Louis Vierne: Organist of Notre Dame Cathedral

by Rollin Smith, Louis Vierne

Louis Vierne (1870-1937), a student of César Franck and Charles-Marie Widor, was organist of the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris for 37 years, until his death at the console during a recital. Widor's successor as the organ's great French symphonist - an assessment the passage of time has proved correct - Vierne's music has remained in the repertoire of organists throughout the world, never undergoing the periodic eclipses experienced by his contemporaries. Vierne's autobiography, Mes Souvenirs, originally published serially in the 1930s, is here available in a profusely illustrated, extensively annotated English translation. Rollin Smith's Louis Organist of Notre Dame Cathedral is the first major study of the great organist of Notre-Dame and includes chapters on his American tour, recordings, contemporary reminiscences, definitive textual corrections, the organ symphonies, his death and succession, and a thematic catalogue of his organ works.

Genres: Music, Biography

832 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 1998

Reviews

[Stephen Jenkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitive scholarly bio of Vierne which contains his own autobiography as well. Footnotes which appear on the page opposite to Vierne's autobiography were very helpful. Basic text for anyone who wants to know more about this composer and his work. I read only the first 591 pages. The remaining 214 page contain a thematic index to Vierne's Organ Works. There are 9 appendices only a few of which I plan to read.