nicotine and ether he was consuming was enough to give today's rock stars pause.
Another great video. You really do pack a lot research into 45 minutes. I love Vierne. I think he's a shamefully neglected composer. Thanks for the link to that work by Bezdegian. I recently tried to study Vierne's first organ symphony and was completely bamboozled. I couldn't make head or tail of it!
Great comment,.. just as a mention, of word use,...I think Bamboozled usually has the connotation of being given a convincing ( but misleading) sales pitch that results in the victim of it being defrauded. I am searching for the word You intended to use but all I can come up with is "baffled". ... bamboozled certainly has the necessary syllabic content to convey confusion.
Try going straight to the Final of Vierne's 1st which is in sonata allegro form. The Final's stature in the organ repetoire is that of a war horse following fast on the heels of Widor's Toccata from the 5th.
César-Auguste Franck -Vierne's musicprofessor- was a Dutch-born (in 1822) musician-composer from Liège in the French-speaking part (Walony) of the than Great Kingdom of the Netherlands. The southern part of this kingdom became from 1830 on the independant Kingdom Belgium.
Good one.
Regarding the Wagnerian influence of fast arpeggios over top a slow moving bass on Vierne's Symphony Finals, this had preexisted on the organ in the concluding Lentement section of J.S. Bach's Fantasie in G Major, BWV 572. The 19th century renaissance of French organ music that began with Franck was sparked by a renewed interest in Bach, so much so that his Baroque organ works were considered an essential part of French Romantic organ pedagogy and performance. Professor and organist of St. Sulpice Charles Marie Widor impressed this necessity of Bach upon his students, including a young Louis Vierne.
I would not have mentioned the Wagnerian influence had a decent case not been made for it in my sources (listed in the description). Regardless, there's definitely more of Germanic influence in the French organ school than most French people like to admit ...
@@ClassicalNerd Check out this link starting at 7:52, as I think Johann Sebastian may have been dreaming of the Ile-de-France when he composed it. If I hadn't known beforehand and heard it isolated without any of the previous sections, I would have guessed a young Guilmant, Widor or Vierne had composed it for a Cavaille-Coll instrument:
th-cam.com/video/9Lrv1oR1WU4/w-d-xo.html
César Franck was Belgian-born? No, he was Dutch-born in the time that his nativetown Liège (or Lüttich or Luik) was part of the greater Kingdom of the Netherlands with king Willem I as head of state.(a prince of the House of Orange-Nassau).
Bravo! What else can one say!
Always nice to hear Raymond play Vierne!
Another great video. I've noticed that you from your recent J.S. Bach video that you know how to speak german and from this one, that you also knoe your ways with French. As a person that has become interested in learning languages, How did you do it?
Well, I actually _can_ speak some German; two semesters of the language in my third year of undergrad was good enough for that. I had a good professor and many friends with whom I could practice. The only thing that prevented me from another full academic year of study was said professor's sabbatical.
I can't really speak French. I phonetically memorized my lines for this video with the significant help of my friend Raymond, who plays Vierne here and had a fun time portraying his favorite composer. He speaks a good deal of French-I would say he's fairly fluent, although I don't think he would necessarily agree-and helped with both the translation and the pronunciation.
Dear Classical Nerd; I really enjoy your classes and insights. Do you play an instrument? Thanks.
I started out on the piano, know my way around the organ, and have experience on a smattering of Balinese instruments.
@@ClassicalNerd Thank you so much for your response. I really enjoy your series and rarely miss a day without listening to one or more of your "classes." Blessings. Charles
Also please make a video on Marcel Dupré
Duly noted: lentovivace.com/classicalnerd.html
I enjoyed this presentation very much, and you are very thorough and interesting. Sadly in 2019 the Notre Dame organ is much worse off than in 1900.
Didn’t Vierne die playing the second movement of his Tryptique: Stéle pour un enfant defúnt?
According to most accounts, he'd finished playing that movement and was about to begin an improvisation when he died. The introduction to this video takes some liberties with the details for the sake of continuity and humor.
Could you do a video on Manos Hadjidakis?
Duly noted: lentovivace.com/classicalnerd.html
Can you do one of Carl Maria von Weber please?
You've already got five active requests, and due to the number of requests I've gotten (a whopping _306_ unique subjects), I've capped the limit of requests per individual at five. Sorry!
@@ClassicalNerd Whoops no problem, apologies. :) Excellent video anyhow.
❤🎶🌿💐🇻🇦✝️🇻🇦💐🌿🎶✒💮🍋🌸🕊🪢⛑🌺📃💮🍋🇨🇵💮🇨🇵🌻🪅🌸📚🦊🌺⛑🌿🎶🌸🇲🇬🫂🇲🇬🌸✒💮🍋📃🌿🇻🇦✝️🇻🇦📚🌺🌸✒📃🇨🇵🎶🌿💐🇻🇦✝️🇻🇦🍋🙋♂️
Did you know the French cyclic composer Ernest Chausson died riding on a cycle? :)
Can you do one on Edvard Grieg?
Duly noted: lentovivace.com/classicalnerd.html
If you're a fan of Grieg, I recommend listening to his Piece "Wedding at Troldhaugen," which he dedicated to his wife on their 25th anniversary. It's so good.
What is to "botch" something? Like when you said "They botched the surgery"
It means that they screwed it up somehow.
@@ClassicalNerd oh, thank you
I don’t believe he died while playing, but while he was drawing stops for an improvisation. When he fell over, his foot hit the low E
This is true; as has been noted elsewhere in the comments, the details of the intro were changed for the sake of continuity and humor. (After all, the concert hall in which the intro was filmed looks nothing like Notre Dame, either.)
Classical Nerd even so, it can technically be construed as him dying doing what he loved, which is more than most of us get.
Brandy?...I'll have one.
Nice star wars reference...
Can you do some on Chinese composers, maybe Xian Xinghai? I’m interested to know how they managed to adapt their local music with classical forms
Duly noted: lentovivace.com/classicalnerd.html
🌿🍋🇻🇦✝️🇻🇦🍋🌿L'ENREGISTREMENT❤🎶💒🌺💐🕊🌿 DE RÉFÉRENCE ABSOLUE💝🇻🇦💒🇨🇵💝 des 6 Symphonies💮🌿🪢🕊 pour Orgue de Louis VIERNE💐😇💐 est celle SUBLISSIME🎶✒💮🍋🇨🇵🌿 du Légendaire PIERRE COCHEREAU🌺🎶❤🎶🌺 aux grandes orgues de Notre-Dame de Paris 🌿💐🇻🇦💒🇨🇵😇💝🌻🌸🌿🌺🥰🦁🪢🕊🌿⛑🌸✒🏵🦊💝🇲🇬🙋♂️!!!
25:39 are you sure it wasn't sand and not dust?
Wow you started with actual footage Durufle with Vierne! lol
Still waiting on the Bach video.
I'm still waiting for you to officially request a remake. 😛
@@ClassicalNerd You said you were going to do it a year ago? I also can't find the form to request.
Requests are done through comments, and there are currently _306_ (!) unique requests currently listed at www.lentovivace.com/classicalnerd.html ... so unless there's a huge groundswell of requests for a remake of any particular video, it won't really be any more of a priority than anything else in that enormous list. My focus through that page is to keep track of popularly requested subjects; how long people have been waiting on them is only ever used as a tiebreaker if a subject has the same number of requests. Many people have been waiting for a year or longer because I get orders of magnitude more requests than any one person can keep up with, even if running a musicology channel were my job.
Will I start doing some remakes regardless of their status in the request pool? Yes, because it's just personally something I want to do, but what I make beyond what's at the top of the request pool is up to my discretion. I did nothing but requests for so long that I'm using non-request videos as an opportunity to branch out beyond what's in that list, otherwise I feel the effects of composer-biography burnout.
Did his relationship with his daughter change in any way after what his wife told him?
There was nothing in the literature that spoke to this-but, given that Vierne was generally understood to be a sweet guy, I doubt that it did.
Vierne had every right to be upset with Dupre. I would have cut off contact with him too. Dupre was brilliant, for sure, but devious, cunning, political and insensitive. His treatment of Jeanne Demessieux was despicable!
Omg, how much badluck can you have? Louis, get a four-leaf clover
Also, at 34:49, Thomas, you said that Vierne hadn't seen his wife for 4 years. Yeah, like he could see at all
It's a figure of speech; wording it any other way just sounded odd.
Classical Nerd what about "hadn't heard his wife"?
It is possible that they may have communicated in some fashion within that four-year period-and either way, as mentioned, he _could_ see a tiny bit, so he wasn't 100% blind.
Such dismissive and shallow treatment of Vierne have been reported to TH-cam curators. Appalling. Shameful. Nearly tragic, to be honest.
Whoopsie. Looks like someone didn't get past the 90 second mark ...
What about Your response to this video with this comment ??????? Or maybe You are being ironic ???